With a global revenue forecast of $990 million by 2015, the Telehealth market is already attracting a host of suppliers and innovators at various points in the value chain according to a new report from research firm InMedica. In a new whitepaper, “Competitive Dynamics in the World Telehealth Market – 2011 to 2020”, InMedica assesses the current telehealth ecosystem and forecasts how it will change over the next ten years.

The major parts of the ecosystem include peripheral device suppliers – blood pressure monitors, glucose meters etc; gateway suppliers – health hubs and mobile gateways; and data transmission service providers – POTS, cellular and broadband.

As fixed gateway suppliers increase their subscriber numbers, they are projected to increasingly compete in the peripheral device market by supplying their own blood pressure monitors, weight scales and other peripherals. This allows them to control device inter-connectivity and adds an additional revenue stream. On the other hand, the promotion of open standards by the Continua Health Alliance’s product certification program, serves to abate concerns over device inter-connectivity. This will improve interoperability between different suppliers’ products and reduce the need for such vertical integration.