What new ambitious players have come to telemedicine. Investment digest

Where to look: stocks AMZN, GOOG, AAPL.

HEALTH in the focus of tech giants

The cost of medical care in the US is out of control. In the US, healthcare spending has already exceeded 18% of GDP, compared with an OECD average of 9.5%. Most business owners argue that paying for employee health care will become unsustainable in the next 5 to 10 years. But advances in technology have created opportunities to create new treatments or care plans that can lower costs and improve efficiency. Big tech companies believe they are at the crossroads of these enticing trends.

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Previously, APPLE and GOOGLE closed their projects in the field of healthcare. Industry experts have commented derisively on these developments and pointed out that tech corporations are incapable of succeeding in this challenging industry. The main doubt on the part of the professional community about the use of data from smart watches and other Apple and Google trackers is that they are not collected by doctors using clinical methods. But analysts are in no hurry to write off the companies and are confident that they will soon re-attempt to capture the market.

Leading the tech consumer healthcare race is Amazon, which entered the medical device market back in 2018 with the launch of Amazon Choice, its own line of medical devices focused on diabetes and heart health. All Amazon medical devices integrate with the Amazon Choice and Apple Health apps.

Amazon's voice technology used in Alexa is already being tested in a number of US hospitals. The voice assistant records everything that the patient said during the consultation, enters the data into an electronic medical record, analyzes them and generates initial recommendations for treatment. Also in March this year, the company launched Amazon Care, a telemedicine service that allows employees of companies using the product to access 24/7 remote assistance. Amazon said "many companies" have signed up to use Amazon Care and are in talks with insurer Aetna to bring its platform to Aetna's 23.6 million customers.

Subscribers of the "Pro: Investments" tariff receive such digests by mail every Friday. Five minutes of reading - and you are aware of the most relevant global economic and technological trends for investors that affect your investment portfolio every day. Economist, investor and founder of Barbacane Research Valery Senko and his team monitor hundreds of sources looking for trends and signals to identify companies with growth potential. The list of sources includes The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, BLOOMBERG, Nikkei Asia, REUTERS and other reputable publications.