Massachusetts has long been a leader in the healthcare industry, and now business and government officials are looking to join this strength with the growing tech sector in the Bay State. A new private-sector initiative is being led by the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership, an influential and exclusive group of 16 chief executives and other business leaders from around the state.
Creating a digital health market from scratch will certainly be a lengthy process, but the organization believes that Massachusetts will become a national model if all is done correctly. Digital health efforts would include building a cloud to allow hospitals to electronically store medical records, writing software to keep patient information secure, connecting medical devices, launching apps for consumers and looking at data to spot any health trends.
“Massachusetts has long been a leader in the healthcare industry, and now business and government officials are looking to join this strength with the growing tech sector in the Bay State.”
Digital healthcare will also help get people to sign up for medical coverage, which can be a relatively complicated process for those who have never done so before. But the possibilities are endless, as the pharmaceutical world moves into the digital age there is no limit to what can be created and distributed among patients and consumers.
According to Rock Health, which invests in health care startups, venture capitalists have seen this potential in Massachusetts and poured $4.1 billion into the further development of digital health, up from under $1 billion back in 2011.
Many in the industry believe that healthcare in the United States is the last major industry that has yet to go under a technological revolution, something they hope changes with digital health in the near future. Programs like custom database software from Kyo Logic help to increase the prevalence of smart technology in a wide variety of industries.