In This Report
Over the past 10 years, TripleTree has devoted significant research attention across the continuum of healthcare as the industry addresses new models of care delivery, changes in payment structures, escalating costs of care and administration, an aging population, and vendor / market convergence. Specific areas of focus for TripleTree have addressed the changing dynamics and opportunities associated with revenue cycle management, health and wellness, consumerism, and telemedicine. New reports being released in the first half of 2008 will analyze payment at the point of care, as well as an evolving pharmaceutical services industry.
This Spotlight paper is a follow-up to our spring 2007 reportTelemedicine 2.0: Connecting Medical Devices, Patients and Providers to Improve Health, which provides an overview of the entire field of wireless health and addresses more specifically the convergence of clinical and consumer applications through mobile enablement. Numerous advancements in wireless and remote technologies are enabling the disintegration of traditional healthcare delivery models and the creation of new more patient-centric models. Innovative privately-held firms as well as large global organizations such as QUALCOMM, Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson, Philips, and GE are all investing resources in mobile initiatives.
As part of TripleTree's focus on mobility in healthcare ("mHealth"), the subject of this report is to provide an update and continued exploration into a particular area of telemedicine — Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) delivered to the home or to a mobile individual. As discussed in Telemedicine 2.0, there are many additional sectors covered under the banner of wireless health or telehealth, including technologies and services that monitor patients within the hospital or clinic, consumer applications that promote personal health responsibility and management, and remote physician "visits," to name a few. The dynamics evolving in these sectors will be subjects of future TripleTree whitepapers.
There is no shortage of evidence that changes abound in the U.S. healthcare market and bringing health management to the home through technology advancements is no exception. Over the past twelve months, the remote patient monitoring sector has seen new firms enter the market through acquisition, including such organizations as Inverness Medical and Bosch, as well as investment through the IPO of CardioNet. A recent flurry of media articles and research are heightening attention to remote patient monitoring, its benefits, models and advancements, and in the process are bringing focus to the issue of reimbursement. In the following pages, TripleTree will examine these issues and put them into the context of broader industry changes that are shaping momentum in this sector.