Digital health technologies designed to monitor and care for the elderly population in the United States will bring in revenues of nearly $2 billion by 2013, according to a new report by Park Associates.
Titled “Taking Care of the Elderly through Digital Technologies,” the report states technological advances are expected to drive growth in service and hardware revenues.
Connected medical, activity, environmental sensors and fitness measurement devices will bring in more than twice the dollar amount of the low-tech personal emergency response system (PERS) sector in 2013. The new technologies will monitor seniors’ vital signs, track their locations and activities, and measure their fitness progress.
“The smart home will help the elderly maintain a safe, healthy, and independent life,” says Harry Wang, director, Health and Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates. “Although the user population will be small initially, more people will adopt these new technologies in embracing the broader emerging eldercare model that promises a high quality of service, individual dignity, and the intelligence to monitor situations and act before they become critical.”
Adoption and revenue growth is expected to be even greater than forecast if the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) embraces this model, according to Wang.
