The remote patient monitoring market in the U.S. is expected to grow roughly 13.2 percent per year through 2020, new analysis from Frost & Sullivan finds.
Such growth is likely to be a byproduct of the nation's increased emphasis on rewarding value over volume; in particular, providing continuous care for the most needy patient populations--including the elderly and those with chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes--will fuel the market. What's more, the need to improve care coordination beyond a patient hospital stays also will serve as a catalyst for growth.
Frost & Sullivan Principal Analyst Victor Camlek notes, however, that no "gold standard trial" all stakeholders can agree upon currently exists in the industry. "If trials and deployments of RPM systems continue to indicate successful results, perhaps it will finally prove to all stakeholders that these products are of significant value, and increased uptake should follow," he says in a statement.
A similar report also published this week by Berg Insights finds that the number of patients using remote health monitoring devices has doubled in 2015 due to "rising market acceptance." That number includes any patient who is part of an mHealth care program that uses medical devices, but does not include use of tools for personal health tracking.
Berg predicts the number of patients who are remotely monitored will grow annually by 48.9 percent and reach more than 36 million in the next five years.
Another recent report, published by Spyglass Consulting Group in November, finds that more than half of hospitals and health systems are using RPM systems to achieve operational efficiencies, improve risk management and boost care quality and control costs.
Frost & Sullivan's Camlek calls now an "opportune time" for remote patient monitoring to succeed.
"The convergence of biometric monitoring and sensors, along with a wider end-user base of technology-comfortable patients, will create an environment where clinical-grade RPM will expand incrementally," he says.
To learn more:
- download the report's executive summary
- read the announcement