Telemedicine: Opportunities for Medical and Electronics Providers

Report Highlights

• The current level of telemedicine expenditures is about $4.33 billion.
• These expenditures will experience an AAGR of 9.7% from 2002 to 2007.
• Procurement will continue to be the lead spending category through 2007.
• In 2007, it will account for a total of $2.16 billion, or about 31% of all spending.
• Fastest growth in technology spending will be software, at an AAGR of 12.9%.

INTRODUCTION

In this important BCC report, telemedicine is the electronic transmission, storage and distribution (either in real time or asynchronously) of medical information, knowledge and expertise from one location to another. Telemedicine involves the transmission of one or more of several types of information over a telecommunications network: medical images, live video or audio, medical records, output data from medical files or monitoring devices, or medically-related e-commerce transactions.

When it comes to medicine, technology will never replace the human factor. It can and increasingly will, however, extend and expand the human touch. In trying to do this, telemedicine has proceeded in fits and starts in many disparate areas. These include teleradiology, remote medical access for rural populations, correctional care, and federal agencies such as the Department of Defense, Veterans Affairs and NASA. More recently, though, new and more "mainstream" applications such as home care have reached critical mass.

The analysis provides an overview of new and innovative medical information publishing, consultation and treatment, as well as service and equipment procurement, and monitoring and diagnosis technologies and applications. The latter include biosensors, embedded chips and implants, 3-D store and forward, telemetry, mobile video devices, encryption, imaging and haptic software, robotics and telesurgery applications. Readers also will receive detailed information on leading products, services and applications within the video conferencing, streaming video, database management, e-commerce and wireless networking sectors of the industry, as well as an examination of the emerging dynamics of growing markets.

This analysis delineates the most critical developments in telemedical-related technologies over the past several years, tracing the history of the field as well as reporting on the current state-of-the-art. It examines the near-term commercial opportunities and challenges of several different technologies and products involved in new and impending breakthroughs. It also forecasts dominant market expenditure trends projected through 2007.

SCOPE OF STUDY

This report provides information on all telemedical technologies and services, including

• Infrastructure hardware
• Software and networking equipment
• Telecom devices, as used for delivery of medical services, education
• Medical equipment procurement
• Other medically-related commercial transactions, such as insurance
• Historic and emerging U.S. demographic and use trends
• Discussion of international aspects
• Market forecasts for products and technologies through 2007.

METHODOLOGY AND SOURCES

Preparation of this report involved in-depth study and critical analysis of published data from a wide variety of governmental and private sources. Industry projections have been made by BCC based on original studies of economic, social, and technological trends, as well as a critical examination of projections made by industry and other public sources.