If we look at the early adoption of Technologies, industries like Finance and Healthcare are some of the highest adopters of technology around the world.
Whether it is Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality or Augmented Reality, healthcare and finance have not only adopted the technology but they have also invested heavily in it and have used the technology for good.
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IoT and its adoption in the Healthcare Industry:
But the Technology that has truly disrupted the Healthcare Industry and which has one of the highest and fastest numbers of healthcare adopters around the world is IoT! While the Finance Industry tops the chart of general Technology Investment and adoption, healthcare has truly made the best possible use of IoT.
For instance, 41% of the Healthcare Industry has in one way have employed IoT Technology in their institution in one way or another and another 9% has plans to use IoT in the next 12 months.
Not only that, it is expected that IoT will be the second-largest impact maker Technology in the future after IT Automation Technology. So, while the world claims that IoT is the technology of the future, it is evident that it is thriving as we speak and is penetrating all the contemporaries of the Healthcare Industry like Hospitals, Medical Practitioners, and Pharmacists and the Technology is all aiding them in creating a Digital Ecosystem that can enable them to provide integrated care.
Such high is the adoption of IoT in the Healthcare Industry that the Technology Service Providers now have an acknowledged term called IoMT, which is an abbreviation of the Internet of Medical Things for Healthcare IoT solutions. Before we proceed to how one can make the best use of IoMT and its applications and why Healthcare Institutions must adopt IoMT, let us first understand what IoMT is.
What is IoMT?
Internet of Medical Things is a digital ecosystem that is formed by connecting the Medical Devices and Applications with existing healthcare IT systems via the Internet. The purpose of IoMT is to provide effective ways of offering proactive care to the patients without any additional administrative burden.
The world is driven by data and IoMT is helping the Healthcare Industry just with that! IoT devices are one of the most genuine data creation points and, in the case of the Healthcare Industry, they help medical professionals in getting access to information that was not even possible to gather before. Apart from that, IoMT can also be used for many other purposes and each has its own merit and value.
Thus, instead of making a random showcase of Healthcare IoT success stories, we are elaborating on the goals, the efficiency of services that one can achieve and provide by making effective use of IoMT devices and their applications.
Ways in which IoMT devices can revolutionize any Healthcare Institution:
#1 Remote and Continuous Monitoring for accurate care delivery:
With the use of IoMT applications and devices like consumer-grade wearable devices and clinical-grade devices, healthcare institutes can also keep updated about the condition of the patients remotely without the help of any medical personnel.
There is a wide range of such devices available right from smartwatches to smart activity trackers and bands, and there are also products like Smart Beds and Smart Garments available.
With the use of such devices and IoT applications that can run on smartphones, desktops and other such devices, healthcare institutes can introduce programmes that can provide remote care delivery to their customers and can also employ such devices to cater continuous care to patients with chronic diseases.
#2 Omnicare across Homes, Clinics, Hospitals and Outdoors:
With the use of IoMT devices, healthcare institutes can introduce different programs that can provide extensive care at different places as:
Medical Care at Home:
Currently, in the market, there are different IoMT systems and applications available, such as Personal Emergency Response Systems (PERS), Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) and Telehealth virtual consultancy systems where medical care can be provided to patients at their home.
Medical Care at Clinics and Hospitals:
With the use of IoMT devices, clinics can create an in-premise digital ecosystem that can be used to provide effective care to patients. There are many smart devices like Smart Beds, Patient Tracking Systems, Patient Monitoring Systems and other such systems to ensure that the patients can get the best possible care.
These systems also remove human errors and they can be used by doctors to keep track of the records and reports of the patient’s data right in their phones. They can also be used to transfer data and keep extensive patient records.
Medical Care at Outdoor places:
The IoMT systems cover three major aspects of Outdoor care: there can be Mobility systems that can keep track of the health of patients while in transit. Then there are Response Intelligence systems that can be used to assist the paramedics and emergency care departments of hospitals. Also, there are also IoMT devices available that can be used to manage and protect the medical inventory in transit.
#3 Effective tracking of patients and delivery of medication to the Patients:
Whenever the patients are admitted to the hospital or when they visit the clinic for check-ups, there are many IoMT systems that can assist, locate and guide them throughout the whole process! There can be patient monitoring systems that can keep track of the location and conditions of the patients when they are admitted in the hospital.
There can also be Patient Flow Management Systems and Patient Management Systems (PMS) for hospitals and clinics where there are smart beds, trackers and beacons to guide the Patient around the premise and manage patient flow effectively to avoid bottleneck situations.
#4 Integrated Care and Coordinated Data Management Systems:
One of the largest challenges that IoMT systems and IoT Applications can address is the organisation of data and the possibility of integrated care. While the traditional and conventional methods of Data Recording were disjointed and unorganised, with IoT applications, there can be a Digital Ecosystem through which the data can be transferred in its raw form without any sort of tampering.
And if there are certain changes made in the HIPPA compliance restrictions and effective security measures are taken to secure the IoT network, there can also be a Data Management System that can transfer data securely across different Medical Organisations on the need to know basis.
#5 Acquiring Operational Excellence in the Healthcare Premises:
IT Automation along with IoT Solutions is the best possible way to increase the efficiency and productivity of a Healthcare Institute. There are many IoMT solutions that can be employed by a Healthcare Institute to acquire operational excellence.
For instance, there can be Asset Trackers who can be used to keep track of high-value equipment, there can be Environment and energy monitoring sensors to manage the electricity consumption and can also be used to ensure ideal conditions are maintained around the areas where there are more patients and staff present.
While all these solutions are great examples of how IoT can revolutionise healthcare, it is truly just the tip of the iceberg and with expert IoT service providers’ help, one can truly achieve much more with personalised Healthcare IoT solutions.
IoT and its implementation challenges:
But, to ensure that you get the most out of your IoT solutions, you need an experienced and expert IoT Application Development Company that can consult and aid in reaching ideal IoT solutions that align with your requirements.
Also, when we talk about IoT solutions, it is not wise to select any ready-to-use solutions, especially for healthcare, as they might not have the necessary security measures to protect the highly sensitive content.
For instance, the consumer-grade wearable and their data do not have the necessary security measures that are required according to the HIPPA compliance and thus they cannot be integrated with any Healthcare Institute’s Healthcare IT Systems.
Thus, to ensure that you have effective IoT solutions with optimum Security Measures that can align with HIPPA compliance, you need an expert IoT service provider to build an architecture that is personalized and secure.
The Healthcare Industry is fast moving towards technology advancement and IoMT Systems hold great promise in the current and future of the Healthcare Industry. So, if you are waiting for the right time to embark on the journey of Digital Transformation via IoT solutions, now is the time to do it!
Employ Technological Innovation to hack your growth mantra and lead your Healthcare Organisation towards Proactive Care Delivery and Integrated Data Management.
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