While the financial markets are in turmoil, the online health sector is making major strides and heating up in a huge way. (WebMD is even up right now over 4% in the markets while the DOW is getting killed again).
We've outlined 5 major reasons why several new deals and news announcements in the online health sector will have a big impact on the Health 2.0 movement over the coming months and years.
The Race Begins
In the past week alone, we've heard news of a possible merger between Everyday Health and Revolution Health which would make it the largest health information publisher on the Web and the first competitor to ever surpass the leading online health brand WebMD in online reach. Wasting no time, this week WebMD announced it's $50 million acquisition of Quality Health, extending its current reach as a leading brand of health information.
Additionally, last week comScore announced this major news: the online health information category is growing at a rate four times faster than the total Internet with the category up 21% in the past year. While other sectors are contracting or flat, the online health space is growing by leaps and bounds.
5 Reasons Why the Revolution Health and Everyday Health Deal Matters to Health 2.0
1) Competition Expands Markets - There would be no Coke with out Pepsi or vice versa the saying goes. The Revolution Health and Everyday Health merger would become a catalyst for more progress and is already igniting a new race with WebMD and several other of the top health publishers. Having more power-house brands in the marketplace and increased competition will ignite innovation and breathe new life into the sector in a major way.
2) More Opportunities for Exits and Strategic Deals - As we saw this week with the Quality Health deal, this new race between Revolution/Everyday Health and WebMD will create new energy in the sector and creates a greater appetite for deals, mergers and acquisitions. This is good news for health start-ups which in turn leads to...
3) Start-ups Will Have More Access to Capital - An expanding market, new competition and growth in the sector will all lead to new investments in start-ups. More great ideas will be funded, and the most successful start-ups of the past couple of years will continue to thrive.
4) Environment for Innovation - The first wave of Health 2.0 companies launched about 3 years ago. In fact we were part of that wave of innovation that also included great companies like Sermo, PatientsLikeMe, AmericanWell, and Change:Healthcare to name just a few. This growing market will lead to even more innovation from the premier Health 2.0 companies of the last few years as well as new ones that will likely start to crop up.
5) Better Service for Real People - This wave of competition will force the major health brands in the space to offer something new, something different. The same old health services just won't do. These companies will have to move faster, be smarter. We will see the largest health brands paying more attention to and working with the leading Health 2.0 companies in the space.
These are exciting times and we've got a long way to go as an industry. It's great to see the maturation of our industry. Even in these early stages we are all progressing in a way that will have a significant impact on the future of people's health.
Comments