January 21, 2009

Within seven years, more than 55 million people will receive healthcare electronically on a normal basis. That’s a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of almost 72 percent for telehealth subscribers, according to InMedica, the medical arm of IMS Research.

Although telehealth is not appropriate for all health conditions, many healthcare providers are realizing the benefits of shifting the treatment of many chronic conditions from medical institutions into patients’ homes. This can be done through regular monitoring that allows doctors to manage patient care more efficiently.

At first, many people balk at the idea of gaining access to a doctor through a TV monitor, or receiving healthcare through a monitoring device such as one that measures blood-pressure. But a simple search on Google reveals that telehealth and telemedicine are in fact taking off. 

Newly inaugurated Barack Obama has made telehealth and health IT solutions a key component of his platform, which provides $20 billion to help the healthcare industry computerize patient records.

Brian Bujdos