Report: Medical monitoring products to push home health market

The home health monitoring market is expected to generate higher revenues from services that are based on using monitoring products, according to a recent report published by research company Parks Associates.

In a report, entitled "The Role of IP in Revitalizing PERS", Parks said that the Personal Emergency Response Service (PERS) market is currently changing as it is re-introducing services as a more modern care concept. The report indicates that technology, particularly IP-enabled technology innovations in hardware, software, and service platforms, is driving the market transition.

"We in Aerotel defiantly feel that demand for services that use advanced monitoring solutions," said Ofer Atzmon, Vice President for Business Development and Marketing at Aerotel Medical Systems. "Products such as our GeoSkeeper offer a new level of safety beyond existing PERS and traditional social alarm systems."

GeoSkeeper

Parks analysts said that the long-term threat to the PERS industry incumbents comes from new senior independent living solution providers. These players offer a complete suite of software and service components that address needs for proactive risk assessment, self-care for chronic conditions and wellness, social communication, and health education/lifestyle adjustments.

They said that these providers offer PERS service as complementary and sometimes complimentary, service. The technology platform on which these capabilities are offered has to be IP-enabled, and this platform's cost will only go down as technology matures and operational scale builds.

The authors, Harry Wang and Jennifer Kent, said that the market is changing as new senior-friendly services, using either IP or traditional phoneline-based communications infrastructure, are now offered. They estimated that PERS services are expected to transform into a full-fledged senior independent living solutions.

Wang and Kent concluded that in the future, the market will become less fragmented and IP-based service infrastructure and IP-connected monitoring devices will be two of the change agents to give the PERS industry a rebirth.

Report: Revenues of US digital health sector to surpass $5.7 billion by 2015

Sales of digital health technology solutions and services in the US will exceed $5.7 billion in 2015 compared to only $1.7 billion in 2010, according to a report issued by research company Parks Associates.

The income growth is forecasted to be fueled by chronic-care monitoring solutions, senior aging-in-place services, and connected wellness and fitness apps and programs. Perks said in its Delivering Quality Care to the Digital Home: 2010 Update that the projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the industry for the next five years will be 27%.

The authors noted that mobile broadband will be a key growth driver as many emerging health devices and services rely on high-speed connectivity to track vital signs or enable interactive features.

"The digital health industry has many subsectors, and near-term growth will be uneven across these segments," said Harry Wang, director of Parks Associates' health research team. "Adoption of chronic-care monitoring will grow slowly, and medication management and senior fall-detection programs will expand at above-average rates. The real engines of growth in this industry will be mobile care solutions and tracking applications."

Wang noted that political impasse over the new healthcare law could delay investment in new technologies and create funding challenges for new business models. "To move forward, this industry needs smart entrepreneurs and visionary industry leaders and a regulatory and reimbursement system amenable to innovative, effective, and cost-saving technology advances."

Caregivers willing to invest more than patients on home health monitoring

The number of US consumers, who care for an ill family member, that are willing to pay for a home health monitoring service, is 100 percent higher than the number o those willing to pay for the same services for themselves, according to a report by research company Parks Associates.

The report indicates that some 20% of US consumers are willing to pay for remote monitoring service, while only some 10% were willing to spend money for themselves.

The survey, titled Uptake of Personal Health Tools & Services, shows that motivations for adopting home health monitoring include:

• Concerns by caregivers that they will be unable to accurately measure and track their loved one’s vital signs.
• Fear that they will be unable to detect warning signs of health decline.
• Acknowledgment that home monitoring is a good solution.

The report showed that over 70%, of those caring or planning to care for a fragile senior, feared most that the person in their care would take an accidental fall. 

“There is a self-pay market for home health monitoring, but interest is stronger among caregivers than patients,” said Harry Wang, director, Parks Associates’ health research team. “Companies in this market segment should target caregivers and emphasize how these technologies can quell their anxieties and help overcome the immense challenges of caring for a loved one who is sick or infirm.”

US Government incentive to push personal health to records

Personal health record (PHR) providers are expected to be among the main beneficiaries from the U.S. government’s recent EMR (electronic medical records) incentive, according to a report published by international research firm Parks Associates.

The report, titled Electronic Health Records: Information Center of Connected Care, notes that the intuitive will raise awareness among consumers and will push the total number of PHR users to over 100 million by 2014.

This authors note that the $19 billion financial incentive from the U.S. federal government includes a “meaningful use” requirement. They added that although PHR is not fully spelled out as part of the reform, designed to promote EMR adoption, it is implied in one of the requirements.

“Despite a slow start, the PHR market is poised to grow, thanks in large part to government incentives,” said Harry Wang, Director, Health and Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates. “Patient portal as a tethered PHR will experience the fastest expansion over the next few years because it will serve a dual purpose for physicians. PHR will serve as a patient communication tool and will also help them qualify for the incentive. Doctors will communicate the benefits of PHRs to consumers, resulting in rising awareness and more frequent usage.”

How will President Obama's Health Reform impact wireless health care market?

President Obama's healthcare appeal is expected to lead to many changes in the US healthcare market. One interesting question is, which healthcare services will benefit from it most?

According to a recent report published by international research firm Parks Associates one of the main beneficiaries will be the market for wireless home-based healthcare applications and services, which is expected to reach some $4.4 billion by 2013.

The rapid rise is supported by the healthcare reform of the Obama Administration, which is expected to encourage the adoption of wireless technologies in healthcare and the promotion of technologies that improve healthcare efficiency.

The report, titled Wireless Healthcare: Analysis & Forecasts, indicates that the market will grow at a five-year cumulative annual growth rate of over 80%.

The study indicated that wireless technologies can benefit home care in areas such as chronic care management, medical diagnostic device monitoring, wellness and fitness applications, medication management, and senior independent living solutions.

Another report, published by Parks Associates in February 2009, showed that providers of personal health technologies such as health monitoring devices and personal health records (PHR) can generate over $460 million in revenue in 2013.

The research firm said that changes in the healthcare landscape, combined with health reform initiatives, are catalysts for accelerated technology spending over the next five years.