How IoT in Healthcare Is Transforming the Industry?

Are you interested in IoT in healthcare? We will discuss how IoT is transforming the healthcare industry in this article.

The global IoT in the healthcare market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 25.9% during 2021-2028 and reach a value of $446.52 billion by 2028. The main growth drivers include an interconnected ecosystem of devices, process automation, and remote patient care.

The flourishing IoT in the healthcare sector offers lucrative opportunities to tech startups and business owners looking to invest via an innovative IoT healthcare software solution. The use cases of IoT in healthcare are many.

Let’s discuss the main IoT applications transforming operations and patient care in healthcare organizations.

IoT in Healthcare: IoT Applications Transforming the Healthcare Industry

IoT, or the Internet of Things, is a network of connected devices that can collect and share data. The Internet of medical things (IoMT) refers to medical devices and patient monitoring systems that gather patient data and transmit it to doctors and healthcare providers in real time, which leads to timely interventions and detection of health issues. 

Some IoT in healthcare use cases that benefit both healthcare professionals and patients include the following:

Remote Patient Monitoring

IoT devices such as sensors, wearable devices, and mobile applications can remotely monitor patients’ blood pressure, oxygen level, activity level, etc., and send data to healthcare providers. Personal health monitoring helps detect health issues early on and minimizes unnecessary hospital visits.

Remote patient monitoring offers the following benefits:

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• Remote monitoring systems give improved outcomes of medical care. According to research, the 30-day readmission rate of patients with heart failure reduced to 10% from an average of 235.
• It can significantly reduce hospitalizations and healthcare costs. According to the Veterans Health Administration, remote health monitoring solutions can save $6,500 per patient annually. 
• Continuous patient monitoring also improves adherence to medical care and medicines. Medical non-adherence costs $100 billion each year to the healthcare system. An AI-enabled RPM system increases medical commitment by 36%. 

Drug Management

IoT-enabled devices can help with effective drug management. They can monitor the storage of medications at the correct temperature and the transportation of medicines without damage. 

Healthcare IoT devices can also alert healthcare providers of potential issues in drug therapy. A bar-coded medication administration (BCMA) system reportedly reduced medication errors by 54-87% during the administration of medicines.

IoT can also increase efficiency in the drug management process by automating tasks such as medication ordering and tracking. 

Tracking of Medical Hardware

Hospitals and medical care centers have a large number of medical appliances and hardware. According to a survey, 27% of healthcare providers have seen an expired product used on a patient, and 23% have seen a patient getting affected due to a lack of medical supplies. 

Sensor-based tracking of equipment in healthcare facilities can save a lot of time and money and give accurate results regarding equipment use, availability, and location.

The hospital staff can maintain the maintenance schedule of each piece of equipment. The timely maintenance also reduces the risks of critical breakdowns and unnecessary equipment replacement.

A hospital network saved $3.5 million by implementing a real-time location system (RTLS) that tracks 17,000 pieces of medical equipment.

The data collected by RTLS systems helped them with effective resource utilization and sound decision-making regarding the maintenance and purchase of new equipment.

Detection of Chronic Diseases

Internet of Things technology in healthcare can also assist healthcare providers with identifying chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, etc.

IoT devices, such as wearable smart devices, blood glucose monitors, ECG machines, etc., collect patients’ data regarding vital signs, physical activity, calorie intake, etc., and report to physicians in real time.

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Healthcare professionals study this medical data and look for anomalies leading to the risk of potential chronic diseases. They can remotely monitor these readings and adjust treatment plans, etc.

According to WHO report, 30-50% of cancers can be prevented by reducing risk factors and implementing evidence-based prevention strategies.

IoT data helps build predictive models for the accurate detection of chronic diseases. Machine learning models take in patient health data, match it with historical health data, look for patterns, and make predictions regarding the probability of a chronic abnormality.

A research study shows a 96.5% accuracy in chronic disease identification using patient healthcare records using IoT technology.

Emergency Medical Response

IoT in healthcare is also revolutionizing emergency responses. An IoT ecosystem provides real-time data, improves communication, and enables efficient medical care.

For example, smart ambulances with sensors and cameras can update emergency responders with patients’ conditions, traffic situations, etc., and help them make better decisions. 

A research study shows that IoT-integrated emergency medical services (EMS) can treat patients more quickly and accurately. The IoT-based system improves prehospital medical care time by 19% and hospital processing time by 22%.

Similarly, telemedicine software solutions facilitate remote consultations between doctors and patients. They receive real-time updates on patients’ conditions, locations, medical history, etc., and give efficient and effective emergency medical treatment.

Robotic Surgeries

IoT technology also helps with robotic surgeries by enabling real-time data collection, remote monitoring, and control. The global market for surgical robots is expected to cross $24 billion by 2025.

IoT medical devices track real-time data on patient’s medical conditions and surgical environments. IoT tools and sensors allow surgeons to use robotic surgical equipment with precision and accuracy.

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Small IoT cameras reach complex states in the human body and help surgeons perform complicated surgeries accurately.

IoT data also helps to build predictive models to help surgeons predict surgical complications and make better decisions regarding their approach.

Ready to Invest in IoT for Healthcare Platforms?

The benefits of IoT technology make it prevalent in almost every sector, including healthcare. However, the IoT for healthcare comes with a set of challenges. There are complex underlying technologies and stringent healthcare standards to meet.

If you plan to build an IoT system for the growing industry and make profits, you would require experienced professionals to undertake your  IoT-based healthcare software project.

DevTeam.Space can help you here via its field-expert software developers community. All our developers are vetted for their software development expertise using cutting-edge technologies. 

You can partner with these high-quality developers by sending us your initial project specifications. One of our account managers will get in touch to discuss further details on how we can help you develop IoT-based healthcare software compliant with industry regulations and data security standards.

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