According to new a research report from the analyst firm Berg Insight, the number of patients worldwide using home monitoring services based on equipment with integrated connectivity is gradually increasing and will continue to grow in the next five years.

Statistics show that around 2.2 million patients worldwide were using such devices at the end of 2011 and this was expected to grow at a CAGR of 18 percent between 2010-2016. The projected figure doesn't take into account patients who are using monitoring devices connected either to a PC or a mobile phone.

The report indicates that there will be an increase in the number of devices that have integrated cellular connectivity and the figure is expected to touch 2.47 million in 2016.

As the conditions that are being monitored are chronic diseases that cause substantial costs and reduced life expectancy and quality of life, it is expected that home monitoring will become more of a treatment option.

Berg Insight estimates that more than 200 million people in the EU and the US suffer from one or several chronic diseases and home monitoring is bound to gain traction.

Lars Kurkinen, Telecom Analyst at Berg Insight noted that while home monitoring solutions were already being used to monitor certain conditions, connectivity is gaining momentum in other segments also.

He also added that leveraging connectivity technologies leads to decreasing costs, improved healthcare and tend to make patients prefer to lead healthy, active and independent lives.

Although wireless technology is being adopted rapidly, the report indicates that it does appear that it will be quite some time before remote monitoring becomes a standard practice.

According to another research report by Berg Insight, the number of new smart home installations worldwide was 0.44 million in 2010. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 65 percent, this number is expected to reach 5.38 million by 2015. The total revenues will simultaneously grow at a CAGR of 32.8 percent from US$ 2.3 billion in 2010 to almost US$ 9.5 billion in 2015.