Estimates show that the internet of medical things will save the healthcare industry $300 billion. Not just this, healthcare-related IoT revenues are predicted to hit $135 billion by the year 2025.
Increasing health care costs and changing demands of the patients create a perfect landscape for the widespread transformation of the healthcare industry. The evolution of the internet of things and its foray into healthcare, known as the internet of medical things (IoMT), has been incredibly transformative.
Here are some of the most exciting use cases to check.
Top 6 Use Cases of IOT in Healthcare
1. Remote Patient Monitoring
2. Tracked Ingestible Sensors
3. Mobile Health
4. Enhanced Chronic Disease Treatment
5. Device Health Monitoring
6. Better Clinical Infrastructure Management
1. Remote Patient Monitoring
Constant monitoring of patient’s vital health data comes as the best example of an IoT-powered healthcare ecosystem. It is estimated that by the end of 2020, 40% of IoT devices will be used in the healthcare industry.
The IoT network can effectively connect and track practically any sensor inserted into the human body for medical requirements. Constant heart rate monitors have been exceeding our expectations and monitoring heart rates to prevent cardiac arrests. Not just this, similar devices have been efficiently delivering patients and healthcare experts services that alert for seizures as quickly as possible and aid medical help for critical patients just in time.
Another example is products like Freestyle Libre and Eversense, which are an extension of the initiatives undertaken by NHS England on World Diabetes Day 2018. The Continuous Glucose Monitors are devices that are the size of £2 coin sits on the arm and offer a painless alternative to the need for prick blood tests. Providing round-the-clock blood glucose monitoring, the wearable is inserted into the patient’s arm and transmits the reading to your Android and iOS devices.
Also Read- IoT-powered Remote Patient Monitoring Software Development: An Extensive Guide
2. Tracked Ingestible Sensors
The tracked ingestible sensors technology is a notch higher than the wearables. As the name suggests, they are ingestible electronics devices that are roughly the size of a medicine capsule made up of biocompatible materials. Made of power supply, microprocessor, controller, sensors, and similar stuff, these devices are capable of telecommunicating and aid disease diagnostics and monitoring.
The technology is capable of having far-reaching implications, well beyond what sensors are currently capable of. Patients have to pop and swallow these pill-sized sensors, and soon they start alerting your smartphones with data like pH, temperature, and pressure. Not just that, they make sure your physicians say informed whether or not you have taken your medicines.
The pills are proving disruptive in disease diagnostics, monitoring, and management. No wonder the market of ingestible sensors that was estimated at around $491 million in 2016 is expected to grow at the compound annual growth rate of 19% through 2024.
3. Mobile Health
Well, a name that needs no introduction. Physicians themselves believe that staying mHealth is contributing to better patient lives. It gets you an all-inclusive platform that does not just track vital health parameters but also ensures that this detail reaches to your healthcare service provider. It contributes to the critical as well as regular medical instances equally.
Advanced healthcare apps have been making our lives simpler for a long time now. You can consult your doctors right while resting on their couch. Such apps can be used as your full-blown healthcare hub where you can access valuable medical info, analyze your organism behavior trends, manage other injected IoT sensors, and contact your doctor with a single tap.
The solution proves to be especially valuable for remote areas where patients don’t have access to excellent healthcare services nearby. There are many apps already available on the market, ranging in functionality and purpose:
- Medication management apps
- Fitness apps
- Body, activity, & sleep tracking apps
- Pregnancy monitoring apps
- Individual health recording apps
And many more
4. Enhanced Chronic Disease Treatment
Technologies like IoT-enabled wearables, sensors, data analytics, and mobile connectivity are proving to be significant breakthroughs in the treatment of chronic diseases. These aids enable constant health monitoring that makes it easier for everyone to track vital health metrics making enhancing overall visibility over a long period. Therefore, it is easier for one to observe trends in disease fluctuations and take timely measures for treatment. While IoT technology makes it easier than ever, you can also make the system more efficient with integration of blockchain and AI by leveraging healthcare technology consulting services and understanding it all better.
Utility devices like Fitbit use IoT to monitor personal health and share the information across with the clinicians to help solve recurring health issues.
A brand known as Health Net Connect recently found a population diabetic management program to improve the clinical treatment and reduce the medical costs for patients.
5. Device Health Monitoring
When there’s a life involved, you can’t afford to lose track of your critical medical devices that sustain health or human life. They need to run at all times reliably. However, you can rule out the chances of system failures or break down in mechanical devices. Worse, if the appliances are malfunctioning, that could take a toll on human life.
IoT sensors on medical devices can help those machines to measure and assess their device’s health. Any metrics that indicate something wrong can be directly sent to the concerned authority, and measures can be taken on time. Therefore, they can take appropriate measures proactively to maintain the device.
A great example is Philips e-Alerts for MRI systems. It is an intelligent hardware and software-based combination tool that keeps a close virtual eye on your MRI system performance. It uses powerful sensor technology to monitor critical parameters of the MRI system continually and issues an automated alert in case something goes wrong.
Also Read- How is IoT Revolutionizing the Healthcare Industry?
6. Better Clinical Infrastructure Management
A clinic/ hospital has multiple mobile parts of the infrastructure, including people, operating rooms, inventory, and other resources. In addition to this, there are various other things to manage, such as ORs.
While conventional systems can terribly fail for big organizations, IoT offers a platform for more efficiency in clinical operations management, whether for small organizations or bigger ones. You can easily track the location of all your resources in a few clicks and stay updated on all vital details. Apparently, data is tracked in real-time rather than relying on humans for the same.
This efficiency in management aids in reducing wait times and costs for the hospital. A striking example comes with Mt. Sinai Medical Center’s implementation in New York City. The application of AutoBed (in partnership with GE Healthcare), an IoT-powered software to track occupancy and patients need metrics, continuously monitors over 1,200 units and factors in 15 different parameters to assess the needs of individual patients.
This, alone, could slash the wait time by 50% of their emergency room patients who needed inpatient care.
Signing Off
Still, on the fence deciding the efficacy of IoT for your healthcare business? Let experts assist you.
Our cloud‐enabled IoT solutions deliver clinicians, payers, pharmacies, and hospitals with a vendor-neutral, risk-free infrastructure that is booming the continuum of care. No matter what questions you have or you are still unsure how IoT can align with your organizational goals and deliver you results, we help you find the answers. Reach out to us and transform your challenges into solutions.
