Jennifer Mendoza
Research expert covering health, pharma and medtech
eHealth in Colombia - Statistics & Facts
With the onset of the internet and technology permeating our everyday lives, digital transformation has become a regular phenomenon in the development of various industries. This plays a major role in improving accessibility for consumers. Overall, this evolution has made substantial headway in prevalent service sectors such as eHealth. In Latin America, the biotech and health care market ranks as the region's fifth largest startup industry. With a rising online population, demographic changes, and higher life expectancy rates, the region’s health systems have been forced to make appropriate adjustments to cope with the demands of modern-day society. Colombia’s health sector is an example of this phenomenon, where healthtech startups such as Lentesplus and Farmalisto have recently dived into the market and raised over 40 million U.S. dollars in venture capital funds.
The rise of telemedicine
Although ehealth technologies complement both, in-person and remote services, the industry has recently seen an exponential rise on remote solutions resulting from distancing measures brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. In Colombia, the number of users of online remote consultations nearly doubled within the period between 2019 and 2022, with departments such as Cundinamarca and Antioquia leveraging this feature, and making substantial efforts in the expansion of their telemedicine services. In 2020, remote consultations, health orientations, and home-delivered medical prescriptions were the most common type of medical care provided remotely in the South American country. These so-called “more efficient” services have been developing as an alternative for both patients and medical professionals all over the territory.From smartwatches to care phones
Another growing sector has been the digital fitness, well-being, and ehealth devices sector. Characterized by a preference for smartwatches, and fitness and activity tracking wristwear, the digital fitness and well-being devices market in Colombia reached a revenue of over 244 million U.S. dollars in 2022. That year, the country’s ehealth devices market brought in an additional 63 million U.S. dollars in revenue, with blood pressure meters accounting for over 80 percent of the total. Care phone and social alarms aimed at supporting the safety and independence of elderly people are also among Colombians’ favorite ehealth devices.
