InMedica, a division of IMS Research, is projecting $6.28 billion in the global telehealth market by 2020, with the bulk of growth after 2015. Telehealth is fairly narrowly defined (as your Editors do here) as remote monitoring for vital signs.
If this sounds like ‘explosive growth’, consider these earlier forecasts we reported in spring 2010 on mobile health and eHealth:
- Juniper Research: $1.4 billion in global mHealth (alone) by 2014
- Parks Research: $4.4 billion in mHealth by 2013, US alone
- CMSG: $4.6 billion (broadly defined eHealth) by 2014
The problem with these luminous forecasts was that any mobile health device or platform (including pulse monitors for athletes) was counted, and even a year ago were treated with some skepticism.
In fact the InMedica estimates of telehealth seem about in line with what we in the industry personally estimate. Start with $163.3 million (global) in 2010–a small market indeed–with North and South America accounting for $122.9 million of that amount. In 2015, the world total increases to $990 million with Latin America moving to the lead. Much talk of convergence here as well. Information Week