Here are 10 more things that piqued our interest at HBI 2019, where sector stakeholders from payors to investors come together to grapple with the biggest and most interesting issues of the year.

1. 90% of all healthcare data has been created in the last two years…

… which is an awful lot for doctors to keep track of. HBI’s ‘AI & Big Data’ session discussed how artificial intelligence can help analyse raw data and keep medical professionals up to date with the latest advances in medicine.

2. Integrated payor/provider models are the vehicle through which to deliver pay-for-quality

Such models can more easily provide a full care pathway, instead of focusing on acute and leaving long-term care to the state. They also give the payor more power over quality control, which is an issue for payors wanting to implement value-based care.

3. Despite the healthcare sector remaining a stable sector to invest in…

… deals are taking longer to complete and 40% of all sales fell through last year – though having been pulled out on by a potential buyer no longer taints an asset like it used to.

4. There are huge, untapped markets if you know where to look

AI in China where there is much less regulation to restrict providers, dentistry in India where 60-80,000 practices remain unconsolidated and the average Indian visits the doctor five times in his lifetime, and IVF in Uzbekistan, the most populous country in Central Asia, where a small private market targets the middle class.

5. Lab technicians are often much better at knowing which tests to order than doctors

And moves are being made to better integrate them into the Netherlands and Germany.

6.  Russia has become easier to do business in than Turkey, India and China…

… and investors at the Russia and CIS session were keen to point out high margins and growth rates in the sector. Diagnostic specialist KDL saw growth of 28% last year, and hospital group EMC had margins of 40%.

7. If you want to get spending right, look to Israel

It spends 7% of its GDP on healthcare compared to 17% in the USA, but people live on average two years longer. 40% of Clalit’s spend is on primary care.

8. Telehealth appeals to the healthy

Despite anecdotal evidence to the contrary, telehealth often appeals to the young and worried well while telehealth innovations are often more attractive to entrepreneurs than patients.

9. The digital money mirage

For all the talk of digital and AI, returns remain a mirage. They promise much – but many of the biggest names have yet to turn a profit from them.

10. Public payors spend significantly less on radiotherapy than chemotherapy