2019-01-28: According to a new market report from Berg Insight, revenues for remote patient monitoring (RPM) solutions reached € 17.5 billion in 2018. This includes revenues from medical monitoring devices, mHealth connectivity solutions, care delivery platforms and mHealth care programs. RPM revenues are expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.4 percent until 2023, reaching € 46.1 billion at the end of the forecast period. Most of the revenues come from the sales of connected medical devices.

New care delivery platforms shows the highest growth rate, with an expected CAGR of 53.1 percent during the forecast period. The new care models enabled by these technologies are often consistent with patients’ preferences of living more healthy, active and independent lives. Healthcare systems around the world are currently undergoing a major transformation to adopt value-based care - a care model that requires care solutions to be both cost-efficient and of high-quality. Healthcare industry players are responding to this by developing data-driven solutions to optimise healthcare.

One example is the use of self-engagement apps that rely on behavioural analytics to coach patients in how to manage their conditions. This can include reminders to take medication, recommendations to handle certain symptoms and real-time adjustments of the treatment plan to address changes in the patient’s condition.

Berg Insight believes that patient engagement apps are likely to become a standard practice in many chronic disease management programmes and that this will spur the adoption of mHealth solutions. Consumer-oriented mHealth devices of medical-grade standards are at the same time gaining traction on the market. During the last years, millions of consumers have connected medical monitoring devices via their smartphones to cloud platforms.

“Payers and healthcare providers can take advantage of this trend, as consumers that already have started to use connected medical devices more easily can be onboarded onto new mHealth care programs”, says Sebastian Hellström, IoT analyst at Berg Insight.

Similarly, medical researchers will have the possibility to collect data in volumes that have never been seen before. However, gaining access to patients’ data may also become more complicated than before. New regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation give individuals more control over their personal data.

“Previously, patients have barely been able to access their own health records. This is about to change and in a few years’ time it will become much easier for patients to not only view their data, but also suggest changes to it and even decide whom to share it with”, continues Mr. Hellström. Healthcare actors will have to make it attractive for patients to share their data. Those who do, may get access to rich information including everything from daily activity habits to ECG, blood pressure and blood sugar readings.