Predictions could be heard emanating from Las Vegas to San Francisco this past week as digital health became a hot trending topic at both CES and the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. Interest in the sector reached new heights leading The Associated Press to quip, "Will 2014 be remembered as the year wearable computing took off?"

Honoring pioneers in digital health, Fenwick & West, Rock Health, Goldman Sachs and Silicon Valley Bank joined forces over this past weekend to host the third annual Top 50 in Digital Health dinner at the Clift Hotel. Leading into JP Morgan, one of the most anticipated life sciences events of the year, the dinner recognized digital health visionaries who made the largest impact in 2013. The full list of honorees is available at fenwick.com/Top50-digitalhealth-2014.

After months of research and collaboration among the sponsoring organizations, we found limiting the list to 50 people was extremely difficult. This is really a testament to the strength of this burgeoning new sector, which is focused on improving healthcare for millions of people. In fact, lately, I've found it difficult to overstate the impact digital health ventures are poised to make. Whether you call it Health IT, mHealth, connected health, wearables or digital health, what we're really talking about are the innovations at the intersection of healthcare and technology that are revolutionizing how we engage with our health and health services.  

In addition to the 50 honorees, five groups and individuals were given special recognition:

  • Most Prolific VC: Social+Capital Partnership
  • Most Prolific Corporate VC: Qualcomm Life
  • Entrepreneur's Choice Award: Patrick Chung, NEA
  • Fastest Growing Company: Evolent Health (enterprise), Misfit (consumer)
  • Lifetime Achievement Award: Esther Dyson, HICCup

For more on the Top 50 Digital Health list, check out the event coverage from Xconomy. 

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