Telefonica Enters Brazil's mHealth Market

Telefonica Digital has acquired a controlling stake in major Brazilian healthcare provider Axismed, in a bid to move into Brazil’s mobile health sector. The exact percentage of the stake or the price paid has not yet been revealed.

Axismed is a prominent chronic care management firm in Brazil. The market for mobile health products is burgeoning, and while initially Telefonica will target corporate clients, it has plans to eventually extend services to subscribers of its mobile operator, Vivo.

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The deal will allow the 180,000 patients currently in Axismed’s care to be contacted through a variety of different technologies, including videoconferencing, SMS, internet and mobile apps. Axismed aims to be able to receive medical information from patients via their domestic devices within one year.

If this goal is achieved, the firms will look to extending their footprint in Latin America, notably Chile that has been earmarked as a potential hotbed for mHealth services. In addition, Telefonica plans on offering its Vivo subscribers access to mHealth.