The Next $10B Digital Health Company Will Be Built on Clinical Intelligence

Every cycle in digital health produces a new infrastructure layer.

The last decade belonged to companies that digitized access. Telehealth platforms, scheduling tools, and remote monitoring businesses expanded the healthcare delivery model and attracted billions in venture capital. But our latest proprietary survey suggests investors and operators believe the next category-defining company will emerge somewhere else entirely.

When asked which digital health category is most likely to create the next $10B company, 54% of respondents selected Clinical Decision Support (CDS), compared to 30% for Virtual Care Platforms and just 16% for Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM).

The results signal an important shift in how the market is thinking about value creation in healthcare technology.

Healthcare's Bottleneck Is No Longer Access

The enthusiasm surrounding virtual care during the pandemic was built on one central thesis: healthcare needed more access points.

That thesis largely played out. Virtual visits became mainstream, major payers embraced telehealth reimbursement, and large platforms reached significant scale. Yet few have demonstrated the economics required to become enduring $10B+ businesses.

The reason is straightforward. Expanding access does not automatically improve productivity.

Health systems today face a different challenge. Physician shortages continue to worsen, administrative burden remains overwhelming, and clinical complexity keeps increasing. The question has shifted from, "How do we see more patients?" to, "How do we help clinicians make better decisions with fewer resources?"

This is where clinical decision support enters the conversation.

The Intelligence Layer of Healthcare

Clinical decision support has evolved far beyond simple alerts embedded in electronic health records.

The new generation of platforms leverages AI to synthesize patient data, recommend next steps, automate documentation, surface diagnostic insights, and assist clinicians in real time.

In many ways, CDS is becoming healthcare's intelligence layer.

Unlike many digital health categories that require changes in patient behavior or reimbursement models, decision support tools often generate value immediately through productivity gains and workflow improvements.

For health systems under financial pressure, that distinction matters.

For investors, it may matter even more.

Software businesses that become deeply integrated into clinical workflows tend to exhibit strong retention, large data advantages, and expanding platform opportunities. The winners often become embedded infrastructure rather than replaceable applications.

Healthcare historically rewards companies that become systems of record or systems of workflow. Increasingly, clinical decision support has the potential to become both.

Why Virtual Care Came in Second

The fact that 30% of respondents still selected virtual care should not be ignored.

Virtual care remains a massive market and continues to evolve through AI integration, asynchronous care models, and specialty-specific platforms.

But the category is entering a new phase.

Growth alone is no longer enough. Investors increasingly want evidence of clinical outcomes, durable reimbursement, and sustainable margins.

The era of winning simply by offering video visits has ended.

Future winners in virtual care will likely be those that integrate intelligence, automation, and longitudinal care management rather than pure access.

RPM's Surprising Third Place Finish

Perhaps the most interesting finding is the relatively low confidence in remote patient monitoring.

Only 16% of respondents believe RPM will create the next $10B digital health company.

This is not necessarily a negative view on the market itself. RPM adoption continues to grow rapidly, driven by chronic disease management and value-based care initiatives.

Instead, the result may reflect a perception that monitoring is increasingly becoming a feature rather than a standalone platform.

Many investors now view connected devices and monitoring capabilities as components of broader care delivery ecosystems instead of independent category leaders.

The value increasingly lies in interpreting the data, not merely collecting it.

Once again, the market appears to be pointing back toward intelligence.

The Bigger Signal

The survey ultimately highlights a broader evolution happening across healthcare technology.

The first generation of digital health companies digitized processes.

The next generation will likely augment decision-making.

Healthcare's next wave of value creation may not come from connecting more patients to care or deploying more devices into the home. It may come from enabling clinicians to deliver better care with greater precision and efficiency.

That is a much larger opportunity.

And if our readers are right, the next $10B company in digital health will not be built around access.

It will be built around becoming indispensable to every clinical decision.