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Cranfield, UK, August 2023 – The evolution of the healthcare industry towards models of population health management (PHM) and value-based-care (VBC) is providing the fundamental shift of healthcare provision from acute to ambulatory settings. The increasing pressure on cardiologists in the wake of the resource shortage crisis is further accelerating demand for solutions that can reduce burden. With this growing appetite to advance patient care provision, the diagnostic cardiology market has continued to see exciting new innovative solutions entering the market, further developing the cardiac patient pathway.
Ambulatory Diagnostic Cardiology Market Outpaces Traditional ECG
Signify Research’s updated Diagnostic Cardiology market report, highlighted the changing dynamics between the Traditional ECG solutions (such as Resting ECG, Stress ECG and ECG Management solutions) and the developing Ambulatory Diagnostic Cardiology market. Faster revenue growth is projected for Ambulatory Diagnostic cardiology solutions (’22-’27 CAGR of 7.9%), driven by increased provision of Ambulatory Diagnostic services in the US, the largest market by far. Growth is further fuelled by the increasing appetite for Ambulatory solutions in Western Europe and Emerging Asia Pacific regions (although the markets are considerably smaller compared to the US). However, despite the impetus to develop ‚Äòout of hospital’ care in these regions, the lack of the necessary infrastructure and reimbursement continues to present significant barriers to widespread adoption.
The traditional ECG market is also seeing some tailwinds as digitalisation spearheads the development of connected ECG solutions globally. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for the necessary infrastructure to support digital solutions and improve care provision, accelerating the movement away from paper-based systems. This has also expediated the demand for connected solutions further enabling cardiac acquisition solutions to integrate with information systems. This supports improvements in workflow and greater cost efficiency, reducing some of the pressure on nurses and physicians. Signify Research projects that the traditional ECG market will reach just under $1 billion in 2027.
Expansion of the Cardiac Pathway
The further development of the Diagnostic Cardiology market has been driven by the increasing presence of wearable solutions providing consumers the ability to take their heart health into their own hands. Big names such as Apple, Fitbit, Samsung and Withings have all now received FDA approval for their smart watch ECG apps, providing additional insight into consumers’ heart recordings. This additional non-acute monitoring is increasing the number of asymptomatic patients presenting to primary care and acute care facilities. Many of these patients will still require more rigorous examination (e.g., resting ECG) upon arrival, which, depending upon the result, could lead to the prescription of one of a variety of devices (including a hand-held ECG). Given that between 30% and 40% of patients with Atrial fibrillation (Afib) are asymptomatic, the potential increase in patients entering the cardiology pathway is substantial. Amongst the consumer wearable category, AliveCor’s flagship six-lead hand-held personal ECG device received FDA approval in 2019. Since then, AliveCor has made significant inroads to further develop partnerships across the Diagnostic Cardiology space to imprint its relevance to the cardiac pathway. The increasing availability of ambulatory cardiology devices provides the option, where a 12-lead ECG is inconclusive, for a primary care physician to prescribe the patient a monitoring device from the outset (see 1 on figure 2). Therefore, when the patient presents themselves to a cardiologist they already have a baseline of data that the cardiologist can assess initially.
Will wearables displace the Traditional ECG market?
Signify Research predicts that there will still be a separate space for the traditional ECG market to the Ambulatory Diagnostic Cardiology. Although wearable solution sophistication continues to develop, the clinical efficiency compared to a 12-lead resting ECG device is less validated. The increasing amount of data driven from the various acquisitional devices will further drive the need for appropriate data management, accelerating growth for ECG management solutions. The development of protocols to help deal with the increased number of asymptomatic patients presenting may streamline the patient pathway. However, it is expected that this will take time, especially in less mature regions. The biggest question will be if Apple decides to further develop its offering to aggregate the data into meaningful analysis. The use of AI to help streamline the consistent supply of heart readings will be even more necessary to help improve patient diagnosis further, possibly reducing the need for traditional solutions in the future.
Future Outlook
The fundamental shift in the ability for the general consumer to be more in tune with their own heart health is a double-edged sword to the Diagnostic Cardiology market. On one hand, the preventative nature of identifying issues earlier in their development can reduce the long-term implications and lower costly hospital visits and treatment that could surmount if not caught early. However, the additional number of asymptomatic patients being funnelled into the diagnosis pathway places additional strain on already dwindling health resource. This is driving the need for more accurate information to support patient diagnosis and further accelerating the use of clinical decision tools to streamline workflow. The movement toward digital solutions is driving demand for solutions that can streamline data integration to provide comprehensive patient management. As such, vendors are continuing to innovate to help maximise the most appropriate data for patient diagnosis. The Diagnostic Cardiology device market will continue to evolve in coming years, bringing with it newer vendors, further generating healthy competition.
Related Research
Signify Research has recently published its “Diagnostic Cardiology – World -Interim Report – 2023” report, which builds on our 2022 edition of the report. The report provides a data-centric and global outlook of the market. The report blends primary data collected from in-depth interviews with healthcare professionals and technology vendors to provide a balanced and objective view of the market.
About Kelly Patrick
Kelly joined Signify Research in 2020 as a Principal Analyst. She has over 15 years’ experience covering a range of healthcare technology research at IHS Markit/Omdia. Kelly’s core focus has been on the clinical care sector, including patient monitoring, diagnostic cardiology, respiratory care, and infusion and associated IT solutions. Kelly holds a BSc degree with honours in Pharmacology from the University of Leeds. In her spare time, Kelly has a passion for running and outings with her husband and three children.
About the Clinical Care Team
The clinical care team provides market intelligence and detailed insights on the clinical care equipment and IT markets. Our areas of coverage include patient monitoring, diagnostic cardiology, infusion pumps, ventilators, anaesthesia and high-acuity IT. Our reports provide a data-centric and global outlook of each market with granular country-level insights. Our research process blends primary data collected from in-depth interviews with healthcare professionals and technology vendors, to provide a balanced and objective view of the market.
About Signify Research
Signify Research provides healthtech market intelligence powered by data that you can trust. We blend insights collected from in-depth interviews with technology vendors and healthcare professionals with sales data reported to us by leading vendors to provide a complete and balanced view of the market trends. Our coverage areas are Medical Imaging, Clinical Care, Digital Health, Diagnostic and Lifesciences and Healthcare IT.
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