Telemedicine will save the healthcare industry $21 billion in costs by 2025 as compared with $11 billion in 2021. This represents a growth rate of over 80 percent in the next four years.
Savings would be restricted to developed nations where access to required devices and Internet connectivity is prevalent. Over 80 percent of savings will be attributable to North America and Europe by 2025.
Over 280 million teleconsultations were performed in 2019. However, this rose to 348 million in 2020, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. The activities of third party healthcare service developers will be crucial in accelerating the deployment of emerging telemedicine services, and increasing the uptake amongst healthcare providers.
The significant investment into integrating telemedicine services, and the requirement of data protection, such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) in the US, will discourage adoption amongst smaller healthcare providers.
Adam Wears, Research author, said: “Any deregulation must ensure that patient confidentiality is not undermined. Additionally, we recommend that innovative and emerging teleconsultation services are integrated into existing healthcare technologies, such as electronic health records, to maximise their benefits to healthcare providers.”
