Telemedicine and mHealth have often been touted as major areas of potential growth for the M2M market. For many years, this potential has been restricted by the regulations and procedures that (understandably) govern the healthcare market. Clearly, before gaining widespread acceptance in healthcare, any new technology has to be tested and proven.

It seems now, that M2M technologies are finally gaining ground in healthcare and finding acceptance among key healthcare professionals. A survey that was recently conducted by CompTIA, a non-profit IT industry group, has shown that healthcare providers are increasingly turning to tablet PCs, smartphones and mobile applications to help with their workload.

The study found that over 25% of providers were using tablets in their practice and more than half were using smartphones for work. While it’s certainly an improving picture and one that’s encouraging for M2M service providers and application vendors, there is still along way to go. Two thirds of respondents said that implementing more mobile technology was a mid to high level priority for 2012.