Healthcare
The Amazonification of Healthcare
The Amazonification of Healthcare
The digital age is no longer about just the product – it’s equally about the customer experience.
In turn, businesses are competing on their ability to deliver quantifiable results to empowered consumers, who are:
- Informed
- Proactive
- Demanding
- Discerning
- Cost-conscious
Naturally, empowered consumers have high expectations of the services and brands they choose to integrate into their lives – and Amazon’s buying experience, which is ultra-fast, convenient, innovative, and driven by user reviews, is the perfect example of this trend in action.
This “Amazonification effect” is transforming every industry from retail to finance – and the healthcare industry is now set to change forever for both consumers and businesses.
Dreams of Amazonification
Today’s infographic comes to us from Publicis Health, and it shows the shift occurring in the healthcare space to a new outcome-based economy that is powered by an increasingly digital and data-driven experience.
It’s also led by the millennial generation, a group that is seeing buying power finally line up with their influence. These digital natives see no reason for the healthcare experience to be stuck in its old ways – they demand a fast, digital, convenient, and quantified version of healthcare along with ongoing relationships.
The ideal healthcare experience for this group looks something like this:
Convenient access
59% of U.S. healthcare consumers want their digital healthcare experience to mirror retail.
Digital channels
74% of millennial patients value the ability to book appointments and pay bills online.
Ongoing relationship
48% of healthcare consumers want to partner with their healthcare providers for personalized treatment.
Treating patients more like retail consumers will be a paradigm shift for healthcare – and it will require companies to invest in areas like big data to complete the patient experience.
An Ongoing Relationship
The patient-healthcare provider relationship is ever-changing.
As consumer demands grow, there is also an increased pressure on healthcare providers and pharma businesses to deliver. Patients no longer accept being told what they need, instead wanting to take more control of their health.
A more connected relationship with their healthcare provider can help achieve this goal. It’s made up of four components:
- Identify patient needs
- Uncover evolving needs by employing self-reporting to understand patterns of change
- Meet patient needs by enabling connected services for predictive interventions
- Match real life experience to treatment decisions, by using data to get a 360-degree of the patient
This can lead not only to a better patient care experience, but also better outcomes.
The Supportive Care Trifecta
An effective supportive care platform simplifies the many moving pieces that must come together in the patient care process. It leverages the following trifecta:
1. Service design
Connects services and workflows for optimal end-to-end experience, while also giving patients with the resources to engage with their own healthcare.
2. Technology activation
Backbone for delivering patient care to each stakeholder that is supported by artificial intelligence (AI) technology for a seamless experience.
3. Data intelligence
Right dashboards contribute to unearth analytic insights, revealing unique patient stories for strategic, tailored treatment.
Connecting humans with health systems, a supportive care platform links all players and workflows involved. The result? Quantifiable outcomes, and a clear return on investment.
Adopting big data in healthcare can yield:
- 20%-30% in cost savings
- 35% rise in patient access
- 20% improvement in outcomes
- 30% growth in revenue
Why it Matters
The supportive care platform drives business value by aligning collective commitments of key players in the healthcare industry.
Stakeholder | Value | Outcomes |
---|---|---|
Patient | - Improved awareness - Better engagement - Personalized experience | - Increased survival rates - Better quality of life |
Healthcare providers | - Better delivery - Improved efficiency - Improved efficacy | - Reduced hospitalization rates - More efficient, successful treatment - Increased use of resources |
Pharma | - Leading customer and patient insight - Improved customer and patient credibility | - Improved adherence - Detailed understanding of patients |
The evolving needs of healthcare consumers call for building long-term relationships between patients and healthcare providers.
With the disruptive solution of an intelligence-powered care system, pharma companies can further these ongoing relationships and advance both patient and business outcomes.
This is part four of a seven part series. Stay tuned by subscribing to Visual Capitalist for free, as we go into these six forces in more detail in the future.
Healthcare
Innovation in Virology: Vaccines and Antivirals
Vaccine development has grown six-fold since 1995. Learn how virology, the study of viruses, is driving innovation in the healthcare industry.

Innovation in Virology: Vaccines and Antivirals
The COVID-19 pandemic affected millions of people worldwide and brought renewed focus to virology—the study of viruses.
However, impact made by viruses extends far beyond the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. There are 24 viruses that have each infected more than 80 million people globally, from hepatitis to influenza.
In this graphic from MSCI, we uncover innovation in vaccines and antivirals and the related market opportunities.
What is a Virus?
A virus is a microscopic infectious agent that replicates within living cells. It may cause disease in its host. New viruses can emerge at any time as a result of mutation, or when viruses transfer from animals to humans.
Through virology, scientists are continuously finding new ways to fight against infectious diseases. Two main types of anti-infectives are available: vaccines and antivirals.
Rapid Innovation in Vaccines
Vaccines are substances designed to prevent people from getting infected with a disease or experiencing serious symptoms.
The number of vaccines has increased dramatically over the last three decades. From 2020 to 2021 alone, the number of approved vaccines or clinical candidates jumped by 13%.
Year | Vaccines Approved or in Development |
---|---|
1995 | 240 |
1996 | 262 |
1997 | 309 |
1998 | 323 |
1999 | 374 |
2000 | 415 |
2001 | 462 |
2002 | 472 |
2003 | 509 |
2004 | 531 |
2005 | 564 |
2006 | 610 |
2007 | 606 |
2008 | 704 |
2009 | 751 |
2010 | 866 |
2011 | 893 |
2012 | 880 |
2013 | 943 |
2014 | 1075 |
2015 | 1179 |
2016 | 1374 |
2017 | 1397 |
2018 | 1340 |
2019 | 1356 |
2020 | 1388 |
2021 | 1567 |
Data is a snapshot in time and reflects all vaccines ever approved (and not taken off the market) plus all vaccines in development as of the noted year (for which a trial has not been canceled).
Not only that, it’s possible to have shorter approval timelines. COVID-19 vaccines were approved within 11 months, much more quickly than the 2000-2020 average of 10 years.
In the time between an outbreak and vaccine development, antivirals can play a vital role.
Antivirals: The Second Line of Defense in Virology
Antivirals are drugs that slow or prevent the growth of a virus and treat disease symptoms. They are especially important tools for diseases that do not have an associated vaccine.
In 2021, there were nearly six times as many approved antivirals as there were in 1995. Not only that, antiviral uses have grown to include the potential prevention and treatment of HIV, COVID-19, and a number of other diseases.
Year | Approved Antivirals in the U.S. | Reasons for Using Antivirals |
---|---|---|
1995 | 10 | 12 |
1996 | 10 | 12 |
1997 | 12 | 12 |
1998 | 13 | 13 |
1999 | 16 | 13 |
2000 | 18 | 13 |
2001 | 19 | 13 |
2002 | 20 | 13 |
2003 | 21 | 13 |
2004 | 21 | 13 |
2005 | 22 | 13 |
2006 | 23 | 13 |
2007 | 24 | 13 |
2008 | 26 | 13 |
2009 | 27 | 14 |
2010 | 27 | 14 |
2011 | 30 | 14 |
2012 | 30 | 15 |
2013 | 34 | 15 |
2014 | 37 | 15 |
2015 | 41 | 16 |
2016 | 44 | 16 |
2017 | 47 | 16 |
2018 | 49 | 17 |
2019 | 49 | 17 |
2020 | 53 | 19 |
2021 | 57 | 20 |
The potential prevention (prophylaxis) and treatment of the same virus are counted as separate uses. Data is cumulative and reflects all antivirals ever approved (and not taken off the market) and all reasons ever approved for using antivirals (that have not been rescinded).
Innovation in virology—and the potential for future developments—is leading to a growing industry.
Expanding Market Opportunities
With opportunities growing and approval times shortening, more companies are entering the market.
Year | Companies Developing Vaccines/Antivirals |
---|---|
1995 | 66 |
1996 | 73 |
1997 | 80 |
1998 | 81 |
1999 | 87 |
2000 | 111 |
2001 | 125 |
2002 | 140 |
2003 | 154 |
2004 | 144 |
2005 | 146 |
2006 | 163 |
2007 | 167 |
2008 | 196 |
2009 | 203 |
2010 | 230 |
2011 | 237 |
2012 | 255 |
2013 | 277 |
2014 | 289 |
2015 | 310 |
2016 | 362 |
2017 | 392 |
2018 | 374 |
2019 | 370 |
2020 | 383 |
2021 | 484 |
Data is a snapshot in time and reflects all companies developing vaccines or antivirals as of the noted year. If a company stops being active in the space or ceases to exist, they are removed from the total.
As they work to develop new vaccines and antivirals, companies are conducting clinical trials for many diseases beyond COVID-19 such as respiratory infections and sepsis.
Virology is leading to a number of groundbreaking technologies and therapies, transforming healthcare along the way.

Explore the MSCI Virology Index now.

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