Unlocking Growth in 2025: 5 Healthcare Trends to Watch and Act On
📌 Follow the Full Series: “5 Healthcare Trends to Watch and Act On”
This article sets the stage for five major healthcare trends that will shape 2025. Below, you’ll find a high-level overview of each trend, providing insights for health tech vendors, health plans, and PE/VC investors looking to stay ahead of industry shifts.
For those who want to go deeper, I’ve published a dedicated article on each trend. The links can be found below.
🔹 Read the full overview below for a strategic snapshot of all five trends. Then, explore the deep dives as they go live:
1️⃣ Trend 1: Data Security Becomes a Competitive Advantage
2️⃣ Trend 2: Data Interoperability Becomes the Backbone of Healthcare
3️⃣ Trend 3: Advanced Risk Stratification and Predictive Analytics
4️⃣ Trend 4: Addressing Health Equity Through Social Determinants of Health
5️⃣ Trend 5: Value-Based Care (VBC) Drives Innovation
In 2025, healthcare is undergoing a seismic shift, driven by new technologies and strategies tackling the industry's most pressing challenges. At the forefront of these changes are health plans, health tech vendors, private equity (PE), and venture capital (VC) investors, all playing pivotal roles in shaping the future. While these trends may not be revolutionary for industry insiders, the real competitive advantage lies in execution—delivering meaningful impact within the trend rather than merely acknowledging it in their marketing buzzwords.
This article is the first in a six-part series that dives deep into these trends. Subscribe today to receive each of the next five articles that will explore one trend in greater detail, tailored to provide actionable insights for health plans, health tech vendors, and PE/VC investors. Stay tuned for a closer look at how to:
Prioritize data security as a competitive advantage.
Harness data interoperability to break down silos and unlock actionable insights.
Leverage predictive analytics to identify and mitigate risks proactively.
Integrate social determinants of health (SDoH) into care strategies for better outcomes.
Transition to value-based care (VBC) models that align incentives with outcomes.
Once the series is complete, this article will include links to each of the detailed follow-up articles for easy reference.
Here are the top five trends redefining healthcare technology in 2025—and how bold, proactive execution can drive transformative growth and outcomes for those ready to act.
1. Data Security Becomes a Competitive Advantage
With the rise in healthcare data breaches and tightening regulations, data security is no longer just a compliance requirement—it’s a differentiator. Organizations that prioritize robust cybersecurity measures are not only protecting their members but also gaining a competitive edge in the market.
What’s at stake: A single breach can devastate member trust, damage reputations, and lead to costly fines. In an era where health plans and vendors increasingly rely on data-driven solutions, failing to secure sensitive information is a risk no organization can afford.
How to get ahead:
Health Plans: Prioritize vendors with strong cybersecurity measures and proactive compliance solutions. Include clear security expectations in RFPs and vendor evaluations to raise the bar across the industry.
Health Tech Vendors: Differentiate by building tools that secure sensitive data without compromising functionality or ease of use. Highlight these capabilities in your value propositions to instill confidence in prospective clients.
Investors: Focus on companies that integrate privacy and security directly into their offerings. Look for those that treat data security as an enabler of growth, not just a cost center.
2. Data Interoperability Becomes the Backbone of Healthcare
Healthcare is drowning in fragmented data. Siloed systems, outdated technology, and limited cross-platform communication have long hindered progress. However, in 2025, CMS regulations are forcing the industry to prioritize interoperability—not just as a compliance mandate but as a competitive advantage.
What’s at stake: Without seamless data sharing, health plans can’t deliver holistic care, vendor solutions can’t be fully utilized, and PE-backed portfolios can be stifled. Fragmentation costs health plans millions annually in avoidable inefficiencies and missed opportunities. Worse, it causes preventable lapses in medical care, often to those who need it most.
How to get ahead:
Health Plans: Use interoperability to unlock value from your data—this means rethinking workflows, internal processes, and vendor interactions - not just upgrading technology.
Health Tech Vendors: Increase the range of data formats and datasets you can ingest. Move beyond aggregation to deliver actionable insights and real-time alerts for care managers.
Investors: Look for companies building "interoperability-as-a-service" platforms that reduce development costs for plans and vendors while scaling across diverse ecosystems.
3. Advanced Risk Stratification and Predictive Analytics
AI and machine learning are no longer buzzwords—they’re table stakes. I’ve shared my concerns about AI erroneously being commoditized by loud marketing with little application. The real value of AI lies in how health plans and vendors use these tools to identify risks, prevent costly interventions, and improve member outcomes.
What’s at stake: Failure to adopt predictive analytics means missed opportunities for early intervention, higher costs, and stagnant growth. Poorly utilized technology (AI or otherwise) often results in wasted resources and diminished trust.
How to get ahead:
Health Plans: Deploy predictive tools that target specific high-cost conditions like diabetes or heart disease, enabling early and focused interventions.
Health Tech Vendors: Overhaul current data analytics and dashboards/reporting and build solutions that ingest and analyze a wider aperture of claims, clinical, and social data while leveraging AI and machine learning to identify patterns and trends.
Investors: Prioritize companies combining AI with clear, tangible use cases for chronic condition management, cost containment, and risk stratification that support decision-making at a population level.
4. Addressing Health Equity Through Social Determinants of Health (SDoH)
The gap between care delivery and community needs is closing, with health plans embracing social determinants of health (SDoH) as a core strategy. This goes beyond goodwill—it’s about improving star ratings, reducing readmissions, and enhancing member satisfaction.
What’s at stake: Plans that fail to address housing, food insecurity, and transportation barriers will see costs rise and member trust erode. Members facing barriers are more likely to skip preventive care and experience poor outcomes.
How to get ahead:
Health Plans: Implement processes to collect and analyze real-time SDoH data at the member level.
Health Tech Vendors: Embed predictive models into care workflows to flag members with critical SDoH risks before they escalate.
Investors: Focus on companies creating solutions that seamlessly integrate SDoH data with clinical and claims data for actionable insights.
5. Value-Based Care (VBC) Drives Innovation
Value-based care isn’t new, but 2025 marks a critical turning point. CMS and payors are accelerating the shift to value-based care to address a growing conundrum: how to support an expanding and aging population with fewer resources, all while facing increasing public scrutiny over the quality of care.
What’s at stake: Those who can’t deliver on outcomes risk losing contracts, members, and credibility. Value-based Care also requires significant investments in data infrastructure and member engagement strategies.
How to get ahead:
Health Plans: Embed VBC principles into all aspects of operations, from contracting to care delivery. Focus on metrics that align with member satisfaction and cost reduction.
Health Tech Vendors: Develop dashboards that simplify VBC reporting and highlight real-time performance against key metrics.
Investors: Target startups enabling VBC through data analytics or patient engagement platforms with proven success stories.
The Road Ahead
For health plans, vendors, and investors, the future of healthcare isn’t just about technology—it’s about outcomes, equity, and trust. Those who move beyond buzzwords and deliver real, measurable impact will lead the industry forward.
This article is just the beginning. Future articles in this series will dive deeper into each trend, providing in-depth strategies and tips tailored to your needs. Subscribe to the Upward Growth Substack to stay ahead of these trends and access actionable insights as they’re published. Don’t miss the chance to lead with knowledge and gain a competitive edge in navigating healthcare.
Want to Go Deeper? Explore the Full Series
If you found this overview valuable, don’t stop here. I’m breaking down each trend in greater detail, offering insights, implications, and actionable takeaways for health tech vendors, health plans, and PE/VC investors.
1️⃣ Trend 1: Data Security Becomes a Competitive Advantage
2️⃣ Trend 2: Data Interoperability Becomes the Backbone of Healthcare
3️⃣ Trend 3: Advanced Risk Stratification and Predictive Analytics
4️⃣ Trend 4: Addressing Health Equity Through Social Determinants of Health
5️⃣ Trend 5: Value-Based Care (VBC) Drives Innovation
🚀 Stay ahead of the curve—each article will be linked here as it's published.
📣 Support this work
This newsletter runs on real-world insight and real conversations. If it’s helping you pitch, position, or close smarter, you can now support the work.
→ Become a supporter