How IoT is Reshaping Healthcare
/Today we turn over the Partner PoV column to Nishant Paschal, CTO of our portfolio company Noteworth….
It is safe to say that healthcare is ready for the Internet of Things. Why? Because it already has a lot of technology that can benefit from it. These things range from simple thermometers, blood pressure monitors, and bathroom scales, to high-definition orthoscans, blood gas analyzers, and cardiac monitors—all of which are outfitted with digital sensors, and each of which provides valuable data. What many of them lack, however, is the Internet portion—the communication and software pieces that would enable them to readily exchange their data with one another and with centralized healthcare systems, giving caregivers a more comprehensive and timely view of the patient’s health.
But that’s starting to change. After all, different IoT configurations are already reducing operating costs, increasing efficiency, and creating new revenue streams in such diverse industries as logistics, retail and manufacturing, with other applications, including autonomous vehicles, on the near horizon. Certainly healthcare, which is among the nation’s largest industries, and one that is experiencing its own serious issues with cost, staffing, and customer experience, should be a prime candidate for IoT solutions.
Indeed, the market for healthcare industry IoT has been steadily gaining ground over the past 10 years, following enactment of the 2009 Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, designed to stimulate adoption of electronic health records and allied technologies. Developments since that time have included a combination of continuing advances in technology, increased investment by developers as well as healthcare systems, and the expanding range of IoT applications in disease monitoring. Chronic diseases in particular, including diabetes, asthma, obesity, heart failure, and COPD—all of which appear to be increasing—are ideal candidates for the monitoring capabilities that IoT brings to medicine.