Investments from governments across the APAC countries are helping these programs to grow.
According to the results of a recent analysis of the Asia Pacific (APAC) region’s mhealth marketplace, the market’s value grew to $7.9 billion, last year, due to investments from governments in that area.
The report on the analysis showed that the largest telemedicine revenue contributor was from mobile health.
The analysis was conducted by Frost & Sullivan. It showed that mhealth contributed the most of all the telemedicine forms, in 2012, to the $44.6 million in revenues that were generated in that region. The data showed that remote patient monitoring equipment sales also grew to reach $773.5 million last year.
The analysis suggested that governments in the region will play a vital role in mhealth growth.
According to healthcare industry analyst from Frost & Sullivan, Natasha Gulati, “Governments across APAC are and will continue to be the major architects of the telehealth industry in this region.” Among the initiatives of the governments in the Asia Pacific region, there are a wide range of different grants and pilot projects, as well as legislation for the promotion of or the commitment to the building of an infrastructure for telehealth. This will play a vital role in the expansion of the use of mhealth programs and related products.
The telehealth industry in the Asia Pacific region is dissimilar to those that have been implemented in the United States and in European countries. This was specifically pointed out in the Frost & Sullivan report. The analysis report underscored the focus of using telehealth as a tool to ensure that a large population will receive equitable healthcare, instead of focusing on technological advancement and business profitability. That said, the cost effectiveness of mhealth tools and technology mean that this sector has a good chance of experiencing meaningful gains from those investments.
On the whole, the Asia Pacific focus makes it challenging for private companies to ensure long term profitability when they are working to developing sustainable business models. Instead, it is the private ICT organizations, software vendors, mhealth manufacturers, and other device manufacturers that experience the largest opportunity in the growth of telemedicine when they are able to establish a partnership with government organizations.
