Considering the increasing costs of healthcare, aging populations and growing amount of patients with chronic diseases; connected wearable patches may be developing into the most cost-effective option for care providers, insurance companies and governments to monitor patients. Featuring wireless connectivity, these patches are small devices worn on the skin that enable care providers to administer several health services ranging from diagnosis to medication delivery.
Tractica, a market intelligence firm, has developed and issued a May 2015 report titled “Connected Wearable Patches” based on the drivers and barriers, market trends, technology issues and key industry players for connected wearable patches. By forecasting unit shipments, average selling prices, segments and revenues; Tractica predicts that global unit shipment will increase to 12.3 million annually by 2020, while the market is predicted to increase to $3.3 billion annually. This is a significant increase from the 67,000 units shipped in 2014, according to their report.
“The nascent market for connected wearable patches holds great promise, with the potential to improve the health of patients and contribute to lower healthcare costs,” says principal analyst Charul Vyas. “It is, however, still very much in the early stages of development and commercial availability. Connected wearable patches face a variety of challenges that must be overcome in the next several years in order for the market to thrive.”
