We’re a quarter into the new year, and wellness is already off to the races. We at The Starr Conspiracy are keeping a close eye on the industry as it continues to twist and turn through 2016. Here are three interesting wellness trends to watch this year.
- The wellness industry continues to consolidate. We’ve written about this. Extensively. Wellness acquisitions are becoming commonplace for niche players and large companies alike.
- Healthy living incentives are steadily increasing. A recent Healthcare Trends Institute study revealed that the number of employers offering a healthy living incentive program increased from 29.8 percent to 34.6 percent in 2015. The study also revealed that 44.6 percent of employers offer at least one type of wellness program, 31 percent of employers offer biometric screenings, and about 30 percent offer an opportunity for health risk management. As more companies continue to grasp the importance of health and wellness for their employees, the industry will only continue to grow.
- Technology companies are interested in tracking patients’ behavior in real time. More than two dozen companies are developing digital technology to monitor patients’ vital signs, get them to take their pills, and release medication into their body as needed, according to a recent STAT article. For some companies, this could mean access to more personal health data than ever before (you know, pending legal and ethical discourse, of course). Putting more data in the hands of patients could theoretically help them take better care of themselves. It’ll be interesting to see how the health and wellness industry plays into this technology as it continues to develop.
Of course, this isn’t everything happening in wellness right now. There’s still plenty going on that we haven’t covered. What are you paying attention to in wellness? Let us know in the comments.
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