IoT changes the healthcare field, bringing a lot of positive changes. In this guide, we’ll discuss reasons and ways to integrate the Internet of Things technology.

Modern technologies bring a lot of positive changes to various industries, including healthcare. The Internet of Things gives an opportunity to provide patients with a better experience. Many hospitals have already invested in this powerful technology. 

IoT offers such benefits as robots-surgeons and smart hospitals. It’s also possible to monitor patients’ health conditions and reduce the time of routine tasks.

IoMT and Healthcare

The healthcare industry can benefit from the Internet of Things. There are a lot of sensors that collect data about patients’ conditions. It leads to disease prevention and early diagnosis.

IoT in the healthcare market will reach $534.3 billion by 2025.

Internet of Medical Things or IoMT stands for connected devices that collect and exchange information. This technology allows doctors to monitor patients in real-time.

IoMT consists of various things, from wearables to the medical supply chain. It increases the accuracy of diagnoses since the opportunity to monitor the health permanently.

Reasons to Use IoT in Healthcare

There are several significant benefits of the Internet of Things in the healthcare field. We’ve listed them below.

• Health monitoring. The primary purpose of smart devices is to track a person’s health conditions. Some apps can send an emergency signal in case of heart failure, asthma attacks, and others.

• Patient experience. Hospitals use IoT to improve patients’ experience. IoT helps stay in touch with doctors and nurses and reduce waiting time.

• Drug management. IoT helps track the amount of taken medicine. As a result, doctors can analyze the effectiveness of the treatment. Additionally, the Internet of Things apps can remind patients to take medicine. It’s also possible to send notifications to family members if the patient has forgotten to take drugs.

• Healthcare automation. With the help of IoT, hospitals can automate everyday tasks. IoT apps tend to analyze the enormous amount of data, making various metrics. Such processes allow doctors to see any changes in a patient’s health. As a result, doctors can identify the diagnosis correctly.

• Disease prevention. There are a lot of chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and others. The Internet of Things technology gives an opportunity to prevent such infections. For example, by analyzing various healthcare data, doctors can offer more personalized treatment. With the help of wearable devices, it’s possible to monitor health constantly. As a result, doctors can see the first symptoms and start treatment. 

Use Cases of Internet of Things in Healthcare Industry

The Internet of Things can be quite profitable for healthcare. A lot of large companies like Apple and Google invest in IoT development. 

Let’s discuss the main use cases of IoT.

Hospital Information Management System (HIMS)

IoT changes the way of managing patients in hospitals. There are a lot of Hospital Information Management Systems or HIMS. They collect and analyze information about doctors, patients’ medical records, and so on. Also, the system offers up-to-date data about appointments, free wards, and others.

We’ve singled out several benefits of HIMS:

• Easy access to health records for doctors;
• High-security level;
• Better patients’ experience;
• Up-to data about appointments;
• etc.

The modern market offers various Hospital Information Management Systems. Among the most popular are eHospital, eVisit, myNapier, and others.

Electronic Healthcare Records System (EHR)

Electronic Healthcare Records System allows looking through patients’ health records securely to authorized users. EHR also collects information about doctors. The system can share all the collected data among various doctors to improve treatment effectiveness.

It’s possible to make a custom EHR system, following your requirements and business goals. For example, doctors can find test results in EHR or look through the history of chronic disease. 

Mobile Healthcare

It’s challenging to find the more prominent use case of IoT in the healthcare industry than mHealth applications. There are thousands of apps on Apple Store and Google Play that tend to increase patients’ experience. 

Such apps can have various features, depending on their purpose. For example, users can make an appointment with a doctor or track their heart beating.

It’s common to divide mHealth apps into two groups — for emergencies and regular treatment. For example, fitness applications collect data about the physical activity of the users. Also, there are apps for wearable devices that transfer information to the smartphone.

Of course, IoT can have more use cases in the healthcare field. We’ve listed them below to give you some ideas.

• Wearables. Such gadgets can constantly track users’ health conditions and activity. They collect such data as taken steps, heart rate, and more. Also, they can send notifications if the user needs to move.

• Patient-oriented medicine. Various IoT sensors can analyze the individual demands of patients. It leads to better treatment results.

• Remote health monitoring. Custom-made software, in combination with devices, can offer to treat patients remotely. For example, telemedicine allows doctors to communicate with patients.

• Medicine management. IoT offers a new way to prescribe drugs. For example, pills can have small sensors. They are able to send notifications to the device if the patient has forgotten to take medicine. Both doctors and patients have access to this data, so it’s easy to track progress and care effectiveness. 

As you can see, IoT can be quite useful for the healthcare industry. There are a lot of ways to integrate this powerful technology, providing customers with better experience and treatment results.