The Journal of mHealth Vol 1 Issue 1 (Feb 2014) | Page 9

mHealth...A Global Market
services. Within the market a number of trends look set to shape development over the next few years,
including:
- Smartphone user penetration driving mHealth uptake
- mHealth applications becoming
more tailored for smartphone and
tablet usage
- mHealth business models set to
mature and broaden
- Applications and mobile solutions
will enter the traditional health distribution channels
The introduction of the Affordable
Care Act in early 2014 should also
see organisations moving towards
the increased delivery of mHealth
services with the aim of increasing
consumer choice whilst realising
cost-savings through technologyled service introduction.
The appetite amongst investors for
digital health start-ups also shows
signs of market maturity. Success
stories like Scanadu and FitBit demonstrate the wider sentiment for opportunity within the digital health
sector.
Demand for remote monitoring
solutions has similarly risen in response to aging populations, dwindling healthcare resources, and penalties for readmissions. The report
by Kalorama Information estimates
that this sector alone in the US was
valued at $10.6 billion in 2012 and
that it could reach upward of $20.9
billion by 2016 [1].
Despite the significant opportunities for growth there still remain
some barriers. The FDA final guidance on mobile medical applications
report 2013 [11] (see page 17) has

gone some way to clarifying the regulatory framework for the development and implementation of mobile applications, but there are still a
num