The trends shaping the future of the healthtech space: a view from Proximie

We spoke to Proximie's leadership team to discover the key trends that will drive the growth of the healthtech sector in 2024.

The Operating System of the Operating Room: how surgery will become more data-driven in 2024. Dr. Nadine Hachach-Haram FRCS (Plast), BEM, CEO and Founder of Proximie.

“For Proximie, we are focused on improving productivity and patient safety by creating an operating system for the operating room. By embracing technologies such as AI and machine learning – two of the most exciting technologies set to have a significant impact on healthcare – this goal is now achievable. At Proximie, we can see a 2024 where AI minimises errors, optimises efficiency, and revolutionises patient care and global healthcare accessibility.

“For Proximie, we are focused on improving productivity and patient safety by creating an operating system for the operating room.”

“I truly believe we are going to see significant strides in the evolution of the once analogue environment of the operating room in 2024, because we simply can’t afford not to. The days of relying on manually recorded data and written records of surgeries must become a thing of the past. Major challenges face today’s healthcare systems. These include workforce retention, patient safety, increasing demand, either from waiting lists or population growth, and tighter budgets. Every healthcare system needs to do more, with less, but how do we achieve greater productivity in an area of healthcare as analogue as the operating room? By inherently understanding the system and its pain points, we can collectively drive change in any given system. Proximie is really at the forefront of this systemic change in how we collectively deliver healthcare globally.

“At a product-level, we recently announced the launch of our first Software Development Kit (SDK) – a blueprint for the first operating system of the Operating Room (OR). Where previously these medical devices would sit in a siloed environment and would operate on separate infrastructures, Proximie’s SDK now becomes the central digital conduit to unite the unique powers of every new and existing technology within any given OR.

“As we become the operating system of the OR, Proximie will continue to spur innovation and efficiencies across the healthcare ecosystem. By bringing this data and analysis together and by playing these insights back into the healthcare systems from which they came, we can truly democratise healthcare - from high-end to one-bed hospitals.”

How Generative AI will inform Healthcare practices in 2024
Richard Carter, Chief Technology Officer at Proximie.

“Artificial Intelligence (AI) mimics human behaviour in completing a task, for example in using computer vision to identify and label objects. Generative AI (GenAI) is any AI that creates something new at the end - usually a document, picture or audio. GenAI has three important immediate use cases in healthcare:

1. To relieve humans of often tedious, repetitive yet necessary tasks.

2. To understand humans’ intentions and create instructions that can be understood by a computer on how to carry them out.

3. To monitor data in real-time and create information based on that data for humans to consume at the point in time it’s created.

“Examples for each include generating an operation note, converting human language requests for data into a specific database query, and providing suggestions or taking action when the AI encounters situations that are outside what’s expected (for example, if a procedure is taking longer, to alert upstream that the next patient should be delayed, or even that a more senior surgeon should attend).

“Proximie’s product spans all of these capabilities, based on Proximie’s best in class secure and compliant data capture, aggregation and analysis platform. These capabilities will be accessible through Proximie’s SDK or existing APIs both for clean and robust integration into health systems, and for device manufacturers to safely and securely include them in their own platforms.”

“These capabilities will be accessible through Proximie’s SDK or existing APIs both for clean and robust integration into health systems, and for device manufacturers to safely and securely include them in their own platforms.”

Digital Transformation: From buzzword to reality.
Victoria Hatcher, VP Global Marketing and Sales (EU) at Proximie.  

“Digital transformation is a powerful concept that’s on the rise across healthcare systems and in virtually every sector of industry and global government policy imaginable. The potential for positive impact on outcomes and efficiency is immense, but all too often the underlying infrastructure necessary for digital transformation is absent. At Proximie, we know the only way we can begin to turn the concept of digital transformation from a buzzword phrase into reality, is for us to firstly deeply understand that every single clinical setting’s state of digital maturity is different, and then secondly, to really articulate the true meaning of what digital transformation means to them.

“It’s important for us to show, not tell. We demonstrate the effects of the transformation and we explain it to people in a way they can understand. We know that the concept of the digital transformation is fundamentally based on connectivity, which varies in every single hospital setting around the world. Our ultimate aim is to provide a simple, elegant solution for connectivity where the user experience is always seamless and, crucially, where the connectivity is always scalable and secure.

“Our ultimate aim is to provide a simple, elegant solution for connectivity where the user experience is always seamless and, crucially, where the connectivity is always scalable and secure.”

“A lot of Proximie’s focus has been around making the whole process of surgical care delivery more streamlined and more data-driven – key examples being the deployment of Proximie's SDK and earlier in the year, our secure wireless cameras with the PxKit and our wearable smart glasses, the PxLens. Acceptance gets easier when usability feels natural. Everything we build at Proximie is with interoperability and users in mind.

“The beauty of Proximie is that it holds value for every single person in any given health ecosystem; from trainees who can gain remote access to the OR to improve their skills; to surgeons being able to share their expertise in real-time; from OR managers being able to improve workflow and productivity; right through to the C-suite where we can demonstrate improved efficiency and financial ROI. It helps that our founder and CEO is a surgeon; we are led by first hand experiences of the needs of the OR, and how best to meet them.”  

How will Proximie deliver ROI in the OR in 2024?
Oleg Bodiul, Chief Financial Officer at Proximie.  

“In the complex ecosystem of a hospital, Operating Rooms (ORs) stand out as both vital centres of care and substantial cost centres. Surgical interventions are pivotal in healthcare, yet ORs are among the most expensive and resource-intensive areas of a hospital, partly driven by workflow inefficiencies, procedure variability, staff turnover and shortage. This status quo is not sustainable.

“There is tremendous scope for improvement. Reducing costs and increasing revenue needn’t be a vague aspiration in 2024. Through our innovative technology, Proximie is determined to make efficiency improvements an achievable aim by aggregating, securely managing and analysing captured operating room data. The once analogue environment of the operating room is being reimagined by Proximie into a data-driven, digitally-connected space that captures the one source of truth needed to unlock improved productivity, better patient safety and enhanced workforce education and retention.

“Through our innovative technology, Proximie is determined to make efficiency improvements an achievable aim by aggregating, securely managing and analysing captured operating room data.”

“In essence, Proximie is building a software platform that can help translate objective, real-world data into actionable insights and in doing so is creating a central operating system of the OR that connects the previously siloed and heterogeneous medical devices to one easy-to-use data and content environment.

“In 2024, I am confident more healthcare teams will be deploying Proximie as means to help create more productive and profitable ORs.”

MedTech trends in 2024: what to look out for?
Bryn Davies, Chief of Strategy & Business Development at Proximie.

“2024 will be a year of consolidation in health systems, particularly in the US, as margins continue to get squeezed. Similarly, in the medtech space, markets will tighten, and there will be more acquisitions, like Johnson & Johnson MedTech's purchases of Abiomed and Laminar, and more partnerships like Medtronic and Cosmo Pharma in the AI space. I see similar patterns emerging in the digital medtech arena and early-stage and scale-up companies due to the macroeconomic climate and its impact on the capital markets. It will be tougher to raise, with lower valuations with more risk of down rounds and increased dilution. As one partner said to me last week, “The winter of VC is well and truly here”.

“This consolidation period is an opportunity for those well-capitalised and growing companies to join forces, aggregate solutions, to partner and acquire. Organisations need to be platform solutions rather than single-point solutions. Proximie is well-positioned within this space and we are well on our way in this journey, which the market environment will facilitate.

“Organisations need to be platform solutions rather than single-point solutions. Proximie is well-positioned within this space and we are well on our way in this journey, which the market environment will facilitate.”

“There is always a decision on whether to build, partner or acquire. The critical decision is whether to lean more towards a horizontal or vertical acquisition strategy, but as ever, finding the right company or partner, at the right time, for the right valuation, and one that is aligned with your own mission is always the challenge and indeed presents the greatest opportunity.  

“At Proximie we are seeing our market annealing, which means that it is less about market access and education and more about delivering the most value together with operational excellence in execution.  Most importantly, real and immediate solutions that impact real world problems.”

“As one CEO of a US health system recently said, "Please don’t come to me with a solution to bring forward my liposuction by three months. Come to me and save me from the looming heart attack." At Proximie,  we're a platform that can deliver a system-wide change that solves a multitude of problems across healthcare ecosystems, starting with patients as well as care teams, health system and medical device partners.”

How does Proximie’s mission unify its global team?
Jim MacDougall, Chief People Officer at Proximie.

"Our mission is without doubt our “guiding star” and works to attract individuals to join Proximie, ensures we stay energised and encourages individuals to build their careers with us. It does this by giving all employees across the globe a strong sense of belonging, purpose and connection.

“Post COVID-19, I believe that this need for a sense of belonging has been significantly heightened and now more than ever it is essential for a global team to feel in close proximity to each other, despite distance and time zones. This sense of belonging and connection to fellow team members is fundamental when scaling and growing across multiple geographies, as without it there is a lack of direction, cohesion or empowerment. A strong mission and sense of belonging enhances an organisation's collective momentum and increases the ability to effectively and seamlessly deliver to customers. It will undoubtedly continue to drive Proximie forward in 2024.”

“A strong mission and sense of belonging enhances an organisation's collective momentum and increases the ability to effectively and seamlessly deliver to customers. It will undoubtedly continue to drive Proximie forward in 2024.”

In what ways are digital technologies like Proximie making healthcare more accessible to all in the META region?  
Bassem F Hashash, CDP, MIS, Regional Director META (Middle East, Turkey, and Africa) & APAC, Managing Partner- Proximie.

“In 2024, Proximie will continue to democratise access to surgical expertise in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META) regions, an area of the world that has been driving the digitalisation of healthcare for well over a decade. Today more than ever, I think healthcare providers are really looking for new ways to achieve measurable results for their healthcare systems that they already have in place and I see this developing at pace in 2024.

“Proximie has been at the forefront of facilitating remote surgical training and continuous education for healthcare professionals in the META region in 2023. For example, medical practitioners in rural areas have been able to participate in live surgeries conducted by experts in urban centres, and in doing so have been able to enhance their skills and knowledge; before, during and after surgery. Proximie serves as an assessment tool, allowing healthcare professionals to receive real-time feedback on their performance during training sessions. This ensures that they are well-prepared to handle various medical scenarios. Additionally, recordings of their procedures are attracting local educational institutions and medical universities and we’ve seen their willingness to invest in Proximie as part of their Minimum Viable Products (MVPs).

“In remote areas of the region, Proximie has been instrumental in connecting local healthcare facilities with specialists in larger urban centres to provide better care when it is needed most, allowing patients to access consultations and even surgeries without the need to travel long distances.

“Beyond direct patient care, next year Proximie will continue to contribute to the overall capacity building of local healthcare systems and bridge the gap between hospitals and global medical technology companies.”

In what ways are Proximie's Global Health initiatives paving the way for safer surgery around the world?
Dr. Shannon Shibata-Germanos, Global Head of Health at Proximie.

“Creating a sustainable and equitable  impact on global health systems has been an integral part of Proximie’s DNA from the very beginning and has been a fundamental aim throughout 2023. Our dynamic approach to private-public partnerships, with organisations like Saving Mothers, a nonprofit improving the quality of maternal healthcare worldwide, and enhancing standardising care for Obstetric Safe Surgery in Makueni County, Kenya, with Jhpiego and the County Department of Health (DOH), ensures surgical support, mentorship  and training is available virtually whenever needed. These partnerships are not drop and run endeavours either. They require locally owned partnerships, consistent structured data collection, co-creation driven by local champions and ultimately, robust change management that equips health systems for sustainable, long term integration and use. We become long-term partners as the field evolves and have recognized the importance of considering and shaping blended healthcare environments together with our collaborators to ensure the technology has staying power. We recognize that the "human touch" is paramount in healthcare; however, technology can augment, enhance and drive remarkable efficiency gains in health systems - and such efficiencies in a world where there is an unparalleled health workforce shortage are priceless. Surgery has largely remained analog in emerging and frontier markets in trying to track quality improvement gaps or measure skill acquisition for trainees - technology such as Proximie enable consistency, and accuracy in training and mentorship towards driving quality improvement - as well as critical access which we believe will result in better surgical teams, and ultimately, better quality of care.

“Creating a sustainable and equitable  impact on global health systems has been an integral part of Proximie’s DNA from the very beginning and has been a fundamental aim throughout 2023.”

“Ultimately, digital technology has a crucial role to play in bridging the gap between historically siloed sectors to leverage comparative advantages and high-value expertise towards future-proofing health systems globally. Shared knowledge is the catalyst for progress and by capturing every single interaction in an operating room in meticulous detail. We can help to unlock an abundance of insights and data that can redefine practices, enhance surgical training and education and ultimately shape the frontiers of healthcare today, and in the future.

“Our work in the Global Health sector is never passive and next year we will continue to work on the ground with local champions  to ensure where you live in the world does not dictate your level of healthcare. We have exciting new partnerships to announce in Q1 of 2024 with Proximie Powered Innovation Hubs and Centers of Excellence being announced in key teaching hospitals towards scalable, sustainable and modernised  surgical training models. ”