12 Nov Highlights from HLTH: What We’re Tracking into 2025
We’re still energized by our time at HLTH 2024! With 12,000+ attendees from across the healthcare ecosystem, hundreds of informative sessions and exhibits plus celebrity appearances and unicorns galore, the annual conference was a lively hub of networking and insights.
BRG is already deeply entrenched in communications around some of the hot topics at HLTH, and we’re also digging in on emerging trends. These areas stood out to us at the show:
Women’s Health: In a session titled “The Under-researched, Under-diagnosed and Overlooked Truth about Women’s Health,” a panelist expressed hope that 2024 would be the last year those adjectives would be needed. Indeed, HLTH, CES and other major events continue to shine a light on important research and innovation in women’s health. Fertility, maternal care and reproductive health are not the only areas of focus, and and increasingly the industry is embracing the need to address other critical issues like the enormous health impact of menopause and diseases that affect women differently or disproportionately like heart disease, autoimmune diseases, dementia and Alzheimer’s
Brain Health: The unprecedented growth of our aging population is one, but not the only, catalyst for a heightened focus on brain and cognitive health. Advances in neuroimaging, genetics, and neuroscience have breached new frontiers in understanding brain health and the brain-body connection. HLTH explored key aspects of this intricate relationship, including how chronic disease like hypertension and diabetes impact cognitive decline and brain function, and the significance of the gut-brain axis (that is, the relationship between our gastrointestinal tract and brain), which can impact conditions ranging from mood disorders to obesity, auto-immune diseases and more.
Food is Medicine: Speaking of the gut, nutrition is taking a place front-and-center for preventive medicine and chronic disease management. The food is medicine (FIM) movement, which integrates nutrition and food into healthcare, could significantly reduce healthcare costs and burden. HLTH featured a range of FIM players, from startup medically-tailored meal delivery services to major grocery chains, along with payors, healthcare systems, government agencies and community health organizations.
Employer Benefits (B2B2C): From a marketing perspective, we heard from a lot of digital health providers aiming to move from a purely business-to-consumer (B2C) model and targeting employers in a B2B2C approach. It’s safe to say employee benefit managers were among the most desirable networking contacts at the show (and they were feeling it!) From wellness apps, to mental health and fitness programs, solutions providers are competing to be included in employee healthcare plans.
BRG is excited to continue our ongoing client work in women’s health, cognitive health and nutrition armed with new insights, and to dive deeper on the implications of an increasingly competitive B2B2C marketplace. We hope to see some of you at the upcoming ViVE conference and, of course, HLTH 2025.
