The global mobile health applications market is expected to reach $4.1 billion by 2014 compared to $1.7 billion in 2010, according to a report published by research company Technavio.
The company's analysts said they expect the market to grow by an impressive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24% percent until 2014.
The report indicates that the key drivers for growth are the increase in general diseases and population of patients. It adds that the main source of revenue in this field will comes from smartphones used by the healthcare professionals.
Technavio estimates that the United States has the largest market share and is expected to grow at a faster rate in the future. The authors said that in the coming years, due to increasing focus on patients in developing nations, mobile Health software providers and telecom companies may penetrate further in countries such as China and India.
The analysts noted that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) intends to come up with proper rules for the approval of mobile health applications. This will, in turn, increase the productivity and the accuracy of these apps in the future.
At the same time, the analysts warned that there have not been proper or effective FDA rules and regulations yet. "FDA regulations seem to be more confusing than helpful to many vendors in the mHealth industry," Technavio wrote. "With the advent of numerous new Mobile Health applications being introduced in the market by various players, the FDA is finding it difficult to come up with any specific parameters for the Mobile Health applications".
Healthcare Smartphone apps are expected to significantly contribute to mHealth revenues according to a report released by Juniper Research.
The number of mobile fitness and healthcare application has already reached some 5,000. Most healthcare apps provide health information to professionals or end users, while fitness apps are available to measure calorie intake or measure distance travelled for those running.
According to the report healthcare Smartphone apps are expected to significantly contribute to mHealth revenues. Eventually a new market will spawn for advanced apps which integrate sensors worn on the body. It further indicated that in the past eighteen months there has been a renewed interest in mHealth from operators globally.
"Mobile monitoring will demonstrate substantial growth in the US and some other developed markets,” said Anthony Cox, Senior Analyst at Juniper Research.
Cox noted, however, that while mobile monitoring will contribute to healthcare cost savings in developed markets, national wealth and the structure of the healthcare market in a given geographical region will have an important bearing on the extent to which it is rolled out. "In Africa, for example, the opportunities for mHealth monitoring will be limited, instead, SMS based education programs will be rolled out there and these can be of great benefit."
The report also indicated that income from remote patient monitoring over cellular networks is expected to rise to almost $1.9 billion globally by 2014. The writers added that heart based monitoring in the US accounts for the bulk of early mobile monitoring roll-outs.
