Study: Telemed to double market worth in 5 years

The global telemedicine market is expected to grow from $9.8 billion in 2010 to $11.6 billion in 2011, skyrocketing to $27.3 billion in 2016, according to research from BCC Research published this month.

This growth would note a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.6 percent over the next five years, the Wellesley, Mass.-based BBC Research stated.

Acting as an update to a January 2011 report, the study noted the telehospital/clinic market segment was worth $8.1 billion in 2011. “This is expected to grow to $17.6 billion in 2016, demonstrating a CAGR of 16.8 percent between 2011 and 2016,” the report read.

“There has been a global focus on the use of telemedicine as a tool to cut down healthcare costs and bring about mammoth savings,” the report asserted. “Implementation of the new U.S. healthcare law will, if anything, intensify this focus, by increasing the number of people with health insurance and seeking medical services. In the near to mid-term, telemedicine technologies offer one of the few ways of enabling healthcare personnel to meet the increased demand without unacceptable delays or other forms of de facto rationing.”

The telehome segment is growing faster than the telehospital/clinic segment. This market was valued at $3.5 billion in 2011, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 22.5 percent, reaching $9.7 billion in 2016.

Around the web

Positron, a New York-based nuclear imaging company, will now provide Upbeat Cardiology Solutions with advanced PET/CT systems and services. 

The nuclear imaging isotope shortage of molybdenum-99 may be over now that the sidelined reactor is restarting. ASNC's president says PET and new SPECT technologies helped cardiac imaging labs better weather the storm.

CMS has more than doubled the CCTA payment rate from $175 to $357.13. The move, expected to have a significant impact on the utilization of cardiac CT, received immediate praise from imaging specialists.