Digital Health Weekly - 1 - 6 Feb, 2026

• Australia’s digital health market is projected to rise from USD 8.9 bn in 2026 to USD 31.1 bn by 2034, a CAGR of 14.92%, driven by government programs, telehealth and mobile health growth. 
• Medicare‑funded telehealth, expanded in March 2025 to cover more specialist and chronic‑disease consultations, pushed usage to over 40 % of Australians by September 2025, especially in rural areas. 
• The Australian Digital Health Agency’s My Health Record platform provides a secure national framework for real‑time sharing of records, prescriptions and test results, improving care coordination and reducing errors. 
• mHealth apps and wearables, boosted by a May 2025 AI‑analytics pilot across regional hospitals that cut emergency wait times by up to 25 %, are enabling preventive care, chronic‑disease monitoring and personalized treatment. 

• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese secured an extra $25 billion in Commonwealth hospital funding for states and territories, raising total federal hospital spend to over $219 billion—triple the previous agreement. 
• The deal adds $2 billion beyond the government’s initial proposal and includes $2 billion to accelerate discharges of elderly patients awaiting aged‑care beds. 
• The Australian Medical Association praised the boost as “welcome and long overdue” but warned it won’t stop hospital backlogs or achieve the AMA’s target of a 45 % Commonwealth share of costs by 2030. 
• The deal is also being scrutinized by the National Rural Health Alliance, whose chief executive Susi Tegen says the funding must address specialist shortages and limited same‑day GP access for the 7.4 million people living outside capital cities. 

• Epic Systems announced its AI Charting feature on Wednesday, targeting the ambient scribe market with several health systems already piloting the tool. 
• Chief Medical Officer Jackie Gerhart said the AI will act as an active scribe, expanding from notes to include orders and diagnoses. 
• Epic holds 42% of the acute hospital EHR market and 55% of beds, giving it a strategic edge over rivals such as Oracle Health, which has 23% market share. 
• The company plans to leverage its vast patient‑record platform to make AI Charting more effective than existing ambient scribe solutions. 

• Apple bought Israeli start‑up Q.ai for an estimated $2 billion, marking one of its largest acquisitions. 
• Q.ai’s patented tech can read facial micro‑movements via headphones or glasses, enabling silent user commands to AI assistants. 
• The acquisition aims to boost Apple’s health‑focused wearables, allowing hands‑free monitoring and interaction for users. 
• Founded in 2022 in Tel Aviv by Aviad Maizels (ex‑PrimeSense), Q.ai’s technology could be integrated into future Apple AirPods and smart‑glass health devices. 

• Clair, founded by Stanford alumni Jenny Duan and Abhinav Agarwal, is developing a wrist‑bracelet wearable that continuously tracks women’s hormone levels. 
• The device pairs with a mobile app that processes all data locally on the phone, prioritizing privacy and avoiding third‑party data‑center storage. 
• Clair plans to seek FDA approval and will launch a Stanford Medicine‑backed clinical trial this spring to validate its medically‑credible, non‑invasive hormone monitoring. 
• Advisors note the technology can reveal menstrual cycle patterns, aid diagnosis and treatment, and reduce repeat blood draws, addressing women’s under‑representation in health research. 

• Australian tech start‑ups secured $5.1 billion in funding in 2025, a $1 billion increase from 2024, according to Cut Through Venture and Folklore Ventures. 
• The surge is driven by a gold‑rush into artificial‑intelligence solutions, many aimed at digital health and medical‑tech applications. 
• Investors contend the capital influx is a strategic push, not a speculative bubble, to accelerate AI‑enabled health innovations across Australia. 
• The State of Australian Start‑up Funding report highlights AI‑focused health ventures as a primary beneficiary of the increased funding.

• Evaro secured $25 million (£18 million) in a Series A round led by AlbionVC to scale its NHS‑licensed healthcare‑as‑a‑service platform. 
• Founded in 2018 by Dr Thuria Wenbar and Dr Oskar Wenbar, the platform embeds prescription services into consumer brands such as Clue and Lovehoney. 
• The funding will fund expansion into women’s health, men’s health and longevity medicine and enhance clinical and platform capabilities. 
• Evaro aims to relieve NHS pressure by offering regulated, on‑demand care, including asynchronous consultations and remote prescribing, through partner apps, with a pilot launched in October 2025 for NHS‑funded contraception via Clue. 

• Oura has filed a patent for smart glasses with a heads‑up display that could integrate with its Oura Ring and smartwatches. 
• The HUD would show real‑time health metrics such as heart rate, temperature and movement directly in the user’s line of sight. 
• The glasses may include an on‑board camera that automatically records surroundings when an abnormal heart‑rate spike is detected, and gesture controls for photo or video capture. 
• Patent authors include AR engineers from Meta, indicating Oura is seriously pursuing the product despite the Oura Ring 4 currently selling for £349. 

• KAIST and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology have created a thin, flexible OLED‑based cap that emits near‑infrared light (730‑740 nm) to target hair‑follicle aging. 
• Laboratory tests showed the OLED light suppressed cellular aging in hair‑follicle cells by about 92% compared with untreated controls. 
• The cap’s fabric‑like design offers a more portable alternative to existing helmet‑style LED or laser devices, which struggle to evenly cover the scalp. 
• The technology remains at the cellular‑research stage and has not yet entered animal or human clinical trials.

• Samsung Electronics registered the Galaxy Watch 8’s heart‑rate, blood‑oxygen and step‑counting functions as South Korea’s first “digital medical and health support devices” under a new regulatory framework. 
• The registration follows the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s voluntary reporting and performance certification system launched in January under the Digital Medical Products Act of 2023. 
• The framework, the first in Korea to oversee AI‑enabled digital health products beyond traditional devices, aims to boost consumer access by publicly disclosing product information and preventing false advertising. 
• Samsung Health integrates these wearables to provide AI‑driven insights on sleep, activity, diet and mental wellness, with real‑time alerts for abnormal heart‑rate or oxygen levels.