As the populations in Western countries, notably the U.S., Canada and Europe, become older and less active, demographers are expecting the rise of a giant new group: aging Baby Boomer-era adults suffering from a variety of age-related and lifestyle diseases. The costs and the burdens on existing healthcare infrastructures are expected to become staggering. Many innovators, however, have started to see ways to use technology to help these people better manage their healthcare.
Swedish analyst firm Berg Insight has issued a report that found that the global market for home health monitoring of these types of so-called “welfare diseases” (European parlance for chronic age and lifestyle illnesses) was worth approximately nearly $10 billion in 2010. Some of the most common conditions being monitored today, according to Berg Insight, are chronic diseases including diabetes, cardiac arrhythmia, sleep apnea, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. These conditions cause substantial costs worldwide and reduce both life expectancy and quality of life. Berg Insight estimates that more than 200 million people in Europe and the U.S. suffer from one or several chronic diseases where home monitoring can become a treatment option.
“mHealth” is a term for healthcare practice supported by electronic processes and communication using mobile phones or cellular network technologies. It's a broad term that principally involves every kind of mobile health-related communication, application or data service. The report covers home health monitoring involving patient self-testing using medical devices and remote transmission of the medical data to healthcare providers for disease management.
“Progress is being made in the adoption of wireless technology among manufacturers of medical monitoring equipment, but there is still a long way to go before remote monitoring becomes a standard practice in the healthcare sector,” said André Malm, senior analyst at Berg Insight. He added that consumer-oriented health and wellness monitoring will drive the mHealth segment in the near term. A growing number of wellness and medical monitors can be connected to a mobile phone via Bluetooth or other short-range technologies. More and more health and wellness apps are also being released for smartphones, ranging from BMI calculators, diet guides and sport trackers to medical reference apps. “The number of apps focusing on chronic disease management is however still relatively low,” noted Malm.
This means there is still a lot of space in this sector for innovation. As the Baby Boomers in the U.S. become elderly – the oldest of the Baby Boomers are now about 65 years old – the percentage of Americans suffering from chronic age- and lifestyle-related diseases is expected to soar. Considering the U.S.'s already overburdened (and over-priced) healthcare infrastructure, it's clear that new options in the form of technology that enables better monitoring programs, will become vital both to the health of the populace and the health of the nation.
Tracey Schelmetic is a contributing editor for HealthTechZone. To read more of Tracey's articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Tammy Wolf
