Gone are the days of the next blockbuster drug or medical devices; expect to see data science and consumers reign over the healthcare industry, according to Reenita Das, partner and vice president of transformational health at Frost & Sullivan. Das provided a review of this year’s healthcare developments and what to expect in 2016 during a recent webcast.

2015 Healthcare Market in Review

• About 50% increase in consumer healthcare spending
• Tremendous price erosion and commoditization of medical products
• Telecoms build and launch dedicated home healthcare services (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, etc.)
• Data and cybersecurity breaches provoke high interest and action
• Artificial intelligence continues to rise (IBM formed several partnerships this year in connection with its Watson technology platform, including with Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, and Walgreens)

Market Changes for 2016

• Total healthcare industry (encompasses pharmaceuticals, medical devices, medical imaging equipment, in vitro diagnostics, patient monitoring equipment, and healthcare IT) to experience 6.9% growth rate in the next year to hit $6.8 billion
• Fueled by point-of-care testing, in vitro diagnostics to grow 7.2%
• Medical devices expected to experience 4.1% growth rate
• Medtech industry will continue to move up healthcare continuum as it tries to capture services related to disease prevention, education, diagnosis and tracking
• “Buying spree” to occur between cardiac and patient monitoring companies and early-stage companies that are developing clinical-grade wearables
• Healthcare spending will continue to dominate healthcare market (United States, Europe and Japan will hold on to 72% of market share)
• Demand for healthcare data management systems to increase

Healthcare Predictions for 2016

• Next-generation wearables will drive market to $6 billion
• Retail care shift to mainstream as in-store clinic footprint expands by 35%
• $50+ billion in mergers & acquisitions
• Free preventive care services to more than 90% in United States
• Internet of Things solutions to spark $10 billion in venture capital investment for start-up firms