Glorikian looks to the larger RHM manufacturers and the government to underwrite these sorts of studies.

But will they? When asked by DOTmed News, Philips wouldn't reveal specifics about future studies, but Mike Lemnitzer, senior director of Philips' Telehealth Solutions, points out that "we have been the only vendor doing national studies."


"We're not shy to do large studies and make them public," he says.

But he thinks that the lack of reimbursement is only a perceived barrier, and that with the good results his clients have been seeing he doesn't know if there's really a need for large-scale trials to spur adoption.

"Our significant customers throughout the U.S., they're not waiting for reimbursement. They have to find solutions to prevent readmission to improve costs, and that's where we see growth," he argues.

Glorikian concurs. Even with the challenges for reimbursement, he observes that the market is "incredibly under-penetrated."

Broadband blues

But cost isn't the only concern for telehealth products. These devices require transmitting massive amounts of data from the patient to a health-monitoring center or even a physician's office. In practice, that usually requires broadband access, something still geographically restricted in America.

For instance, while Philips offers its broadband-based Motiva solution in Europe, they use an analogue system that goes through the phone lines for most of their telehealth releases in the United States.

"One of the things we recognize, and the reason we focus on analogue connectivity is because of the lack of broadband we see in the U.S.," says Philips' Lemnitzer. "So again we didn't put our eggs in the basket of requiring broadband access."

But this obstacle might soon crumble. The FCC recently announced its National Broadband Plan, which aims to expand access to high-speed Internet connections to nearly 100 million Americans by 2020. And through the Universal Service Fund, it makes money available to health care providers to help defray the cost of telecommunications services, such as broadband, in rural areas.

"I'd say in five years, broadband would be an interesting application for us as well," admits Lemnitzer.

Nontraditional players

Perhaps a greater danger to the health care companies could be the increased competition. Although a business such as Philips with long experience in the health care market remains one of the top players, others are moving in.

"You're seeing nontraditional health players be interested in home monitoring," says Glorikian. "Intel is the quintessential example," he adds, which recently teamed up with GE Healthcare to make a line of telehealth products. Other large companies entering this field include Bosch (through its Health Heroes Network), Honeywell and Inverness.

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