According to a report by global consulting and auditing firm Ernst & Young, the market’s interest in telehealth technologies and services has intensified due to healthcare reform, the newly insured, and a growing interest in population health management. The report further notes that healthcare providers are developing integrated strategies for adopting telehealth technologies.
Ernst & Young, citing a study from IHS, notes in its report on telehealth technologies and services that the market in the U.S. will grow from $240 million in 2013 to $1.9 billion by 2018.
This translates to annual growth rate of over 50%. The key drivers for this exponential growth will be current physician shortage and an expanded patient base under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. According to Ernst & Young, the efforts to put consumers at the centre of their own healthcare have also played a major part in the move toward telehealth.
Ernst & Young defines telehealth as the use of technology to deliver healthcare, health information or health education at a distance. It is also called telemedicine, e-health or e-medicine.
This morning, Vancouver-based Moseda Technologies Inc. (TSX-Venture:MSD) announced the receipt of a significant purchase order from a healthcare client. MSD is focused on the development of progressive mobile health and telemedicine solutions for institutional and home health care.
MSD announced that it has received an initial purchase order totaling over $350,000 Canadian from an unnamed healthcare client. MSD said that the client is servicing a company in the home care space with more than 20,000 patients. The company expects to deliver and implement the order in full by the end of November.
According to a report by IBIS World, the home care and long-term care market in North America is estimated to be worth around $137 billion. The market represents a major opportunity for telehealth companies like Moseda Technologies.
Nicholas Murray, CEO of Moseda Technologies, said that the company is excited to be servicing a client in the healthcare space. Murray further said that the transaction validates the demand for technologies that allow for the implementation of effective mHealth and telemedicines initiatives. Murray added that progressive healthcare companies and providers are seeking out technologies such as the one offered by MSD and that the company looks forward to providing them with state of the art hardware and software that are specifically designed to ensure cost efficacy and improve patient care.
Shares of MSD are slumping on the news, however the stock has been on a tear since early August, currently up over 200% in that short time frame.
