Growth of New Kinds of Healthcare

Technology will enable a growing proportion of healthcare to take place away from formal institutions, according to a new report from Forrester Research, Inc., 'Who Will Pay For Healthcare Unbound'.

Forrester uses the term 'Healthcare unbound' to refer to technologies in, on, and around the body that free care from formal institutions. Such technologies will deliver new options to consumers who wish to retain their independence as they get older, face chronic illness, and recover from in-patient care, according to the report. By 2015, Forrester projects that 60% percent of all patients discharged after a lengthy hospitalization, 40% of all chronically ill, and 12% of all seniors will adopt healthcare unbound technologies and services.

The market is expected to grow slowly until 2008 and then surge to $34 billion by 2015, following the entrance of third-party payers, like the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

77% of consumers say that nursing homes are a last resort for themselves and their family members and more than half say that they would like an ageing, ill, or disabled family member to wear a health-monitoring device for safety and peace of mind - but as with most healthcare-related expenses, consumers general expect someone else to pay for or subsidise such services. A majority of consumers expect to pay less than $100 per year - if they're willing to pay at all - for devices and home-monitoring services.

Three types of healthcare unbound solutions are identified: activities of daily living (ADL) support and elder monitoring, chronic care maintenance, and acute post-hospitalization care management. Examples already developed include inexpensive RFID tags that interact with sensors worn by occupants, tracking the daily routines of senior citizens and sending messages or reminders to the residents' TV where appropriate; and a heart monitor that is implanted in a patient's body but communicates critical information externally.

Such plans are likely to be incentivised by healthcare companies and to provide cost efficiencies. For examples, health plans like HealthPartners and Kaiser Permanente are beginning to reimburse members for participation in prevention-oriented health maintenance programs, while home health agencies like state-based Visiting Nurses Associations will use healthcare unbound technologies to deploy nurses more efficiently.

Forrester forecasts three phases of growth for the market over the next 11 years, based around the idea that an initial phase where out-of-pocket payments for 'healthcare unbound' schemes are made by individuals will prove the case for 'healthcare unbound' before healthcare providers and other sources of finance move in.

'Healthcare unbound will not be held back by a lack of need, interest, or immature technology. Companies like GE, QUALCOMM, and Roche Diagnostics, for instance, continue to develop devices and monitoring aids that enable consumers to make healthcare unbound a reality', says Forrester Research Senior Analyst Elizabeth W. Boehm. 'The tipping point will occur when payers like CMS, Kaiser, United, and Blues plans see the long-term benefit of reimbursing consumers for these expenditures'.

Forrester surveyed 6,000 consumers. Its web site is at www.forrester.com

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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