mHealth and wireless health markets get boost from global financial crisis

The mobile health (mHealth) market is expected to continue to grow fast as the global financial crisis strengthens the need for healthcare providers to cut costs, according to a new report published by business intelligence company GlobalData.

In a report, entitled "Mobile Health Devices and Applications – Global Market Briefing to 2018," GlobalData analysts said that mHealth market is expected will grow in value from some $500 million in 2010 to over $8 billion by 2018.

"The emergence of mobile technology has also been propelled by the financial crisis, which resulted in a renewed focus on improving cost efficiency, the improvement of clinical outcomes, and the quality of care provided to patients at home," the authors wrote.

In a separate report, published by the West Wireless Health Institute, it was predicted that the global wireless health market will reach $38.51 billion by 2016, at a CAGR of 19.43 percent from 2011 to 2016.

The report indicates that North America dominated the global wireless health market with around 45% share in 2011. The second largest market is Europe, and Asia-Pacific region is the fastest growing region with China capturing the largest market share of APAC region.

The difference between the figures in both reports is attributed to the fact that the mHealth market relates mainly to the usage of mobile devices by the health industry and specifically refers to the connection between the patient and the medical center. At the same time, the wireless health market refers to the wider usage of wireless technologies including at home, hospital and other locations as well as mHealth.

GlobalData predicts that the rapid emergence of mHealth technology will revolutionize future healthcare delivery and management by saving lives and reducing the economic burden imposed by growing chronic conditions such as diabetes, obesity and hypertension.

It notes that mHealth has proved to improve patient and physician convenience, enable remote monitoring, and improve care-coordination among medical professionals, patients and public health systems. 

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.