Global eHealth market to grow to $160 billion by 2015

The global mHealth market will be worth some $23 billion by 2017, according to a new report published by the GSMA. The authors noted that the larger eHealth market is estimated to grow to $160 billion in 2015, at an average growth rate of 12-16 percent.

The report entitled, Integrating Healthcare: The Role and Value of Mobile Operators in eHealth, concludes that that the healthcare industry is undergoing a fundamental shift as demand increases for services outside hospitals and medical clinics.

Source: GSMA

The GSMA said that mobile operators will have a dramatic impact on the healthcare industry in improving access, reach and quality. They noted that in just the last three years, the industry has witnessed significant strides that mobile operators have made in supporting the larger eHealth enterprise market.

"The findings of the report are in line with what we have witnessed in the market. This is why Aerotel is constantly expanding its range of mobile health solutions that can fit within the operators' mHealth offering," said Ofer Atzmon, Vice President for Business Development and Marketing at Aerotel Medical Systems. "Our cooperation with operators is growing and various joint projects with operators are planned to be launched within the next 6-12 months".

The report identified four major customers of eHealth:

• Healthcare providers
• Public and private healthcare insurers
• Governments
• Healthcare consumers

Drivers of eHealth

According the report, mobile operators contribute to the healthcare industry by improving access, reach and quality to care across the entire patient pathway.

"Over the past few years we've seen mobile operators delivering end-to-end healthcare solutions which have typically been provided by the traditional systems integrator but there is clear evidence supporting operators' emerging role in eHealth," said Chris Locke, Managing Director, GSMA Development Fund. "Today operators have evolved and are best placed to deliver the solutions addressing the issues that the global healthcare industry faces, by lowering costs and making healthcare more accessible."