A study by Statista showed that the installation of more than 160 million healthcare IoT devices was seen by the year 2020. And this takeover of IoT in healthcare is only going to go up. 

This trend was already in motion before the advent of Covid-19; however, the global pandemic has speeded it up. 

From health monitoring to training and more, we have a firm idea of what IoT can do for healthcare now and in the very near future. As for what’s further ahead, that’s something exciting we still have to look forward to! 

Photo by Luke Chesser on Unsplash

What is Driving the Advance of IoT in Healthcare? 

1. Growing Demand For Remote Patient Monitoring

2.1 billion people on Earth will be aging by 2050. Since older people tend to have more health conditions, top software companies can assure safety and alert emergencies by installing IoT devices on their phones with software applications. Plus, avoiding visits to hospitals and doctors is convenient when monitoring can be done from home. 

2. High Healthcare Expenses

IoT solutions should make health care services cheaper by preventing serious diseases, reducing the need for personal checkups, and giving affordable means of continuous health monitoring. Analysts say that IoT can help the healthcare industry save $300 billion in annual expenses.

3. Elevated Consumer Health Awareness

Speaking to CEO of Spacehuntr Dietrich Moens, he said “People are now more interested in monitoring their health, especially in the time of Covid. It’s led to an increased demand for efficient eHealth strategies and health devices to monitor vitals, including body temperature and heartbeat cholesterol levels, and sleep patterns, to name a few.”

IoT That Will Advance Healthcare

End-to-End Connectivity

With increased end-to-end connectivity, we’ll see greater automation of the workflow of patient responsibility, information movement, and knowledge exchange while advancing healthcare delivery more prolifically.

Access Control

As more healthcare facilities embrace technological advancements, the adoption of smart access control systems will allow for automated occupancy monitoring. These automated capabilities will allow for improved security posturing, and provide a seamless access experience for users, with visitor management systems also being integrated. Intake procedures can also be optimized with the automation of wellness health surveys. 

Data Analysis

IoT empowers medical devices to accumulate crucial data and transfer it to doctors. The summaries provide a perfect evaluation of the patient’s health, irrespective of location or time. Timely warnings can be essential in case of life-threatening conditions.

The data-driven insights will advance the decision-making method of the doctors. IoT appliances can receive, report, and interpret the vast data collected promptly, requiring storage. This will allow healthcare providers to focus on relevant data necessary to treat the patient.

More Economical Expenses

Wearable tech that relieves doctors’ duty and reduces visits to hospitals will save the time and money of patients. 

Prescription Management

With automated prescription management, forgetting to take pills will be a thing of the past. 

Artificial Intelligence

AI fuels the capacity to create more precise predictions about patient care and results. The augmented demand for remote medical care for routine checkups and non-pandemic care will increase digital visits and small care delivery. That’s why the AI healthcare market will grow to over $6.6 Billion by the end of 2021.

AR/VR

AR/VR is known to improve all the four main healthcare areas – Diagnostic, Training, Treatment, and Rehabilitation. This market is set to become a $5.1 Billion market by the time it reaches 2025.

On the one hand, the technology helps doctors make more precise surgeries; the patients, on the other hand, profit from the virtual reality scenes that help them succeed trauma with greater ease while being in a safe environment.

Voice Technology 

Voice technology has a place in many healthcare fields. From helping the end user find the right doctor in their proximity to assisting the doctors in surgery by giving them a step-by-step checklist of the whole procedure. 

While voice technology is transforming how patients and doctors both respond to medicine, on the one hand, on the other, the voice-based search is improving how individual doctors and hospitals are vending their services in the world.