Since 2020, companies related to the HealthCare industry have significantly accelerated its development and digitization due to pandemics. For this reason, HealthTech and MedTech products have gained much popularity. Due to lockdowns, now more consumers go online than ever, and human health has become a matter of the utmost importance. That is why we need the support of technology. But what exactly do HealthTech and MedTech mean, how do they differ, and when should we use them? People are often confused by these two terms, so let me explain them to you.
What is HealthTech?
When it comes to HealthTech, this term is mostly focused on the technology that helps deal with people’s personal health. The devices measure your data and then give you feedback about it. They aim to improve health through prevention methods and monitoring. However, they don’t focus on the treatment itself. HealthTech includes, for example, telehealth, wearable items, or remote monitoring. It’s about tools or apps that people can use themselves to improve their health without visiting the hospital or any medical facility. It includes any technological solutions related to HealthTech that can be delivered or consumed outside of the hospital.
What is MedTech?
In contrast to HealthTech, MedTech is about technology-based apps or devices that can be used inside the hospital. This sector focuses on treatment, diagnosis, patient care, and health improvement. MedTech is a part of HealTech that takes care of issues’ therapeutic and diagnostic parts. It consists of medical machinery, software, devices, and tools. Its purpose is to cure patients better thanks to quicker, more precise analysis, harmless surgeries, less invasive controls, and more. Devices used in MedTech are the equipment that we all know well from the doctor’s office: stethoscopes, inhalers, thermometers, gloves, and similar.
In summary, the main differences between the two terms are that one of them – HealthTech – is used outside the hospital for personal and preventive care of patients, monitoring, giving feedback, and insights. On the other hand, MedTech is applied inside the hospital to treat, diagnose, and improve people’s lives through specialistic apparatus like, for example, artificial parts of the body. HealthTech is implemented through different forms of technology like wearables, applications, or databases, whereas MedTech is through medical equipment, prosthesis, and tools. Although, there’s one aspect where they are similar: both types connect technology with healthcare.
3 popular HealthTech products
Mirror
This product is a true innovation. It’s an interactive mirror that acts like a home gym and a personal trainer that motivates you to work out. The item measures and displays your performance metrics and details about signals from your body, like, for example, heart rate data. Also, it tracks your progress over time and shows you your total health score at the end. This product must be the future of fitness.
MonjHealth
MonjHealth is a digital nutrition app that improves how we cook, eat and connect. The company was founded by a group of chefs, doctors, nutritionists, and IT professionals to help people lead healthy lifestyles. The app consists of different programs such as food plans, personal coaching and support groups, digital lessons for mind, body, and spirit, and a plan of daily exercises.
Muse
Muse is a product from the wearables category. It’s a brain-sensing headband that uses your biofeedback and measures your brain activity to help you calm during your sleep and guide you into restful sleep. The headband translates your brain signals into the sounds of weather – the weather gets louder when your brain is active and becomes peaceful when your mind is calm. You can also connect the product with an app and monitor your progress through more profound insights.
3 popular MedTech products
Labplus
Labplus is one of our clients from the HealthCare industry. It’s a system that enables automatic diagnosis based on laboratory results and personalized medical history. Together we developed an app through which patients can buy their desired tests in a selected laboratory. The examination results are sent to your smartphone and analyzed according to an algorithm developed by IT specialists and doctors. The National Centre for Research and Development has appreciated the product. You can read the complete case study here.
Hematologist’s Calculator
It’s an app designed for doctors to help determine factors for patient treatment. It consists of 12 calculators where specialists enter the data to calculate factors like creatinine clearance or risk of neutropenia. New users have to type the number of their medical licenses to register for the app.
Touch Surgery
Touch Surgery is an AR-based tool intended for medical professionals to learn and practice conducting surgeries thanks to the simulations. The product helps them to do it safely and accurately via an interactive simulator. Thanks to a practical guide that shows all the steps and procedures, they can train themselves in safe conditions. The product brings a medical revolution to the world.
Combining health with technology – why is it important?
Nowadays, taking care of health has become an extremely important matter. The introduction of technology plays a crucial role in this. Fresh MedTech startups and new HealthTech solutions bring many innovations to the world that some time ago would have been impossible. Investing in digital health and medical devices has become crucial these days. According to StartUp Health’s 2020 Midyear Funding Report, the total funding for health innovation in the first half of 2020 hit $9.1B. Compared to the same period in 2019, it increased almost by 19%. The first quarter of 2020 was the most-funded quarter on record for health innovation. And still, the health technology market continues to thrive. Thanks to technological solutions applied to healthcare, clinicians have access to more information and better quality data, and that brings better outcomes. From a broader perspective, this can condense the drug development time and reduce the time to market. It also increases the level of personalized medical services instead of a one-size-fits-all model. Development and investment in that industry are significant.
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Talk to us!HealthTech and MedTech don’t mean the same thing
Both terms are connected to the same industry, and both take advantage of technology to improve it. However, remember not to use them interchangeably since they have slightly different purposes. I hope this article has made it clear to you. By the way, last year, Applover was recognized as one of the Top HealthCare Developers in 2021 by the Tech Reviewer. If you’d like to develop your own revolutionary digital healthcare solution – see our Healthcare software development services and just talk to us.
