The medtech company of the future is an ecosystem enabler
The future of medtech: Orchestrating the next evolution of
Medtech sits at the intersection of diagnostics, devices and data, uniquely equipped to design the infrastructure, standards and governance that link technology to patient care. By leading this integration, the industry can evolve from an innovator of tools to an orchestrator of performance and outcomes across healthcare.
The tools of this transformation are already here. Robotics, intelligent sensors and agentic AI are expected to fundamentally change how patient care is delivered and how caregivers are supported. Interoperable platforms can enable information to flow securely and seamlessly across health systems, transforming both clinical and operational decision-making.
In hospitals, surgical robots integrate imaging and analytics to guide decisions in real time. In motion, connected wearables detect risks and prompt intervention before symptoms appear. At home, AI‑enabled systems support daily care, guiding patients safely and independently under virtual oversight and targeted caregiver interventions. Together, these advances are set to redefine the boundaries of healthcare, shifting from centralised delivery to a distributed, intelligent network that learns with every interaction.
For medtech leaders, success hinges not just on innovation, but on integration and the ability to connect technologies, partners and data into coherent systems that enhance outcomes, expand access and strengthen the sustainability of healthcare.
Pressures shaping the future
The connected, intelligent and accessible future we imagine will not arrive automatically. Today’s healthcare system was not built for it. Across the health industry, pressures are intensifying. Costs are rising faster than inflation, clinical capacity is stretched thin, data is multiplying faster than it can be used, and regulation is struggling to keep pace. These forces are not just challenges; they are signals of where innovation is most urgently needed. For the medtech sector, they define the agenda for the next decade and where companies should focus, lead and collaborate.
System strain — bending the curve on cost, capacity, and access
Healthcare is straining under the weight of its own complexity. As in other major markets, including the United States¹, Switzerland’s annualised healthcare costs are increasing incrementally and at times outpacing general inflation (see figure below). Hospitals are consolidating, and workforce shortages are intensifying. Some estimates suggest the US could face a shortfall of nearly 200,000 physicians by 2037². Likewise, in Switzerland, PwC analysis indicates a shortage of approximately 39,000 nursing professionals and 8,700 physicians by 2040, respectively.
Switzerland healthcare costs per capita
Projected demand and expected shortage of nursing professionals
Projected demand and expected shortage of physicians
At the same time, patients are struggling to access care. A third of consumers report delaying or skipping needed care due to affordability. These trends are unsustainable, both economically and socially.
Traditional, facility‑based care models can no longer absorb growing demand. To bend the cost curve and expand capacity, healthcare must shift towards distributed, automated and connected care.
This is where medtech has an opportunity to lead. By combining automation, robotics and remote monitoring, medtech companies can help extend care beyond hospital walls, amplifying the capacity of clinicians and empowering patients to manage more of their health from home.
Consumer expectation — the demand for convenience and personalisation
At the same time, expectations of healthcare are changing. Consumers now bring the standards of digital life into their health decisions, seeking convenience, transparency and personalisation that traditional systems rarely provide. They want care that fits seamlessly into their routines, guided by insights that feel tailored to them.
This shift is expanding the definition of value. Medtech companies must now design not only for clinical efficacy but also for experience, creating technologies that are accessible, intuitive and connected to the broader digital ecosystems people already use. Those that meet consumers where they are can drive adoption and trust across the care journey.
Data deluge — transforming insight into intelligent action
The healthcare system now generates more data than it can use. Each scan, lab test, wearable and device adds to the torrent, yet integration remains limited. Valuable insights are trapped in silos, and clinicians often lack the tools to turn data into action.
Healthcare generates an estimated 30 per cent of the world’s data, with a single hospital producing as much as 50 petabytes each year. Yet studies suggest that up to 97 per cent of this data goes unused, and roughly 80 per cent remains unstructured, limiting its value for clinical or operational decision‑making³. Evidence from interoperability and health‑information exchange initiatives shows that when data flows seamlessly, through standards such as FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources), organisations achieve measurable gains in care co‑ordination, safety and patient outcomes.
Next‑generation devices and diagnostics will not only measure but also interpret, communicate and adapt. Interoperable systems, built on open standards and governed by trust, allow information to move securely across organisations, enabling real‑time decisions that anticipate risk and personalise care. The future of medtech lies not in collecting more data, but in connecting it.
Regulation — refining boundaries and opportunities
As technology advances faster than policy, regulators must also rethink how innovation is evaluated and reimbursed. Public funding and value‑based reimbursement models are reshaping what it means to be “innovative”. Success will depend on designing systems that generate measurable evidence of safety, outcomes and value automatically and continuously.
Medtech’s role is not only to meet these expectations but to help shape them. By embedding evidence generation into design and supporting transparent standards for data and algorithmic performance, the industry can guide regulation towards enabling rather than constraining innovation.
Recent regulatory actions reflect this shift. In 2025, US and European authorities introduced guidance expanding the use of real‑world data and adaptive artificial intelligence across the medical device life cycle, from post‑market monitoring to iterative improvement. Together, these frameworks signal growing regulatory acceptance of continuous evidence generation, de‑identified real‑world data and learning systems that evolve safely over time.
Ecosystems take shape: how the industry will evolve
As system pressures converge, it is clear that progress will depend on collaboration rather than competition. The next decade’s breakthroughs will emerge from ecosystems — networks of organisations aligning their strengths to solve challenges too complex for any single player.
These ecosystems unite medtech companies, providers, payers, pharmaceutical firms, technology companies and others around shared outcomes. Each contributes distinct capabilities — devices, data, analytics or services — within a connected framework that improves efficiency, access and results.
When they function effectively, ecosystems create continuous feedback loops that refine performance, align incentives and build trust. Everyone benefits when information flows securely, outcomes improve and costs decline.
For medtech, this marks a shift from selling products to enabling systems. Positioned at the intersection of diagnostics, devices and data, the industry is uniquely equipped to design the infrastructure, standards and governance that link technology to patient care. By leading this integration, medtech can evolve from innovator of tools to orchestrator of performance and outcomes across healthcare.
Applying an ecosystem framework to diabetes
Growth vectors: Where ecosystems unlock value
The next era of growth will come from building connected ecosystems that integrate data, technology and human expertise from hospital to home, spanning the entire care journey. The following three scenarios illustrate how medtech companies can shape ecosystems that deliver value across care settings.
1. Medtech in the hospital: from complexity to coherence
Inside the hospital, medical technology is indispensable — from patient monitoring to surgical robotics, imaging and logistics. Yet ubiquity comes at a cost. Thousands of interconnected devices and data streams now operate side by side, often without a common language or organising framework. What was once an advantage in precision is increasingly becoming a challenge in co‑ordination.
The hospital of the future will require a new operating model, one that treats technology as a living infrastructure of intelligence rather than a collection of tools. In this environment, medical technology serves as the central nervous system of care delivery, translating information into insight and orchestrating action across people, processes and places.
Ecosystem dynamics
- Embedded sensing: Devices, surfaces and supplies capture continuous streams of clinical and operational data that feed a shared intelligence layer.
- Ambient AI: Context‑aware algorithms interpret data in real time to anticipate patient needs, predict deterioration and automate routine documentation or administrative tasks.
- Integrated robotics: Surgical and procedural systems connect seamlessly with imaging, navigation and workflow platforms, enhancing precision, reducing variability and improving recovery times.
- Connected workflows: Interoperable communication systems unify clinicians, data and equipment, transforming fragmented hospital operations into a synchronised network.
A connected, intelligent infrastructure can amplify human capacity by automating the repetitive, augmenting the complex and enabling clinicians to focus their expertise where it is needed most. Predictive tools can help manage patient flow, reduce complications and shorten length of stay, while real‑time analytics improve asset utilisation and throughput.
In this model, the hospital becomes an ecosystem of systems that is interoperable, data‑driven and continuously learning. Performance improves with every interaction, strengthening resilience against systemic pressures on workforce, access and cost.
Medtech’s position in the hospital has always been one of partnership and precision, helping clinicians deliver safer, smarter care. Building on that legacy, the next opportunity is to connect these proven strengths to the wider health ecosystem. Success will depend on shared governance, open standards, and ethical frameworks that ensure automation enhances rather than replaces human judgment. For medtech leaders, this means evolving from supplying devices to linking what already works inside the hospital to the systems that extend care beyond it.
2. Medtech in motion: connecting care in real time
As care moves beyond the hospital, medical technology is becoming continuous, mobile and deeply interconnected. Devices that once existed in isolation now travel with the patient and are embedded in wearables, implants and digital platforms that capture health data in real time. This evolution marks the rise of medtech in motion: an ecosystem that extends clinical intelligence into everyday life.
In this environment, the line between medical technology and digital health blurs. Every measurement—whether monitoring a joint replacement, glucose levels or cardiac rhythm—feeds a shared data infrastructure that links patients, clinicians and systems in real time. Information no longer stops at the point of care; it moves with the individual, transforming how we understand health, risk and recovery. Connectivity is only the starting point. The real advantage lies in the ability to turn shared data into shared intelligence, aligning decisions and actions across the ecosystem.
Across medtech, connected technologies are already demonstrating how data, intelligence and collaboration transform standalone devices into co‑ordinated systems of care:
Remote patient monitoring for chronic disease
AI‑enabled cardiac and pulmonary monitoring programmes are reducing hospital readmissions for heart failure and COPD by detecting deterioration early and triggering proactive virtual interventions.
Neuro and brain–computer interfaces
Next‑generation BCI and neuromodulation platforms convert brain or nerve activity into digital signals that guide continuous monitoring, adaptive therapy and personalised rehabilitation.
Digitally enabled orthopaedic solutions
Connected implants and wearable sensors capture movement and recovery data, linking patients, clinicians and care teams to track outcomes and optimise rehabilitation in real time.
Integrated metabolic and lifestyle monitoring
Cross‑category integrations are connecting continuous glucose, sleep and activity data to create comprehensive health profiles—enabling both clinical oversight and patient self‑management.
Ecosystem dynamics
- Real‑world evidence: Continuous data from connected devices forms the foundation of modern evidence generation, capturing safety, efficacy and performance in real‑world settings.
- Integrated health networks: Data from multiple domains—orthopaedics, cardiology, metabolic health, pain management and others—converges to create unified patient profiles and cross‑specialty insights.
- Adaptive learning loops: Device performance and outcomes feed directly back into design, therapy guidance and payer models, creating a self‑improving system that learns at scale.
- Collaborative infrastructure: Medtech, healthtech and payer partnerships enable secure data exchange, interoperability and shared analytics that extend the value of every connected product.
Through this mobility, care becomes continuous and anticipatory. Predictive analytics can identify risk earlier, guide intervention and personalise therapy, reducing readmissions and improving outcomes across populations. For clinicians, this closes the gap between episodic visits and lived experience. For health systems, it enables performance‑based care and faster learning cycles. For patients, it transforms monitoring into empowerment.
In this model, medtech serves as the connective tissue of a distributed health ecosystem, linking people, data and outcomes in motion. Leadership in this space will depend on designing for interoperability, trust and continuous learning to build ecosystems that move with the patient and evolve with every data point.
3. Medtech at home: extending the ecosystem to everyday life
The home is rapidly emerging as a vital part of the health ecosystem. Advances in robotics, remote monitoring and AI‑guided care are transforming living spaces into micro‑clinical environments capable of monitoring, diagnosing and even treating conditions once confined to hospitals. This evolution signals a fundamental shift from health systems organised around facilities to ecosystems organised around people.
In this new paradigm, care follows the individual. Devices, data and digital platforms work together to support continuous engagement between patients, clinicians and caregivers. The home becomes not an endpoint of care, but a fully integrated extension of the clinical network—connected, intelligent and adaptive.
Ecosystem dynamics
- Augmented human care: Assistive robotics and automation extend the reach of clinicians and caregivers, supporting mobility, rehabilitation and daily living while preserving the human connection at the heart of care.
- AI‑enabled self‑management: Intelligent systems help patients monitor conditions, adjust treatments and access guidance under virtual physician oversight.
- Last‑mile integration: Partnerships across retail, logistics and pharmacy networks bring diagnostics, therapeutics and connected devices directly to patients, ensuring timely access and continuity of care.
- Trusted connectivity: Secure data infrastructure links home‑based systems with providers and payers, maintaining data integrity and privacy while enabling proactive, co‑ordinated interventions.
In this model, the boundaries between clinical and personal spaces dissolve. Continuous feedback from home‑based technologies enables earlier detection, more precise management of chronic conditions and reduced dependence on hospital capacity. The result is a system that delivers high‑quality care to people rather than bringing people to care.
For medtech leaders, this evolution requires a shift in mindset—from building devices for controlled environments to designing ecosystems that thrive in the variability of daily life. Success will depend on understanding human behaviour, embedding trust and usability into every interaction, and collaborating across sectors to make connected care effortless and equitable.
Imperatives for medtech leaders: what you should do now
Building these systems—across hospitals, in motion and at home—will demand clarity of purpose and precision in partnership. Companies must identify the problems they will take on, who needs to be at the table and how to translate intelligence into measurable value. The next generation of medtech leaders will compete not on ownership, but on orchestration and their ability to design systems that learn, adapt and create shared value across the entire continuum of care.
1. Define your ecosystem
Start with a problem worth solving. Focus on specific health or system challenges and build partnerships around that goal—for example, improving outcomes across care pathways in cardiovascular or orthopaedic procedures, enabling earlier intervention for patients managing chronic disease outside the hospital, or improving operational efficiency through connected workflows.
2. Identify your partners
Determine who should be at the table: payers, providers, technology platforms, regulators and patient organisations. Clarify what each brings—data, distribution, trust and capital—and align on shared incentives.
3. Clarify your role
Not every company will lead. Some will act as connectors, setting standards and governance; others as activators, investing heavily to scale; others as participants, contributing specialised capabilities. The key is to understand your role and commit to it.
4. Build for outcomes
Design products, data systems and services that deliver measurable value, including fewer complications, lower costs and improved experience. Treat outcomes as the central product, not an afterthought.
5. Rewire your operating model
Integrate AI and data across every function—R&D, supply chain, quality and commercial. Build capabilities for continuous learning, evidence generation and rapid iteration. Companies that treat data as a living asset will adapt fastest to changing markets and regulations.
The moment to lead
The next decade will determine which medtech companies evolve and which fade into the background. The winners will be those that move first to connect technologies, data and partners into ecosystems that improve outcomes, expand access and create a more resilient healthcare system.
For decades, medtech has driven innovation inside hospitals. Its next great contribution will be enabling a more predictive, more connected and more human system that works better everywhere. This transformation will not come from technology alone, but from leadership, trust and collaboration across sectors.
The direction is clear: the future of medtech lies in building the infrastructure for intelligent, co‑ordinated care—and the companies that act now will shape how healthcare is delivered for a generation to come.
Contact us
Jonathan Sander
Senior Manager, Commercial Strategy for Pharma and Life Sciences, PwC Switzerland
+41 058 792 18 79
Jane Elizabeth Carolan
Senior Consultant, Commercial Strategy for Pharma and Life Sciences, PwC Switzerland