Global mHealth revenue is projected to reach $9 billion by the end of 2014 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of almost 40 percent over the next six years, despite barriers relating to regulation, patient acceptance and privacy concerns, finds a new report from SNS Research.
"As healthcare providers seek to maximize their patient outreach while minimizing costs, many view mobile healthcare as the solution to improve healthcare cost-efficiency," states the report. "Mobile network operators also view mHealth as a lucrative opportunity for the monetization of their mobile connectivity services. Given that most operators have established themselves as reputable consumer brands, they are also eyeing on opportunities to offer services beyond simple connectivity. Many operators already offer branded or co-branded end-to-end mHealth solutions to their customer bases."
A separate report from WinterGreen Research, announced earlier this month, estimates that mHealth markets related to telemedicine currently valued at $1.4 billion are anticipated to reach $1.5 trillion by 2019, due to the use of seven billion smartphones and half that many connected tablet devices globally.
"There is a convergence of telemedicine and mHealth as the patients become more responsible for their own care delivery and their own health," states the report. "Home patient monitoring means two things: the imminent rise of the expert patient whom the health authorities anticipate would self-manage his long-term medical conditions and the prominence of mobile devices as the go-between for clinicians and patients."
Another recent research report from Markets and Markets forecasted that the global mHealth market, currently estimated at $6.6 billion, is expected to reach $20.7 billion by 2018 at a CAGR of 25.5 percent. The report revealed that the major drivers of the mHealth market include increasing awareness of chronic diseases, growing adoption of smartphones, high penetration of 3G and 4G networks, advanced mobile connectivity and a promise of better healthcare cost-efficiency.
To learn more:
- read the SNS announcement
- read the WinterGreen announcement