Revenues for remote patient monitoring (RPM) solutions reached € 7.5 billion(US$ 8 billion) in 2016, according to a new study released by Berg Insight.
This includes revenues from medical monitoring devices, mHealth connectivity solutions, care delivery platforms and mHealth care programs. RPM revenues are expected to grow at a CAGR of 33.8% between 2016 and 2021, reaching €32.4 billion(US$ 34.57 billion) at the end of the forecast period.
Savings attributable to payers and care providers will by far exceed this amount as connected care solutions can allow better health outcomes to be achieved more cost efficiently. The new care models enabled by these technologies are often consistent with patients’ preferences of living more healthy, active and independent lives.
The healthcare industry is advancing towards an age where connected healthcare solutions will be part of standard care practices. “All health related devices that can be connected will be connected and patient data management therefore becomes increasingly important”, says Anders Frick, senior analyst at Berg Insight.
He describes how the line between medical devices and health gadgets becomes blurred and traditional as well as startup companies try to position themselves as important players in the ecosystem for mHealth data. National PHR systems, device manufacturing companies, independent app producers and tech giants such as Google, Apple and Microsoft are some of the stakeholders.
Another major trend is the consumerisation of medical-grade mHealth devices and apps. During 2016 hundreds of thousands of consumers have connected medical monitoring devices via their smartphones to cloud platforms. This marks a substantial shift that will open up new opportunities in the remote patient monitoring market in the coming years.
“Payers and healthcare providers will have opportunities to take advantage of this trend, as consumers that already have started to use connected medical devices more easily can be onboarded onto new mHealth care programs”, concluded Mr Frick.
The new mHealth study from Berg Insight also investigates the connected AED market. An automated external defibrillator (AED) is a portable electronic device that automatically diagnoses and corrects life-threatening heart problems in a patient.
Yearly shipments of AEDs are around 500,000 units globally. Several vendors recently started to offer AEDs featuring built-in connectivity whereas others are only in the planning stage to add connectivity. Berg Insight estimates that about 10% of all AEDs sold this year will be connected, a percentage that will increase to 50% by 2021.
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