How Does IoT Work in Healthcare

Internet of Things shows the network of physical objects, "things" with sensors, software, and other technology used. In terms of healthcare, the IoT could be an interplay between smartwatches, fitness trackers implanted in medical devices that use bedside monitors, and many other objects that receive signals. Nowadays, much technological development happens in our society in which the market has grown millions of dollars in this year. And this device is so smart that it displays the status of health, which helps people know about their health condition.

But there is nothing strange about these devices, which found their way into healthcare and industry. The revolution in patient care improves patient care with real monitoring and well diagnosis, and regular treatment.

What is IoT in healthcare?

Before IoT, the people interacting with doctors were limited to visits and tele-contact and text communications, which was very difficult for people living far from the hospital. There were no hospitals or doctors for monitoring patients' health and making recommendations accordingly.

IoT for the patient - Devices like fitness bands and other wirelessly connected devices like checking heart rate, monitoring cuffs, blood pressure, glucometer, etc., which gives patients access to personalized and customized attention. One can tune these devices to remind them of their actual activity count, appointments, exercise check, blood pressure variations, and much more variation.

IoT is changing the lives of people and even older adults by enabling constant tracking of health conditions. This leads to a significant impact on those who live alone and their families when there are certain changes or disturbances in the routine activities of any person. Its alert mechanism can send signals to their family members along with the concerned health providers. Many people relax through this device and maintain the proper health, exercise, and daily activities to prevent many other diseases.

IoT for Physicians - When physicians wear home monitoring equipment or other wearable things embedded with IoT, they can more effectively track their health results. They can track the adherence of patients for any need for immediate medical attention or treatment plans.

IoT for Hospitals - IoT devices come in handy in different aspects regarding the patient's health apart from monitoring the same. IoT devices are tagged with useful sensors that assist in real-time location tracking of medical equipment such as defibrillators, nebulizers, oxygen pumps, wheelchairs, and several other monitoring equipment. The medical and healthcare staff scattered at different locations or areas can also be analyzed in real-time.

Insurance Companies – Most Insurers would offer incentives to the customers to use their insurance and share health data generated by IoT devices. Meanwhile, the insurance company will help those who have taken the insurance from them for any health issue. IoT devices can even help insurance companies invalidate claims through the data captured by IoT devices. When used at the time of need, there are numerous opportunities and benefits for those people who have health insurers with IoT-connected intelligent devices. IoT devices can bring transparency among clients and insurers in which there will be no underwriting, claims to handle, pricing, and risk assessment processes. When it comes to IoT-captured data-driven decisions in all operation processes, customers will have efficient visibility into the thought behind every decision due to the outcomes.

Internet of things is very useful in healthcare has enormous to modify the medical treatment and help in global health indicate it useful for both patients and doctor in the time of treatment with a health condition, now the patient can easily communicate with a doctor such type of thing that creates an enormous in our ecosystem. Today's living style is largely dependent upon the IoT in the upcoming days. There is much more software coming through it now 5G is also used in many software devices, and there are many benefits in IoT healthcare. Many stakeholders interact with and will follow the line and the process incorporated in frontline healthcare work. Smart gadgets are invented by researchers so that they can be used for patient benefits. People are taking smart work seriously and want to save time.

IoT is coming to the market a long way in these recent years and interacting with the product. It will become one of the most advanced technologies in the coming future. The Internet will help in many ways like people can take their appointment from the phone application. They can go for many things with the Internet regarding this service. People can check out many things like which doctor is available and working on which days. If the doctor is on leave, then it will be indicated as well. There are many such things that the user will get the instruction from the application only. It creates a good sense that people will benefit from future services. Some services like online consultancy will be given to the people as per their disease. If the patient has a small disease that can be cured at home, then visiting the hospital is a waste of time, so that they will get the facility for a check-up online.

Advantages of IoT in healthcare:-

1. Cost-Effective- Generally, people, especially from remote areas, face many issues while traveling from place to place to visit the required doctors, struggle to get an appointment, and drain all their savings for hospital stays and re-admissions. But with IoT, they will have the facility of real-time health check-ups and hence will save a great deal of money and time.
2. Timely detection- Following the statistics released by the Health Department, one finds that many patients die from fatal diseases like cancer, tumors due to late diagnosis of the diseases, and unavailability of treatment at the last stage. But with the help of real-time data and frequent health monitoring, the early detection of disease, sometimes just by diagnosing the symptoms shown, is made possible.
3. Equipment Management- One of the major drawbacks of the health care industries and outlets functioning is the lack of timely availability of the medical kit and equipment required to treat various diseases. But with the help of IoT-connected devices, this equipment can be well-managed, effectively, and efficiently utilized with minimal expenditure.
4. Minimizing the error- Eliminating it is impossible for a human being, but maybe a digital device can do it. IoT-enabled devices make accurate diagnoses, but they also provide timely suggestions and facilitate the making of essential decisions regarding health and thus minimize the error that occurs. This system is of great use to the health staff responsible for the lives of hundreds of patients regularly. Not only does this prevent errors, but also it reduces resources' wastage.
5. Safety and Security- Personal health data is not something one wants to share with everyone around. So, confidential information about health data needs to be protected and secured. The IoT secures the health data of the person. Also, it provides a detailed health record analysis of the patient, which serves as a cherry on the top for the hospitals and staff to provide timely treatments and sufficient attention to the patients. It also provides safety to physicians and the hospital staff.
6. Cleanliness – When one wonders about the hospital, the first thing to ensure is cleanliness. But generally, handling so many patients and maintaining cleanliness is a very tough job on the part of the hospitals. But with the UV light sanitation system, the spaces remain clean, and any illness is prevented. The hospital now does not have to spend a huge deal of time cleaning the hospital spaces.

Demerits of IoT in healthcare:-

1. Adaptation- One of the major issues with the already existing hospital is to adopt IoT technology. The new hospitals can be made smart hospitals by implementing IoT technology from the very beginning. But the hospitals with normal technology, which are willing to adopt IoT, might face problems because converting an entire infrastructure to a smart IoT-enabled framework is a huge investment and needs a great deal of time. Hospitals have to substitute the equipment and enable smart IoT-enabled equipment in their lab and treatment areas. The initial investment required and the installation time and cost can create a huge barrier for the hospitals, especially in rural areas.
2. Connection- Implementation of IoT will fail if it is not connected to any robust platform and depends on the connection. The device, which has to be IoT enabled, needs to have a seamless connection and good connection that might not be available in many areas with network-related issues.
3. Prioritizing the requirements- An IoT-enabled device is designed to produce a detailed analysis of the health records. Hence, there is a variety of data to choose from. Therefore one of the major decisions taken by the hospitals includes which data to be stored and collected and which data to rely upon. Therefore switching to an IoT-enabled ecosystem, the hospital needs to chalk out the priorities in data collection. Hence, the entire process of generating smart healthcare solutions is made easy. This is the biggest challenge, but also here lies the biggest opportunity.

How does IoT function?

In general, IoT is a device with a sensor, and it can communicate with the physical world and copy data to the Internet. Discussing the health sector, the IoT can be of utmost importance. They can retrieve the patient's medical data and also take inputs from the physicians and doctors. The IoT is designed to apply artificial intelligence, communicate with each other, and sometimes make crucial decisions to save lives. For example, the IoT device can check the patient's health condition and update the reports in the cloud so that doctors can give their remarks, and also it can call an ambulance in case of need. One case has also been stated when the IoT can call the hospital informing that an older adult has fallen or has got hurt and needs immediate attention. The IoT database also keeps a record of the health reports of the staff, practitioners, and physicians working in that hospital. The basic steps of functioning of an IoT device are as follows:-

 

●     At the first step, the device with a sensor that collects the required data is inputted by the medical staff, including doctors or nurses, or maybe by the patient himself.

●     On the next step, the IoT-enabled device, with the help of its Artificial Intelligence (AI algorithms), produces a detailed health report of the patient defining the current health status, vitals detail, and the co-morbidities.

●     The system itself then analyzes the report. By applying Artificial Intelligence again, the system decides whether to upload the data in the cloud for the doctors to help or act immediately in case of emergency.

●    Last but not least, doctors, physicians, practitioners, and even robots can take adequate action and make accurate decisions with the help of the essential information already provided by the IoT device.

Conclusion

IoT has a bright future in Medical Science. If implemented rightfully, it will give better patient outcomes and make the job easier for the physicians and the health practitioners, providing them with an improved work environment and better-working facilities. Varieties of IoT devices are available, and not all devices come with a sensor. Still, it must come with at least a radio and an IP address to communicate with the Internet. The IoT devices include smartwatches, Insulin pens, glucose monitoring, smart video pills, absorbable sensors, etc. with the help of these, the doctors would be able to make an accurate judgment, and gradually these would help healthcare evolve. The introduction of a 5G system will provide the mobility required by the IoT. Hence, the IoT will once be inseparable from health care, and this would change our outlook about the health facilities, and the smart hospital solutions will act as a future-proofing.