A recent McKinsey study estimated the size of the mobile health related opportunity at $50-60billion in 2010 of which $20 billion is in the US alone. (http://www.telecoms.com/18697/healthy-opportunities-in-the-m-health-sector). At first glance that number seems quite large and raises the question what are the various components and services being included in the market size?

Some of the services specifically mentioned in the study are PhoneDoctor where customers can call a physician for remote diagnosis and advice and Drug Delivery which enables telephonic orders for delivery of authentic drugs within a day. However the largest opportunity identified is SIM embedded biosensors which enable vitals to be monitored as well as allow connections to emergency services. This market is estimated to grow by close to $30billion world-wide.

I remember reviewing this segment sometime in 2008 and at that point in time there were a spate of acquisitions by medical companies of various wireless technology firms. The focus then was on RFID and Bluetooth solutions. A few which come to mind were Philips Healthcare and their acquisitions of VISICU Inc and Emergin Inc. These were remote diagnostic and communication related applications.

In the past few months, however, we’ve had the operators get on the band-wagon as well. Vodafone Ventures last year made an investment in a firm which enables the transfer of a patient’s biometric data using a mobile phone to a monitoring team, which then provides feedback and advice. O2 has increased focus on their M2M initiative work which will provide wireless managed services in medical sectors e.g. telehealth, telecare, remote diagnostics and patient monitoring. Verizon and Qualcomm formed their M2M joint venture last year which will enable managed wireless services for various sectors one of which is healthcare. Similarly AT&T teamed up with Jasper Wireless to provide instant activation, usage analytics with flexible business models for a range of M2M device manufactures in various sectors one of which being healthcare.

As of now it seems that the quest of the mobile operators is to enter the managed services sphere in healthcare by providing the devices or the network for remote diagnostics, monitoring and surveillance. However it sounds to me a bit like the mobile payment sector. The operators can initiate various initiatives in a nascent market but till they are not supported or rather driven by industry practitioners the pick-up will stay at the fringes. But let’s suppose, for example, the collection of patient data and monitoring becomes a requirement from insurance companies (big brother is watching you at that third beer) - at such a time medical device manufacturers, pharma companies, operators will all want to address and develop the market with different business models - and then we’ll see an actual shake-out and growth. Plus the passage of the healthcare bill and its possible ramifications on this space may also need to be considered though they seem too nebulous and in the future to be debated for the moment.

Of course if all this isn’t enough we have various healthcare and fitness mobile applications. Adidas, Nike and various others are all launching their own keep fit and stay fit apps. In fact these may help keep the sector from the depths of the trough of disillusionment by continuously generating user level interest in health-care and fitness mobile developments. One of the more interesting apps that I came across recently was something called FitAide which essentially enables the iphone to measure the calories burnt in all forms of physical activity even if it is a walk to the tube. What I liked more was that the app measures steps, speed and distance - whether the user is walking, jogging or running – and then measures the distance covered taking into account the natural stride length variation. Plus it not only monitors the movement of the user but also the intensity of motion (%VO2MAX). Translating that to my world, even a walk to the tube station will be measureable in terms of calories burnt followed by guilt-free consumption of chocolate cookies.