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London, UK. August 6, 2012 — Mobile health (mHealth) solutions that allow patient consultation and monitoring, among other benefits, are surging in popularity worldwide as the use of smartphones and tablets expands, say healthcare industry analysts at GlobalData.

mHealth involves the use of mobile applications and devices to monitor a patient’s health remotely and is, according to authors of a new report, the fastest growing segment within the telehealth and telemedicine market. The latest research, entitled Telehealth and Telemedicine – Global Opportunity Assessment, Competitive Landscape and Market Forecasts to 2018, states that the global mHealth market was worth US$1.2 billion in 2011, but will jump in value to reach $11.8 billion by 2018, climbing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39%.

GlobalData attributes the substantial predicted growth to the widespread use of mobile phones that allow faster, easier and broader access to healthcare services. Products such as the iPhone, as well as Android and Blackberry platform devices all offer applications that cover a wide spectrum of healthcare topics – from fitness and nutrition, to diagnostic imaging.

The large majority of the mHealth market is taken up by software and services, accounting for 80% of the total. The two other sections of the industry are hardware, which makes up 12% of the market, and network and connectivity, which occupies the remaining 8%.

The software and services portion of the industry is driven by rapidly emerging health apps designed to fill key gaps in the mobile healthcare market. Approximately 70% of available healthcare apps are consumer-focused, while the remaining 30% are designed for medical professionals – the latter are typically more sophisticated and can offer clinicians access to patient information and the ability to conduct further analysis, such as creating 3D anatomical models.

The US is the main market for mHealth solutions and made a contribution of $660m to the global market in 2011. Europe and the Asia-Pacific region contributed $420m and $120m in 2011, respectively.

The report provides key data, information and analysis on the global telehealth and telemedicine market. It was built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, primary and secondary research, and in-house analysis conducted by GlobalData’s team of industry experts.

For more information go to: Telehealth and Telemedicine – Global Opportunity Assessment, Competitive Landscape and Market Forecasts to 2018