📈#008: The path consumer healthcare disruption is taking next

Welcome to another global intelligence briefing of Market Mosaic by Rwazi. We are excited you have continued reading our cutting-edge market insights and global economic trends. 📈 Thank you for also filling out our survey in the previous week.

In this week's edition, we explore the consumerisation of healthcare catalysed by digital disruption. From the mainstreaming of virtual care models disrupting clinic experiences to pharmacy disruptors leveraging e-commerce for medication delivery, we dive into the key trends governing how consumers access and manage their health. ⚕️

Let's dive into these insights together!

— Insights Team, Rwazi

Our Edition this week:

• Data Spotlight

• The Pulse

• Sector Scan

• Our Competitive Watch

DATA SPOTLIGHT
Consumers embrace virtual care with integrated experiences

The COVID-19 pandemic catalysed a groundbreaking consumer behaviour shift towards virtual healthcare delivery models. Rwazi analysed that, amid the lockdowns, over 68% of consumers globally utilised telemedicine for the first time across primary care consultations, chronic condition management, mental health services and other use cases.

While virtual care emerged as a necessity during the crisis, there's no going back in terms of convenience and accessibility expectations. About 82% of those who have experienced telemedicine say they expect to increase or at least maintain the same usage of virtual options post-pandemic. Key drivers include responsiveness, time savings versus in-person visits, and enhanced access to clinicians regardless of geography. 🩺

However, consumer expectations around virtual care experiences are rapidly evolving beyond just clinic video calls. 62% want seamless virtual and in-person care pathways integrated into a unified app interface with portable personal health data and records. 🏥

As virtual care models become mainstream globally, healthcare providers and players must urgently reimagine entire patient journeys into omnichannel digital experiences similar to modern e-commerce and fintech apps. Adding virtual services as separate features won't create a truly valuable experience for consumers and capture loyalty.

Key Insight: Virtual healthcare is no longer a novelty. Easy access and convenience are now expected by patients who want their healthcare experience to be seamlessly integrated with digital tools.

THE PULSE
Featured Chart: Emerging markets outpacing developed nations in health app adoption 📱

SECTOR SCAN
Disruptors are doubling down on tech and convenience 

While traditional healthcare providers play catch-up on integrated digital experiences, disruptors are aggressively capitalising on evolving consumer expectations around medication access and delivery convenience.

Leveraging e-commerce logistics expertise, real-time inventory visibility and vertically integrated telehealth triage services, these players have scaled home delivery of prescriptions, over-the-counter medicines and wellness products across emerging markets in North America, Europe and Africa.  

Startups like Capsule, Nurx and Ro have amassed millions of digitally-native consumers by bundling online telehealth video consults with e-prescribing capabilities and free same-day/on-demand prescription delivery into mobile-first experiences. These disruptors are deliberately targeting millennial and Gen Z demographics with services tailored for birth control, dermatology, ED and other sensitive use cases via discrete virtual channels.

Legacy pharmacies face intense pressure to modernise supply chains for e-commerce fulfilment, digitise patient experiences, and interface with virtual care offerings to retain customers and increase volume share. 💊

Key Insight: The digitisation of healthcare experiences is no longer optional but a strategic imperative in the era of the sovereign health consumer.

OUR COMPETITIVE WATCH
Big Techs muscle into consumer data fronts of healthcare

As new players aggressively enter the market, consumer technology giants like Apple, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are investing billions to control emerging digital health battlegrounds and capture unprecedented healthcare data streams — the fuel for AI and personalised health management services. ➕

Apple has made the boldest pro-privacy play by incentivising over 1 billion consumers to centralise previously fragmented health data pipelines like medical records, wearable sensors, at-home diagnostics and nutrition into its tightly integrated health app ecosystem. This vertically controlled data funnel provides unparalleled visibility into chronic conditions, ageing trends, wellness routines and more towards enabling personalised subscription services and healthcare innovations built atop privacy-preserving analytics. 

For healthcare brands and incumbents, differentiating against Big Techs’ resources and consumer health pays will require fundamentally rethinking how value is created. Vertical integration, AI/ML-powered services, owning healthcare data pipelines and controlling digital front doors may become way more.

Key Insight: Big tech is aggressively manoeuvring to disrupt healthcare by controlling the digital vantage points of consumer data — creating new competitive frictions and opportunities.

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT RWAZI?
ICYMI: Feature on Jobtech Alliance

We were featured on Jobtech Alliance. Together, we are empowering African youth and businesses, as their expertise helps us expand our reach. This collaboration unlocks valuable insights for companies while creating a network of paid data collection opportunities. You can read the feature here.

Thank you for reading and joining us on Market Mosaic this week. We hope this edition provides valuable, actionable insights for deciding with data. 📊 

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