Internet Of Things In Healthcare: Opportunities And Challenges
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Jan 10,2017
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IOT

IOT-Health-Care

What Internet of Things basically refers to? Well, it refers to a connected environment with several devices and interfaces thanks to which we enjoy the ease and smartness of interacting with devices for specific needs and operations in everyday life. IOT basically works for variety of uses of the systems and gadgets connected to each other through Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or any other advanced connectivity solutions. While the impact of IOT is enormous on our life, some mission critical industries like healthcare get most benefited from this.

In healthcare facilities both patients and care providers are getting benefited from IoT solutions. By helping care reaching the deceased timely and effortlessly and by allowing seamless sharing of crucial information among the stakeholders and care givers, IOT is adding value to healthcare systems in more ways than one.

As for the uses of healthcare IOT there are numerous avenues and use cases that we have seen to emerge in recent times. While some care providers came up with sophisticated mobile health apps and wearable apps offering easy access to patient information and treatment data, the wearable high tech bands and GPS enabled walking sticks also enabled caregivers to keep tap on patient movement. Use of connected sensors in healthcare facilities also helped managing inventory and manpower better.

But besides these opportunities as mentioned above there are challenges for IOT deployment in healthcare as well.

  • Healthcare IOT Statistics

Do you know there are approximately 10 billion devices on the planet earth that are at present connected to the Internet comprising both computers and smartphones. As per IBM this number is expected to grow at a rapid speed throughout the present decade and it is very likely to reach at a staggering figure varying from 50 Billion to 1 trillion
devices. As per IBM financial impact of IOT will be somewhere around $2.7 trillion to $6.2 trillion per year by the time we reach 2025.

  • Medical And Wellness Apps

IOT_Wellness_App

Where does healthcare IOT has the most immediate and robust scope? Well, the range of medical and wellness applications that are going to be benefited from IOT are mentioned below.

  • Various kinds of Interstitial fluid measurements
    that require continuous measurement of elements like Sodium, Potassium, Glucose, Lactate, etc.
  • Real-time medical advice for regular and common symptoms like fever, dehydration, muscle pain, muscle fatigue, etc.
  • Keeping tap on deceased patients remotely through connected bands and sticks offering location and health data to caregivers and practitioners.
  • Challenges For Healthcare IOT

There are several challenges to the implementation of IoT in healthcare. Though these challenges are likely to be addressed in the time to come, we need to know the stumbling blocks besides knowing the brighter side of healthcare IOT.

  • First of all, the too much patient data can create overload and sufficient distraction in the process of treatment.
  • Secondly, connectivity is still not reliable enough for unperturbed and disturbance-free IOT implementation in a critical sector like healthcare.
  • The security policies in majority of healthcare establishments are still not equipped with a robust BYOD and MDM policy.
  • IOT as a whole is still in its nascent state of development for critical implementation in areas where any lagging time can risk health and life.
Khushboo Jobanputra
Khushboo Jobanputra
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