IoT in the Healthcare Industry: Use Cases and Analysis

The Internet of Things (IoT) has made the concept of wireless communication possible and easier. From smartphones to remote-controlled televisions, IoT has become a part of almost every technology-related task that we do every day. Now, if we have to discuss the IoT in healthcare, then there are many examples that already exist to give us something to talk about.

A statistics report published by REPORTS AND DATA suggests, the expected growth rate of the Internet of Things in healthcare markets is 19.8% between 2019 to 2027. The value of the market might touch a threshold of USD 260.75 bn in 2027 compared to USD 60.83 bn in 2019. So, in this blog, we are throwing some light on the benefits of IoT in healthcare tasks. So, if this intrigues you, stay with us until the end of this blog.

IoT in healthcare markets: Top use cases

IoT is using devices to make the healthcare process more efficient and smooth. From tracking the health of a user with the help of IoT applications in healthcare to automating treatments with Machine Learning (ML), the future of IoT in healthcare markets is quite bright. Now, to understand the IoT health care benefits, let’s have a look at a few real-life use cases where IoT is already used.

1. Smart sensors

One of the crucial advantages of IoT in the healthcare industry is smart sensors. These sensors are very commonly used today to track heart rate and blood pressure. Most manufacturers of smart bands are using now smart healthcare sensors to make even their cheapest smart bands useful from the healthcare perspective.

For smart sensors, Fitbit smart bands, paired with fitness apps, are the perfect IoT in healthcare examples that are being adopted by many users globally. Now, the main benefit of using IoT in healthcare this way is, users, do not have to visit hospitals or take appointments every time they do not feel well. With smart bands, they can measure their health factors like BPM or Blood Pressure to figure out if it’s serious. Moreover, these smart sensors also help in keeping track of workouts.

2. Remote patient monitoring

Another benefit of the Internet of Things in healthcare is that medical professionals can ask patients to do real-time analysis to get the healthcare data of patients. It saves the traveling time of the patient, moreover, allows healthcare professionals to provide them prescriptions remotely. The RPM technology also makes healthcare services more accessible for patients even living in remote areas. Moreover, a fast healthcare response can be also counted as one of the most important advantages of the Internet of Things in healthcare.

3. Centralized healthcare records

Another major advantage of using IoT in healthcare tasks is storing patient records digitally on a centralized platform. It makes accessing these records easier. Also, third-party organizations like insurance companies can review these documents by accessing them from databases where they are saved. It also gives these healthcare documents security against losing them or getting them destroyed. Hospitals have also started adopting Blockchain in healthcare technology to make this process smoother.

4. Healthcare cost reduction

As mentioned above, visiting hospitals every time costs time and money. Thus, IoT healthcare devices, with healthcare apps, specially designed for tracking patient’s healthcare can be used for virtual consultants. It will reduce the transportation cost and assure quick healthcare assistance as well.

5. Better pandemic control

During the spread of Covid-19,  healthcare app development companies focused on tracking positive and negative patients. For instance, the Indian Government has launched an app called “Aarogya Setu”. On Aarogya Setu, every smartphone user was supposed to register themselves and their symptoms whenever they had them so that it can be tracked in which area, how many Covid infected patients existed. The app also sent alerts to those users who potentially were very close to these infected patients. All of the data was collected with the help of Location and BlueTooth.

6. Critical health response

Now when there are many residents and patients living alone, it can be quite dangerous if they face any critical healthcare crisis. Thus, IoT healthcare devices with on-demand healthcare apps can keep a track of their health continuously and if any unfortunate events such as heart attacks take place, these devices can also generate critical alerts for quick medical responses. 

7. Advanced prosthetics

Prosthetics have become a part of the healthcare market a while back and it is already well known. However, now scientists and engineers from top IoT companies are collaborating to make smart prosthetic devices that can work just like a real organ. The IoT is being used in these devices to become a bridge between these prosthetic devices and the brain of the user. With IoT, we can see a future soon where prosthetic devices will be able to follow commands send by the brain and work smoothly. In other words, we are so close to seeing fiction become reality.

Conclusion - Future of IoT in healthcare markets

Well, these were a few inputs that we wanted to bring to light to explain the advantages of IoT in the healthcare industry. However, there are many advantages that will become visible in the future but work on them is still in progress. Take automated operations for example. Scientists and engineers have been working on using IoT with ML to create smart medical robots that can handle very critical operations. However, it’s still a long journey ahead for these robots to be ready for their use on human patients. In other scenarios,

Written By

Tanya Editor In Chief

She is a content marketer and has more than five years of experience in IoT, blockchain, Web, and mobile development. In all these years, she closely followed the app development, and now she writes about the existing and the upcoming mobile app technologies. Her essence is more like a ballet dancer.

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