Telemedicine Spending to Approach $3.6 Billion Annually by 2014

�The market for telemedicine devices and services in the USA will generate nearly $3.6 billion in annual revenue within the next five years, with mobile-services companies taking a sizeable chunk of that business, market research firm Pike & Fischer projects in a new report.

The need to control costs, along with the development and expansion of faster wireless broadband networks, smartphones, and data compression solutions, will drive the market growth, P&F says. Wireless applications, devices, and services solutions will account for more than 70 percent of the total market spend within five years, the Silver Spring, Md.-based market research provider projects in the report, "Telemedicine and the Economic Stimulus: Broadband Opportunities in a Swelling Market."

Driving that spending is the economic stimulus law that President Obama signed earlier this year. That initiative includes $20 billion for health information technology, with a specific focus on electronic medical records and telemedicine. P&F forecasts that at least 25 percent of the $20 billion in stimulus funds earmarked for health information technology will be applied toward broadband-enabled telemedicine services such as remote patient monitoring and mobile access to medical records, and consumer applications such as interactive fitness guides and mobile health-related videos.

"These estimates will climb if the Obama administration's proposed health-care reform plan passes," says Tim Deal, Senior Analyst in P&F's Broadband Advisory Services group. "The proposed health-care reform includes an investment of $50 billion over five years to promote health information technology."

AT&T will have the largest presence in this market, followed closely by Verizon and Sprint Nextel, Deal predicts. Smaller software and device manufacturers will quickly find themselves targeted for acquisition, he says.

Posted to the site on 7th October 2009