4 Factors Leading to the Growth of IoT in Healthcare

The term IoT (Internet of Things) defines a network of physical objects connected through the internet. These physical objects include technology to interact with the internal factors as well as the external environment. IoT is being adopted in various fields such as retail, transportation, agriculture, smart home, smart city, lifestyle, supply chain, emergency, healthcare, environment, and energy. The use of IoT in healthcare has been increasing significantly during recent years and is also predicted to develop in the future years to come.
 
Various benefits offered by IoT in the field of healthcare are mainly classified as tracking of objects, staff, and patients; identification and authentication of people; automatic data collection; and sensing. By offering these benefits, IoT in healthcare proves to be a vital solution for managing the cost associated with various healthcare solutions. IoT in healthcare enables the stakeholders—particularly providers and patients—to enhance patient care and outcomes, reduce costs, decrease errors, and improve the patient experience, in addition to offering better disease management. IoT solutions and services are replacing traditional diagnosis and treatment procedures with advanced technology. The users of IoT in the healthcare field include hospitals, healthcare professionals, clinics, and patients. Government authorities, research institutions, and diagnostic labs are also using IoT in healthcare technology for developing cost-effective and advanced products and solutions.
 
Following is an overview of four factors responsible for the increasing the adoption rate of IoT in the healthcare industry.
 
1. Increased Adoption of Smart Devices and Wearables
Smart devices include smartphones, tablets, and phablets, as well as wearables such as smart bands, smart shoes, smart clothes, smart watches, sleep headphones, and other technologies that collect, transfer and/or analyze information and data. Many wearable devices are getting tremendous attention due to their capabilities, including devices benefitting patients living with chronic illness. Moreover, certain devices have additional features, such as push buttons that can immediately send alerts for emergency medical help. These connected devices record essential data throughout the day and transfer that data wirelessly to users’ devices such as tablets, smartphones, and computers. These devices are considered to be a valuable tool in reducing medical expenses and thus, are increasingly adopted by people.
 
Moreover, smartphones with built-in sensors and mobile applications for storing health information are another driver of the market for IoT in healthcare. These apps can be connected to wearable devices to record the data. Applications such as blood pressure and heart rate monitoring are being leveraged to help people using smart devices to reduce their medical expenses.
 
2. Need for Workforce Optimization by Utilizing Electronic Health Records
The need to optimize the productivity of healthcare workers is another critical element propelling IoT healthcare development. Expanding the network of connected devices to healthcare workers has enabled the creation of a more combined system of operations, thereby leading to better communication between different departments. IoT has helped to bring direction to disordered hospitals and to restructure communications between patients and medical professionals. Capabilities enabled by IoT, such as remote patient monitoring, enhance patient care. This can help contribute to a decrease in medical errors and malpractice claims. IoT has the potential to improve the functioning of healthcare organizations; thus, improving the current quality of the system and optimizing operations.
 
Certain applications can use available data for optimizing scheduling in order to ensure the right staff member is allocated to the right patient at the right time. Further, by providing clinical training, other applications can help facilitate the best use of staff and equipment.
 
3. Increasing Interest in Self-Health Measurement
The increasing desire people and patiens have to monitor one’s own health is another factor propelling the demand for connected health devices. Wearable devices such as fitness bands, glucose meters, and blood pressure monitors help in tracking activities throughout the day. This data is stored in connected devices, which can later be used for analysis of the patient’s health. Through the use of these devices, costs incurred for regular checkups can be significantly reduced, since a patient is able to analyze his/her own medical parameters and make adjustments accordingly. These trends in self-health measurement have influenced the demand for IoT in healthcare devices and systems, thus, providing a potential opportunity for companies developing devices for the space.
 
4. Need for Healthcare in Remote Locations
Many regions, especially in developing and under-developed countries, have limited or negligible access to healthcare facilities. The patients in these locations need to travel a significant distance for routine checkups or disease diagnosis at a healthcare facility. Telemedicine and IoT-enabled healthcare devices can help these patients communicate with medical professionals from their homes. As a result, it is possible to reduce the prevalence of some diseases in these regions.
 
The expansion of IoT healthcare services in such locations can be beneficial to companies offering technologies that cater to this need. Requirements include real-time video, remote patient monitoring, and mobile health. Further, in May 2018, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) made telehealth and telemedicine a cornerstone in its first Rural Health Strategy. CMS revealed its first-ever program, which included a five-point, eight-page initiative to improve access to care for Americans living in rural and underserved communities.
 
Challenges
While various benefits are offered by IoT solutions in the healthcare industry, there are unfortunately challenges that still need to be addressed. The addition of newer types of healthcare data collected through IoT-enabled devices, such as EHR data, digital pathology data, sensor data, diagnostic data from digital imaging devices, and research data from genomic studies, has led to an excessive deposit of data to be handled. Such large volumes of data pose a challenge for physicians. In addition, security concerns related to the violation of sensitive patient information emerge. The data is at risk of being used by criminals to obtain false insurance claims. With an aim to decrease the risks associated with data storage, organizations have developed advanced security strategies capable of enhancing data privacy.
 
Digitization of health records has helped in simplifying administrative tasks in recent years, but has also led to a lag in productivity with the adoption of technology. A team of Harvard investigators identified that 63,040 cases out of 1.04 million medication errors, which accounted for almost 6 percent, were linked to computerized physician order entry. Such documentation errors highlight the necessity for hands-on training to physicians in order to teach better record handling skills.
 
Conclusion
Studies reveal almost 60 percent of healthcare facilities across the globe have utilized IoT to offer better care and benefits to patients. With solutions such as patient monitoring, smart pills, and low-energy location solutions, IoT helps in improving the quality of life for a larger population, hence leading to the reduction of healthcare expenditures. In spite of the drawbacks, there has been an increase in the adoption rates due to the various benefits being offered.
 

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As a senior level consulting professional, Akshay Malunjkar is a part of the healthcare domain, with more than three years of history of working in the market research industry. Currently working for research studies specifically focused on healthcare, Malunjkar has knowledge about various healthcare verticals including biotechnology, medical devices, and HCIT, among others.