Opportunities Grow for High-Tech in Healthcare

If you've been following the US government's efforts to modernize the nation's healthcare information technology infrastructure, you might have noticed that current trends promise to create a flood of new opportunities for high-tech companies.

Last week a study from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) seemed to confirm the point. The study noted that the booming healthcare market is expected to account for nearly one-fifth of US GDP by 2019. Further, PwC researchers found that consumers are willing to spend more than $13 billion of their own money per year for non-traditional healthcare products and services. These would include $4 billion on health-related video games, $8.9 billion on resources that rate physicians and hospitals, and $700 million on mobile health applications, according to PwC.

IDC Health Insights released another study last month that examined telecommunications providers' engagement in tele-health activities, noting that 2010 appeared to be a tipping point in their go-to-market strategies. According to IDC, the total addressable market for telecom providers in home tele-health in the US will grow to 60.3 million households in 2015.