M2M market: Connected Health in the US 2015-2019

ehealth

In its report, Technavio covers the present scenario and growth prospects of the connected health M2M market in the US for 2015-2019.

Highlights:

  • Patient security and healthcare resources tracking, such as asset tracking, are the major focus areas for hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare service providers in the US
  • Almost 50% of the adult population in the US is suffering from one or more chronic and mental disorders
  • The number of people above 60 years is also increasing in the country, which may increase the need for connected health M2M for remote patient monitoring
  • Investment from different stakeholder in connected health is increasing rapidly in the US
  • The adoption of wearable healthcare devices such as smart bands and smart watches is high among consumers, which is expected to drive the connected health M2M market in the US

connected health US market highlights
Key market highlights:

Connected health M2M refers to a remote healthcare service delivery model that functions in an IT ecosystem. It enables accessing, sharing, and analysis of healthcare data. It assists in clinical data management, and communication and collaboration among the stakeholders of the healthcare service sector. Some of the major functional areas of connected health M2M services are home monitoring, clinical monitoring, telemedicine, first responder connectivity, connected medical environment, clinical remote monitoring, assisted living and clinical trials, and healthcare asset management.

connected health US key parameters
Source: Technavio 2015
Click to enlarge
The connected health M2M market in the US is expected to grow significantly during 2015-2019, at a CAGR of 28.72%.

Life expectancy and adult mortality rate among consumers is very high in the US. The prevalence of chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, arthritis, cancer, obesity, heart diseases, asthma, and COPD, has also increased in recent years, especially among the aging population (60 and above) in the country. This has in turn increased the need for healthcare treatment for specific conditions. Hospitals in the US are increasingly adopting connected devices for asset tracking. Large number of hospitals are implementing RTLS solutions to locate hospital equipment such as ventilators, oxygen cylinders, hospital beds, and infusion pumps. Fitness trackers are also becoming popular in the region. That along with the government regulations on healthcare, such as the Affordable Care Act, are driving market growth in the US.

An increase in the use of mHealth applications and wearable devices integrated with EHR will drive the connected health M2M market during the forecast period. Earlier, it was difficult to integrate wearable devices with electronic medical software systems. Also, it was challenging for doctors and caregivers to avail information real-time about the health status of their patients. With technological advances, these limitation have been overcome to some extent. Data gathered in wearable devices can now be directly recorded inside EHR through a direct HIPAA-compliant protocol. High usage of smartphones and mobile devices in the country is also boosting the demand for mHealth applications. Application of analytics in the healthcare industry in the US will also contributes to market growth during the forecast period.

However, privacy and security issues pose a threat to the connected health M2M market in the US. The connected health ecosystem works on mobile technologies, wherein chances of data leakage is high.

Data leakage may lead to misuse of health-related information of a patient. In addition, medical device manufacturers have to go through rigorous government processes for getting licenses for wearable devices that are used in medical applications. Such challenges related to healthcare policies and regulatory mandates of the US government may hamper growth of the connected health M2M market in the country.

Global connected health M2M connections

The penetration of M2M connections in healthcare is increasing worldwide. The global connected health M2M connections is growing at a CAGR of 46.88%. The US is the largest market in terms of number of M2M connections.

Chart: Number of connected health M2M connections 2014-2019
Global connected health M2M connections 2014-2019 (million units)

Market size and forecast
The connected health M2M market in the US was valued at $1.02 billion in 2014, which is expected to reach $3.6 billion by 2019, growing at a CAGR of 28.72%.

Chart: Connected health M2M market 2014-2019
Connected health M2M market 2014-2019 ($ billions)

The connected health ecosystem in the US is driven by the increasing penetration of smartphones as well as broadband connections in the country. We expect the market to grow at a rate of 25%-35% during the forecast period.

The increase in the life expectancy and high mortality rate of people in the US increases their dependency on families and caregivers. People aging 60 and above suffer from chronic diseases such as high cholesterol, diabetes, and obesity. As a result, they are unable to visit clinics and hospitals frequently due to their old age. Thus, connected health M2M is a practical solution as it provides remote monitoring facilities. With the help of connected health M2M, doctors can monitor the health of patients from a remote location and prescribe medicines at a low cost.

Regulatory guidelines from the US FDA on various issues, such as mHealth apps, and the standards governing them are expected to come into effect in the near future. Increasing deployment of Wi-Fi and WLAN in hospitals and adoption of EHRs and corresponding apps by doctors for accessing patient records real-time improve the quality of healthcare treatment. These also increase the participation of patients. In addition, integration of wearable devices with EHR helps doctors make fast clinical decisions on treatments for their patients. All the above factors put together will continue to propel the demand for connected health M2M services in the US in the coming years, even beyond the forecast period.

Remark: To calculate the market size, the report considers revenue generated from the connected health M2M services in the US, which include:

  • The healthcare M2M connection services offered by telecom operators and connected health M2M service providers; it does not include the revenue generated from any hardware and software associated with the operation of connected health M2M services or from the sale of EHRs of patients
  • Healthcare services offered in homes, mHealth, clinics, research/medical centers, hospitals, and care centers
  • Services such as home monitoring, clinical monitoring, clinical remote monitoring, assisting people with disabilities, asset management applications, and the connected medical environment
  • Services such as wireless tags, critical network access, e-medical records, bedside terminals, digital signage, chronic disease management devices, point-of-sale devices, location monitoring devices, asset management devices, and smartphones and mobile devices
This report does not include the revenue generated by system integrators, device manufacturers, chip manufacturers, and medical equipment vendors.

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