Emerging markets like SA are not the only ones that face challenges when it comes to unifying technology and healthcare - the global connected health market at large is seeing sluggish development.
This is according to technology market research firm Infonetics Research, and is the primary deduction arising from its first Connected Health M2M (machine-to-machine) Connections and Services report.
The firm attributes slow e-health maturation to regulatory constraints - a significant hurdle in the US market.
John Byrne, analyst for M2M and Internet of things at Infonetics, says an even more substantial issue is that healthcare providers and other participants are reluctant to make significant investments in M2M solutions until they can clearly see the benefit. "This takes time."
He says operators lack the personnel to deepen relationships with healthcare customers. "They need to find partners that have strong ties in the healthcare community to accelerate growth."
Euro lead
Looking ahead, Infonetics expects the connected health M2M segment to remain small, with revenue reaching $2.4 billion by 2018 - representing a 2013 to 2018 compound annual growth rate of 36%.
"The primary driving factor behind connected health M2M is operational efficiency [and] enabling healthcare facilities to reduce operating costs."
The research firm notes Europe, where operators like Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom are already seeing modest success in the connected health market, is anticipated to be the leading region, with North America following close behind.
Worldwide M2M connected healthcare service revenue totalled $533 million in 2013, an increase of 15% from the prior year, while connections grew 23% in 2013 from 2012, to 44 million.
African ambition
In Africa, where mobile is the go-to platform for the majority of connected residents, strides are being made to harness the reaching power of ICT to improve healthcare services.
In June last year, the GSM Association started tapping into Africa's high cellphone penetration by introducing its mobile health programme in an ecosystem partnership geared to provide services to people in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The initiative brought together launch partners including MTN, Samsung, Mobilium, Gemalto, Hello Doctor, Lifesaver, Mobenzi and Omega Diagnostics to leverage the companies' different expertise to create an integrated mobile ecosystem partnership.
In August, the South African Medical Research Council, alongside international non-profit organisation Path, launched the Global Health Innovation Accelerator to develop sustainable high-impact health technologies in SA.
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