The power of experiential value in MedTech

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What will the future of healthcare look like?

It is a topic that is endlessly debated within the medtech industry but according to one expert, maybe we are framing the question incorrectly.

Healthcare futurist Nicholas Webb, believes the more striking question is – will the future of healthcare look good or bad?

As consumerisation sweeps various industries, medtech companies face the task of adapting products to meet the evolving expectations of patients, or risking falling behind in the market.

In practical terms, this starts with viewing innovation as not just the development of more efficient devices, but as the creation of products that deliver personalised experiences for patients and healthcare providers.

Taking to the stage at the 2025 MD&M West conference in Anaheim, the medical technologist and inventor, said the future appears positive for organisations that are willing to lean into the ‘blur of chaotic change’.

"We can no longer transact medical devices," said Webb during the keynote address. "Now we must create holistic and experiential value."

These changes are not merely about adding features to existing products, he explained. The goal for manufacturers needs to be fundamentally rethinking how their devices and services can create value that extends beyond the traditional boundaries of medical technology.

Referencing cases such as companies that offer online vision checking, Webb said providing convenient and affordable alternatives to existing services is the key to success.

“We are in a time of hyper consumerism,” Webb said. “As patients become more informed and empowered, their expectations for healthcare solutions are rising. This calls for a more dynamic, layered approach to value creation—an approach that goes beyond simply providing a product to creating a comprehensive, personalised, and memorable experience.”

Technology is playing a central role in this pivotal shift toward experiential value, with emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), wearables, and implants, expected to transform predictive healthcare and personalised medicine.

Webb described telemedicine as entering a next phase, "Telemedicine 5.0," which will incorporate AI-driven analysis of facial expressions and patient environments to enhance remote diagnoses. Asynchronous care models will also gain popularity, allowing patients to communicate with healthcare providers in a more flexible, text-based format.

According to Webb, the evolution of human-computer interaction is also moving healthcare towards more natural forms of communication – specifically, voice interaction.

"The future OS [operating system] is the voice," declared Webb, stating how AI is transitioning the primary mode of interfacing with technology from typing and pointing, to speaking.

This shift is expected to have far-reaching implications for healthcare delivery, he added. Voice-activated systems could enable more intuitive and efficient interactions between medical professionals and electronic health records (EHRs), potentially addressing the issue of "digital divisibility" that currently exists when doctors focus on computer screens instead of patients during consultations.

Ambient care technology is also gaining traction, with systems that can listen to doctor-patient conversations and automatically update medical records, identify potential medication conflicts, and flag important information that may have been overlooked. This technology could "bring humanity back into the experience", he added, allowing doctors to focus on patient interaction while AI handles administrative tasks.

Another area poised for significant growth is the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT). Webb pointed to an increase in connected medical devices and smart packaging that can provide real-time data on medication adherence, deployment of medical devices during surgery, and supply chain tracking.

As these technologies continue to develop, the medical device industry may face both opportunities and challenges.

“While there are concerns about the impact on doctor-patient relationships, early studies suggest that some patients may prefer AI-assisted interactions for certain types of care,” said Webb.

“The integration of AI, voice technology, and connected devices promises to make healthcare more accessible, efficient, and personalised. However, it will require careful implementation and ongoing evaluation to ensure that these advancements truly improve patient outcomes and experiences.”

One other issue for the medical device industry is staffing. Creating great places to work and to collaborate is imperative for businesses to thrive, Webb added. “The organisations that do this well are far more innovative," the futurist stated. "They deliver better products to the marketplace, and they're driving unpredictable, and unprecedented, levels of growth.”

Introducing the concept of the Human Experience Economy (HX Economy), where experience is the differentiator, Webb said organisations need to look at how they can offer value to patients, providers, stakeholders and staff alike.

“We are living in the HX economy,” Webb emphasised. "If we are in the business of just dispensing plastic stuff to the marketplace, and not focusing on the delivery modality of experiential design, bad stuff is going to happen."

He challenged the device industry to formalise its HX strategy and find ways to improve patient experiences while reducing overall costs.

“The most innovative companies are companies that are leveraging technology and are customer centric, delivering beautiful experiences for patients and also for their employees,” he concluded.

“When I think about all these trends, one thing I would suggest is looking at these three things: hyper consumerism, emerging technologies, and staffing. And the good news is, when I look at all the data for the medical device industry, it is good news. The only caveat is leaning into the blur of chaotic change.”

The possibility of self-learning is made possible by the relatively lower cost of Butterfly ScanLab, given it would not be possible to provide each student with a $65,000 ultrasound system the likes of which Arnce uses in his work as an ER clinician.

“When I started using Butterfly to teach, the price point was somewhere in the $4,000 range, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility to have an ultrasound in every student’s hand, and that’s a large part of why Butterfly made sense for us.”

According to Arnce, students who have gone through the KCU POCUS curriculum stand out when applying for residencies due to their competency in using the technology.

“When you’re looking at an applicant, distinguishing one candidate from another comes down to how students perform when they’re on audition rotations during residency.

“I’ve had multiple students who’ve thanked me for the POCUS training, because they were, for instance, working in the ER and had a trauma come in, and other residents couldn’t get the scan, but they could.

“If POCUS is a skill you already have, it’s one less thing you need to learn, and it’s one thing that you do better than your peers, and so it puts individuals in the driver’s seat in terms of future success,” Arnce concludes.

Australia could be one of the main beneficiaries of this dramatic increase in demand, where private companies and local governments alike are eager to expand the country’s nascent rare earths production. In 2021, Australia produced the fourth-most rare earths in the world. It’s total annual production of 19,958 tonnes remains significantly less than the mammoth 152,407 tonnes produced by China, but a dramatic improvement over the 1,995 tonnes produced domestically in 2011.

The dominance of China in the rare earths space has also encouraged other countries, notably the US, to look further afield for rare earth deposits to diversify their supply of the increasingly vital minerals. With the US eager to ringfence rare earth production within its allies as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, including potentially allowing the Department of Defense to invest in Australian rare earths, there could be an unexpected windfall for Australian rare earths producers.