US investment in IT-based medical care "Digital Health" Doubled with Corona 4:31 on May 31st

While the demand for medical treatment utilizing IT technology such as online medical treatment is increasing due to the influence of the new coronavirus, the amount of investment in these fields has reached US $ 3.1 billion since the beginning of this year, doubling from the same period last year. I knew it was going up.

Due to the spread of new coronavirus infection, demand for a field called "digital health" that utilizes IT technology for medical treatment, such as online medical treatment that reduces the risk of infection when receiving medical examination at a medical institution, is globally needed, including Japan. It is expanding.

According to RockHealth, an investment company that specializes in investment in the digital health field, the amount of investment in start-up companies in this field in the United States was 3.1 billion dollars in the first quarter of this year, about 33 billion yen in Japanese yen. It became a circle.

That's almost double what it was last year, nearly half of the $ 7.4 billion invested last year.

Especially in the United States, the number of users has increased significantly as the government and insurance companies announced that they will bear part of the cost of online medical treatment, and the American research company "Frost & Sullivan" this month is for this year. We have revised upward the market size growth rate in fields such as online medical care to 64.3%, which is almost double the initial forecast.

Frost & Sullivan Greg Caressi, Senior Vice President, told NHK in an interview, "Online medical care had many challenges, such as deregulation, but how did they actually use it in the long run? I would like to keep an eye on whether or not it will grow, "he said, saying that demand may expand further.