How digital technology will boost mergers and integration

Digital technology and the huge volumes of all kinds of data fueled by the Internet of Things (IoT) are driving vertical integration within the sector of healthcare, in accordance to a recent report from research firm Frost & Sullivan.

Boundaries between the segments in the industry are blurring as agencies seek to expand market reach, drive efficiencies and acquire opportunities emerging from technological advances, the report stated.

Digital technology will assist to support new models of care delivery, expanded access to healthcare services, better outcomes and efficiency, and greater value to all stakeholders. Although, agencies vary highly in their capacity to deliver such solutions, the firm pointed out.

“The imperative to add new Information Technology capabilities and innovate is driving a broad array of stakeholders to converge and collaborate, developing a heated healthcare deal landscape for conventional mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and new kinds of less-formal partnerships,” claimed Nancy Fabozzi, transformational health principal analyst at Frost & Sullivan.

“Flexible deal structures like joint ventures and partnerships, in specific, give a faster, less-risky path to progress and innovation for healthcare agencies,” Fabozzi claimed.

Digital health strategic partnerships and joint ventures in the year of 2016 have focused on consumer engagement, wellness and analytics, the report stated. The aim for stakeholders is to foster clinically integrated and decentralized care systems that serve motivated, technology-savvy customers, who greatly value convenience and personalization.

“Several CEOs express a deficiency of confidence in their capability to victoriously execute on the partnership strategy,” Fabozzi claims. “Among the potential regions of concern are handling the disruption; establishing solutions to cater to cross-care continuum use from hospital to home; and zeroing in on business models that not just scale solutions but also meet the requirements of multiple client groups and global markets.”

 

Network ‘blind spots’ pose huge security threats

The majority of Global 2000 industries have places within their networks that are not properly observed, and these "blind spots" can lead to expensive violations because of unknown applications, traffic, devices and users operating insecurely on a corporate network, in accordance to a latest report from Frost & Sullivan.

The research, sponsored by security provider ForeScout Technologies, discovered that 72% of the 400 IT and security experts surveyed worldwide reported that they experienced 5 or more network-based security tragedies in the past twelve months.

When inquired where network blind spots exist, 44% of respondents stated that firewalls were the biggest problem; 40% cited vulnerability assessment; and 40% said advanced threat detection.

Network intrusion prevention, security data and event management (SIEM), enterprise mobility management; and antivirus, patch and configuration management were highlighted by the respondents as well.

"We have confirmed what most persons already hope—that no company is really secure without its security technologies working together,” Chris Kissel, industry analyst, Network Security Research at Frost and Sullivan, claimed.

“A siloed security access can make network blind spots that have expensive, long-term effects on business continuity and brand reputation," Kissel stated. "Without full network visibility, these attack surfaces will merely increase, given the fast-growing number of BYOD [bring your own device] and IoT [Internet of Things] devices being linked to corporate networks."

Managed devices experienced the most security tragedies, instead of increased investment in managed security technologies. Managed end-user computers yielded the greatest network-based security tragedies, with approximately one-third of companies in the U.S., 19% in the U.K. and 50% in Germany reporting 5 or more.

Managed servers also served as gateways for attack in 27% of industries in the U.S., 19% in the U.K. and 36% in Germany. The survey recommended that this is leading to low consumer confidence in security agents being deployed.

Value Based Healthcare Transition Spurs Innovative Chances for Industry People

With Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabling a huge array of applications, healthcare agencies have been eager to layer their existing lines of business with AI-based facilities. While pharma agencies have been searching tools for tracking the effectiveness of therapeutics, imaging agencies have been augmenting the interpretability of scans through cognitive pattern interpretation.

Latest analysis from Frost & Sullivan, 2016 Global Outlook for the Healthcare Industry seeks the industry was worth $1.58 billion in the year 2015 and estimates this to reach $1.68 billion in the year 2016, progressing at a rate of 6.9%.

Nearly 24% of users presently use mobile apps to track health and wellness, 16% use wearable sensors and 29% use electronic personal health records. Primarily, 47% of users reported they would think about using wearables in the near future, prompting technology developers to design wearables with advanced sensing, capture and analytical functionalities. The gathered data from wearables are gaining relevancy through AI facilitated patient guidance and coaching.

Meanwhile, the healthcare agency has become more consumer-oriented and transparent with rating networks, incentives, penalties as well as online reviews for contributors and physicians.