Research Shows Telemedicine Trends Continue to Rise

Arguably the biggest change in the healthcare industry in recent years has been the advent of telemedicine trends. Technological as well as policy improvements have made it possible for patients to see and be treated by professionals from hundreds or even thousands of miles away. Telemedicine research and telehealth technologies in general show no signs of stopping either, according to a new report from Transparency Market Research. The technology and computing media source News.Sys-Con.com first reported the company’s press release concerning ongoing telemedicine trends.

According to the Transparency Market Research report, entitled “Telemedicine Market – Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2014-2020,” the global telemedicine software market was worth $14.3 billion in 2014 and is projected to increase to $36.3 billion by 2020. That’s a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 14.3%.

Those statistics are in line with estimates from other sources, which put the global telemedicine market at $11.6 billion in 2011 with estimates of it reaching $27.3 billion in 2016. As far as total revenue is concerned, telehealth solutions brought in $440.6 million in 2013 and profits are expected to reach $4.5 billion in 2018.

The most common reasons believed to be affecting the positive telemedicine trends are increasing privacy concerns, growing government expenditure, recent supportive reimbursement policies, and an overall rise in demand for personal healthcare. Of course, another big factor influencing the market is the ongoing effort to bring these services to remote and otherwise under-served areas of the world.

One of the biggest things holding the industry back from completely exploding is the inherent concern among many potential patients that medical assessments from telemedicine video conferencing solutions may be incomplete, inadequate, or incorrect entirely.

As the technology, methods, and policies surrounding this field continue to improve it should create new opportunities and availability for patients and healthcare professionals alike. In fact, 89% of healthcare executives have said they expect telemedicine to transform the U.S. healthcare system in the next decade.

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