mHealth products, services market in developing countries likely to see more growth than U.S. market, report suggests

"The global market for mobile health [mHealth] products and services is expected to approach $23 billion by 2017, and much of the growth will not happen in the U.S. but rather in less-developed countries, according to a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers [PwC]," MobiHealthNews reports. "PwC ran surveys of health care providers, patients, and payers in Brazil, China, Denmark, Germany, India, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, the U.K., and the U.S." and "conducted in-depth interviews with 20 senior health care executives and industry experts," the news service notes.

"In emerging markets, payers tend to be willing to cover more mobile health care services than in developed markets, according to the report," but "Chris Wasden, PwC's global health care innovation leader, notes an interesting paradox in the West," the news service writes. "'Payers are willing to pay more than providers are willing to offer,' he tells MobiHealthNews," according to the news service. "According to the study, only 27 percent of physicians surveyed encourage their patients to use mobile technologies to help manage their health, though only 13 percent actively discourage patients from doing so," the news service notes, adding, "'Health care's strong resistance to change will slow adoption of innovative mHealth,' the report says" (Versel, 6/12).