A new generation of physicians is enthusiastically embracing mobile technology, according to a study conducted among some 3,800 doctors by QuantiaMD, the largest mobile and online physician community.
The survey indicates that a growing number of physicians use smartphones and the usage of tablets is rapidly increasing.
"A significant group of 'Super Mobile' doctors now use both devices, and they are far more likely to use mobile technology in clinical settings to access decision tools, learn about new treatments, look up reference material, and handle patient information," Mary Modahl, Chief Marketing Officer, QuantiaMD concluded.
"The growing trend of mobile technology adoption illustrates the great potential of mHealth systems," said Ofer Atzmon, VP Business Development at Aerotel Medical Systems. "As the usage of mobile technologies among physicians increases, they are likely to show much more interest in adopting advanced mHealth technologies to improve the medical service. This will benefit both patients and caregivers."
Some of the study key findings indicated that:
- Physicians are adopting mobile technology at a very high rate.
- Physicians’ strong interest in tablet devices indicates this technology will soon command the physician market.
- “Super Mobile” physicians who own both smartphones and tablets are accessing online resources at significantly higher rates across a broad range of core professional activities.
- Health care institutions are beginning to adopt mobile technology for their physicians and show strong interest in moving forward.
- Access to electronic medical record (EMR) data tops the physician wish-list for how they want to use mobile technology.
Sales of handheld device for healthcare use are expected to increase by 7 percent in next five years, according to a recent report published by healthcare research company Kalorama Information.
Global sales of healthcare devices are expected to rise to $8.8 billion from $8.2 billion in 2009.
The report, titled: The Global Handheld Healthcare Device Market, focuses on Patient Monitoring Devices and Administrative Devices. The authors wrote that stimulus incentives designed to spur hospitals and physicians to use EMR systems are among several factors that will drive growth.
According to InformationWeek the report shows that in 2009, patient monitoring products generated a market worth about $5.3 billion for 2009 with a market share of 64%. This accounts for the largest share of sales in the handheld market, largely due to the range of product availability, number of conditions requiring monitoring, and increasing demand for essential monitoring products in portable sizes, such as ultrasound and ECG. PDAs and Smartphones for healthcare applications were worth about $2.6 billion combined in 2009.
“The ARRA incentives for electronic medical records do not specifically reimburse doctors for devices,” said Bruce Carlson, Publisher of Kalorama Information. “But they are getting healthcare organizations to think about IT purchases, and they are helping to make the argument for better electronic data entry, something that we think will lead to increased sales for devices used to enter data.”
Other factors which impact the growth of the market are:
• Growing and aging population, a
• A shortage of qualified medical professionals
• Cost restraints
• Medical error reduction measures
“Healthcare workers need to be mobile, and so PDAs and monitoring devices have long been a good fit,” said Carlson.
