IoT (Internet of Things) is one of those technological marvels of the modern era that has digitally transformed the Healthcare sector and has helped it to overcome the existent roadblocks and limitations in its functioning. IoT Healthcare Solutions has empowered the practitioners, patients, and service providers to unfold new horizons; resulting in simplified access to medical facilities through remote communication and reduced mortality rate on account of avant-garde treatment methodologies. Needless to say, the rate of adoption of IoT App Solutions has sky-rocketed and an upward demand curve has been observed.
Take a look at this interesting statistical data released by Statistica, indicating the estimated size of the IoT Healthcare market (in billion US $) between 2016 and 2025.
Fortune Business Insights predicts that the IoT in Healthcare market size will soar up to USD 176.82 Billion by the end of 2026.
In this blog, I have penned down how IoT in Healthcare has revolutionized the fundamental tenets of this domain and its immense benefits reaped by the patients, doctors, and service providers unanimously.
IoT in a nutshell
Internet of Things comprises of a network of devices and software applications, interconnected via computer networks and wireless communication channels. This ingenious eco-system is meant for collecting and sharing real-time data. Data is stored in cloud platforms and can be remotely accessed by authorized users from any part of the globe. IoT in Healthcare enables remote patient monitoring and works wonders in domains like telehealth, mHealth, telemedicine, etc. Let’s dive into some of the use cases in the healthcare domain.
Popular Use cases of IoT in Healthcare
Remote patient Diagnoses and
Observation
IoT empowered solutions record the
necessary health parameters to facilitate remote patient diagnoses and
monitoring. This is one of the commonest applications of IoT in telemedicine apps.
Doctor-patient consultations take
place through live audio and video call, and other advanced communication
channels, without the need for patients to pay a visit to the hospital. IoT
powered external devices such as digital stethoscopes, oximeters, etc are being
used by patients during digital telemedicine consultations.
IoT activity monitors such as heart
rate monitoring cuffs, glucometers, pulse meters, used by the patients enable
the doctors to remotely observe the health of elderly patients and those with
chronic conditions. The data obtained from these devices aid the physicians to
identify the correct course of treatment for patients.
Mobile Healthand Wellness
Wearables like Apple watches,
Fitbits, etc transmit patient’s vital health parameters through Bluetooth and
display the results in the smartphones. This proves immensely beneficial in
keeping a track of the body vitals and other wellness parameters such as sleep
patterns, body temperature, heart rate, blood sugar level, activity tracking,
etc. and providing real-time data to the patient, their doctors, and
caregivers. For example, a Holter monitor device is a wearable that tracks
abnormalities in a patient’s heartbeat. This helps in timely preventive care.
IoT powered ingestible devices
These ingenious ingestible sensors
available in the form of pills can be swallowed and it remains inside the human
body and stay at a particular spot and sends data to mobile applications. The
sensors embedded inside these pills detect drug doses taken and missed by the
patient. Some of these pills have an in-built camera that provides visibility
of the internal organs. Thus, Ingestible devices prevent life-threatening
conditions.
Emergency handling
IoT facilitates the accurate
collection of patient data in case of medical emergencies and transmission of
this data in real-time to the Emergency Response medical staff. This allows the
ER staff to stay prepared while the patient is being brought to the hospital
and no time is wasted after the patient’s arrival.
Aiding surgeries
IoT powered tools and applications
provide handy assistance during surgeries and in handling post-surgery care.
The IoT sensors accumulate data, transmit it, and analyze the same,
resulting in finding out even the tiniest complication, and thereby preventing
surgical complications.
Efficient Tracking of Patients,
Staff, and Inventory
Smart IoT healthcare
solutions contribute in the following ways:
- Wireless ID cards for staff and patients enhance
security, effectively manage admissions, and simplify staff management.
- RFID tags are used to track patients such as babies and
elderly patients with Alzheimer's disease and even staff members in case
of urgency.
- IoT integrates with Real-time location systems (RTLS)
to manage the assets of healthcare enterprises. It employs BLE(Bluetooth
Low Energy) and iBeacon to track supplies in the operating rooms and
inventory.
Virtual Monitoring of medical
equipment
The contemporary healthcare services
require avant-garde software and hardware equipment and their continuous
monitoring, to prevent them from system failures and cyber-attacks. IoT powered
solutions virtually monitor them and provide alerts to the medical staff if
some anomaly is detected.
Managing Pharmacy
Managing the drugs in a hospital and
transferring the same safely to storage facilities is a Herculean task with
chances of errors. Pharmacies managed by IoT application enable faster delivery
of medicines and takes care of drug-preservation issues while
transfer.
Handling insurance procedures
Insurance companies leverage IoT
devices to validate claims and detect fraudulent practices with the help of the
data captured by these devices. Such devices also enhance the transparency
between insurance providers and customers regarding processes like pricing,
underwriting, handling claims, and assessing risks.
Architecting an IoT Environment in
healthcare
Steps to be followed by Digital healthcare service providers for the
implementation of IoT are as follows:
- Deploying devices possessing sensors, monitors,
actuators, camera systems, actuators, and detectors to accumulate data.
- Conversion of received data to the digital format and
store the same in a data center.
- Managing and analyzing the medical data with the help
of data analytics based on which the correct course of action is decided.
Key Advantages of IoT powered
Healthcare IT services
Easy access to healthcare facilities
Remote doctor monitoring and
consultation facilities make healthcare and wellness easily accessible to
patients with less mobility, the ones residing in remote areas with no
hospitals nearby, and the super-busy professionals who hardly find time to
visit the clinic. Moreover, the patients have a plethora of options at their
disposal while choosing doctors.
Misdiagnosis of diseases
IoT system with the help of computer
vision, sensors can collect data from several IoT devices and leverages
advanced analytics enabling providers to know the course of the disease and thus
avoid the wrong diagnosis of diseases. Faster and error-free diagnoses of
diseases, continuous patient monitoring, and proactive treatment methodologies
are some of the major gains for patients opting for digital healthcare
services.
Lesser negligence and better
adherence to treatment plans
Thanks to the IoT healthcare
monitoring solutions encourage patients to stick to their treatment procedures
and help the doctors to stay informed about the patient’s condition without
much ado.
Operational Flexibility
Online diagnoses allows doctors to
enjoy flexible schedules without having to visit the clinic in case of
non-emergencies.
Lesser crowd in hospital spaces
Digitally smart healthcare centers
can do away with over-crowded waiting rooms, and as such can manage with lesser
spaces and fewer administrative staff. Furthermore, the chances of healthcare
staff getting infected with contagious diseases lessen.
Cost-efficiency
- IoT healthcare solutions enable doctors to scale up the
patient count by diagnosing more patients in a day.
- On account of digital real-time consultation and
monitoring, patients save on the cost by avoiding unnecessary hospital
visits, longer hospital stays, and readmissions.
Augments Brand value
Implementing IoT powered smart
solutions and motivating the patients to adopt these technologies enhances the
brand value of a company and provides them a competitive edge over others and
improves overall patient satisfaction too.
Final Verdict
IoT in Healthcare has redefined
healthcare services altogether by opening up a wide range of convenient options
for patients, practitioners, and healthcare service providers. It’s high time
that the healthcare operators incorporate IoT healthcare solutions in
their practice operations if they would like to make a mark in today’s dynamic
and competitive market.
With this, we come to the end of
this article. We hope this blog was helpful. Do comment and let us know your
thoughts.
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