Kalorama Information sees 7 percent annual revenue growth in the next five years for systems designed to monitor patients remotely and send information to a health care organization’s electronic medical record (EMR). That’s double the global medical device market’s average rate of growth, according to the health care market research firm. Kalorama says the aging population, the need for cost efficiency in health care, and staff shortages are among the drivers for these systems.

Kalorama has been tracking advanced patient monitoring since 2007 and its report, Advanced Remote Patient Monitoring Systems, in its ninth edition, is a comprehensive study on the patient monitoring industry, containing detailed market estimates and forecasts.

“The continued pull on healthcare systems to save, previous track record of market participants and the amount of companies entering this space informed our forecasts,” says Bruce Carlson, publisher of Kalorama Information.

The global market will likely experience healthy growth throughout the forecast period, exceeding a value of $49 billion by 2021. Growth in the advanced patient monitoring technologies will be due to several factors, of which some examples include:

  • Replacement of older, low-technology equipment with new wireless or remote units
  • Growing acceptability and knowledge of technology features and benefits
  • Additional monitoring efforts in an effort to alleviate health care problems before they require hospitalization or emergency department visits
  • New technological advancements in the area of wireless connectivity
  • Government incentives and rebates; growing demands for health facilities

Kalorama says there are a huge number of companies offering some form of wireless and remote technologies, patient data processing applications and equipment, and EMR data transfer equipment. The home health care and other sectors are much more fragmented and are dominated by privately held companies. The top five contributors to the market include: Medtronic, Philips Medical Systems, St. Jude Medical, Boston Scientific and GE Healthcare.

Access the report here.