3 Medical Services Stocks to Buy to Navigate Industry Challenges

The Medical Services sector is experiencing significant evolution driven by innovation and digital applications. Growing demand for remote treatment has led to a tremendous upsurge in digital healthcare options over the past few years. Demand for digital healthcare treatment continues to grow in the form of telemedicine-focused online medical and AI-powered technology services backed by the adoption of data and analytics.

According to a recent Mordor Intelligence report, the global healthcare analytics market is expected to surpass $130 billion by 2029, witnessing a CAGR of 22.9% from 2024 to 2029. Primary stakeholders — payers, healthcare professionals and patients — will benefit from all-new insights, services and levels of experience that next-generation healthcare-related data and analytical capabilities provide. Stocks like Elevance Health, Inc. (NYSE: ELV), Doximity (NYSE: DOCS) and HealthEquity (NASDAQ: HQY) are expected to gain the most from the rapidly transforming healthcare services landscape.

However, in the post-pandemic era, manual workforce shortage within healthcare has become a worldwide problem, weighing heavily on healthcare infrastructure. According to an August 2024 report by Mercer, there will be a deficit of more than 100,000 healthcare workers in the United States by 2028. Within this, nursing assistants will have the biggest projected deficit compared to other healthcare occupations, signaling the need to improve talent attraction and retention strategies for this segment. By 2028, Mercer expects a projected deficit of over 73,000 nursing assistants nationwide. This has led to increased labor cost and health expenses.

Industry Description

The Zacks Medical Services industry comprises third-party service providers and caregivers appointed by core healthcare companies for economies of scale. The industry includes pharmacy benefit managers, contract research organizations, wireless MedTech companies, third-party testing labs, surgical facility providers and healthcare workforce solution providers, among others. Over the years, this industry has strategically moved from volume- to value-based care. This changing pattern of care calls for advanced facilities, thus increasing the need to appoint specialized external service providers. With the growing importance of effective healthcare management, the medical service industry has become an integral part of the modern healthcare system.

3 Trends Shaping the Future of the Medical Services Industry

Digital Revolution: With an increase in the adoption of digital platforms within the medical device space, remote monitoring, robotic surgeries, big-data analytics, 3D printing and electronic health records are gaining prominence in the United States. A 2024 digital health market report by Statista suggests that this market will witness ...