Happy Patel, Digital Marketing Executive, Space-O technologies talks about how IoT is significantly transforming the healthcare industry by redefining the space of devices and people interaction. Go through this blog and know the top 5 ways how IoT is being used by the healthcare sector.
With technological advancements such as IoT (Internet of Things), a whole new world has opened up, especially for the healthcare industry. From effective treatment to detailed insights into patient data, IoT is being utilized to the fullest. So, let’s explore the top 5 ways the healthcare sector is using IoT.
Prior to IoT technology, patients and healthcare professionals primarily relied on in-person visits or telecommunication as their primary means of interaction which somehow created treatment restrictions. After all, it was not possible for healthcare providers to continuously monitor patients’ health and conduct treatment accordingly.
However, the emergence of IoT has significantly changed the shape of the healthcare sector. While it has equipped healthcare providers to offer timely and more efficient care, patients are provided with more control over their treatment. As per McKinsey’s IoT researchOpens a new window , healthcare IoT expenditure is expected to hit approximately 1.6 trillion dollars annually by 2025.
But in what ways the healthcare industry is using IoT? Let’s take a detailed look.
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Real-time Remote Monitoring & Reporting
The IoT technology has become nothing short of a lifesaver in medical emergencies, such as diabetes, heart failures, or asthma attacks, thanks to its real-time monitoring through connected devices.
IoT is a system of interconnected devices that can transfer data among each other over a network. So, when used with a smart medical device linked to a smartphone application, IoT facilitates monitoring of a particular health condition in real-time. The patient wears the smart medical device which collects necessary medical data like oxygen levels, weight, blood pressure, ECGs, blood sugar levels, etc. This data is then sent to the doctor through the smartphone’s data connection.
It equips healthcare professionals to offer timely and correct treatments, especially when the patient is unable to travel. Moreover, such data is stored in the cloud, enabling data reporting anytime and from anywhere for any involved parties, including doctors, health insurance provider, and consultants.
According to the Center for Connected Health Policy’s study, the 30-day readmission rate was reduced to 50% due to remote monitoring for heart failure patients.
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Remote Consultations
When there is a medical emergency, every second of every minute is crucial. However, there are often delays in reaching to the care facility or communicating with the doctors, which in turn, increases the risks. In such circumstances, IoT becomes a boon as it facilitates an instant connection between the patient and the doctor who might be miles away from each other, via smart mobile applications.
Healthcare professionals are increasingly relying on the IoT-enabled connected medical devices to offer consultations and diagnosis remotely. Apart from that, since patients’ data is already available remotely, the healthcare providers are in a better position to prepare for and provide on-time quality emergency care even before the patient arrives at their facility.
Data Collection & Analysis
Another important way in which the healthcare sector is utilizing IoT is for organized collection and analysis of data. Although it is beneficial to obtain real-time patient records through more than one device, it somehow becomes extremely chaotic as the data has to be manually analyzed by a healthcare professional.
That’s when IoT devices are making things easier for healthcare professionals. These devices can not only gather and report the data but can also analyze them in real-time. Moreover, there is no need for storing the raw data. In addition to that, care providers are able to access the final reports directly with graphs, saving their precious time to a great extent. All this is done over the cloud that makes the data available on the providers’ preferred device and time.
Also, providers are using IoT devices for getting insights driven by data along with important healthcare analytics. It helps in making quick decisions, reducing the scope of errors.
Tracking & Alerts
It is important for any healthcare facility, no matter how big or small, to be aware of its assets, their locations, and their usability status all the time. The failure in doing so can result in life-threatening situations for patients. That’s exactly why the healthcare industry has turned to IoT for effective tracking and alerts when it comes to a healthcare setup’s asset management. These assets include medical equipment as well as staff members, apart from patients (which we already discovered above.)
IoT is being used by hospitals to keep track of equipment like defibrillators, wheelchairs, oxygen pumps, nebulizers, along with other monitoring devices in real-time. It helps them ensure the equipment are at their best and working optimally. Furthermore, IoT also helps them analyze the medical staff that is deployed at various locations. As a result, hospitals’ day-to-day activities are better monitored, lowering the cost at the same time.
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Research
Research is an essential part of the healthcare industry. However, the resources in use presently for medical research lack important real-world information and the process is quite tedious. Hence, the healthcare sector is depending on IoT for opening up new avenues for healthcare research domain.
As we explored, IoT has a sea of vital data and information on offer through real-time data gathering, analysis, and testing. Healthcare research professionals are using this data for conducting valuable research that can result in the discovery of a disease, a more efficient treatment, or an improved solution to a chronic ailment that were once unknown. Through its utilization in research, IoT is saving medical professionals both time and money. All of it ultimately boosts the quality of medical services received by patients.
Some Examples of IoT Applications
Among its many applications in the healthcare sectorOpens a new window , IoT is widely used for diabetes management, blood pressure monitoring, smartwatches to track depression, sleep cycles, and runs, cancer treatment, hearables, ingestible sensors, and healthcare charting to name a few.
Final Thoughts
Technology is surely the driving force of today’s time. With IoT solutions and its future evolutions, the healthcare industry is bound to undergo tremendous transformation consistently. Overall, the healthcare services will become much more effective and beneficial for the care providers and patients alike.