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Remote patient monitoring solution revenues surge: study

Kgaogelo Letsebe
By Kgaogelo Letsebe, Portals journalist
Johannesburg, 17 Feb 2017
The number of global remotely monitored patients surged by 44% in 2016.
The number of global remotely monitored patients surged by 44% in 2016.

A global study by Berg Insight has shown an increase in revenues for remote patient monitoring (RPM) solutions.

Revenue for medical monitoring devices, mHealth connectivity solutions, care delivery platforms and mHealth care programmes reached $7.9 billion in 2016. The report attributes the increase to new care models which are enabled by these technologies being consistent with patients' preferences of living more healthy, active and independent lives. As the results revealed, the number of remotely monitored patients grew by 44% in 2016, highlighting a rise in patients being enrolled in mHealth care programmes in which connected medical devices are used as a part of the care regime.

The group also estimates that the number of remotely monitored patients will reach 50.2 million by 2021. Another key trend is the consumerisation of medical-grade mHealth devices and apps. During 2016 consumers connected medical monitoring devices via their smartphones to cloud platforms. This marked a substantial shift that will open up new opportunities in the remote patient monitoring market in the coming years.

"Payers and healthcare providers will have opportunities to take advantage of this trend, as consumers that already have started to use connected medical devices more easily can be on-board onto new mHealth care programs", says Anders Frick, senior analyst at Berg Insight.

Johan Fagerberg, CEO of Berg Insight, says the company interviewed 40 companies across the world with a main focus on North America and Europe.The report further claimed remote patient monitoring revenues would reach $34.5 billion in 2021.

"Connected devices are now considered to be the standard communication technology for most types of connected home medical monitoring devices," Berg Insight claims. The group states that the number of mHealth devices with integrated cellular connectivity increased from 3 million in 2015 to 4.9 million in 2016 globally.

In a separate study by Mordor Intelligence, it is shown that the Middle East and Africa region is not far behind the trend with the RPM market in the region poised to reach $422 96 million by 2021. In this report, RPM technology is defined by day-to-day monitoring devices such as glucose meters for diabetics, heart or blood pressure monitors for cardiac patients. Also the use of telehealth computer systems for information transfer to the physician's workplace.

Key drivers for the market in the African region include an increase in the chronic disease population and the aging population, the demand for home-based monitoring devices and the need to contain the average healthcare expenditure, states the report.

"The healthcare industry is advancing towards an age where connected healthcare solutions will be part of standard care practices. All health related devices that can be connected will be connected and patient data management therefore becomes increasingly important", says Frick.

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