According to Grand View Research, the IoT healthcare industry would reach $534.3 billion by 2025. According to the Gartner report, the majority of questioned healthcare firms either maintained or grew their IoT spending in 2019. People are being pushed to get some types of medical treatment remotely through telehealth solutions, and the COVID-19 scenario is now considerably contributing to market growth.
Experience indicates that the majority of medical appointments will likely become virtual in the future. Let’s take a look at how Internet of Things (IoT) technologies make the healthcare environment more comfortable for patients and medical professionals.
What Is The Difference Between IoT And IoMT?
The Internet of Things (IoT) is defined by my colleague Alex Grizhnevich, an IoT consultant at Blocknize, as a network of physical devices with sensors and actuators, software, and network connection that allow objects to receive and send data and perform users’ duties. Because IoT has become such an important part of healthcare’s digital revolution, we can now differentiate between two groups of initiatives: IoHT (Internet of Health Things) and IoMT (Internet of Medical Things).
Patient Care Enabled By The Internet Of Things (IoT in Healthcare)
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Tracking Your Medication Consumption
Doctors may track the influence of a prescribed drug’s dose on a patient’s condition using IoT-based medication monitoring. Patients, for their part, may manage their medicine consumption by utilising in-app reminders and recording how their symptoms change in the app for further study by their doctor. For simpler management of different prescriptions, the patient app may be linked to smart devices.
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Monitoring Your Health
This use case is particularly relevant for chronic illness management among instances of IoT in healthcare. Patients may employ linked medical equipment or body-worn biosensors to enable physicians and nurses to monitor their vitals (blood pressure, glucose level, heart rate, and so on) through doctor/nurse-facing applications.
Health professionals may keep an eye on this data 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and examine app-generated reports to learn more about health patterns.
Medical Asset Monitoring With IoT And RFID
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Inventory And Equipment Management In The Medical Field
RFID (radio frequency identification) tags are embed in all medical gadgets and durable assets (beds, medical equipment). Fixed RFID readers acquire information on asset location. Medical personnel may access it through a mobile or online application that includes a map.
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Tracking Of Drugs
Pharmacies and hospitals may use RFID-enabled drug monitoring to check the legitimacy of pharmaceutical supplies and discover medication shortages quickly.
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A Smart Hospital Environment
Patients may use cloud-connected ward sensors and environmental sensors to make their hospital stay more pleasant.
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Patient-Centeredness
Medical IoT enables patients to become active partners in their treatment, resulting in better care results. In addition, IoMT improves patient satisfaction with care delivery, from communication with medical personnel to physical comfort.
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Care-Related Expenditures Are Reduced
Patients who aren’t in immediate danger may remain at home and utilise cloud-connected medical IoT devices to collect, monitor, and communicate health data to a medical institution. Patients may also book e-visits with nurses and physicians using telehealth technology instead of going to the hospital.
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Reductions In Readmissions
Patient applications with biosensors assist assure adherence to a discharge plan, provide early identification of health status changes, and allow for remote communication with a health professional.
You Can Also Read More Articles on IoT and Other Trending Technologies Here!
IoT in Healthcare Challenges And How To Overcome Them
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Breach Of Health-Related Data Security
Healthcare providers and patients face information security problems as a result of IoT’s linked nature.
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Blocknize’s Suggestion
To maintain the greatest degree of security, we propose adopting HIPAA-compliant IoMT solutions and conducting frequent vulnerability assessments and penetration testing.
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Having Trouble Integrating
Every medical centre has its own collection of apps that need to be integrate with an IoMT system (e.g., EHR, EMR). Some of these programs may have been significantly modify or are no longer in use.
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Blocknize’s Suggestion
From the outset of your IoMT project, plan your integrations strategy, including the scope and type of bespoke integrations.
IoMT Can Help You Give Better Care
According to our projections, the usage of IoT technology in healthcare will continue to develop over the next decade, due to the COVID scenario and the rising need for remote treatment. You are welcome to contact Blocknize’s healthcare IT team for assistance in developing and implementing a suitable IoMT solution.
