Dive Brief:
- While consumer mobile devices are at the forefront of the healthcare industry today, new research predicts that clinical mobile health devices will become a much bigger part of the mobile health market after 2018.
- Lux Research predicts that the global mHealth market will grow by 8X by 2023, from $5.1 billion in 2013 to $41.8 billion by 2023, as obstacles such as regulatory barriers, data security and lack of interoperability ease.
- The research firm projects that vital signs and in vitro diagnostic devices will make up 75% of the mHealth device market by 2023, with the two making up a collective $32.9 billion by that year.
Dive Insight:
The shift from consumer-led technology to wired clinical devices will be slow, but seemingly decisive. The clinical vital signs monitoring devices market alone will grow from $372 million in 2013 to $16 billion at a compound annual growth rate of 46%, Lux projects. Meanwhile, the consumer apps market is only projected to grow at an 11% rate, from $2.5 billion to $7 billion.
It's worth noting, however, that there's plenty of wiggle room in that consumer market prediction. For example, two-thirds of 500 physicians recently surveyed by MedData Group use some kind of mobile app on their jobs, and 60% are interested in using technologies that enable mobile EMR access. If EMR vendors get their act together and make it easier to access their products via smartphone or tablets, the use of consumer devices could step up considerably.