By Healthcare Facilities Today

The number of users of smartphone-based workforce management services in Europe and North America is forecasted to grow from 0.8 million in 2012 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21 percent to reach nearly 2.5 million by 2018, bolstered by strong growth from the health IT sector, according to a report from Berg Insight.

Family locator services is the largest segment for people-monitoring and safety solutions based on GPS-enabled smartphones or dedicated cellular and GPS locator devices, according to an article on the EWeek website.

"Many parents have discovered free and low-cost apps that can turn a smartphone into a locator device that enable monitoring of family members such as children or elderly," André Malm, senior analyst at Berg Insight, said in the article. "Companies and organizations in many parts of the world are also gradually adopting lone worker protection solutions to comply with occupational safety regulations and reduce employee insurance costs."

Lone worker protection services often rely on dedicated GPS location devices featuring alarm buttons and "man down" detection sensors, Malm said in the article.  Berg estimated that there were 30 million active users of family locator and location-sharing apps in Europe and North America at the end of the second quarter of 2013.

Device vendors are also addressing the growing market for systems that assist seniors living at home or in care homes. These systems are often called telecare systems or social alarms in Europe and personal emergency response systems (PERS) in North America.

Read the article.