In this blog, we’re going to the discuss the impact of IoT in healthcare.
The IoT (Internet of Things) industry is expanding quickly. More and more individuals are utilizing smart buildings and smart devices in their daily lives. The market for smart buildings will see continuous growth up to $109.48 billion by 2026.
IoT applications and devices are developing to suit the expanding demands of a digital environment. Innovative IoT providers are developing innovative IoT products to improve comfort, convenience, security for all the users involved.
New IoT innovation opportunities are continually emerging in the healthcare sector. IoT providers are coming up with innovative solutions to enhance medical facilities.
The impact of IoT in healthcare will be seen in a variety of ways. Many devices like wearable sensors, security systems, and cloud-connected medical equipment will have IoT present in them. Its positive effects on healthcare will improve the patient experience by enhancing care and quality.
What is IoT?
IoT stands for Internet of Things. It includes all the devices that connect to the internet to send or receive data, manage a process, or communicate with other devices.
Previously, it was a small, specialized industry of connected devices, but it now outnumber people. According to Cisco, for every individual, there were 2.4 network-connected gadgets in 2018. And this ratio will rise to 3.6 by 2023.
The popularity of consumer IoT platforms like Amazon Alexa and Google Home is growing. 3.5 billion people worldwide, or 44% of the population, are reportedly smartphone owners. The majority of people use the Internet of Things daily. Important sectors like education, data centers, hospitality, and healthcare, will be considerable improvement with the presence of AI and IoT.
What Role Does IoT Play in the Healthcare Industry?
The Internet of Things (IoT) in healthcare refers to linked gadgets utilized in a hospital, clinic, or another medical environment. Smart thermostats, automatic lighting, security systems, digital signs, and various sensors are examples of standard Internet of Things (IoT) equipments. All of these technologies enhance a patient’s care, comfort, and safety when used in a healthcare setting.
Medical device integration into an IoT framework is another example of IoT technology in healthcare. Medical IoT and the Internet of Medical Things are generally used to distinguish healthcare-specific IoT devices from traditional IoT technologies (IoMT).
The Internet of Things (IoT) is widely applicable in a variety of industries. We all hope this paradigm will be fully implemented in healthcare. It will improve both patient care and the efficiency of medical service providers. IoT can enhance the effectiveness and quality of therapies and, as a result, enhance the health of aged patients.
What is the Impact of IoT on the Healthcare Industry?
1) Simultaneous reporting and monitoring
When a medical emergency like heart failure, diabetes, asthma attacks, etc. occurs, remote health monitoring via connected devices can save lives.
Smart medical devices are first linked to smartphone apps. They then can collect medical and other necessary health data and use the smartphone’s internet connection to send the information obtained to a doctor or a cloud platform. This can enable real-time IoT device monitoring of the patient’s health conditions.
According to a study by the Center for Connected Health Policy, remote patient monitoring for patients with heart failure reduced the 30-day readmission rate by 50%.
Blood pressure, oxygen and blood sugar levels, weight, and ECGs are among the health-related data that the IoT networking device collects and transmits.
This data is then kept in the cloud storage. Any person with permission to see it, can view it whenever required . This person may be your doctor, your insurance provider, a collaborating health company, or an outside consultant. This person may access the data from any location at any time using any device.
2) Affordability and full connectivity
With the aid of healthcare mobility solutions, other innovative IoT technologies, and cutting-edge healthcare facilities, IoT can automate patient care workflow.
Internet of Things (IoT) has helped in the effective delivery of healthcare services. It has enabled interoperability, artificial intelligence machine-to-machine connection, information exchange, and data migration.
Using connectivity protocols like Bluetooth LE, Wi-Fi, Z-wave, and ZigBee, healthcare professionals can alter how they identify patient illnesses and afflictions and develop ground-breaking new treatments for a variety of medical conditions.
Due to its real-time functionality, healthcare devices send enormous amounts of data that are difficult to store and manage without a connection to the cloud.
3) Gathering and analyzing data
It is challenging even for healthcare professionals to collect data from many devices and sources and manually analyze it.
IoT devices can gather, report, and analyse time-related data. Internet of Things (IoT) has reduced the requirement to keep raw data.
With providers just having access to final reports and graphs, this entire scenario is possible with overcloud.
Additionally, healthcare operations give businesses access to crucial healthcare analytics and data-driven insights that speed up decision-making and reduce the likelihood of mistakes.
4) Tracking and alerts
In chronic illness, a timely alert is essential. Medical Internet of Things (IoT) devices collect vital signs of any ailment and send that data to clinicians for real-time surveillance, notifying patients about crucial components via mobile apps and smart sensors.
Regardless of location or time, reports and notifications provide a clear assessment of a patient’s status.
Additionally, it enables medical professionals to make informed judgments and deliver timely care.
Thus, real-time alerting, tracking and monitoring made possible by IoT allows for hands-on treatments, greater accuracy, timely medical intervention. This has created better overall patient care delivery outcomes.
5) Remote medical assistance
With the help of sophisticated mobile apps, patients can reach a doctor located hundreds of kilometers away in an emergency.
The use of mobility solutions in healthcare allows doctors to examine patients immediately and diagnose illnesses while they are in the field.
Additionally, many IoT-based healthcare delivery chains want to construct machines that may dispense drugs depending on the prescriptions of patients and disease-related information made available by linked devices.
IoT will significantly improve the hospital patient care. As a result, healthcare costs for individuals will decrease.
6) Research
Internet of Things in healthcare can also be used for research. IoT makes it possible for us to gather a large amount of data regarding the patient’s illness that would have taken several years to do otherwise.
We can perform statistical analysis through this data to support medical research. IoT saves us money that would have been spent on research as well as time. IoT will enhance hospital patient care. This will reduce the cost of healthcare for people.
IoT has a significant impact on the field of medical research as a result. This allows for the development of more advanced medical procedures.
Several products have IoT services. As a result, patients receive better care.
Simply by inserting chips from smart hospital equipment into old devices, IoT is now updating even those that already exist. This chip will improve the support and care that a patient needs.
What is the future of IoT in healthcare?
Healthcare facilities will advance, providing better patient outcomes, services, and solutions for patients and visitors, and improved working conditions for doctors as IoT in healthcare expands and IoMT devices continue to develop.
More devices and data will allow us to learn more about medical settings, patient care, and available treatments. By having access to data, medical professionals will be able to spot patterns and learn about novel parts of treatment that have previously been challenging to comprehend and use.