In the U.S., healthcare is a $2.8 trillion-per-year industry. Now, new entrants into the market are poised to siphon billions away from traditional healthcare providers, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report.
According to the report, 14 of 2013's Fortune 50 companies are traditional healthcare providers. Twenty-four are new entrants to the market, including technology, retail and telecommunications companies that have begun to encroach on the healthcare industry. For example, Wal-Mart Stores, which holds the top spot on the Fortune list, has recently partnered with Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente to open in-store micro-clinics that offer basic diagnostic services and telemedicine connections to physicians.
Areas likely to see a growth in new players include the burgeoning retail clinic market, price and quality transparency solutions and health and fitness tools. Wearable makers such as Nike, Fitbit and Jawbone are already expanding into the $267 billion fitness and wellness market.
"As the health sector's center of gravity shifts toward customers, savvy new players are moving fast to capitalize on the change," said Vaughn Kauffman, a principal at PwCHealth Industries, in a press release. "Within a decade, the health and wellness business will look and feel like other consumer-oriented, technology-enabled industries — retail, banking, publishing and music."
The healthcare industry does have several hurdles that have traditionally hindered new entrants — HIPAA regulations and a third-party payer system being two of the most prominent. However, the sheer size of the market and consumer interest in innovative, efficient healthcare solutions will spur more nonhealthcare companies to join the market for their piece of the $2.8 trillion pie, according to the report.
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