Remote patient monitoring will save the world's healthcare systems up to $36 billion by 2018, according to a new projection by Juniper Research. The firm says North America will account for a little over three quarters of the savings, with Western Europe making up the next biggest chunk.

Juniper predicts that a shift toward accountable care, especially in the United States, will lead to wider adoption of remote cardiac monitoring and remote monitoring for chronic diseases. The $36 billion figure is their most optimistic projection. On the other hand, a recent survey by Spyglass Consulting found that more than half of accountable care organizations were still unsure about the savings inherent in remote patient monitoring.

"With accountable care the delivery of healthcare funding is linked more directly to the health of the patient or individual, rather than being based upon the cost of treatment," the firm writes in a whitepaper. "Even though remote patient monitoring, particularly for chronic diseases, is still at a very early stage in the development cycle, it fits well with new healthcare practices and the goal of keeping patients out of hospital."

The report goes on to say that smartphones and connected devices will grow more rapidly than dedicated, non-smartphone-connected mobile health devices. It also suggests that the most powerful way to advance mobile health will be to prove these cost-savings to healthcare funders.

Juniper also looked at the mobile fitness market, finding "robust growth driven by a motivated user-base and coherent product offering from several players," according to a press release.

GBI Research predicted recently that the market for remote patient monitoring in just the US would hit $296.5 million in 2019. Prior to that, research firm Kalorama put the US market for advanced wireless monitoring systems at $20.9 billion by just 2016. Juniper predicted last year that by 2016, 3 million patients would be monitored remotely over cellular networks.