Projections for the mobile health industry show that by 2015 there will be 500 million people using mobile health applications on their smartphones, according to a new report by a Berlin-based market research company.

research2guidance specializes in the mobile healthcare industry and recently released its "Global Mobile Health Market Report 2010-2015," which covers three key market dimensions: the smartphone market, the current state of the mHealth smartphone applications market and the mHealth outlook for 2015.

The report shows that smartphone applications will be the key to finally realizing mHealth benefits and making it a major sector within healthcare. It says the reason for this is twofold – because of smartphone penetration, and because of the technology's capabilities, which allow docs and patients to receive healthcare services from anywhere.

"Our findings indicate that the long-expected mobile revolution in healthcare is set to happen," said Ralf-Gordon Jahns, head of research at research2guidance. "Both healthcare providers and consumers are embracing smartphones as a means to improving healthcare."

Not only are consumers taking advantage of smartphones to manage and improve their own health, a significant number (43 percent) of mHealth applications are primarily designed for healthcare professionals. These include CME (Continued Medical Education), remote monitoring and healthcare management applications.

Currently there are 17,000 mHealth applications in major app stores, with 74 percent of them adhering to the paid business model. With more and more traditional healthcare providers joining the mobile applications market, the business models will broaden to include healthcare services, sensor, advertising and drug sales revenues, the report says.

"With the growing sophistication level of mHealth applications, only 14 percent of the total market revenue in the next five years will come from application download revenue," said Egle Mikalajunaite, senior research analyst. "Seventy-six percent of total mHealth application market revenue will come from related services and products such as sensors."