Health care features prominently in the nearly-300 slides curated by Mary Meeker in her always- informative report on Internet Trends 2018.  Meeker, of Kleiner Perkins, released the report as usual at the Code Conference, held this year on 30 May 2018 in Silicon Valley.

I’ve mined Meeker’s report for several years here on Health Populi:

2017 – Digital healthcare at the inflection point, via Mary Meeker

2015 – Musings with Mary Meeker on the digital/health nexus

2014 – Healthcare at an inflection point: digital trends via Mary Meeker

2013 – The role of internet technologies in reducing healthcare costs – Meeker inspirations

2011 – Meeker & Murphy on mobile – through the lens of health.

About two dozen data slides tell the story of U.S. health care In the context of costs, connectivity, and consumerization.

There’s another “C” in the report that features quite prominently, and that stands for China. I won’t be addressing the growing economic and technological force that is that Big C, but if you have any interest in this mega-force, do check out the report.

Here are three slides from the report that address some of the key issues on which I’m firmly focused in health economics, technology, and patients-as-consumers.

Health Populi’s Hot Points:  The growing healthcare cost burden borne by patients living in the U.S. is compelling more people to seek better-designed care, more cost-effective solutions, and streamlined consumer experiences. The new-normal for people in America is to be connected, increasingly via smartphones and broadband. That connectivity can underpin better consumer healthcare experiences.

But a few constraints on that frictionless on-ramp to better care remain that aren’t addressed in the Meeker deck: net neutrality, broadband access, health insurance coverage for all people, and digital and financial literacy (surely literacy, overall).