telehealth digital health

Covid-19: accelerating digitalisation of surgical platforms and solutions


The covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the rise of telehealth and strengthened the role of technology in delivering more efficient and safer surgical services. 

60% of executives surveyed say accelerating digitalisation of surgical platforms and solutions is a top focus for their organisation in their response to the impact of covid-19.

Healthcare systems and hospitals will need to adapt and find ways to maintain access to surgical services in the face of expected resurgences of the virus. Economist Intelligence Clearstate estimates that overall surgical procedure volume contracted by between 15 to 35% in Asia-Pacific and Latin American countries in 2020, due to the postponement of elective procedures to deal with the reduced healthcare capacity. 

Covid-19 will likely accelerate the shift to robotic and remote surgery which in turn, will lead to more efficient surgeries and the use of hospital resources. Remote surgery also reduces the risk of virus transmission by allowing surgeons to operate from a distance.

Based on forecasts from Economist Intelligence Clearstate’s Surgical Gateway and an additional survey of 20 global surgical device company executives, our latest report Global surgical device market outlook aims to identify fast-growing opportunities for businesses in the near future.

Bringing surgical innovations to the market

Global surgical device companies face various challenges introducing innovations to the market such as regulatory related challenges, low market willingness to pay and a lack of healthcare infrastructure or skills of surgeons.

Through Economist Intelligence Clearstate’s team of consultants and Surgical Gateway—our proprietary data solution, we will support your strategic and tactical business planning and provide answers on the what, where and how to gain market share.

For more on the global surgery device market, download the briefing paper on Global surgical device market outlook.

Surgical Gateway

The go-to-source of market data and insights on surgical procedure volume and surgical device size and share.