Parks Associates Blog

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Trends We Are Expecting to See in 2011 and Beyond

Connected products:

One popular theme among the products displayed at CES was the ability to be connected, whether to the Internet, other products, or a consumer’s smartphone. There were numerous products at CES that were designed to be part of a network, with the goal of delivering more useful, efficient, and compelling customer experiences. The television is one product that’s undergoing a major transformation, with virtually every TV manufacturer at CES displaying their web-connected televisions. These products have the ability to stream content and access applications such as Netflix, Pandora, and games.

The living room isn’t the only room that’s becoming more connected; the kitchen is also being overhauled to be “smarter” for consumers. Appliances in the near future will be able to take stock of the food in the kitchen, present meal suggestions based on those ingredients, and even guide consumers through the cooking process.

A new meaning of “green”:

Eco-friendly certainly isn’t a new product trend, but manufacturers are shifting the meaning of “green” to focus more on energy-efficiency than in the past.

Appliance manufacturers such as LG and Samsung are offering solutions that help consumers determine the best time to run their appliances. Panasonic’s version goes so far as to include solar panels, home fuel cells, an electric vehicle (EV) charging station and energy storage units.

Continued focus on digital health:

The digital health movement continues to move forward with products that marry cutting edge technologies with the growing need for medical devices that help consumers manage their health more actively and dynamically. Medical devices are becoming more and more like consumer electronics devices, with many wearable, mobile medical products already or soon to be on the market. Examples include smartphones that double as heart rate monitors and watches that have GPS locators to help keep track of elderly loved ones. There were also numerous therapeutic and diagnostic devices, medication monitoring equipment, and robotic prosthetics on display.

-- Content submitted by Home Toys

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Thursday, February 03, 2011

The Next Service Provider Race: Monitoring, Access & Controls

Grab an early lead in this market by determining consumer interest and price points for new IP-based features and applications.

This consumer study measures and analyzes interest in IP home services and features:
• Home monitoring and access control services
• Energy management and monitoring
• Digital health services
• Home controls

Sign up today for this project:
• Concept testing for a variety of IP services
• Inhibitors and catalysts for different combinations of services
• Three-year forecasts for subscriptions and revenues
• Current consumer activities pertinent to IP services
• Interest in core and related service features, plus price points for
additional fees

For more information, visit:
http://www.parksassociates.com/ipservices/

Bookmark and Share

Labels: , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Mobile technologies motivate growth in digital health

U.S. revenues from digital health technology-enabled solutions and services will exceed $5.7 billion in 2015, fueled by chronic-care monitoring solutions, senior aging-in-place services, and connected wellness and fitness apps and programs, a new industry report from Parks Associates forecasts.

According to Delivering Quality Care to the Digital Home: 2010 Update, industry revenues in 2010 hit $1.7 billion, and the projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the next five years will be 27%. Mobile broadband will be a key growth driver as many emerging health devices and services rely on high-speed connectivity to track vital signs or enable interactive features.

The digital health industry has many subsectors, and near-term growth will be uneven across these segments. Adoption of chronic-care monitoring will grow slowly, and medication management and senior fall-detection programs will expand at above-average rates. The real engines of growth in this industry will be mobile care solutions and tracking applications.

For example, CES 2011 featured the "Fitness TechZone," which showcased digital innovations such as mobile apps designed to promote healthy living. In 2010, Philips, already a large player in the home health industry, introduced its consumer-focused DirectLife service, which includes an Activity Monitor that tracks a user's physical activity and helps with fitness and wellness management.

Parks Associates is optimistic about the future of digital health industry but notes that the political impasse over the new healthcare law could delay investment in new healthcare technologies and create funding challenges for new business models. “To move forward, this industry needs smart entrepreneurs and visionary industry leaders and a regulatory and reimbursement system amenable to innovative, effective, and cost-saving technology advances.”

Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Impact of the New Health Law on the Digital Health Industry

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("Affordable Care Act") passed in the spring of 2010 and took effect near the end of September. Although there will be attempts to repeal some portions of the law, Parks Associates believes most of the provisions will stay unaffected and have a positive impact on the long-term prospects of the digital health industry. Of course, given the complexity of our health system, the interconnected relationships among various stakeholders, and the ripple effect of policy changes, these positive influences could come earlier or later than expected, depending on the start dates of certain provisions, whether they are fully funded, and their process of implementation.

First of all, the influx of newly insured people will aggravate the shortage of primary care and specialist doctors and drive the adoption of alternative care models like home health monitoring and online consultation.

Provisions such as prohibiting health insurers from rejecting patients due to preexisting conditions, keeping adult children on parents' insurance longer (till they turn 26), and mandating insurance coverage for most citizens after 2014 will drive more people to use primary care services. At the same time, the shortage of primary care doctors, and especially the shortage of specialists in rural areas, is not going to abate. The Association of American Medical Colleges predicts the nation may face a gap up to 150,000 physicians as med school enrollment in the family doctor practice continues to fall and more doctors hit the retirement age in the next 15 years. Technology solutions such as home health monitoring and online visits are reasonable alternatives to alleviate the doctor shortage problem.

To read more about this information, subscribe to the Digital Health Newsletter and other Parks Associates Newsletter.

Labels: , , , , , ,

Monday, October 04, 2010

Parks Associates is supporting Health 2.0

Parks Associates is supporting Health 2.0 on October 7th-8th 2010 in San Francisco, CA.

Health 2.0 always features the most comprehensive line-up of technology innovators, as well as leaders in health care, government and finance, and unveils the best new health care technology startups at Launch! You won’t want to miss the Fourth Annual Health 2.0 Conference.

For more information please click here.

Bookmark and Share

Labels: , , , , , , ,

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Caregivers and their concerns for chronically ill family members drive early market for home health monitoring services

Parks Associates' groundbreaking consumer survey Uptake of Personal Health Tools & Services reveals important consumer insights on personal health technologies. Almost 20% of U.S. consumers who care for an ill family member are willing to pay out-of-pocket for a home health monitoring service, almost double the number who would purchase the service for themselves, according to Parks Associates.

Uptake of Personal Health Tools & Services finds consumer motivations for adopting home health monitoring include concerns they will be unable to accurately measure and track their loved one’s vital signs. They also fear they will be unable to detect warning signs of health decline for their loved ones, and they see home monitoring as a good solution. Several wireless chronic care management solutions are already available, including MedApps, Ideal Life, WellDoc, and Generation One, which tap into this early market. Read the press release

Bookmark and Share

Labels: , , , ,

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Harry Wang, Director of Health Reseach speaking at Healthcare Unbound Conference

Harry Wang, Director, Health & Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates will be moderating the panel, "Innovations in Wireless Technologies" on Monday, July 19th at 4:15 PM at the Seventh Annual Healthcare Unbound Conference & Exhibition in San Diego, CA.

Wireless technology has a number of distinctive characteristics that make it an attractive platform for delivering healthcare anytime, anyplace. Though a number of real barriers remain to be overcome, perhaps no technology has a greater potential for transforming healthcare than wireless. This panel will explore this potential and describe what his happening now.

Parks Associates is supporting Seventh Annual Healthcare Unbound Conference & Exhibition.

The event is a nationally recognized event that focuses on networks, platforms and applications for technology-enabled participatory medicine. Key topics to be covered include innovative applications of remote monitoring, home telehealth, mhealth, ehealth and social media to manage diseases and promote wellness.

Labels: , , , , , , ,

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Parks Associates is supporting the 2nd Annual Leadership Summit on Wireless Health (WiHealth) on July 29th - 30th in Boston, MA.

The purpose of the conference is to provide health care stakeholders with insight into the business opportunities and revenue potential of incorporating new healthcare applications for wireless technologies into the care delivery model. The agenda will cover a broad range of health care applications and crossovers for mobile/wireless technologies that are improving health care communications. More Info


Bookmark and Share

Labels: , , , , , ,

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Parks Associates supports 7th Healthcare Unbound Conference

Parks Associates is supporting Seventh Annual Healthcare Unbound Conference & Exhibition.

Harry Wang, Director, Health & Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates will be moderating the panel, "Innovations in Wireless Technologies" on Monday, July 19th at 4:15 PM.

Wireless technology has a number of distinctive characteristics that make it an attractive platform for delivering healthcare anytime, anyplace. Though a number of real barriers remain to be overcome, perhaps no technology has a greater potential for transforming healthcare than wireless. This panel will explore this potential and describe what his happening now.

The program will have a strong focus on use of remote monitoring / home telehealth technologies for wellness promotion and chronic care management, with a special emphasis on Baby Boomers and the elderly population. The agenda will also cover topics such as the emerging role of mobile/wireless technologies, legal/regulatory developments and reimbursement issues, strategies for success for Healthcare Unbound vendors and much more. The program will also feature leading-edge case studies as well as keynote presentations from some of the nation’s thought leaders in the area of Healthcare Unbound.

Seventh Annual Healthcare Unbound Conference & Exhibition is a nationally recognized event that focuses on networks, platforms and applications for technology-enabled participatory medicine. Key topics to be covered include innovative applications of remote monitoring, home telehealth, mhealth, ehealth and social media to manage diseases and promote wellness.

If you are interested in digital health, please visit: www.parksassociates.com/digitalhealth/

Labels: , , , , , ,

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Director of Health Reseach featured on ViodiTV

Harry Wang, Director of Health and Mobile Research, Parks Associates was featured on ViodiTV's coverage at the Broadband Properties Summit in Dallas, Texas.

Harry is very excited about next 5 years for the telemedicine/telehealth industry. A number of factors are in play to help overcome consumer inertia to widespread adoption of telemedicine. Ubiquitous wireline and wireless broadband and devices are giving consumers lower cost, more efficient and sometimes more effective alternatives to having to make the trek to their doctors’ offices.

To view the full video, click here.

For additional information about digital health, visit www.parksassociates.com/digitalhealth/.

Bookmark and Share

Labels: , , , , , , ,

Monday, May 03, 2010

Parks Associates supports Chronic Care & Prevention Congress

Parks Associates is supporting The 4th Chronic Care & Prevention Congress to be held from May 11-13 in Alexandria, Virginia.

The 4th Chronic Care & Prevention Congress brings together major stakeholders – employers, healthcare plans, providers and government agencies - in an executive networking environment to discuss best practices and partnership initiatives for the management of chronic disease and the implementation of prevention and wellness strategies. More Info

Bookmark and Share

Labels: , , , , , ,

Friday, April 16, 2010

Research Analyst, Harry Wang speaks at the ATA 2010

Parks Associates is a media sponsor of ATA 2010 to be held from May 16-18 in San Antonio, Texas. In addition, Harry Wang, Director, Health & Mobile Product Research, will moderate a "MarketWatch" concurrent session on Tuesday, May 18, 1-2pm, with presentations on current and future market trends in the telemedicine/telehealth industry, followed by Q&A with the audience.

If you use telecommunications solutions for healthcare, the ATA Annual Meeting is the single-most important event of the year, keeping you up to date with the latest developments in your field. ATA 2010 will focus on outcomes and evidence for telemedicine and telehealth. The meeting will feature roughly 350 peer-reviewed presentations, covering the full spectrum of telemedicine-related subject areas and specialties, within eight concurrent tracks.. Presentations will include oral concurrents, poster presentations, pre-meeting courses and general plenaries. ATA 2010 will also include special Executive Roundtables, featuring top executives in the industry discussing the future of telemedicine from a corporate perspective. More Info

Labels: , , , , , ,

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Parks Associates Analysts speaking at Broadband Properties Summit 2010

Parks Associates is supporting and speaking at the upcoming Broadband Properties Summit from April 26th-28th in Dallas, Texas.

Harry Wang, Director, Health & Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates, is moderating the panel, "The Growth of Telemedicine in FTTH Communities" on Tuesday, April 27 from 8:00 a.m. – 8:50 a.m.

Bill Ablondi, Director Home Systems, Parks Associates, is moderating the panel, "How FTTH Enables the Smart Grid" on Tuesday, April 27 from 3:50 p.m. - 4:50 p.m.

The 7th annual Broadband Properties Summit is the premier fiber-to-the-premises industry event. Each year, it enables a comprehensive look at the FTTP landscape, from today’s success stories to tomorrow’s deployments, technology, and consumer demands. More Info

Bookmark and Share

Labels: , , , , , , , , ,

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Medical Records, next tech goldmine

According to a recent CNNMoney.com article, the next technical goldmine is medical records.

There are an estimated 300 to 400 companies in the United States peddling electronic medical records (EMR) systems to the nation's hospitals, medical clinics and solo practitioners. While some, such as GE Healthcare and NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, are part of corporate behemoths, the vast majority are small, privately held firms like eClinicalWorks.

While large firms such as Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions Inc. and NextGen Healthcare remain huge presences, industry observers say that the electronic medical records field is as open to smaller challengers as it has ever been.

One big factor working in the small companies' favor: The majority of doctors' offices that have yet to adopt electronic records are small businesses themselves. While more than half of medical practices employing 50 or more doctors are using EMR systems, less than 10% of practices made up of three physicians or fewer can say the same, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2008.

To read the full article, click here.


Bookmark and Share

Labels: , , , ,

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

Parks Associates predicts expanded adoption for Personal Health Records due to $19 billion government incentive

The U.S. government’s recent EMR (electronic medical records) incentive will trickle down to benefit personal health record (PHR) providers over the next few years, raising awareness among consumers and pushing total number of PHR users over 100 million by 2014, according to Electronic Health Records: Information Center of Connected Care.

This new industry report from international research firm Parks Associates notes that the $19 billion financial incentive from the U.S. federal government designed to promote EMR adoption includes a “meaningful use” requirement. PHR, though not fully spelled out, is implied in one of the requirements.

Parks Associates defines PHRs as software and applications designed to enable consumers to access and store personal health and wellness information for self-care or for sharing with doctors or designated recipients.

Electronic Health Records: Information Center of Connected Care analyzes adoption of EMR and PHR among providers and consumers and offers insights on usage models, government incentives, pilot programs, and technology trends.

Bookmark and Share

Labels: , , , , , , ,

Monday, February 22, 2010

Parks Associates supports digital health event, Burrill Consumer Digital Health Meeting

Parks Associates is supporting The Burrill Consumer Digital Health Meeting to be held March 22-23rd in Burlingame, CA.

Burrill & Company, in association with the University of Illinois, Mayo Clinic, and Pfizer, is for the first time holding The Burrill Consumer Digital Health Meeting to help prepare the life sciences community for this new era. Learn how PDAs and smartphones will become personal healthcare assistants capable of receiving vital signs and even body fluid samples for analysis and transmittal of results. Wherever patients are in the world, they will be able to connect with their physicians. And their doctors, in turn, will be able to practice medicine virtually anywhere and at anytime, with instant access to the information and systems they need—right at their thumbs. More Info

Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

CONNECTIONS™ Summit and other speaking engagements focus on home entertainment and Web connectivity

Parks Associates market analysts will present new research and provide insight and commentary about new business strategies, new technologies, and consumer demand for connected CE and services at multiple speaking events during the 2010 International CES (Consumer Electronics Show).

Parks Associates will host the fourth-annual CONNECTIONS™ Summit: Monetizing Connectivity in the Home on January 7, the first day of CES. The analysts will also participate at Digital Media Insider, Digital Health Summit, and Digital Hollywood on January 8 and 9.

CONNECTIONS™ Summit will kick off CES on Thursday, January 7. The Summit will feature interactive panels with over 20 leading technology companies including IBM, Yahoo!, and Sony. Executives will discuss business strategies for service providers, status of energy management deployment and adoption, and the changing CE purchase patterns for consumers.

Parks Associates will also participate in the following CES events:

- Kurt Scherf, VP & Principal Analyst, will speak at an Analyst and Press Roundtable “What’s the Scoop at CES?” at Digital Media Insider @ CES on Friday, January 8, 3:15-3:55 P.M. at The Venetian, Las Vegas, Ballrooms 3204-05/3304-05.

- Harry Wang, Director, Health & Mobile Product Research, will participate on the panel “Consumers Driving Healthcare: Capitalizing on the Opportunities” at Digital Health Summit at CES on Saturday, January 9, 9:00-9:45 A.M. in LVCC, North Hall, Ballroom N253.

- Heather Way, Research Analyst, will moderate the panel “Internet Video, Advertising & Marketing: The Next Generation of Consumer Reach” at Digital Hollywood @ CES on Saturday, January 9, 10:30-11:30 A.M. in the LVCC, North Hall N261.

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Friday, December 04, 2009

Parks Associates Supports Digital Health Summit at CES

Parks Associates supports Digital Health Summit at CES on January 9, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Harry Wang, Director, Health & Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates will be a panelist on the session "Consumers Driving Healthcare: Capitalizing on the Opportunities" on January 9 from 9:00 AM – 9:45 AM.

In the US alone spending for chronic disease management is expected to increase from $500 billion a year to $685 billion by 2020. Consumers are on–the-go demanding always-on and connected information and care sources. What are the hot segments and healthcare technologies to watch? How are businesses positioning themselves to lead and profit in this field? And who will pay?

The Digital Health Summit is an important new conference and exhibition at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show. The Summit focuses on the emerging market of consumer-based digital health and wellness devices, related applications and services. This premiere event will expose developers, manufacturers, distributors and service providers to the opportunities, partnerships, business models, distribution channels, and standards of the rapidly evolving industry of digital health technologies.

For more information, please click here.

Labels: , , , , , ,

Friday, October 09, 2009

Research Director, Harry Wang speaks at CTIA Wireless

Harry Wang, Director, Health & Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates will be moderating the panel "Chronic Disease Management and Care Compliance Assurance" at CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment 2009 in San Diego on Thursday, October 8, at 1:00 PM to 2:15 PM in room 29B.

Combating rising healthcare costs is a top priority in our nation’s economic struggle. This session will explore the application of wireless to chronic disease management for the benefit of the patient and for healthcare reform. The role of wireless monitoring to ensure the patient’s compliance with physician instructions will also be discussed.

Labels: , , , , ,

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Parks Director of Research Speaks at Continua Health Summit, Boston

Harry Wang, Director, Health & Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates will present "Market Trends, PHR Buzz, & Wireless for Healthcare: Implications for Continua" on Wednesday, October 7th at the Continua Health Alliance Fall Summit in Boston, MA.

This two-hour presentation have three mini-tracks that will cover the latest market trends in the personal health technology market, discuss adoption trends and use cases of Personal Health Records (PHR), and highlight home care market opportunity for wireless technology vendors. Continua members are encouraged to participate in this interactive presentation to share their viewpoints and business stories.

Labels: , , , , ,