The excitement about digital health solutions has reached new heights as the market moves toward changes where those solutions are not only wanted, but in many cases needed to help battle costs and improve patient outcomes. The interest in digital health is part of a larger trend that is seeing patients take on more and more responsibility for their own health amid changing perceptions of what is considered a medical device.

Medtronic and Roche have made important moves in the remote monitoring market with new partnerships designed to enhance their places in telemedicine, which continues to be an important point of emphasis for providers. Meanwhile, AliveCor, a young company with groundbreaking cardiology technology for the smartphone, has reached an important milestone in Europe.

Healthy market growth, the biggest ever M&A deal, a record number of billion-dollar takeovers, and the IPO market in impressive bounce-back…2014 was a year of superlatives for the global medtech industry. But with more expected of manufacturers while health care spending remains in the doldrums and demand for care rises, the long-term medtech winners will be those who can forecast how and where to make an impact on both costs and patient outcomes.