The Impact of IoT on Healthcare and Life Sciences

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The insideBIGDATA Guide to Healthcare & Life Sciences is a useful new resource directed toward enterprise thought leaders who wish to gain strategic insights into this exciting new area of technology. This guide is a useful new resource directed toward enterprise thought leaders who wish to gain strategic insights into this exciting new area of technology. The guide provides an overview of the utilization of big data technologies as an emerging discipline in healthcare and life sciences. It explores the characteristics of this business strategy and the benefits of leveraging big data technologies within these sectors. It also touches on the challenges and future directions of big data and analytics in the healthcare and life sciences industries. The complete insideBIGDATA Guide to Healthcare & Life Sciences is available for download from the insideBIGDATA White Paper Library.

insidebigdata_guide_healthcare_lifesciences_dell_emcThe Impact of IoT on Healthcare and  Life Sciences

Patient-centered care is on the verge of a game changing makeover as consumers embrace wearable devices, home monitoring tools, and mobile  health apps at a staggering rate. According to a new report published by Allied Market Research titled, “World Internet of Things (IoT) Healthcare  Market – Opportunities and Forecasts, 2014-2021”, the global IoT healthcare market is expected to reach $136.8 billion by 2021, recording a  Combined Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 12.5% between 2015 and 2021. Services and system/software segments collectively occupy a dominant  share in the global IoT healthcare market and is expected to drive the growth over the forecast period. The patient monitoring application segment is  expected to maintain its lead position with $72.7 billion by 2021.

The global IoT healthcare market is anticipated to grow at a significant pace, owing to the increasing availability of wearable smart devices and  decreasing cost of sensor technology. Furthermore, the launch of technologically advanced “smart” devices and analytics software, rising incidence  rates of chronic diseases, surging demand for cost-effective treatment and disease management, better accessibility of high speed internet and  implementation of favorable government regulatory policies, are also expected to fuel the growth of this market.

In addition, the improvement in healthcare infrastructure in developing economies, increase in government support, abundant R&D investments by  major players for developing better IoT infrastructure are expected to offer potential growth opportunities to the market. Conversely, factors such as  high costs associated with IoT infrastructure development, data privacy and security concerns, and limited technical expertise are projected to  restrain the market growth.

Despite numerous regulatory and privacy constraints, organizations inside and outside the healthcare industry are exploring ways to put the IoT to  work. Players include pharma and biopharma manufacturers; hospitals and clinics; physicians, nurses and other healthcare providers; health  insurers; fitness companies; and tech firms. The goals are to cut costs, boost efficiency and improve the way illnesses are diagnosed, treated and prevented.

At the same time, an increasing number of digitally empowered consumers are taking more responsibility for their health. Primed to use fitness  wearables and smartphone apps, people are growing more comfortable with new types of sensors that capture and analyze their health and medical  data. It will only be a matter of time before this information is seamlessly integrated into larger healthcare systems to make their care more precise and efficient.

Though their number is growing steadily, many IoT healthcare projects are still in their infancy, and remain a patchwork of disparate and isolated initiatives. And while it’s not yet clear how things will shake out, there is no shortage of ideas. Many large and influential tech firms—including Alphabet, Apple, Dell EMC, General Electric, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Philips, Samsung and SAP—have entered the IoT space in a big way and are  hoping to make things happen quickly.

The result is that hospitals and healthcare systems are using the IoT to make their facilities more efficient. Initiatives include sharing records to ensure higher-quality care, tracking medical supply inventory and communicating with field personnel. Many pharma companies and medical device  makers are already incorporating IoT components into their manufacturing and distribution operations. They are also exploring more strategic ways  to harness it to make their products better during the research and development phase and in clinical trials.

The figure below provides compelling examples of how medical sensors might transform
information and understanding of people’s health status:

deloitte_fig7

If you prefer, the complete insideBigData Guide to Healthcare & Life Sciences is available for download in PDF from the insideBIGDATA White Paper Library, courtesy of Dell and Intel.

 

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  1. Lonny Northrup says

    So what was the impact?

  2. I think it will be good if some apps can find problems with health when there are just slight signs of a desease. It could save a lot of lifes. I use some healthcare apps in my everyday life to track my steps and calories. also I would to try some of thise apps : https://itechcraft.com/custom-healthcare-solutions/
    But I am worring about IoT apps. How safe is it for people? How do companies test ther products?