Will the mHealth Market Break $28B in 2018?

The market for mobile health, better known as mHealth, is on the rise, potentially breaking the $28 billion mark in 2018 alone, according to a new report from the market intelligence and consultancy firm SNS Telecom & IT.

An in-depth look at a much-discussed area of innovation, the report examines the sprawling mHealth ecosystem and the opportunities and challenges it holds for businesses and other institutions. “Healthcare providers and payers are increasingly embracing mHealth as a means to enhance care coordination, maximize outreach, boost patient engagement, and improve outcomes, while minimizing costs,” the authors write before announcing their jaw-dropping market forecast.

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After this year’s $28 billion boon, the mHealth market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of roughly 30% over the next 3 years, according to the report.

What’s more, the authors also predict that manufacturers of “health and fitness-centric” wearable devices—the most famous of which are produced by Fitbit—will ship more than 105 million units per year, beginning in 2018. In turn, the authors noted, health systems and providers must continue to bet on big data and analytics to harvest insights from these technologies.

Although each of the above numbers is impressive, SNS Telecom & IT projects continued evolution in the mHealth space. For example, the report finds that the miniaturization of sensors and the creation of new radio platforms will foster new applications—from connected drug delivery technologies to higher-end video services for telemedicine.

Finally, the report highlights burgeoning partnerships around mHealth. The authors point to pharma giant Novartis and up-and-comer Pear Therapeutics, which have teamed up to develop “prescription-strength” digital interventions for schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis. “With widespread adoption of digital devices, prescription digital therapeutics could potentially play an important role in future treatment models for a range of diseases with high unmet medical need, used both alone and in combination with systemic agents,” Jay Bradner, MD, president of the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, said when the deal was announced in March.

The SNS Telecom & IT report goes on to analyze future growth of the mHealth market and how it relates to the internet of things, big data and analytics, and more.

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