Telemedicine EU market ‘expected to triple’ by 2020
pharmafile | July 8, 2014 | News story | Medical Communications, Sales and Marketing | Europe, Frost & Sullivan, analysts, telemedicine
The telemedicine market in Europe is poised for rapid growth and can help keep overall healthcare costs down, according to new analysis from Frost & Sullivan.
Formally defined, telemedicine is the use of medical information exchanged from one site to another via electronic communications to improve a patient’s clinical outcome.
In a new report from the consultancy group it says the 2013 telemedicine market penetration rate of 30% is now expected to rocket up to 50% by 2020.
Specifically, the report ‘Analysis of the Video Telemedicine Market in Europe’ finds that the market saw revenues of $151.2 million in 2013, and estimates this to reach $414.4 million in 2020 – nearly triple its current level.
Frost & Sullivan say that technology advances and the need to provide healthcare access to a geographically fragmented region (i.e., Europe) are factors driving the market.
The decreasing prices of smartphones and tablets, as well as the increasing availability of cloud-based telemedicine solutions, will further contribute to market revenues, the report says.
The management of age-related chronic diseases in Europe currently accounts for around 70% of total healthcare costs. The group believes that the increased use of home healthcare, remote patient monitoring, and assisted living services will help lighten this cost burden.
“Healthcare professionals are also turning to telemedicine to reduce the number of hospital readmissions,” says Frost & Sullivan healthcare research analyst Shruthi Parakkal.
“Similarly, video telemedicine can find opportunities in population health management to facilitate access to healthcare in large geographies in the region.”
But healthcare payers not willing to pay for telemedicine services, coupled with ambiguity around payments for doctors in this area, remain barriers to the large-scale use of telemedicine, according to the consultants.
They add that various regions in Europe are at ‘different levels of maturity’ with respect to reimbursement policies.
“Interoperability and standardisation issues among various devices and technologies used for telemedicine services have also been a challenge,” notes Parakkal.
“The active involvement of vendors will be crucial to make interoperability a market standard and fuel growth in this dynamic landscape.”
Ben Adams
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