Health Tech is Next Big Opportunity
Everyone is looking for the next big thing when it comes to investing their money, and Health Tech may just be where that money will go. There is a really interesting article here that goes into great detail. You can find some of the things that I found most interesting below.
They pointed out that many investors that traditionally invest in healthcare are becoming more hesitant to do so as regulations become more stringent. This increased regulations makes the whole process longer and thus keeps the investors’ money tied up for longer periods of time. Generally investors like to get their money back quickly as the longer it is tied up the more risk is involved.
One of the things that is making health tech more intriguing is that there is not nearly as much regulation so the investment time is often shorter. It is also a newly developing field with all kinds of opportunities in all directions. There are apps out there for everything and there is no reason why the healthcare industry shouldn’t take advantage of it.
According to the investor who wrote the article above, companies using game based technology will have the greatest impact on combating chronic diseases. This is not surprising considering the addictive nature of smartphone games. The author specifically mentioned the Angry Birds game which has sold more than 12 million apps. If developers can create these types of games that have healthy influences as a byproduct, there is little doubt that they will impact the health industry.
Healthtech may be a budding industry, but it is growing rapidly and may very well become the arena where investors look to spend their money.
I’ve been debating this idea in my head. In fact, I think I asked my wife the question. What mobile game could I create that would be fun and at the same time promote healthy living? Find that mix and I think it could do quite well.
People don’t care what the side effects are if they think the game is fun so if you can combine the two, there is a huge market out there. Look at all the negative things that come from people playing games. Now replace that with good things and you could probably do even better.
Kevin Volpp, MD at the University of Pennsylvania does research in the area of behavioral modification and gaming and healthcare. Here are a couple of examples, although not mobile as of yet of games trying to modify peoples behaviors in healthcare.
http://www.healthprize.com
http://www.positscience.com/
http://www.med.upenn.edu/ldichi/volpp.shtml
Thanks for the heads up. I will definitely take a look at those. The reality is that while they may not be mobile at this point, if they prove to be popular and effective they will branch out to all different areas much the way some of the mobile games have been turned into games for other platforms.