8 Healthcare Trends to Watch in 2025 – Insights From Steve Streit & Other Experts

Healthcare has been in a state of seemingly constant change for as long as most of us can remember. Lately, however, the pace of change has really picked up thanks to accelerating technological advances and a new wave of business model innovation that’s directly challenging the healthcare status quo.

Healthcare investment innovators like Steve Streit, whose venture capital firm backs Paloma Health and other ambitious healthtech companies, are watching the space closely as we turn the corner from 2024 into 2025. Here are eight trends they see potentially emerging in the near future.

1. Telemedicine’s Outsize Role Likely to Grow…

Telemedicine was a lifeline for elderly folks, people in rural areas, and others during the pandemic. While things are largely back to normal otherwise, it remains an important vector of care for many patients and their providers today.

Experts expect this trend to continue in 2025 and beyond. Telemedicine is convenient for patients, efficient for providers, and increasingly effective as technology improves. In the near future, augmented and virtual reality could further improve its delivery.

2. …And Diversify

In 2025, we can likely expect to see further diversification in telemedicine. The sector is quickly expanding beyond its primary care roots into specialties and even subspecialties, such as those offered by Paloma Health. As this trend continues, telemedicine may become the full-spectrum care vector of choice for ever more Americans.

3. The Rural Healthcare Crisis May Deepen

Unfortunately, telemedicine alone won’t solve the rural healthcare crisis, which some experts expect to get worse before it gets better. Declining populations, difficulty recruiting physicians and nurses to remote areas, and a wider shortage of healthcare professionals are just some of the factors behind the crisis; none look likely to turn around anytime soon.

In time, technology could make a difference. Improvements in telemedicine may combine with further innovations in pharmacy science, in-home care, and other facets of healthcare to address the unique challenges of rural medicine.

4. Cloud Pharmacies Could Gain Market Share

Cloud-based or “virtual” pharmacies and telemedicine complement one another nicely. With a great deal of growth still to come in both sectors, we can likely expect 2025 to be a year of expansion and diversification in the pharmacy space. Low-overhead, high-satisfaction providers will continue to take market share from incumbents, forcing them to innovate in a way that could benefit all patients.

5. A Messy Federal Funding Fight Could Unfold, With Big Consequences

What does a 2017 tax law have to do with healthcare in 2025? In short, parts of this far-reaching law will sunset this year without action by the U.S. Congress. This is likely to result in a messy and prolonged fight, given our hyper-polarized political environment. Depending on the balance of power in Congress and how negotiations unfold, compromises could be made that affect federal funding for the healthcare industry. This could raise (or lower) costs for some patients and change how or where some of us receive care.

6. Health AI May Have Its “ChatGPT Moment” 

Many healthcare experts believe the industry is on the cusp of a “ChatGPT moment.” Like the debut of ChatGPT in 2022, this could jolt the industry out of its complacency and prompt a new wave of innovation, efficiency, and uncertainty. It’s impossible to know when it will come or what form it will take, but we should all be on the lookout. 

7. AI Will Enable More Efficient Healthcare Administration

Even if healthcare doesn’t have a “ChatGPT moment” in 2025, artificial intelligence will likely continue to work its way into industry processes. These are most likely to be seen on the “back end” in the short term, making administrative processes more efficient and effective (and allowing providers to do more with less). However, over time, AI will make its presence known in the exam room as well.

8. Dictation Apps Will Continue to Improve

One way that AI is already changing medicine is through the dictation (note-taking) apps that many providers use to record patient interactions. These will continue to improve and may soon be able to operate autonomously, without after-the-fact input from their users. That would significantly improve efficiency and quality of care.

What’s Next for the Healthcare Industry?

Unless something unexpected happens, the year 2025 will be every bit as interesting (and uncertain) for the healthcare industry as 2024 was. And it wouldn’t be wise to bet against 2026 matching 2025, or 2027 one-upping 2026, or…you get the idea.

Investors like Steve Streit know enough to make educated guesses about where the field is headed and how technological, human and policy factors might combine to shape its progress. However, like the rest of us, they can be (and often are) surprised by what actually happens. In this business, it’s best to be cautious, and to be deeply skeptical of anyone who tells you they know exactly what’s going to happen next.