Sales of patient monitoring systems are increasing as the result of the rising needs of an aging population, new wireless technologies, better video and monitoring technologies, and reduced healthcare assets and shortages of healthcare workers, with an overall emphasis on reducing patient hospitalization days. Wireless and remote patient monitors, patient data processing applications and equipment, and electronic medical record (EMR) data transfer equipment and applications to coordinate the flow of data to the hospital EMR have demonstrated their cost effectiveness and ability to improve patient outcomes and satisfaction.

This trend is supported by numerous studies that have proven the cost benefits of patient monitoring, despite high initial costs to implement these systems. For example, the Home-Care Management Systems study, partially sponsored by the European Commission under the Trans-European Network initiative (TEN-HMS), was the world's first large-scale, randomized prospective telemonitoring trial. The results of the study showed that the use of home-based telemonitoring reduced the number of hospital days by 26%, and led to an overall cost savings of 10% compared with nurse telephone support; in addition, home telemonitoring also increased both patient survival and satisfaction.

"Wireless technologies, Bluetooth, and mobile telephones are all being used to transmit patient monitoring data while reducing the clutter of multiple connections,” said research analyst Mary Anne Crandall, of Kalorama Information. "These range from using local area networks (LANs) in hospitals to using cell phones from a patient's home, which can give both patients and caregivers added mobility and efficiency.”

Kalorama Information expects the United States market for high-tech patient monitoring systems, which was valued at US$5.7 billion in 2009, to experience impressive annual growth of around 26% through 2014.

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