Dramatic advances in artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies mean that healthcare is about to experience its next major revolution. With a number of clients in the industry we’ve pulled together the trends likely to transform this sector in 2025.
AI is leading the change charge
ChatGPT burst onto the scene in late 2023, showing the unprecedented power of large language models. AI can analyse vast amounts of data in next to no time. In healthcare this is producing incredible breakthroughs in the early detection and diagnosis of illnesses from cancer to heart disease. Using an individual’s personal data, generative AI is paving the way towards bespoke treatments tailored to an individual’s unique health profile.
More broadly, with vast amounts of data and its ability to undertake lighting quick analysis, AI is expected to help future healthcare systems better plan for, and respond to, new global challenges such as pandemics, ageing populations, or large-scale crises caused by conflicts or environmental disasters.
Health tech is here to stay
Last year, the Harvard Technology Review asked whether ‘robotics was having its ChatGPT moment’?[1] In healthcare, expect to see next-generation robots increasingly able to perform routine tasks with incredible precision, improving patient outcomes.
Other technologies, from our phones to wearable devices such as fitness trackers and smart watches, are making it easier for remote and mobility challenged patients to manage their own healthcare in collaboration with medical professionals, without always needing physical appointments.
Health tech is driving increased telehealth
Linked to the rapid advance of AI and health tech is a huge growth in telehealth, helping to reduce the strain that we increasingly see on hospitals, and this is expected to rise further in 2025. Big data, and AI’s ability to analyse it in real time improves remote patient monitoring, allowing people to benefit from higher standards of care and a better and more personal service outside of hospitals.
This type of virtual care became a hallmark during COVID-19. Today, video consultations allow medical professionals to reach more people, improving equity of access to a level of care that was previously only possible in a hospital.
Unlocking the secrets of the human genome
An exciting trend to watch in 2025 is advanced genomic research. Machine learning and the development of research tools, such as AI powered virtual cells, are unlocking new insights into diseases at a molecular level.
This understanding of foundational genetic mechanisms and the development of various diseases is set to spur the development of new, personalized treatments tailored to the unique genetic profiles of patients. Expect to see this area of medical research boom to the end of the decade and beyond.
The intersection of AI, health and sustainability
Climate and environmental issues already impact the health of people today, yet, at the same time, the global health industry has a significant carbon footprint, contributing to climate change. AI is beginning to help healthcare organisations streamline their supply chains and operations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
A growing trend in 2025 will be the adoption by healthcare providers of AI for applications beyond medicine, such as analytics around energy consumption, supply chain efficiency and waste disposal practices in order to streamline and improve them.
Expect the unexpected
As the global healthcare sector continues to transform at an incredible pace, we can expect to see many more trends develop as AI and robotics capabilities enable possibilities we can only imagine today.
We are continually scanning the horizon for changes in trends and applying these to the marketing communication campaigns we design and implement for our clients. Contact our team to learn how we can support your business.
