How IoT is Transforming the Healthcare Industry

For decades, there has been a debate over how to reinvent healthcare in order to decrease costs and improve outcomes. In this case, the Internet of Things (IoT) may be exactly what the doctor prescribed. IoT healthcare solutions can help reduce medical costs, improve quality, and make patient care more personalized, accessible, and affordable. 

According to Becker's Hospital Review, 70% of hospital executives worldwide attribute the growth to being current on technical innovations. However, businesses must do more than simply adapt to new advances if the healthcare industry is to better serve patients and create a fully integrated healthcare experience. They must also figure out how to appropriately implement IoT solutions across all organizational levels.

Markets & Markets Research predicts that the global healthcare IoT market will grow from $72.5 billion in 2020 to $188.2 billion by 2025. The advantages of the Internet of Things (IoT) in healthcare embrace innovation in business and continually appear to make challenges faced in the industry more manageable. Even digitally, IoT is developing several techniques to deal with these growing challenges and make healthcare a more sophisticated and polished platform.

In this blog, we'll define IoT and discuss the challenges faced by the healthcare industry and how IoT solutions can benefit both providers and patients.

What is IoT and why is it important in healthcare?

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of physical objects embedded with software and sensors that use the internet to communicate and exchange data with other systems. IoT is revolutionizing the way businesses operate through sensors that can monitor things like motion, light, temperature, moisture, air quality, and more. These sensors enable businesses to anticipate potential needs before they arise, ultimately saving time and money. With IoT, companies can gain real-time access to critical information from any location.

IoT in healthcare provides better data collecting and patient monitoring, to name a few. IoT-enabled gadgets, for example, can monitor patients' vital signs remotely, decreasing the need for costly and invasive in-person visits. The potential benefits are worth looking into for your institution, as the possibilities are endless.

The major advantages of IoT in healthcare include:

• Cost Reduction: IoT provides real-time patient monitoring, dramatically reducing unnecessary doctor visits, hospital stays, re-admissions, and costly medical procedures, hence assisting in reducing healthcare expenses.
• Improved Treatment: It allows clinicians to make evidence-based, informed decisions while bringing complete transparency and accountability to the treatment process.
• Proactive Treatment: Continuous health monitoring opens the doors for providing proactive medical treatment.
• Drugs and Equipment Management: The management of medications and medical equipment is a critical concern in the healthcare industry. Through connected devices, these are managed and utilized efficiently with reduced costs.
• Error Reduction: Data provided by IoT devices not only aids in better decision-making but also ensures that healthcare operations run smoothly with fewer errors, waste, and system expenses. 

How can IoT benefit the healthcare industry?

The COVID-19 pandemic, which established the modern healthcare environment, has presented the healthcare industry with a multitude of obstacles. Patient surges, staffing shortages, and the need for rapidly changing procedures all demanded change at every level; government regulations also complicated matters further.   

While caring for patients is still of utmost importance, the current healthcare landscape expects much more of medical professionals. Providers have been tasked with being IT specialists, cybersecurity heroes, financial gurus, patient experience marvels, and much more — which is nearly impossible to do while delivering optimal care for patients.

The use of IoT in healthcare is improving how hospitals care for their patients. While the increasing population growth is not helping prevent new illnesses, old age, and other health challenges, the implementation of IoT healthcare solutions may. There is no doubt that IoT and healthcare are inextricably linked. Here are a few of the most noteworthy advantages of the Internet of Things listed below.

Improve Patient Experience and Reduce Human Error

The demand for healthcare professionals has never been higher. According to the nonprofit patient safety organization ECRI, staffing shortages are now the nation's leading patient safety concern, requiring Americans to endure lengthier wait times when seeking care "even in life-threatening emergencies" or be turned away. Staffing and supply shortages continue to impact the healthcare industry daily. As a result, hospitals are compelled to limit the number of patients they can care for properly and securely, resulting in a substantial loss of overall revenue. 

Aside from being turned away, the environment in care facilities and hospitals can be rather unpleasant for patients. When visiting a hospital, patients and their families expect accessibility, comfort, and privacy. According to a study published this month in the New England Journal of Medicine, approximately one in every four patients admitted to hospitals in the United States may experience injury, which the study authors referred to as "patient-care events." They include falls and bedsores, both of which are preventable.

Linda Aiken, a professor and founding director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at Penn Nursing in Philadelphia, said staffing is at the heart of the patient safety issue. She's discovered that since they've started researching patient safety, one of the key explanations for unpleasant patient experiences is a lack of nurses at the bedside; having a sufficient number of nurses is a building block for safety.

In order to tackle hospital staffing shortages, Telesystem's Internet of Things (IoT) aids in enhancing patient care by making the lives of medical personnel much more manageable. With Telesystem’s IoT health monitoring systems, such as smart thermostats and programmable hospital lighting, we can enhance the patient experience while giving clinicians control over the treatment provided. Bed sensors can keep an eye on the patient's behavior and alert staff members to any problems. Another useful application of medical IoT devices is wearable technology, which enhances patient outcomes by offering real-time health data and warnings when potential health issues occur.

In patient care, inefficiency might mean the difference between life and death. You don't have to be a nurse to understand the value of time on a hospital floor. Whether doing point-of-care diagnostics, responding to ad hoc patient needs, or preparing operating rooms with the necessary medical devices for surgery, hospital workers are constantly moving from one activity to the next with little time to rest. IoT sensors from Telesystem remove ambiguity by automating asset management and digitizing job administration, simplifying the critical healthcare supply chain.

Rather than wasting crucial time looking for a misplaced cardiac monitor, a physician assistant can locate it with Telesystem's IoT tracking and tracing tools in seconds.

A group of nurses who must abruptly take a patient to another hospital wing for emergency surgery can use IoT-enabled real-time visibility to locate a vacant bed and avoid life-threatening delays. 

These situations frequently occur in hospitals, particularly those in remote areas with little resources. Regardless of staffing numbers, the operational efficiency of the facility is improved by incorporating IoT solutions into the equation. As a result, staff members have more time to interact with patients and promote higher standards of patient care.

Predictive Machine Maintenance 

Technology and equipment have long played a major role in the healthcare sector ranging from devices as small as blood pressure monitors to life support systems that can be the difference between the life and death of a patient. Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that the machinery that keeps us alive must also be in good health.

Failing machines become a grave issue when peoples’ lives are at stake. Healthcare machinery must be kept in pristine condition at all times. However, with hospital staff shortages at an all-time high and estimated a projected shortfall of 10 million health workers by 2030, it is unsettling to rely solely on healthcare employees to monitor machinery. With staff shortages on the rise, remaining hospital staff are feeling the effects of being burnt out and overworked. 

Medical errors are more likely to occur when healthcare professionals are exhausted and overworked. According to a Stanford University School of Medicine study, physicians exhibiting burnout self-reported more than double the average amount of medical errors, and their work units were related with three to four times as many errors. Human errors are one of the main sources of mistakes in the healthcare industry, creating risks for patients and impacting the operations of healthcare providers. Johns Hopkins University lists hospital medical errors as the third-leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for over 250,000 deaths annually.

A small malfunction in a machine can result in life-altering errors such as a false-negative diagnosis of a fatal disease. In the healthcare industry, addressing a problem after it has occurred is not an option. Implementing preventative measures to predict technical errors is the key to proper machine maintenance.

To avoid such failures, Telesystem's Internet of Things (IoT) sensors can be used to delegate some of the medical staff's responsibilities, giving them more time to care for their patients.

Telesystem IoT solutions use preventative monitoring sensors to accomplish tasks without the need for human intervention, lowering the possibility of error. A variety of sensors monitor the health of the machine's numerous components. These sensors then transmit this information to a microprocessor, which transmits it to a communication module. The database could then generate reports that would assist the employees in keeping track of when each piece of equipment required maintenance. This helps to guarantee that all equipment is adequately maintained and reduces the possibility of breakdowns.

With these IoT solutions, fewer workers are required, safety and efficiency are improved, and productivity is increased. Hospitals, for example, can monitor critical, life-saving equipment, such as refrigeration units, by constantly monitoring temperatures and setting thresholds to receive alerts if temperatures fall outside a specific range. By delegating some tasks to machines, employees have more time to work collaboratively to improve the service for their patients.

Ensure the Safety of Hospital Staff

A primary concern in the healthcare sector is rising workplace violence, a trend that will only worsen in 2023. Workplace violence has increased in the healthcare industry since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak. The pandemic put a lot of strain on the healthcare system, and regrettably, in some cases, patients, visitors, and family members have attacked medical professionals, endangering their ability to provide care.

Workplace violence has far-reaching ramifications for the entire healthcare system. Not only does workplace violence cause physical and psychological harm to healthcare employees, but it also makes it more difficult for nurses, doctors, and other clinical personnel to provide appropriate patient care. 83.5 percent of nurses are more stressed than before the pandemic, 77.2 percent are more anxious, and 68.7 percent are sadder or depressed, according to a poll on the consequences of workplace violence on nurses.

Nurses and doctors cannot deliver attentive care when they are anxious for their safety, distracted by disruptive patients and their families, or traumatized by previous violent events. In addition, violent interactions in healthcare facilities squander valuable resources and delay care for patients who require immediate attention.

With the Telesystem’s IoT safety solution panic button, you will be able to take the necessary actions to safeguard your organization and workers in order to keep your healthcare staff safe and your hospital operating efficiently.

An IoT panic button provides a dependable and real-time duress alerting system that prevents threats from escalating into violent situations. It allows healthcare professionals to discreetly send panic alerts to the security team from a button on their wearable badge, indicating their need for assistance and location. Increasing emergency response times prevents staff injury, creates a safe work environment, and reduces the number of lost workdays.

Telesystem’s IoT panic button is required for the staff's safety and the organization's long-term success. Your team members may embrace their work and feel at ease in their workplace with the peace of mind that comes from knowing they are secure.

Telesystem is Here for your Healthcare Institution 

Since the pandemic, the healthcare sector has had to adjust to being understaffed and having a rise in patients, only leading to employee burnout. In addition, this has caused an upsurge in violence among medical personnel. We understand that the healthcare industry has undergone a ton of pressure to do everything they can to not only care for their patients, but also to provide for their families.

Telesystems' IoT sensors can help to shorten the time it takes personnel to find and collect vital assets, automate repetitive operations, and give hospital leadership with operational analytics that reveal workflow bottlenecks and safety risks. Our IoT features, such as asset management, clinical and operational workflow, and duress response, relieve staff duties and allow healthcare professionals to focus on what is most important - patient care.