A recent Frost & Sullivan analysis entitled, Innovative Business Models Powering the Telehealth Market in Europe, has found that the impact of COVID-19 on the healthcare sector across Europe has significantly expanded the use of telehealth.

WHY IT MATTERS

Telehealth has been a key part of the "anytime and anywhere" healthcare model in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been key in ensuring access to essential healthcare services for patients with chronic conditions or those requiring urgent care during the pandemic.

This has consequently resulted in a large surge in Europe's telehealth market, which will require business model revision across the telehealth ecosystem. By 2026, the market is estimated to witness more than a four-and-a-half-fold growth, garnering €17.35 billion ($20.7bn) revenue from €3.69 billion ($4.41bn) in 2019.

The report stated the current growth opportunities for the telehealth market:

• Behavioural health: Partner with focused solutions providers and pharma companies to offer digital therapeutic solutions. 
• RPM for real-world evidence collection: Standardise data collected through RPM devices and mobile apps that record patient-reported outcomes.
• Doctor-to-doctor communication: Doctor-patient communication, information exchange, and integration with electronic medical records (EMRs) are expected to be game-changers.
• Consumer wearables: Cater to the entire care continuum needs, track basic vital parameters and integrate with health records. The use of consumer wearables has risen, especially as patients become more aware of and involved in their health and wellness journey.

THE LARGER CONTEXT

Last week, Amazon confirmed that it would expand its telehealth services across the United States. It's app-based healthcare service for employees, Amazon Care, will launch throughout the country this summer and will be available this week to serve other companies based in Washington.

Although telehealth uptake has experienced promising growth globally, a recent RAND report has suggested that the biggest uptake in virtual care availability occurred in more affluent and metropolitan communities, highlighting the health equity challenges for policymakers to address. 

ON THE RECORD

Chandni Mathur, healthcare & life sciences senior industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan said: “Rising demand for consumer-centric services and tools in Europe’s healthcare system is leading to the development of new business models.

“Adoption of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality, blockchain, the internet of medical things (IoMT), wearables, and cloud computing is expected to disrupt the telehealth market. 5G will feature as a key enabler to boost the adoption and effective utilisation of these disruptive technologies.

“From a product type perspective, virtual visits will lead the overall telehealth market, registering growth at an astounding CAGR of 41.2% over the forecast period, followed by remote patient monitoring (RPM) at 20.4%. Further, mhealth and personal emergency response systems (PERS) will also contribute significantly to the market, garnering revenue at 27.5% and 7.7% CAGR, respectively.”