The “never growing old” generation now faces retirement, a host of chronic health conditions, and mortality. The pandemic sparked a major shift toward digital channels to find health information, assess providers, and research Medicare plans and options.

Teladoc got slapped with a lawsuit alleging it misled investors about its 2022 financial expectations. Fewer COVID-19 concerns and increasing competition could be driving losses.

Leisure travel is picking up, but economy clouds outlook: Inflation, continued COVID-19 challenges raise concern about longer-term demand.

US consumers will form new patterns of device use as pandemic norms become habits that are here to stay. This includes usage of mobile and other devices returning to pre-pandemic growth levels. Our forecast for time spent with mobile, connected TV, and other devices show businesses where they should invest.

By 2026, nearly 30% of US consumers’ average retail spending (excluding food and beverage sales and ticketing) will be made using proximity mobile payments, as providers look to build on the pandemic-driven adoption of the technology.

New data reveals teletherapists are less likely to offer services to Medicaid beneficiaries than Medicare patients post-pandemic. We detail what it means for the future of Medicaid.

VR fitness will stick long after the pandemic: We detail how the tech will help make exercise more accessible and reduce preventable diseases.

Though video gaming has been around for decades, it was the entertainment of choice for many during the pandemic.

China’s zero-COVID policy hinders retailers at home and abroad: The mitigation measures put the brakes on both retail sales and manufacturing, which could have long-term implications.

The pandemic, along with shifts in consumer health behavior, have heightened the need for medical payments innovation. With unpaid US medical debt approaching $200 billion, healthcare providers must take a patient-centered approach to enhancing their payment infrastructures.

The pandemic exacerbated clinician burnout and labor shortages as providers added more digital demands to the daily workflow. Doctors generally embrace technology to help them do their jobs, but the plethora of systems are also getting in the way.

US retail sales growth will stabilize in 2022, but changes wrought by two years of the pandemic will drive growth in online automotive and grocery sales.

Total time spent with media per day in the US will decline slightly in 2022, but most pandemic-era gains will be retained. Digital video, subscription OTT services, and smartphones will be among the bigger winners this year.

Food delivery platforms in China struggle to maintain their pandemic gains: As consumers venture out to restaurants and stores, platforms like MissFresh and Meituan are looking for new ways to keep customers on the platform.

Consumers are returning to their pre-pandemic spending patterns: People are shifting their spending to services, which is leaving retailers with a slew of excess inventory.

Online consumer spending in the US was flat in Q1 2022 from the same quarter a year prior, as shoppers pivoted away from their pandemic-driven digital spending habits. While brick-and-mortar saw growth, the increase was just 3%.

Among US social network users, those ages 18 and older will spend an average of 1 hour, 40 minutes per day on those platforms in 2022, the same amount as last year. This figure is peaking after pandemic restrictions fueled a rapid rise in social media use over the past two years, and it will decline by 2 minutes next year.

Soft growth in a big market: Economic and pandemic headwinds restrain ad growth in China as tech crackdown challenges digital publishers.

The average number of smartphone apps used in the US will decrease over the next few years, following a pandemic-driven bump in 2020 that did not change the overall trend. This year, users will access an average of 20.4 apps each month, a figure that will drop to 19.7 in 2026.

US average time spent with digital will hit 8 hours and 14 minutes per day in 2022 after first crossing the 8-hour mark last year. That 1.9% increase isn't as big as in past pandemic years, but it's still eating up a bigger share of overall time spent with media.

Younger consumers in the UK continue to drive the digital conversation, but older age groups did some catching up during the pandemic. And these older consumers are attractive to marketers and brands by dint of their disposable income.

The end of the public health emergency could eliminate telehealth access for many socioeconomically disadvantaged Medicare patients.