Our interns answer: biotech vs. health tech–what’s the difference?

Table of contents

What we’ve learned: week 1

Mission one of our internship this fall was to learn more about the healthcare tech and biotechnology fields. This week, we’ll dive into the differences between health tech and biotech. It seems like there’s one overarching difference: health tech is centered around digital technology that improves healthcare delivery. On the other hand, biotech focuses on biological science to create medical (and other) products and solutions.

How health tech revolutionizes health care

Health tech is about using digital technology to improve delivery in the healthcare field. Without health technology, the quality of life for certain individuals would be significantly decreased. For example, thanks to health tech, electronic healthcare records can be integrated into patient’s systems for better organizational management, and electronic prescriptions have been invented to decrease waiting time.

Health tech products also serve to increase convenience and accessibility in medical services. Since COVID-19, telehealth appointments have become much more prominent as they deliver care to patients in remote locations. In addition, artificial intelligence is used to constantly innovate services such as through chat boxes to communicate with patients and creating tailored treatment plans based on patient profiles. Beyond health services, the use of health tech products also strive to benefit individuals in daily activities through health wearables including health trackers to monitor your health throughout your day.

Biotechnology in healthcare

Whereas health technology is all about digital tech, biotech uses living organisms. There has been constant research in this field with the intersection between natural sciences and engineering to develop health products and services. On the healthcare side of things, new emerging biotech is being produced and researched every day. Google’s DeepMind AI company recently created the AlphaFold program designed to research protein folding, and how the folding of proteins can be manipulated to improve human health. One of the biggest areas of biotech research right now is to use and manipulate cells to reduce aging and create a product for the public that can use cells to anti-age. What is interesting about a lot of biotech is that it is mainly a lot of research and funds that stretch for years, using millions of dollars and years of clinical trials and tests before these life-altering technology products become available to the public.

Our final thoughts

As marketing interns, this exercise helps us understand the field we are marketing in and expands our knowledge of this industry. Using this research, we came to the following conclusions: While health tech and biotech intersect in a broader field, both industries serve slightly different purposes and benefit individuals in distinct manners. Ultimately, they share the goal of improving patient outcomes and positively impacting the quality of life for humans. As we move forward with our experiences at KNB Communications, we’re excited to see how innovations in healthcare–whether health tech or biotech–push the boundaries of what is possible in healthcare.

KNB interns

At KNB Communications, our interns are an integral part of the team, bringing fresh perspectives and enthusiasm to our healthcare PR and marketing projects. Each semester, our interns work closely with seasoned professionals, gaining hands-on experience in areas like media relations, content creation, social media strategy, and market research. Throughout their time with us, they contribute to real client projects, learning to navigate the fast-paced world of healthcare communications while honing their skills in writing, strategy, and client management. By the end of the semester, our interns leave with a deep understanding of the healthcare marketing landscape and the confidence to thrive in any professional environment.