Analyst firms have re-discovered telehealth – and it’s big, big, big. So trumpets Information Week’s coverage of a new study from market researcher InMedica. They size the global market at $6.28 billion by 2020, up from its current cited size of shipments at $163 million in 2010. This must mean that we have a tipping point of uptake within vendor marketer lines of sight. And no wonder, so many other markets driven by seized-up consumer spending are tepid or shrinking. If you believe this forecast, certainly it’s about time for a market that has languished for years, not to say decades, despite the Veteran Administration validation and rollout, and numerous reports that verified effectiveness at keeping patients out of the hospital. Hmm, though, maybe the tipping point is sooner. BCC Research, another analyst group already valued the ‘telehome’ subset of telemedicine at $2.9 billion in 2010, rising to $7.9 billion by 2015.
SAN DIEGO – Sept. 22, 2011 – Preparing for major expansion in services for the elderly living independently, telehealth innovator Independa™, Inc. today announced it has closed a seed round of venture capital funding that to date has raised $1.6 million for the company.
Who’s WHO and age-friendly communities. A few years ago, the World Health Organization announced that it was forming a global network of age-friendly cities (see linked checklist of criteria). In the US, those include Portland, Oregon and New York City and worldwide they include Brussels, Canberra, Geneva, Nice and many others. The list also includes Louth County in Ireland – where I spoke this past week at an event sponsored by CASALA – a partnership that includes the Dundalk Institute of Technology. CASALA, along with the Institute's Netwell Centre and government and health service providers, research and actively promote the use of technologies that can improve the quality of life of older adults in the region.
PRESS RELEASE — As fitness enthusiasts and experts converge at the IDEA Show in Los Angeles tomorrow, attendees will get a first look (Booth 1350) at the NewYu Connected Fitness Monitor and Service – a comprehensive system for monitoring and managing wellness goals all day long.
http://www.techandaging.org The Center for Technology and Aging (techandaging.org), with funding from The SCAN Foundation (thescanfoundation.org), is investing a total of $477,150 in one-year grants among five organizations that will demonstrate the best ways to implement mobile health (mHealth) technologies for older adults with chronic health conditions.
Care Innovations -- tackling social isolation and wellness. In some ways, yesterday’s launch of Connect from Intel-GE’s wholly owned Care Innovation joint venture should come as no surprise. When the companies combined last year, spun out of Intel’s Digital Health group and GE’s QuietCare business units, I was hopeful that they would transcend limitations of the previous parents. Especially given Intel’s investment history of researching social needs of seniors, Omar Ishrak’s comment last August really resonated: "We recognize that the conditions faced by home health patients are not necessarily clinical. It is part of our core mission [in the Joint Venture] to address social and support needs."
