The development of low-cost, high-quality smartphones is changing the way that patients and doctors communicate with one another. This new trend is the result of medical device companies teaming up with software developers to harness the innate processing power of smartphones and produce a variety of diagnostic and health monitoring information. Their efforts have led to the creation of mobile health devices that enable the more than 2.5 billion mobile phone users in the Asia Pacific region to communicate with doctors, self-diagnose ailments, and monitor vital signs such as blood pressure, heart rate and glucose levels.
Increased access to smartphones and the internet suggest that the mobile health market will enjoy a compound annual growth rate of more than 30% during the next four years. Allied Market Research values the global mobile health market at nearly $11 billion. With the number of mobile phone users in the Asia Pacific expected to grow from 2.5 billion to more than 3 billion in the coming years, mobile health technologies will become even more accessible. By taking advantage of these trends, medical device companies can tap into a growing market that is demanding better, cheaper healthcare services.
Mobile Health Capabilities
Mobile phone apps allow patients to easily track basic health data such as heart rhythms and blood pressure. Patients can buy portable blood pressure-monitors, electrocardiogram (ECG) machines and blood glucose meters, and then use a physical cable or wireless Bluetooth system to send the results to their smartphone. The corresponding app then keeps track of a patient’s daily health data for personal use or can be used to send the results to a local physician for further review.
