Innovation in the healthcare sector

On behalf of Kaufhold & Dix Patent Law posted in Patent Law on Thursday, July 6, 2017.

There can be many different aims an inventor may have for a new technological innovation they have developed. This includes to address challenges present in a particular field.

In addition to wider goals for their invention for a given field and society, an inventor may have many goals and hopes for what the invention will do for their particular financial situation and future. Among the things that can have impacts on these sorts of goals is whether an inventor is able to get intellectual property protection, such as patent protection, for their invention. So, when an inventor comes up with a new technological innovation, among the things they may wish to talk with a lawyer about are whether their innovation would be eligible for patent protection and what the process of pursuing such protection would entail.

One field that could be seeing a fair amount of new technological developments is the healthcare field.

The healthcare field in the U.S. could be seeing some big shifts and changes in upcoming years. The already high levels of healthcare spending in the country are expected to rise even higher. In 2015, healthcare spending in the U.S. totaled out to around 17.8 percent of the country’s GDP. By 2025, this percentage could be up to almost 20 percent, according to some estimates.

This and other shifts and factors could create both challenges and opportunities within this sector. Innovation could end up playing a big role in how the sector adjusts to these shifts. There has been a fair amount of entrepreneur activity in the healthcare tech field in recent years. A range of new technologies have started to make a presence in the healthcare sector. This includes: artificial intelligence, virtual technology and technology related to merging digital and biological intelligence. And the presence and sophistication of such technologies could be poised to grow significantly in upcoming years.

One wonders how much in new technologies, including patentable new technologies, will end up arising in the U.S. healthcare sector in upcoming years. One also wonders how effective these new technologies will be at addressing challenges and creating new opportunities in the sector.

Source: Forbes, “Innovation Is Set To Revamp Healthcare,” Alexandro Pando, July 6, 2017