What IoT Means for Health Care

Without knowing it, you’re probably already using IoT devices in your daily life. IoT, or Internet of Things, refers to the ever-growing set of objects and devices that are internet-enabled, capable of connecting to and sharing information with your other devices and web-based accounts. The growth of IoT has implications for all parts of everyday life, but perhaps most significantly for health care.Many Americans have already experienced the benefits of health care IoT, on a small scale, with their personal electronics. This can range from Fitbits and Apple Watches, to sleep monitoring tools, to phone pedometers and heart rate monitors. Multiple documented instances of people recognizing heart attacks thanks to their wearable devices already exist. IoT devices offer the opportunity to better understand the hidden patterns (and dangerous outliers) in our daily health.In a professional health care setting, the opportunities to enhance patient care through IoT are even more significant. From improved diagnostic equipment to internal facility tracking, patient records access, remote patient monitoring and more, IoT promises to be directly responsible for ongoing improvements in medical care. Drilling down into specifics, this could look like a smart pill bottle that facilitates physician and patient efforts to follow a prescribed medication schedule, or like a smart contact lens to help diabetics monitor glucose levels--both of which are already under development.Over the course of this year, we’ll be discussing more specifics of the challenges and solutions surrounding healthcare technology, as well as use cases of products and services TECKpert is providing for client use in the space. There’s a lot to be excited about with the potential of technologies like data analytics, IoT, and digitization. If you’re an MSO, private practice, insurance provider, hospital, or in a related healthcare field, our team can help you with your technology projects and initiatives. Contact us to learn more.