Top 42 Digital Health Platforms: The Year’s Most Dominant Network Effects Businesses
Learn more about the Top 42 companies and our selection methodology here.
The Top 42 Digital Health Platforms is Summit Health Advisors’ inaugural, annual ranking of the most promising network effects-driven companies in healthcare. These companies are forging new connections, efficiencies and trust across the healthcare system, helping to solve some of healthcare’s most deeply rooted challenges and usher in the healthcare of tomorrow.
Globally, 7 of the top 12 largest companies are platform businesses. In the private market, 60% to 70% of all unicorns are platform businesses. When compared to pure software or SaaS companies, platforms grow faster, reach greater profitability and produce unmatched shareholder value. In healthcare, platform businesses represent a $1 trillion TAM.
The Top 42 includes companies who are utilizing platform business models and innovative digital technologies to fuel their growth, impact and value—transforming healthcare for the better.
The Top 42
Summit Health Advisors' Top 42 Digital Health Platforms.
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Our Methodology: How we Selected the Top 42
Summit Health Advisors’ research team evaluated over 775 digital health platform companies in our proprietary database, focusing on privately held* companies operating in the US. Our evaluation included companies that have raised funds since 2016.
In our scoring, we considered key business, funding and network effects metrics. Companies were scored across more than 25 indicators, factoring in 42 data points. Below is a high-level view of our key evaluation categories and the metrics groupings used to score each of the companies in our database.
*Tempus AI went public through an IPO on June 13th 2024, following our final scoring determination. As it began the year as a privately-held company, the company was included in this year’s Top 42 ranking consideration.
High-level evaluation framework for the Top 42.
How we Define a Multi-sided Platform
We define a multi-sided platform or marketplace as a company that uses technology as a platform to connect different groups of users and facilitate interactions between them. The company’s business model and value creation relies on the quality, breadth and depth of its network of users and the volume of transactions conducted; in other words, platforms tend to be ‘network effects’ driven.
The diagram below highlights the core characteristics of a network effects-driven, digital health platform. We define a platform company as one that meets two or more of the the following criteria:
Digital health platform qualification criteria; key characteristics of a multi-sided platform or marketplace.
Take a deeper look into this year’s Top 42 and how they performed against the rest of the digital health platform and software market. Access our full Top 42 Digital Health Platforms Report.
