Healthcare providers will increase their use of telehealth technology dramatically within the next two years, with the number of gateways used in telehealth applications surging past 1 million by 2014, according to a study by InMedica, the medical research division of consulting firm IMS Research. Handsets used as telehealth gateways also are expected to grow--to 350,000 by 2014, reports TMCnet.
"The use of mobile phones as telehealth gateways has had a surge of interest over the last couple of years," InMedica market research analyst Neha Khandelwal said. "We anticipate that cellular service providers will play an increasingly important role in the long-term future of the telehealth market."
The study also predicted that there will be more health hubs to help manage diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and that the more telehealth is embraced, the more jobs that will be available for nurses and other health professionals.
"This gives a two to three year window for the current market barriers to be overcome, including demonstrating the benefits of telehealth on a large scale to health insurance companies," says InMedica.
To learn more about this study:
- read this TMCnet article