$ ado valuation [fa perspective], page-5

Cheers Kiddo....The actual potential is mind boggling....

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/health-exchange/2014/04/10/technology-could-take-money-out-of-health-providers-hands-study-says/

Burgeoning technology in health care is making waves throughout the sector and could create more than $100 billion in economic displacement among providers, according to a study released Thursday by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The consultant’s Health Research Institute says technology will make it easier for patients to avoid going to the doctor or hospital. At-home kits ranging from strep throat tests to chemotherapy units will cut down on doctor visits to the tune of $64 billion. On top of that, another $50 billion could be displaced out of health-care providers’ hands via alternative diagnostic and laboratory facilities.

CVS Caremark is expected to start offering health services at its retail outlets.

The range of services that could be done at home stretches from sending photos of a skin rash to a dermatologist to home urinalysis with a phone device. Other services might be handled at retail outlets, such as dialysis or an MRI, the latter of which could save $11.6 billion.

Retailers like CVS Caremark CVS , which said it would stop selling tobacco and emphasize offering more health services, could displace the jobs of providers in other ways.

All told, that adds up to $114 billion in economic upheaval, which sounds like a lot but may not make that much of a ripple in a $2.8 trillion industry. However, Ceci Connolly, managing director of the institute, says that’s just the beginning.

“We firmly believe that this is part of a much bigger and much longer trend,” she said.

Connolly noted most of the top 50 companies in the Fortune 500 are delving into health care in some fashion, whether it’s Samsung SSNLF building heart-rate monitors into phones or AT&T T +0.32% offering mobile health programs.

Other new devices in the pipeline include a smartphone device that captures digital images of the ear canal, and a “Star Trek”-style recorder that measures vital signs.

Further, half of all middle-aged persons are in favor of alternative ways of shopping for health care and would be open to using new means for getting services, the study says.