Internet of Things (IoT) refers to inter connectivity of physical objects embedded with technological capability of exchanging data and creating a more efficient healthcare system in terms of time, energy and cost. Analysts at MarketResearch.com claim that the sector will be worth $117 million by 2020.
Healthcare is a highly contentious Industry. Soaring costs, complex insurance regulations, public health issues, patient interaction with medical professionals and caregivers. To an extent, all these problems and many more can be streamlined and improved outcomes can be expected through access to real time information, innovative monitoring techniques that Internet of things can enable.
With dependency on technology rising, IoT is providing convenience and solutions for patients, payers, and healthcare professionals. The reason for this dependency is that integration of IoT features into medical devices has greatly improved the quality and effectiveness of services. A number of key use cases in support of IoT includes:
- Internet-enabled devices and sensors which collect and analyze real-time data.
- Connect medical devices.
- Locate healthcare-related assets.
- Streamline patient care and medical research.
How IoT is changing the healthcare industry?
Value from Data
- Organizational performance optimized
- Better customer engagement
- Improved decision making
- Managing patients experience
Beyond this, data will also provide fields like drug discovery and patient management. The collected data is analyzed and the doctor receives a ranked set of treatment options along with relevant evidence for each approach. It is more like a second or third opinion.
Patient monitoring
The daily cost for patient management is very high in US which involves more infrastructure and human resource but with the help of remote monitoring products, patients are allowed to be moved to their respective homes along with monitoring of their status regularly. Security issues can also be handled properly by allotting patient identification using observation data and then using encryption on device during storage.
Enhanced drug management
The healthcare industry faces huge problem in drug management. Creating and managing drug requires huge costs which is a challenge for the healthcare industry.
Augmented asset monitoring
Asset monitoring provides efficient and cost effective results through enterprise grade technologies like distributed computing and Big Data analytics, asset management beside machine to machine communication and mobility deployed on machines, premises or cloud platforms.
Early intervention
Healthy and active people will also benefit from IoT driven monitoring. Their daily activities will be monitored for personal well being. For example- A senior citizen living alone may want a monitoring device to help detect a fall or fluctuations in blood pressure, blood sugar level etc and immediately inform a family member or the nearest hospital.
In Fact, it will also be beneficial for a sports person or bikers/hikers who are at risk and want immediate assistance as this would be available as a piece of wearable technology.
Conclusion
IoT aims to maximize resources by providing secure, and cost effective solutions for consumers in order to facilitate better engagement.
By embedding IoT-enabled devices in medical equipment, healthcare professionals will be able to monitor patients more effectively and use the data gathered to figure out who needs the most hands-on attention. By making most of the network of devices, healthcare professionals could use data to create a system of proactive management.
