As we prepare for a new year and new administration, change is in the air, necessitating an opportunity to rethink marketing and communications strategies in 2025. We had the opportunity to have a lively and informative discussion with reputable healthcare industry journalists during a recent virtual panel, Future of Healthcare – What Will this Evolution Look Like in 2025? Joined by Gabe Perna, digital health editor at Modern Healthcare, Laura Lovett, senior editor of Behavioral Health Business, and Reporter Marissa Plescia with MedCity News, we discussed their insights on the future of the healthcare industry in 2025, how predictive market shifts and trends will impact their editorial content and reporting in the new year, and tips on how best to work with them to secure impactful media coverage for your clients.
Watch List: 2025 Healthcare Market Trends
Autonomous AI
- Tools for Transcribing: Workflow tools, such as transcription services, are where the panelists predict the industry will see a surge of AI use. This will quickly be followed by AI assisting with care via AI chat bots as seen within the behavioral health sector. Currently, many of these AI chat bots are being utilized for lower acuity cases and perhaps being labeled as “wellness” verses “care” due to regulatory challenges, but will be interesting to see if higher acuity cases will lean into AI in the new year.
- Payers’ and Providers’ Interest: While payers and providers alike are excited about the benefits of AI integration, they are being pragmatic about how quickly they are implementing. Rather, they are tackling the low-hanging fruit, such as administrative tasks and companion chat bots, that are not specific for clinical care or providing medical advice.
Mental Health
- VBC Paradigm: Value-base care (VBC) conversations continue to be top-of-mind, especially when it comes to how mental health fits into the larger VBC paradigm. How will behavioral health companies show their worth in improving patient outcomes?
- Digital Youth Behavioral Health: Funding continues to grow within the pediatric behavioral health sector. In fact, investors are beginning to transition their focus to mental health companies specifically designed for youth, rather than those prioritizing adults at the onset.
- Medicaid Population Gap: To date, there has been an unmet need when it comes to mental health support for the Medicaid population, but this is changing. The new year should bring a surge in mental health companies expanding their focus to this group.
Women’s Health
- Data-Forward Companies: With maternal health and fertility continuing to be a focus for investors, it is the women’s health companies leading with data who are creating all the buzz. As such, there is an anticipated shift in women’s health companies moving away from prioritizing personal stories and leaning into data to help validate the targeted condition and the financial impact of the condition on the healthcare industry at large. Ultimately, we will see companies utilizing data to help validate their mission and, in turn, secure sought-after funding.
- Partnerships to Form Holistic Offerings: In 2025 we will begin to see an influx of companies partnering to build integrated care offering to address the lifecycle of a woman’s health journey. Leading women’s health companies are beginning to emphasize their holistic offerings are from “birth to death”, not just at certain life stages. This evolution will be well received by buyers looking for an entire platform of offerings rather than a multitude of point solutions to contract with.
Securing the Ink: How Best to Engage Reporters
How to break through the pitching clutter is always a challenge for communications professionals. Outside of ensuring you are armed with data, spokespeople and a contrarian angle to pique further interest, here are a few other key takeaways:
- Timeliness: While offering data and the C-suite’s perspective is helpful, it is not a differentiator. It is more about pitching a reporter on a topic that is relevant and timely to what they are working on at any given moment. Timing is indeed the most crucial element when pitching journalists, but also one that is difficult to control, so remain nimble.
- Exclusives: Despite “exclusive” still being a buzz word with communications professionals, the term no longer has the prestige with reporters as it once did. Ensure your exclusive pitch is specific to the reporter and the interests of their audience. What does warrant an exclusive? Funding news, certainly, but also commentary from investors and partners in addition to the C-suite perspective.
- Preferred Pitching Channel: Email is the preferred method of communication with journalists. All reporters are consistently on this medium for accessibility purposes, enabling them to easily share received pitches with editorial teams for consideration, and reporters can reference pitches efficiently at any given moment. Caveat: If you already have an established relationship with a reporter, text messaging is a great way for a friendly “nudge” or to bump your pitch top-of-mind.
We hope the takeaways from this compelling, predictive discussion on what the future of healthcare might look like in the new year will help to better inform you on how to optimize your communications strategy and most effectively execute for impact (full panel recording can be watched, here).
Breaking through the noise can be challenging. If you’re interested in learning more about V2 and our offerings to ensure you stand out in a crowded market in 2025, reach out to [email protected]. We will also be at #ViVE and #HIMSS and would love to find time to connect on the show floor, so don’t hesitate. Happy Holidays!