Remote Healthcare Market

Remote healthcare employs advanced information technology to monitor patients and provide them with healthcare facilities. In recent times, the IT sector is ruling almost all major industries, including healthcare. This method is an unconventional means of medical facility growing well with the use of technological tools to provide proactive care to the patients. It was stated in the UST Global Inc. that in 2017 more than 50% of the healthcare organizations around the globe have already used the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) inpatient care activities which includes remote monitoring as well. Moreover, almost 90% of such organizations are looking forward to using IoMT for various healthcare services. This propelled the market growth and it is expected to grow at a compound annual growth(CAGR) of more than 20% by the end of the forecast period.

Remote healthcare provides a number of applications including Telemedicine, remote patient monitoring, patient portals for appointments and record tracking, and others. Even in the pandemic situation, the healthcare sector is taking all the necessary steps to help the patients feel supported by providing these engagement and connectivity tools.

How do things stand in the market?

The market is majorly driven by the rising prevalence of chronic disorders like diabetes, arthritis, cardiovascular diseases, and others. According to information provided by the American College of Cardiology, the total prevalent cases of cardiovascular disease in 2019 were more than 500 million with 18.6 million reported deaths. Moreover, the increased use of medical health applications that provides ease of access has created a favorable environment for the growth of remote healthcare facilities. Additionally, there is rising adoption of the internet of medical things (IoMT) as it provides many advantages, mainly high connectivity. The market can be segmented on the basis of the following segments.

By Services 

• Real-Time Virtual Health
  • Video Communication
  • Audio Communication
  • Chat/Email Communication
• Remote Patient Monitoring
• Tele-ICUs

By End-user

• Healthcare Providers
• Patients
• Employer Groups & Government Organizations
• Payers

By Application

• Diagnosis
• Cardiology
• Obstetrics
• Senior Care
• Others

Several other drivers that are contributing to the market growth are high spending on healthcare IT collaborations by major stakeholders. Also, favorable government policies have aided in market growth. For instance, in India, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has started many initiatives using Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) for improving the efficiency of the public healthcare system. Some of these initiatives are National Health Portal which provides information to citizens and stakeholders in different languages, e-hospital, online registration systems, and many others.

Based on the services provided by remote healthcare, the real-time virtual remote healthcare market has gained incremental growth over the foreseen period due to increasing availability of healthcare applications, which helps in patient self-management. Next, the elevating demand for virtual health and various digital healthcare tools including telemedicine in hospitals has made the healthcare providers the dominating contributors of market share. The surge in global cancer cases makes it the dominant shareholder among the segment. Cancer treatment is a lengthy affair; therefore, long-term, proactive care is required with proper monitoring. 

The market stretches around the globe

Availability of advanced sophisticated healthcare infrastructure and reimbursement coverage for telehealth helped North America to flourish in the market. In Europe, Favorable government initiatives made the region one of the major contributors to the market share. The Asia Pacific is expected to gain a hefty revenue in the forecast period by improving the healthcare expenditure. Also, there are numerous initiatives being imposed by the government to support the remote healthcare business.

Roadblocks ahead!

The smoothly running market of remote healthcare has to deal with different issues. For instance, such services require advanced broadband connectivity, which is not possible for small healthcare institutions and rural hospitals. Also, elderly people often face difficulties in using modern gadgets, such as mobile phones. Thus, not everyone can access the remote healthcare service. Moreover, there are problems of privacy and data security risks associated with remote health facilities. 

Competitive landscape

In this technical era, there is high competition in the market and players are working hard to provide such tools and services which can make them better than others. Some of the major players are Advanced ICU Care, UPOlife, Cerner, American Well, AirStrip, InTouch Health, BioTelemetry, Inc., Koninklijke Philips, Medtronic, Vivify Health, Athenahealth, Biotricity, BIOTRONIK, and others.

• Royal Philip partnered with the American Well in 2018 to provide virtual care solutions across the globe.
• Recently, UPOlife developed a remote health monitoring solution to deal with rising cardiovascular diseases in Europe. The device is a personal, pocket-size, portable electrocardiogram device that works in combination with the app and cloud-based AI analytics.