500 million people will be using mobile health applications in 2015

BERLIN, GERMANY: Although the potential benefits of mHealth solutions have been widely discussed for over a decade, the market never emerged from the trial phase. Smartphone applications will enable the mHealth industry to successfully reach out to 500m of a total 1.4bn smartphone users in 2015 the new “Global Mobile Health Market Report 2010-2015” by research2guidance says.

Ralf-Gordon Jahns, Head of Research at research2guidance, points out “Our findings indicate that the long-expected mobile revolution in healthcare is set to happen. Both healthcare providers and consumers are embracing smartphones as a means to improving healthcare.”

Not only are consumers taking advantage of smartphones to manage and improve their own health, a significant number (43 percent) of mHealth applications are primarily designed for healthcare professionals. These include CME (Continued Medical Education), remote monitoring and health care management applications.

Currently there are 17,000 mHealth applications in major app stores, 74 percent of them adhering to the paid business model. With more and more traditional healthcare providers joining the mobile applications market, the business models will broaden to include healthcare services, sensor, advertising and drug sales revenues.

“With the growing sophistication level of mHealth applications, only 14 percent of the total market revenue in the next 5 years will come from application download revenue” explains Egle Mikalajunaite Senior Research Analyst. “Seventy six percent of total mHealth application market revenue will come from related services and products such as sensors”.