Stocks & ETF To Invest In Healthcare Robotics And Innovation

• (1:00) - Health Care Technology Mass Expansion: How Robotics Is Changing The Industry
• (10:20) - What Growth Factors Should Investors Be Watching?
• (14:05) - Robo Global Healthcare Technology and Innovation ETF: HTEC
• (26:25) - Big Takeaways From Fast Changing Healthcare Industry
• Podcast@Zacks.com

In this episode of ETF Spotlight, I speak with Travis Briggs, CEO of ROBO Global, creators of the index for the first ever robotics ETF listed in the US--the Global Robotics and Automation Index ETF (TASE:ROBO) , which has about $1.3 billion in assets.

They recently launched the ROBO Global Healthcare Technology and Innovation ETF HTEC which provides exposure to global companies leading the healthcare technology revolution.

We have seen a lot of innovation in the healthcare industry. Advanced technologies like AI and robotics are transforming the space with disruption in diagnosis, regenerative medicine, robotic surgery, genomic analysis, DNA sequencing and smart monitoring devices.

A lot of private capital is flowing into these areas as investors want to get exposure to companies powering this technological revolution. And we are probably in the early stages of this revolution since healthcare is one of the least digitized among all sectors, according to a McKinsey Global report.

The world is short of surgeons, according to FT, 143 million people are denied operations each year and 5 billion lack access to safe, affordable surgical services. While we’re still quite far from totally robotic surgeries, artificial intelligence and machine learning are helping surgeons perform complex procedures with more precision.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) , whose da Vinci surgical system enables minimally-invasive surgery, is one of the holdings in HTEC.

We talk about key growth areas like gene editing, regenerative medicine and virtual care and why investors should not ignore this space. We also discuss some of the companies that are doing very innovative work in these areas.

Genomic Health (NASDAQ:GHDX) develops genomic-based clinical tests for cancer diagnosis that allows physicians to offer individualized treatment options.

Tabula Rasa (NASDAQ:TRHC) enables optimization of medication regimens to improve patient outcomes, reduce hospitalizations and lower healthcare costs.

DexCom (NASDAQ:DXCM) developed the continuous glucose monitoring systems for ambulatory use by people with diabetes.

Teladoc Health (NYSE:TDOC) is a leader in virtual care.

Please tune into the podcast to learn more about the ETF and these companies. Make sure to be on the lookout for the next edition of ETF Spotlight! If you have any comments or questions, please email podcast@zacks.com.

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