MedCity News

The population of the United States is aging in a profound way, helped along by a bolus of baby boomers now between 53 and 71 years of age.

It’s a huge opportunity for innovative startups, though it comes with a unique set of challenges. According to Parks Associates, some 115 million Americans will need caregiving assistance by 2020. That’s more than one in three. The question is not the market size, it’s what startups can do to tap into it.

From the article "How to suc ...read more

Less than half of caregivers with a smartphone use apps aimed at caregivers, according to a report by Parks Associates. — MobiHealthNews

From the article "Morning Read: Pharma Changes Afoot As Valeant Courts A New CEO And Novartis U.S. Head Exits" by Stephanie Baum.

Food industry makes play for weight loss apps Harry Wang, director of mobile and health research with Parks Associates, sees Under Armour’s move as spurring companies that have been casual observers of digital health integration to take action. “What could [Proctor & Gamble] or Kraft Foods do for their customers who are increasingly using diet/food journal apps and grocery shopping apps? These companies have been on the sideline watching the growth of the consumer health and wel ...read more

Digital health may be a compelling market, especially the use of digital devices by caregivers looking after some of the seniors that will make up 42 percent of the population next year. But it remains a fragmented market. A report this week by Parks Associates surveyed 10,00 heads of households to gauge their use and interest in digital health. About 22 percent of respondents described themselves as or current or future caregivers.

41 percent of home caregivers say they use ...read more

A new report from Parks Associates takes a bullish view of the telemedicine sector. It predicts that revenues generated from video consultations will shoot up from less than $100 million in 2013 to $13.7 billion in four years’ time. Virtual care doctor-patient video consultation revenues will grow from $900,000 to $26 million in the same time frame, according to the report.

It makes sense given the fact that employers are interested in cutting down on unnecessary healthcare ...read more

Before we get to that wondrous state of health data nirvana, these four patient categories from a recent study by Parks Associates are a good start.

I like how the analysts have organized the information by tech tendency, health status and level of engagement.

The four categories are:

Healthy and engaged – Health conscious, don’t have chronic health problem

• Offer the greatest market potential for digital health products and services.
• Regularly exercise ...read more

As the use of digital health tools continues to become common practice in people’s lives, it’s always useful to quantify that. An infographic released this week (displayed below) showed that 60 percent of households have some sort of digital health device — such as a digital scale or glucometer. Although 25 percent used digital health apps, only 27 percent used their healthcare provider or insurer’s website. That seems like a low number to me, especially when you consider the pu ...read more

“I expect [that] some smartwatch manufacturers will differentiate their products on the basis of a no-ad product,” Parks Associates’ senior analyst Jennifer Kent told us.

She also suggested that the “most realistic use case” is not ads on the wearables themselves, but on the paired smartphone — using “contextual data picked up from sensors in these smart wearable products.”

And if ads eventually show up in a wearable like Google Glass — a platform that Abbas said is an a ...read more