LONDON – A report by independent market analyst Datamonitor predicts the home telehealth market will grow at a five-year compound annual rate of 56 percent, compared to only 9.9 percent growth in the clinical market.
Authors of “Telehealth’s Increasing Role in Healthcare” said the overall global telehealth market will exceed $8 billion by 2012.
However, researchers also noted that a financing issue could hamper deployment of the technology. Specifically, current reimbursement systems may not adequately compensate providers for encouraging the widespread use of telehealth.
“Despite the benefits of telehealth, the lack of reimbursement for telehealth continues to be the most pressing challenge to widespread adoption,” said Christine Chang, healthcare technology analyst with Datamonitor and author of the study. “With no financial incentive for healthcare providers to implement the technology, providers are likely to view telehealth as an increase in workload without a subsequent increase in pay.”
The report defines telehealth as the use of a digital network to provide automated monitoring and treatment delivery to a patient who is in a different physical location than the medical expert providing treatment. It can range from simple communications, like e-mails sent between patients and providers, to complex procedures, such as remote robotic surgery. Telehealth also includes videoconferencing and home monitoring devices.
Telehealth advocates say remote monitoring can improve patient outcomes and reduce visits to expensive healthcare settings such as hospitals.
The report contends that a growing, aging population – coupled with a shortage of healthcare providers – is a leading driver of telehealth adoption.
The Datamonitor report speculates that while the use of telehealth is currently confined to a relatively small number of patients with a few particular conditions, in the near- to mid-term the adoption of telehealth will expand to greater numbers of patients and more areas of healthcare, leading to an even larger market.
In the long-term, Chang noted, telehealth devices will also be directly available to general consumers, further increasing the scope of the market. She added that successful telehealth solutions will be easily incorporated into clinical workflows and linked to other healthcare technologies like electronic health records.
Datamonitor emphasized that the telehealth market is not “one-size-fits-all.” The report notes that patients and providers will likely prefer different telehealth products. It also asserts that the mismatch between available technologies and the day-to-day realities and preferences of end-users needs to be addressed.
“Telehealth is an emerging market with great potential to increase the quality of care, improve the delivery of care and decrease costs,” said Chang. “Today’s strong customer base will continue to grow as the benefits of telehealth become more apparent. However, the workflow processes and technology need to improve before telehealth adoption becomes more widespread.”