Issue link: https://te.mouser.com/i/1351132
© 2017 TE Connectivity Corporation. TE Connectivity, TE, TE connectivity (logo) and EVERY CONNECTION COUNTS are trademarks. Trend #1 An aging population vulnerable to chronic disease is driving the market. The world population is aging. People are living longer with good health, but many are also living longer with chronic disease — putting a strain on healthcare systems and resources. According to the World Health Organization 1 , the number of people aged 65 or older is projected to grow from an estimated 524 million in 2010 to nearly 1.5 billion in 2050, with most of the increase in developing countries. "The disease burden associated with a growing elderly population will require a large and diverse health care workforce that can effectively and efficiently diagnose and treat patients with complex medical conditions," according to one study 2 . According to another study in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA), "Remote home monitoring continues to boost patient engagement with their overall health and adherence to provider recommendations for managing their chronic medical conditions." Trend #2 The focus in the healthcare industry is shifting to value-based, patient-centric care and outcomes. Are healthcare companies and providers moving to value-based care? Industry analysts say yes. The increased focus on value-based care is shifting financial incentives to a healthcare model where providers are compensated based on how their patients fare, rather than by the number of tests, visits, or procedures performed. It's about the quality of care, not the quantity. But here's where new devices and technology could make a big impact, and in some cases already is. As one example, data sensors could help a health care provider detect potential issues in a prosthetic knee joint, helping them summarize the bilateral force distribution and pressure patterns across the lower extremity. In addition to offering huge value to the patient — alerting them to the first hint of strain — the provider benefits by using 24/7 monitoring that allows for adjusting treatment, and the payer avoids the additional costs of prolonged recovery or remedial treatment. This is just another example where advances in sensor technology are making this possible — in part by making gathering new data much easier. 1 http://www.who.int/ageing/publications/global_health.pdf 2 http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/32/11/2013.full Source