Report: Smartphones will keep ringing up sales in healthcare
Healthcare may be a niche market for smartphones, but it has significant growth potential, according to healthcare market research publisher Kalorama Information. The New York-based firm cites high rates of physician use of smartphones and PDAs and available applications among many factors making healthcare ideal for smartphone sales.
In 2009, the combined PDA and smartphone market for healthcare applications was worth about $2.6 billion, according to Kalorama’s report, “Handhelds in Healthcare: The World Market for PDAs, Tablet PCs, Handheld Monitors & Scanners.”
Although healthcare accounts for just about 5 percent of smartphone and PDA market sales, healthcare is a growth area—particularly for smartphones, because of their ability to combine communication with alerts, references and records, the report stated.
“Healthcare is a mobile profession and lends itself to these devices,” said Bruce Carlson, publisher of Kalorama Information. “They provide a wide range of conveniences and workflow efficiencies which can’t be achieved with traditional notepads and pocket drug references.”
Several wireless companies have tailored their product offerings to the needs of the healthcare industry and Kalorama expects this to continue. Last year, for example, Socket Mobile released the SoMo 650Rx hospital-grade PDA featuring an antimicrobial material that provides improved protection against bacteria and microbes. Motorola’s MTC100 offers a host of features designed to enhance productivity and effectiveness—equipped with multi-mode wireless connectivity, secured wide-area data bearer and wireless LAN connection.
In addition, iPhone usage in healthcare is growing fast, evidenced by the number of applications available for physicians--more than 1,700 medical apps were available as of last year, Kalorama said.
In 2009, the combined PDA and smartphone market for healthcare applications was worth about $2.6 billion, according to Kalorama’s report, “Handhelds in Healthcare: The World Market for PDAs, Tablet PCs, Handheld Monitors & Scanners.”
Although healthcare accounts for just about 5 percent of smartphone and PDA market sales, healthcare is a growth area—particularly for smartphones, because of their ability to combine communication with alerts, references and records, the report stated.
“Healthcare is a mobile profession and lends itself to these devices,” said Bruce Carlson, publisher of Kalorama Information. “They provide a wide range of conveniences and workflow efficiencies which can’t be achieved with traditional notepads and pocket drug references.”
Several wireless companies have tailored their product offerings to the needs of the healthcare industry and Kalorama expects this to continue. Last year, for example, Socket Mobile released the SoMo 650Rx hospital-grade PDA featuring an antimicrobial material that provides improved protection against bacteria and microbes. Motorola’s MTC100 offers a host of features designed to enhance productivity and effectiveness—equipped with multi-mode wireless connectivity, secured wide-area data bearer and wireless LAN connection.
In addition, iPhone usage in healthcare is growing fast, evidenced by the number of applications available for physicians--more than 1,700 medical apps were available as of last year, Kalorama said.