The potential to dramatically lower costs and improve quality of care are obvious. Wireless sensor-based systems are already at work today, gathering patient medical data that was never before available for analysis and delivering care to people for whom care wasnt previously accessible. In these ways, IoT-driven systems are making it possible to radically reduce costs and improve health
Of course this requires all types of devices and smart sensors to connect seamlessly and communicate directly with each other. As I discussed in my last blog, Why Now, The Internet of Things, which focused cost barriers that have been eliminated making this discussion practical. By empowering devices to gather information on their own without human intervention, we can eliminate most human recording errors present with most present methods.
Advances in sensor and connectivity technology are allowing devices to collect, record, analyze data that was not accessible before. The ability to remotely monitor vital signs real-time, continuously is now insight.
The IoT plays a significant role in a broad range of healthcare applications, from managing chronic diseases at one end of the spectrum to preventing disease at the other. One such example is Hypertension, the Silent Killer affecting a third of the worlds population.
Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)
There are people all over the world with hypertension, whose health may suffer because they dont have ready access to effective health monitoring. But small, powerful wireless solutions connected through the IoT are now making it possible for monitoring to come to these patients instead of vice-versa. These solutions can be used to securely capture patient health data from a variety of sensors, apply complex algorithms to analyze the data and then share it through wireless connectivity with family and/or directly with medical professionals who can make more informed recommendations on care.
At the beginning of this blog I claimed that these new capabilities enabled by the IoT could dramatically lower costs and improve quality of care. The following study should be of interest in that regard.
Whole System Demonstrator Trial in UK
The UKs Department of Healths Whole System Demonstrator (WSD) launched in May 2008. It is the largest randomised control trial of telehealth and telecare in the world, involving 6191 patients and 238 GP practices across three sites, Newham, Kent and Cornwall. The trials were evaluated by: City University London, University of Oxford, University of Manchester, Nuffield Trust, Imperial College London and London School of Economics.
45% reduction in mortality rates
20% reduction in emergency admissions
15% reduction in A&E visits
14% reduction in elective admissions
14% reduction in bed days
8% reduction in tariff costs
In the UK, the Government’s Care Services minister, Paul Burstow, has stated that telehealth and telecare would be extended over the next five years (2012-2017) to reach three million people.
Remaining Barriers to Mass Adoption
RPM is highly dependent on the individuals motivation to manage their health. Without the patients willingness to be an active participant in their care, RPM implementation will likely fail. Cost is also a barrier to its widespread use. Devices and peripherals currently cost thousands of dollars, and for RPM to take hold in health care, costs need to come down to the $300 to $500 range.
The first of these barriers can be impacted positively with easy to use, wearable devices that provide medical grade data accuracy that convince all of the major stakeholders of the health management benefits. The three major stakeholders are the patient, their family and healthcare professionals, when all three see benefits, adoption and consistent use will follow.
The second barrier of cost is being addressed by a number of companies, both large and small. I predict 2015 will usher in a couple of solutions that address both of these key barriers. Stay tuned, game changing solutions are just around the corner.
I am not minimizing the remaining challenges;
With security being the most daunting to solve. A bigger concern, perhaps, is simple privacy. Just because weve finally warmed up to over sharing in the virtual world doesnt mean well be comfortable doing the same in the physical world, as all our interactions are captured, about where we are and what were doing.
Communication standardization, to ensure all of these different devices can essentially self-discover themselves. The Industrial Internet Consortium should go a long way towards addressing this issue.
Power, while sensor batteries can last up to two years they will still need to be changed. I suspect the ultimate solution will be some type of wireless power. All of these issues will be solved in the next few years so it is time to start imagining the possibilities.