This probably won’t come as a big surprise to anyone in the medical world but the telemedicine market is thriving, and according to a new study, it isn’t slowing down any time soon.
The report, by Companies & Markets, shows that in 2011, the global telemedicine monitoring market reached $736 million. But here’s the truly astounding part – in just six years it will reach $2.5 billion, according to a story by Erin McCann. In the study, the authors found that the use of telemedicine versus a control group saved about 60 lives over 12 months.
Over the one-year study, 43 percent of patients in the telehealth group were admitted to the hospital, compared with 48 percent in the control group. The number of people in the telehealth group who died was half of those in control patients: 4.6 percent against 8.3 percent. Some even have said it could cut deaths by 45 percent.
Telemedicine is used in many ways, from allowing the elderly to remain at home while being monitored remotely for chronic disease, to reducing hospital admissions and even deaths.
The federal government believes in telemedicine so much, it awarded 45 grants totaling $34.7 million early this year toward healthcare in rural areas in 38 states.
It’s a way to provide healthcare safely while cutting down on office visits and check-ups, even trips to the emergency room.
The reasons for the success of this type of medical care are many – better health for patients, more time for doctors to concentrate on the truly sick, even less paperwork from office visits. But actually, there’s only one, if you really want to think about it. It saves money.
As McCann explains it, “Having the ability to accurately access patient condition via a combination of advanced testing and telemonitoring creates the opportunity to intervene during a clinical emergency and permits education provisions regarding healthy living in a way that is likely to create compliance with clinician recommendations.”
And then there are the devices, getting more powerful and sophisticated every day. McCann reports that telemedicine table devices typically went for $350 in 2011, with the necessary software about $75 per unit. Many healthcare providers hope the devices will pay for themselves over time.
Edited by
Brooke Neuman
