6 Key Drivers Fueling Rapid IoT Adoption in Healthcare

As per a Forrester survey:

97% healthcare organizations participating in a Forrester survey agree that the IoT will be the most strategic technological initiative their organization will undertake this decade.

90% of healthcare IT departments are prepared to make the necessary changes to implement IoT solutions.

52% of all respondents already have some form of IoT solution in place or are in the process of implementing an IoT solution, while another 30% have plans to do so within the next year.

Internet of Things is transforming healthcare by completely redefining the way people, devices and apps connect and interact with each other. From personal fitness and wellness sensors, implantable devices to surgical robots – IoT is bringing in new tools and efficiencies in the ecosystem resulting in more integrated healthcare. There are several social and technology factors that are pushing healthcare organization to leverage IoT and usher in a connected healthcare ecosystem. Here are the key factors

Social Factors

1. Aging Population

Faced with a rapidly aging population, the country has been forced to explore innovative caregiving methods like Internet of Things to meet the demands of older adult population.

2. Patient Protection Affordable Care Act

The landmark legislation focussed on accountable care is making connected care a necessity for the U.S. High costs and fragmentation have long been ailing the healthcare system in the country calling for significant improvements in resource utilization and collaboration across healthcare systems.

3. Shortage of Human Resources

Hospitals are facing shortage of trained staff. Also the cost of hiring good talent is putting significant pressure on hospitals to optimize staff utilization by leveraging new technologies like IoT.

Technical factors

4. Advancements in mHealth

Hospitals are already using mHealth technologies with visible results in productivity, cost efficiency and revenue generation. Internet of Things promises to encompass siloed executions into a system-wide implementation connecting people, devices and other things.

5. Cloud & Big Data

There have been rapid advancements in cloud computing and big data enabling providers to store vast amount of data and share it across systems. Moreover, big data analytics empowers them to process data emanating from various sources. transform it into insights and drive better decision-making impacting patient care and treatment outcomes.

6. SaaS & HaaS

Internet of Things is driving the growth of Software as a Service (SaaS) and Hardware as a Service (HaaS) model, helping healthcare organization to eliminate CAPEX on new software and hardware. It also enables providers with limited budget to get access to advanced technologies with scalability.

With the competition in the post-reform era getting intense, more and more healthcare providers will embrace connected healthcare to drive excellence, be competitive and improve treatment outcomes.