Berg Insight has found in its latest research that around 9.0 million people in Europe and 5.2 million people in North America were using telecare or medical alert solutions at the end of 2023.

The figures include users of both in-home and mobile systems. Until 2028, Berg Insight forecasts that the number of telecare users will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.8 percent to reach 20.6 million in the two regions.

The market value of telecare solutions in Europe reached at the same time € 3.5 billion in 2023. The market value is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.4 percent in the next five years to reach € 5.2 billion at the end of the forecast period. The market value for medical alert solutions in North America is expected to grow from € 2.7 billion (US$ 2.9 billion) in 2023 to € 4.1 million (US$ 4.5 billion) in 2028.

Berg Insight’s definition of telecare solutions, also known as medical alert systems or PERS (personal emergency response systems), is a service aimed for elderly, disabled and vulnerable people to seek help from home in case of an emergency. These solutions can trigger an alarm when the user presses a button or when a passive sensor detects an event out of the ordinary. These systems provide continuous in-home or completely mobile monitoring services and can consist of a range of electronic devices such as personal alarm buttons, motion detection sensors, GPS monitors or fitness devices. The market evolves to include AI solutions that automatically trigger an alarm for instance when a user leaves home at an unexpected time or forgets to take his or her medicine.

The telecare market in Europe and North America is served by range of companies providing hardware devices, software platforms and monitoring services. In the European market, Tunstall, Legrand, TeleAlarm, Careium, Chiptech and Chubb are among the leading end-to-end solution providers. Tunstall, Legrand and TeleAlarm have strong presence across the European region. Chiptech has its operations in the UK market, meanwhile Careium is a leading market player in the Nordic region and has also presence in the UK. Companies such as Telecom Design, Essence Group, 9Solutions, Oysta Technology (Access Group), Everon and Ascom are key telecare equipment vendors in Europe. Essence SmartCare is well-established in both Europe and North America. Enovation, Skyresponse and Azur Soft are the leading providers of telecare monitoring software solutions. Additional significant vendors active in Europe are Tellu, Yorbl, Urmet, Navigil, SmartLife Care, Libify, SmartWatcher, Just Checking and Vivago. In North America, end-to-end telecare solutions are provided by Freeus (Becklar Group), Connect America, Mytrex, Numera (Nice North America), MobileHelp and Lively. Another group of companies offering monitoring services and reselling medical alert equipment are Medical Guardian, Life Alert Emergency Response, ADT, Bay Alarm Medical, Aloe Care and ModivCare. Major telecare equipment vendors are Essence Group, Climax Technology, LogicMark and Anelto.

“The market for personal emergency response systems for the elderly and the vulnerable population will continue to grow as the demand for digital care solutions has increased over the last couple of years”, says Vatsala Raina, IoT analyst at Berg Insight.

The European and North American market for personal emergency response systems is supported by several trends and developments that will have an impact on the competitive landscape during the forecast years. The silver generation is quickly becoming technologically savvy and open to adopt technology to help in everyday living needs. AI has an increasing role in the development of preventive and predictive care models. Solution providers have integrated AI and ML algorithms to analyse the monitoring data to learn about the patients’ daily routines, identify irregularities and expedite the needed assistance. Predictive analytics models assess the users’ risk of falling based on their historical data and health conditions.

Mrs. Raina concluded:

“The industry is moving towards incorporating new care models and technologies such as sensor-based systems, smart lamps to detect fall detection, and consumer-oriented technology companies incorporating PERS features in wearables, smart speakers and smartphones.”

The industry is becoming more patient-centric which calls for integrated systems and improved interoperability of connected care solutions.

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Enhancing Healthcare Equity Through Uninterrupted 24/7 Emergency Response Coverage.

KORE, a global leader in Internet of Things (“IoT”) Solutions, and Medical Guardian, a leading provider of personal emergency response systems (PERS), jointly announce their groundbreaking collaboration on the first-ever medical alert device utilizing eSIM technology.

This revolutionary technology is designed to overcome cell signal challenges and address healthcare access disparities by enabling electronic switching of service carriers for optimal 24/7 connectivity.

This collaboration aligns with KORE’s “IoT for Good” purpose statement and Medical Guardian’s commitment to empowering lives. KORE OmniSIM technology provides Medical Guardian the flexibility to wirelessly switch to a network carrier that best meets members’ needs. It streamlines logistics by allowing Medical Guardian to use a single SIM card to connect to multiple providers, future-proofing safety devices against network or carrier changes and enhancing member satisfaction.

The new eSIM is activated in Medical Guardian’s newest PERS device, the MGMini, which was designed to facilitate “active aging,” as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO). The device leverages KORE’s reliable connectivity services and KORE OmniSIM technology to optimize opportunities for health, participation and security for aging adults.

The MGMini enables seniors to live independently for longer by providing access to vital resources. Its two-way communication feature allows wearers to instantly connect with emergency operators and caregivers at the press of a button. In addition to responsive care, the MGMini’s connectivity will provide proactive on-person touchpoints to improve health outcomes for Medical Guardian’s rapidly growing membership of over 100,000 individuals enrolled in Medicaid Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS), Dual Eligible and Medicare Advantage programs.

Romil Bahl, KORE President and CEO, said KORE is dedicated to empowering its customers to help others through eSIM technology – i.e., Medical Guardian, who provides seniors safe, reliable ways to age on their own terms. “Medical Guardian’s life-saving devices, connected by KORE’s eSIM technology, serve as prime examples of how IoT can make positive, real-world impacts,” said Bahl.

“IoT can be applied to help solve our most daunting obstacles, like caring for our growing aging population. Helping our seniors age with dignity helps us all look forward to a brighter future.”

Geoff Gross, Founder and CEO of Medical Guardian, added, “We’re committed to increasing access to safety, engagement, and wellness services. This exciting partnership enables us to deliver enhanced connectivity to our services and unlock unique touchpoints to protect members, establish trusting relationships, close gaps in care, and improve health outcomes.”

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The healthcare industry is undergoing a profound transformation, thanks to the Internet of Things (IoT). The integration of IoT technology into healthcare systems is revolutionizing patient care, treatment processes, and medical research. In this article, we’ll explore how IoT is making its mark on the healthcare sector, its key applications, benefits, and the implications for the future of healthcare.

IoT in Healthcare: A Game Changer

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the network of interconnected physical devices, vehicles, buildings, and other objects embedded with sensors, software, and network connectivity that allows them to collect and exchange data. In healthcare, IoT is enabling the collection and analysis of vast amounts of patient data, promoting remote monitoring, and enhancing the efficiency of medical facilities.

Key Applications of IoT in Healthcare

1. Remote Patient Monitoring

IoT has enabled healthcare providers to remotely monitor patients with chronic conditions. Wearable devices, such as smartwatches and sensors, collect real-time data on vital signs, activity levels, and other health parameters. This data is transmitted to healthcare providers who can intervene when necessary, offering timely care and preventing hospital readmissions.

2. Smart Medical Devices

IoT is giving rise to a new generation of smart medical devices. From connected inhalers that monitor medication usage to intelligent pill dispensers that send medication adherence reminders, these devices help patients manage their health more effectively and enable healthcare providers to track patient compliance.

3. Telemedicine

Telemedicine, or remote medical consultations, has seen tremendous growth with the help of IoT. Video conferencing and remote monitoring tools allow patients to consult with healthcare professionals from the comfort of their homes. This approach not only increases access to care but also reduces the burden on healthcare facilities.

4. Asset and Inventory Management

IoT is improving the management of medical equipment and supplies. Sensors can track the location and status of medical devices, ensuring their availability when needed. This results in cost savings and reduces the risk of delays in patient care.

5. Clinical Workflow Optimization

IoT can optimize clinical workflows by connecting various systems and devices. For example, electronic health records (EHRs) can be seamlessly integrated with diagnostic equipment, automating data transfer and reducing the risk of errors.

6. Hospital and Home Automation

IoT extends to the management of hospital infrastructure and home care. Smart building systems can control lighting, heating, and cooling, ensuring a comfortable environment for patients. Similarly, home automation systems can be integrated with healthcare devices to support independent living for elderly or disabled individuals.

7. Drug Management and Compliance

IoT is used to monitor drug storage conditions, ensuring that medications remain effective and safe. It can also help patients adhere to their medication regimens by sending reminders and tracking consumption.

Benefits of IoT in Healthcare

The integration of IoT in healthcare offers numerous advantages:

1. Improved Patient Outcomes

Remote monitoring and real-time data analysis enable healthcare providers to intervene promptly when health parameters deviate from normal ranges. This leads to improved patient outcomes, reduced hospital readmissions, and better management of chronic conditions.

2. Enhanced Efficiency

IoT streamlines healthcare workflows by automating various processes, such as patient data entry and medical equipment tracking. This reduces administrative burden, frees up staff time, and reduces errors.

3. Cost Savings

Efficiency gains and improved patient outcomes often translate into cost savings for healthcare facilities and patients. Preventing hospital readmissions and complications reduces the overall cost of care.

4. Increased Accessibility

Telemedicine and remote monitoring extend healthcare access to underserved or remote areas. Patients can consult with specialists without the need for long-distance travel, making healthcare more accessible. You can also search for telemedicine jobs to explore opportunities in this rapidly growing field. The demand for skilled professionals in telehealth is on the rise, reflecting the increasing reliance on technology to bridge gaps in healthcare services.

5. Personalized Treatment

IoT allows for personalized treatment plans by continuously monitoring a patient’s condition and adjusting treatment regimens accordingly. This personalized approach often leads to more effective treatment and improved patient satisfaction.

Challenges and Considerations

While IoT in healthcare offers significant benefits, it also poses challenges and considerations:

1. Data Security and Privacy

Healthcare data is sensitive and subject to strict privacy regulations. The secure storage and transmission of patient data is of utmost importance to maintain patient trust and regulatory compliance.

2. Interoperability

IoT devices and systems must be compatible and interoperable to ensure seamless data exchange and integration. This requires the development and adoption of common standards.

3. Regulatory Compliance

The healthcare industry is heavily regulated, and IoT solutions must adhere to these regulations. Compliance with standards such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is crucial.

4. Data Overload

The continuous collection of patient data can result in information overload. Healthcare providers need effective tools for data management and interpretation to extract valuable insights.

5. Resistance to Change

The adoption of IoT in healthcare requires a cultural shift and staff training. Resistance to change can be a barrier to successful implementation.

The Future of IoT in Healthcare

As technology continues to advance, the future of IoT in healthcare looks promising. Here are some trends and developments to watch for:

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Integration

IoT and AI will work hand in hand to analyze vast amounts of patient data and offer insights for diagnosis, treatment, and predictive healthcare.

2. Wearable Health Tech

Wearable devices will continue to evolve, becoming more sophisticated and integrated into daily life. They will offer not only health monitoring but also wellness and lifestyle recommendations.

3. 5G Connectivity

The rollout of 5G networks will provide faster and more reliable connectivity for IoT devices, enabling real-time data transmission and analysis.

4. Blockchain Technology

Blockchain can be used to enhance the security and integrity of healthcare data, ensuring that patient records remain accurate and private.

5. Telehealth Expansion

The growth of telehealth and remote monitoring will continue, extending healthcare access and reducing the need for in-person visits.

Conclusion

IoT is reshaping the healthcare industry, making it more patient-centric, efficient, and accessible. The integration of IoT devices and systems allows for real-time patient monitoring, personalized treatment plans, and enhanced efficiency in healthcare facilities.

Challenges related to data security, interoperability, and regulatory compliance must be addressed to ensure the benefits of IoT in healthcare are fully realized. As IoT technology continues to advance, it will remain a driving force in transforming healthcare, offering a glimpse into a future where healthcare is not just about treating illness but also about preventing it and promoting overall well-being.

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According to a new research report from the IoT analyst firm Berg Insight, the installed base of medication compliance monitoring devices reached 4.4 million worldwide at the end of 2022.

Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.2 percent, the installed base will reach 8.2 million in 2023.

North America is the leading medication compliance monitoring market accounting for 63 percent of the market value in 2022. Government regulations significantly impact the market growth with the release of new CPT codes in the US, encouraging the adoption of connected health devices.

On a macro level, one of the main reasons for the high use of connected medication compliance monitoring solutions in North America is the high per-patient treatment costs in the US compared to other countries in the world.

Europe and the Rest of World accounted for around 24 percent and 13 percent of the market value respectively in 2022. The European region is gaining traction thanks to the introduction of digital health regulations in major economies such as Germany and France.

The definition of medication compliance monitoring includes products and services that assist the patients in adhering to a medication regimen. Medication compliance monitoring solutions include injected medication solutions, inhaled medication solutions, and pill bottles and dispensers. Medication compliance monitoring solutions incorporate connectivity, a companion smartphone application and algorithms to personalize patient care in real time.

Injected medication solutions is the largest segment of the market corresponding to 3.6 million connected devices. Injected medication solutions are offered in different forms such as insulin pumps, pens, autoinjectors, smart buttons, add-on sensors and pen caps. Notable vendors include top players by installed base such as Medtronic, Insulet and Tandem Diabetes. Additional key companies operating in this segment are Eli Lilly and Company, Merck Group, Noble International, Novo Nordisk, Phillips-Medisize and Roche.

The total installed base of inhaled medication solutions reached 181,000 devices worldwide in 2022. This market segment includes connected devices such as inhalers and smart inhaler sensors. The digital respiratory market is in an emerging state with multiple solution providers operating in this segment. Leading connected inhaled medication providers include Propeller Health, Adherium, Teva Pharmaceuticals and Aptar Group, as well as Amiko Digital Health, FindAir, Cognita Labs and NuvoAir.

The pill bottle and dispenser solution market reached an installed base of 640,000 units at the end of 2022. This segment includes pill boxes, automatic medication dispensers, pill bottles and smart blisters that assist in reminding, dispensing and recording the medication-taking behaviour of a patient. The pill bottle and dispenser solution segment is a fragmented market that is evolving quickly and includes both consumer-oriented technology companies and traditional healthcare incumbents such as MedReady, Evondos, Hero Health, Compliance Meds Technologies, AdhereTech, MedMinder and Spencer Health Solutions.

The global market for medication compliance management solutions is affected by several trends and developments that will have an impact on the competitive landscape during the forecast period. Changing demographics are driving the demand for home care, while technological developments and regulatory changes affect the competitive landscape for solution vendors. One major transition has been from traditional drug delivery to smart drug delivery, which has encouraged companies to adopt connected solutions.

Vatsala Raina, IoT Analyst, Berg Insight, says:

“AI technologies are finding its way into the medication compliance monitoring market and vendors are for instance working on solutions to enable early detection of acute exacerbation of respiratory diseases.”

At the same time, the industry is becoming more patient-centric which calls for integrated systems and improved interoperability of connected care solutions. New companies are entering the connected care market and connected medication management solutions are today at the center of attention for start-ups.

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Smart Meter, the No. 1 supplier of devices and data to the remote patient monitoring (RPM) market, will introduce a new cellular-enabled glucometer at the HLTH Conference in Las Vegas starting October 8th.

The iGlucose® Essential builds on the company’s reputation for supplying secure, cellular-enabled RPMTM, vital sign monitors. The new iGlucose® Essential delivers an FDA-cleared, reliable blood glucose monitor packed with features that make it easy for users to manage their diabetes better.

The iGlucose® Essential is ergonomically designed for patient comfort, is lightweight, and simple to use, all leading to more frequent and regular testing. In addition, it has a large, easy-to-read display screen combined with one-button operation and automatic shutoff that make this monitor incredibly patient-friendly. There is no need to log testing results in a separate journal since the iGlucose® Essential is cellular-enabled, so test results are automatically sent to the user’s care team. The new glucose meter also includes onscreen alerts for Ketone and Hypo conditions, giving users more control in managing their condition.

“When developing the feature criteria for the new iGlucose® Essential, we put the patient’s needs first,” said Casey Pittock, Smart Meter’s CEO.

“We know the key to controlling diabetes is for patients to test regularly so both patient and provider understand blood glucose levels. With these many patient-centric features, we feel testing has never been easier.”

Healthcare continues to be a priority target for cyber hackers, costing organizations more than $10 million a year¹. One of the main reasons is that healthcare data is considered to be 50 times more valuable² than financial data alone.

As with all of Smart Meter’s cellular-enabled RPM devices, the iGlucose® Essential utilizes proprietary cellular technology to transmit the reading instantly through our Private Data Network, the only one in the United States specifically created for RPM, developed in collaboration with AT&T. This ensures a reliable and secure transmission every time. And unlike unsecured Bluetooth® devices, our solutions will only connect and transmit patient data through our network.

“While some healthcare data organizations struggle to always have secure transmissions, Smart Meter made it a priority several years ago,” said Smart Meter’s Chief Marketing Officer Bill Bassett. “In fact, we were recently recognized with a Systems and Organizations Control (SOC) certification after an independent audit by a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) verified our multiple layers of robust security.”

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“Total Cost of Ownership Analysis on Connected Device Cybersecurity Risk” details the challenges that hospital systems now face, and the increasingly urgent need for modernized risk mitigation.

Asimily, an Internet of Things (IoT) and Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) risk management platform, today announced the availability of a new report: Total Cost of Ownership Analysis on Connected Device Cybersecurity Risk.

The full report highlights the unique cybersecurity challenges that healthcare delivery organizations (HDOs) face and the true costs of their IoT and IoMT security risks. HDOs have a low tolerance for service interruptions to network-connected devices and equipment because of their crucial role in patient outcomes and quality of care. Resource-constrained HDO security and IT teams continue to face operational difficulties in sufficiently securing critical systems from increasingly-sophisticated attacks, as their vast and heterogeneous IoMT device fleets complicate management and, left unchecked, offer a broad attack surface. The report concludes that adopting a holistic risk-based approach is the most cost-efficient and long-term-effective path for HDOs to secure their critical systems and IoMT devices..

Among the key findings and analysis included in the new report:

• Emerging cybersecurity trends and challenges: The report reveals the top cyberattack strategies impacting HDO medical devices right now: ransomware attacks that spread to devices and disrupt services, third-party-introduced malware that impacts device performance, and devices communicating with unknown IP addresses to enable remote breaches. Cyberattacks on healthcare providers have become remarkably common: the average HDO experienced 43 attacks in the last 12 months. Unfortunately, many of those attacks are successful, with 44% of HDOs suffering a data breach caused by a third party within the last year alone.

• The high cost of doing nothing: For HDOs, today’s high-failure status quo can be catastrophic. Cyberattacks cost HDOs an average of $10,100,000 per incident. Worse, cyber incidents are directly responsible for a 20% increase in patient mortality. 64% of HDOs also reported suffering from operational delays, and 59% had longer patient stays due to cybersecurity incidents. Those financial and operational burdens are pushing many HDOs to the brink: the average hospital operating margin sits at 1.4% in 2023. Currently, more than 600 rural U.S. hospitals risk closure, in an environment where a single cyberattack can put a smaller HDO out of business.

• Poor device health leads to poor outcomes: HDO security and IT teams face a high-risk environment where the average medical device has 6.2 vulnerabilities. Adding to this challenge, more than 40% of medical devices are near end-of-life and poorly supported (or unsupported) by manufacturers.

• Cybersecurity resources and staffing are limited: Even when device vulnerabilities are recognized, HDO security teams are able to fix only 5-20% of known vulnerabilities each month.

• Cyber insurance is no longer enough: As ransomware attacks and breaches have skyrocketed in recent years, cyber liability insurers are introducing coverage limits and capped payouts, making it a less and less effective recourse for HDOs. At the same time, cyber insurance also fails to address the costly reputational damage an HDO suffers following a breach.

“This report details the very current and very significant challenges that HDOs face in defending themselves from cybersecurity risk, and the profound need for holistic and optimized risk reduction strategies as they implement and scale a cybersecurity risk management program for their connected devices,” said Stephen Grimes, Managing Partner & Principal Consultant at Strategic Healthcare Technology Associates, LLC. “Asimily’s risk prioritization capabilities and clear device vulnerability scoring enable HDO security teams to overcome limited resources and accurately focus on remediating the greatest risks to their organizations, achieving a ten-fold increase in cybersecurity productivity. We invite HDO leaders and their cybersecurity risk managers to read and absorb the lessons of this report, and to take the steps necessary to mitigate IoMT device risks with the strategic efficiency and effectiveness these risks demand.”

“As a growing healthcare organization acquiring clinics and offering new services like ambulatory clinics, you have to stay in front of the risk,” said Kevin Torres, the VP of IT and CISO at MemorialCare, an Asimily customer and leading nonprofit health system in Orange County and Los Angeles County that includes four hospitals along with other specialized clinics. “You need to make sure that you’re effectively onboarding these environments and matching their security posture to yours. Using Asimily, we gained full visibility into connected IoT and IoMT devices and their associated vulnerabilities. Our security program achieved 98% NIST compliance while the average of 60 similar HDOs is 71%.”

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The Healthcare domain has witnessed significant advancements through the Internet of Things (IoT) and its more specialized offshoot, the (IoMT). To integrate devices seamlessly into a unified IoT system, firmware development and embedded solutions for IoT play a vital role.

This article will explore the impact of embedded solutions and good firmware development on the performance of IoT devices in the Healthcare industry.

Although we won’t even scratch the surface of most technical aspects of firmware development here, we must emphasize the importance of firmware development expertise for ensuring optimal device performance.

IoT in Healthcare Market Review and Forecast

According to Market Research Future, the global Internet of Medical Things market was $48.7 billion in 2022. Other forecasts project that it could reach as much as $516 billion by or before 2032, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.15%. North America leads the market, accounting for nearly 36% of the global share. This growth will most likely be driven by advanced healthcare technologies, remote patient monitoring demand, and the arrival of major market players from other segments.

The Rise of IoT in Healthcare

The increasing prominence of IoT in healthcare is revolutionizing the industry. The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) spans networks and integrations bridging equipment, software applications, and health systems to facilitate the exchange of vital health data. This network interconnects a wide range of devices, including wearables, remote monitoring systems, implanted devices, and other smart healthcare devices. These interconnected devices facilitate seamless interactions between healthcare providers and patients, enhancing communication and improving the healthcare experience. By leveraging IoMT, healthcare organizations aim to enhance patient outcomes, reduce healthcare expenses, and elevate the quality of care. The most vital aspect of developing within this space is firmware/embedded solutions because of the impacts and attributes we explore below.

The Impact of Embedded Solutions on IoT Device Performance

Embedded solutions are essential components that enable seamless connectivity and integration of devices within the IoT ecosystem. While numerous other technical factors must converge for successful IoT development, it is crucial to highlight how embedded solutions and firmware development contribute to the optimal performance of IoT devices in healthcare.

Device Integration

Embedded solutions facilitate the smooth integration of various medical devices, sensors, and wearables, enabling them to work cohesively within the IoT network. This integration streamlines data collection, analysis, and exchange, facilitating significant improvements in diagnosis and treatment because of the increased accessibility of high-quality remote patient monitoring.

Reliable Data Transmission

Firmware ensures secure and efficient data transmission between IoT devices and healthcare systems. By implementing robust communication protocols and encryption mechanisms, firmware solutions enhance data privacy and integrity, which helps to reduce the likelihood and severity of cyber incidents, data breaches, or any unauthorized access.

Over-the-Air Updates

Embedded solutions and high-quality firmware enable seamless over-the-air (OTA) updates, allowing healthcare organizations to remotely update and upgrade device functionalities, security features, and performance improvements. This ease of access eliminates manual intervention and minimizes disruptions in healthcare operations.

Device Optimization

Firmware plays a crucial role in optimizing the performance of IoT devices. By fine-tuning device parameters, managing power consumption, and implementing efficient algorithms, firmware solutions ensure that IoT devices operate at their peak performance levels. This optimization directly impacts healthcare IoT devices’ reliability, responsiveness, and overall functionality.

Fine-tuning Device Parameters

Firmware enables the customization of device parameters to meet the specific requirements of the healthcare domain. By adjusting settings such as data sampling rates, measurement accuracy, and device sensitivity, firmware solutions can optimize the device’s performance for different healthcare applications. For example, in wearable devices, firmware can be tailored to capture vital signs accurately while minimizing false alarms or unnecessary data transmissions.

Power Consumption Management

Efficient power management is critical in healthcare IoT devices, as they often operate on limited battery life or rely on energy harvesting techniques. firmware solutions implement power-saving mechanisms such as intelligent sleep modes, optimized data transmission protocols, and adaptive power allocation strategies to prolong the device’s battery life. Such increased efficiency ensures continuous operation without frequent battery replacements or recharging, enhancing user convenience and reducing maintenance costs.

Efficient Algorithms

Firmware plays a vital role in implementing efficient algorithms that process and analyze the data collected by IoT devices. By leveraging advanced signal processing techniques, machine learning algorithms, and data compression methods, firmware optimizes the utilization of computational resources within the device. This decreased data size and increased computing efficiency leads to more accurate data analysis in less time. These enhancements can directly lead to better patient outcomes through predictive analytics, earlier detection of any anomalies, and accurate, personalized healthcare insights.

Device Security and Safety

High-quality firmware development can also ensure the security and safety of healthcare IoT devices. For example, firmware can implement robust authentication mechanisms, encryption protocols, and secure boot processes to safeguard sensitive patient data and prevent tampering or unauthorized access. Additionally, firmware can incorporate fail-safe mechanisms and error detection algorithms to prevent system failures or malfunctions that could compromise patient safety.

Softeq – Experts in IoT Firmware and Embedded Development

Softeq is a leading provider of embedded and IoT development services with extensive expertise in developing for the healthcare domain. As a Microsoft Azure partner, an AWS Certified Partner, and an ISO 13485:2016 certified business, Softeq has demonstrated expertise in IoT firmware and embedded development for the healthcare sector. Our team of experienced engineers understands the unique challenges and requirements of the IoT ecosystem in healthcare, and we leverage cutting-edge technologies to deliver robust and high-performing embedded solutions like the following Case Study.

Case Study: Skin Cancer Detection Firmware

Softeq collaborated with Veriskin, a medical device company, to develop a handheld gadget for . Softeq’s firmware and embedded software expertise were instrumental in creating a complex Wi-Fi-enabled system. The solution featured an FPGA-powered handheld device based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon SD410 processor, incorporating LEDs, an audio speaker, an accelerometer, and a display. The firmware enabled real-time capture of LED light signal variations, translating them into a visual diagram. With algorithmic data analysis and a user-friendly interface, the device monitored vascular refilling rates. It provided a low-cost, prompt method for diagnosing malignant skin growth without biopsies or extensive examinations. The in-house firmware expertise at Softeq has played a crucial role in delivering a reliable IoMT solution for skin cancer screening.

Conclusion

Embedded solutions and effective firmware development play a crucial role in optimizing the performance of IoT devices in the Healthcare domain. By facilitating device integration, ensuring reliable data transmission, enabling OTA updates, and implementing device optimization techniques, firmware solutions contribute to enhanced patient monitoring, improved diagnosis and treatment, and streamlined healthcare operations. As the healthcare industry expands and accelerates its embrace of IoT’s potential, expert providers like Softeq stand ready to provide expertise and continue delivering innovative embedded solutions driving healthcare transformation through IoT technology.

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Introduction and Overview

It probably won’t surprise you that the Internet of Things (IoT) is revolutionizing the healthcare industry, creating new opportunities for improved patient care, cost reduction, and operational efficiency. However, (IoMT) looks to bring even more innovation to the healthcare sector. IoMT includes some systems that were already staples of IoT, such as remote monitoring systems and wearable technology devices. However, IoMT expands the field through implanted devices and other smart connected devices that can feed critical and expensive or hard-to-access data back to healthcare providers.

Market Highlights

The market for this technology now appears set to grow from approximately $48.7 billion in 2022 to $370.9 billion by 2032, at a projected Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 23.15% (Source: Market.us). All signs suggest that North America will continue to be the most important region, given a market share of 35.8%. In comparison with other global regions, North America’s embrace of IoMT and the accompanying adoption of advanced healthcare technologies has been faster and more widespread. In turn, the availability of these technologies has driven demand for remote patient monitoring technologies and services.

The global COVID-19 pandemic also radically shifted the boundaries of medical technology, and it is no exaggeration to call this a turning point in the widespread adoption of IoMT devices in healthcare. During the pandemic, remote consultations, monitoring of vital signs, symptoms, and other health parameters, and vaccine distribution and administration have been widely adopted through IoMT devices. Moreover, the vast amount of health data generated during the pandemic has provided valuable insights for trend analysis and better-informed decision-making, leading to improved strategies for managing the pandemic and other healthcare challenges.

Trends Shaping Market Growth

There are several factors currently shaping the growth of IoT in healthcare. Technological advancements in connected devices, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cloud computing, have significantly improved the capabilities of IoMT devices and their potential impact on patient care. The increase in chronic diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases, has also led to a higher demand for remote patient monitoring. This presents a key opportunity for IoMT by allowing healthcare providers to monitor patients remotely and provide early intervention, with improved patient outcomes and decreased hospitalization rates and shorter stays.

In addition to these driving factors, several trending factors are shaping the future of healthcare delivery through the integration of IoT technologies. The use of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, edge computing, blockchain, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and smart sensors, enables more efficient and personalized healthcare services. AI-enabled algorithms can perform in-depth real-time analysis on impossibly large amounts of health data streaming from IoMT devices. This analysis can identify patterns and trends for better decision-making and truly personalized treatment plans. Cutting-edge techniques and technologies like Edge Computing and widespread 5G also reduce latency and increase the speed of data transfers, enabling more data to move ever more easily. Taken together, these trends are leading toward a likely scenario where wearable tech alone will be worth $54 billion by the end of 2023 (Source: GlobalData).

IoMT Applications and Use Cases

IoMT devices are being used in various applications across the healthcare industry, including physiotherapy and sports/fitness therapy. Wearable medical devices, such as fitness trackers and smartwatches, are expected to dominate the IoMT market, holding the largest share of 45% (Source: Market.us). These devices are widely used for personal health monitoring, fitness tracking, and chronic disease management, among other applications.

One of the key benefits of IoMT devices is their ability to enhance patient engagement and empower individuals to take control of their health. Wearable medical devices enable patients to track their physical activity, sleep patterns, heart rate, and other health parameters, to make informed decisions about their health and lifestyle. Patients with chronic conditions can use IoMT devices to monitor their health parameters at home and share the data with their healthcare providers, enabling remote monitoring and personalized care plans.

Another major reason for the appeal of IoMT devices is their ability to improve patient safety and slash the costs of delivering healthcare. For example, medication dispensers with smart technology can help prevent medication errors by providing reminders and alerts to patients, ensuring timely and accurate medication administration. Smart hospital beds equipped with IoMT sensors can monitor patient movements, pressure points, and other parameters to prevent pressure ulcers and improve patient comfort.

For a deeper insight into IoMT, we’ll now consider the work of Softeq, a full-stack digital transformation and , in building firmware for a custom skin cancer screening device.

Case Study: Firmware for a Non-Invasive Custom Skin Cancer Screening Device

The use of Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) devices has revolutionized the healthcare industry, with applications ranging from fitness tracking to chronic disease management. A medical device manufacturer with a specialization in skin cancer screening wanted to create a portable device that was capable of . The company turned to Softeq to test this idea’s viability and to create the firmware on which the device would ultimately run.

The Softeq team developed a complex hardware and software system using cutting-edge mobile hardware and software. The device had LED lights, a speaker, an accelerometer, a display, and other hardware components. It included a pair of photodetectors and a force sensor, collectively used to create a real-time visual representation of the patient’s skin.

The system observed how quickly blood was refilled in suspect skin lesions and analyzed the data using custom algorithms. It had firmware and software that included an audiovisual guide with error messages, LED lights calibrated to enhance the sensitivity of the photodetector, and the ability to store over 100 test results in its memory. The system also had a custom Linux BSP and drivers, built-in flash memory-based software, optimized Linux boot-time, firmware updates via USB, and secure login via SSH protocol.

Conclusion

It should be clear by now that IoT devices for healthcare and IoMT devices are completely transforming the health sector. However, there are a few things to be cautious of if you’re considering an internet of medical things project. In particular, the collection and transmission of sensitive patient data by IoMT devices pose significant concerns in terms of data privacy and security. In designing and constructing IoT in healthcare projects, it is vital to protect this data to safeguard patient privacy and comply with regulatory requirements like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Interoperability and standardization are also challenges, making it essential that you work with an experienced Healthcare like Softeq.

The bottom line is that IoMT devices are revolutionizing the healthcare industry by enabling remote patient monitoring, improving patient engagement, enhancing patient safety, and optimizing healthcare asset management. However, challenges related to data privacy, security, interoperability, and standardization need to be addressed to fully realize the potential of IoMT in improving patient care and outcomes. As technology continues to advance, IoMT is expected to play a crucial role in shaping the future of healthcare by enabling personalized, proactive, and patient-centric care.

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Berg Insight, the world’s leading IoT market research provider, today released new findings on the mHealth market.

The number of remotely monitored patients reached 56.8 million in 2021 as the market acceptance continues to grow in several key verticals. This number includes all patients enrolled in mHealth care programs in which connected medical devices are used as a part of the care regimen. Connected medical devices used for various forms of personal health tracking are not included in this figure. Berg Insight estimates that the number of remotely monitored patients will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.2 percent to reach 126.1 million by 2027.

The three main applications are monitoring of patients with sleep therapy devices, glucose level monitoring of patients with diabetes and monitoring of patients with implantable cardiac rhythm management (CRM) devices. The number of remotely monitored sleep therapy patients amounted to 27.5 million in 2021, driven by ResMed and Philips that together dominate the sleep therapy market. Glucose level monitoring has grown significantly in the last years and is now the second largest segment with 9.1 million connections at the end of the year. The growth is driven by the increased adoption of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems from providers such as Abbott and Dexcom. The CRM market is led by companies such as Medtronic, Boston Scientific and Abbott that started to include connectivity in CRM solutions more than a decade ago. Other device categories include ECG, telehealth, medication compliance, blood pressure monitors and others.

The demand for home monitoring solutions has grown greatly in the last years. Healthcare systems around the world have undergone a transformation to adopt to value-based care – a care model that requires care solutions to be both cost-efficient and of high quality. Healthcare industry players have responded to this by developing data-driven solutions, such as self-engagement apps that rely on behavioural analytics to coach patients in how to manage their conditions.

“mHealth and home monitoring can help ease the burden of an already strained healthcare sector, as it eases the access to patient data and both increases the efficiency and improves the quality of care,” says Samuel Andersson, IoT Analyst at Berg Insight.

As regulations and reimbursement rates have been changed in favour or remote patient monitoring solutions, the growth is expected to continue. Several European countries have started to follow the US and either already introduced or plan to introduce reimbursement for remote patient monitoring in the near future.

Mr Andersson concludes:

“This trend has been going on for years, but the COVID-19 pandemic greatly accelerated the development, as it forced providers to adopt to remote patient monitoring and telehealth solutions. This helped overcome the institutional hesitancy and conservatism that previously were a major barrier for the adoption these solutions.”

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The pandemic pushed the digitization of the healthcare industry forward. IT technologies, such as healthcare IoT, have helped provide quality care in the comfort of one’s home and drive telehealth solutions’ popularity. Though the advances of IoT in healthcare are already significant, there is still room for growth. The IoT medical device market is expected to develop proactively and reach $94.2bn by 2026, according to MarketsandMarkets.

Although the prognosis is inspiring, IoT deployment could be a challenging endeavor. For healthcare providers, another digital tool means an additional investment. So what are the significant benefits of IoT that could justify it?

IoT for healthcare: why is it important?

In the healthcare industry, IoT powers the crucial aspects of hospital operation – remote patient monitoring and hospital management automation.

Remote patient monitoring

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) is a relatively new way of care delivery patients can get from where they are due to IoT medical devices connected to the Internet. Connected IoT devices collect patients’ vitals 24/7 and upload them to a cloud, EHR, or another secure data storage. Then, patients can share their records with doctors. Thanks to the availability of the patient’s health indicators over time, doctors can early detect general tendencies and alarming signs in the patient’s health parameters.

Smart hospital management

IoT in healthcare is not only about monitoring patients remotely. The technology also brings operational benefits to healthcare providers. For example, IoT-based technology enables automated inventory management. IoT- and RFID-powered tools help hospital staff keep track of drugs, medical products, equipment, and workflows, improving visibility and reducing expenses.

Healthcare IoT: top 3 benefits

We’ve selected the top three benefits that prove a hospital’s investments in IoT bring value.

Cost savings

Chronic condition patients require the most expensive treatment. As MDLinx reports, 90% of the hefty annual healthcare spending in the US goes for treating chronic patients or managing their conditions. Logically, care providers seek to lower the costs preventing relapses and improving the quality of life for those patients. This is where remote patient monitoring can help.

For example, Vheda Health, a chronic care company from Columbia, Maryland, created a digital chronic management platform that manages high-risk chronic conditions with the help of remote monitoring technologies. Patients received a care package based on their health condition, including a customized mobile device and remote monitoring device. This helps patients to monitor their health better, preventing additional hospital admissions and reducing healthcare expenses. As a result, in 2021, Vheda Health’s customers reduced their healthcare costs by over 41%.

Long-awaited offer for patients

Patients prefer to avoid visits to a clinic. First, it’s about the cost. Secondly, the American Journal of Managed Care researchers found that going to the provider’s premises takes at least 100 minutes. Meanwhile, the actual appointment covers only a fifth of that time. The rest goes for traveling to the location and waiting in line. As a result, the Medical Group Management Association reported that 49% of medical groups witnessed an increase in no-show rates in 2022. However, missing the due appointments may worsen patients’ health outcomes and quality of life.

Some healthcare providers opt for home care to spare patients the need to travel to the hospital, and IoT for healthcare can help here. Thus, UMass Memorial Hospital from Worcester, Massachusetts, partnered up with Current Health, a home-based care company. Current Health produces sensors and remote monitoring devices to ensure at-home care to chronic condition patients and those recovering from different physical traumas or surgeries.

Due to the cooperation with Current Health, the clinic managed to serve more patients outside of the hospital setting. The clinic set up an at-home care program and gave the interested patients armbands that measure their heart rate, skin temperature, and blood oxygen level. They also gave patients iPads for round-the-clock access to their assigned clinicians.

The new care delivery model was successful. The hospital provided home care to nine to twelve patients daily. As a result, the facility’s one-month readmission rate was reduced by 20-30%. Among other benefits are a lower rate of infections and deep vein thrombosis in the participants compared to inpatients.

Working with Current Health, UMass Memorial managed to improve care in the community. They also resolved the problem of the low bed capacity typical of Central Massachusetts clinics.

Improved visibility and workflows

As a part of hospital inventory management solutions, IoT tools offer hospital staff a range of features that help speed up some work processes and boost their effectiveness.

For example, medical IoT streamlines stock tracking and searching for drugs, products, and other medical goods. It enables a user to find the necessary item with just a click. Besides, users stay informed about the item’s status. Users can also activate alerts about item status updates.

Besides, users can check the history of operations on the items, the actors, and the updates they made. This feature gives the staff crystal-clear visibility of the item’s journey across the hospital and the clinicians responsible for the changes.

Inventory management solutions can also help clinicians modify established workflows. For instance, In Los Angeles, California, Adventist Health White Memorial clinic managed to accelerate the turnaround time in their operating room by about 25 minutes thanks to the radio frequency identification technology (RFID) employed. As a result, the team reduced patient wait time at all checkpoints, from registration to postoperative recovery.

Conclusions

Implementing specific IoT solutions in the healthcare industry provides benefits that help resolve critical challenges providers face daily. First, it’s about saving the funds that are always insufficient. For instance, remote patient monitoring fosters timely prevention of relapses and unplanned hospital stays, which are expensive for patients and healthcare providers. Such tools can also speed up the diagnostics and treatment of diverse diseases and injuries.

Secondly, IoT-driven patient monitoring tools power a care provision model patients enjoy the most – at-home care. Home-based care suits chronic condition patients, those recovering from contagious diseases and fractures, and those with difficulties traveling to the facility. At-home care improves patient outcomes and their experience. For providers, it offers better ways to manage their resources.

As a part of a hospital inventory management solution, healthcare IoT helps providers improve the visibility of their operations and streamline the established workflows. For example, clinicians and nurses can view who is responsible for a task, what they should do, when, and with who. Improved visibility can assist with rapid response to unexpected situations and successful crisis resolution.

All of the above justifies the investment in healthcare IoT solutions, as they help upscale hospital services and improve patient outcomes, experience, and satisfaction.

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A new report from the IoT analyst firm Berg Insight has found that around 30.7 million people in North America were using connected care solutions at the end of 2022.

The figure refers to users of medical alert systems, connected medication management solutions and remote patient monitoring (RPM) solutions in Canada and the US.

RPM is the largest segment of the connected care market with a total of 28.3 million users at the end of 2022. The market for medical alert systems is considerably smaller with an estimated total of 4.4 million users, whereas the number of connected medication management users reached 1.8 million users at the end of 2022. There is an overlap between the market segments as medical alert users can also be equipped with a medication management solution or an RPM solution, and vice versa. The market is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15..4 percent during the next five years to reach 62.7 million connected care users by 2027.

The leading use cases for RPM have thus far been sleep therapy monitoring. Patients that suffer from sleep-disordered breathing such as obstructive sleep apnea are typically prescribed an airflow generator, including continuous positive airway pressure, bilevel positive airway pressure and automatic positive airway pressure devices. However, many patients find the devices unpleasant to use and poor compliance is common. Payers are increasingly requiring that patients comply with their treatment plans to be reimbursed for the device which has driven equipment providers to connect the devices. ResMed is the largest player of connected airflow generators, partly thanks to the company’s decision to include a cellular IoT module as standard in its Air Solutions product family.

In the medical alert market, Connect America has emerged as the largest service provider after the acquisition of the Lifeline business from Philips in 2021, and is followed by Lively, Medical Guardian and Mobilehelp. The medication management market is still in an early phase and comprises several different types of solutions. The largest segment for connected solutions is injected medication, which is dominated by insulin pump providers such as Medtronic, Insulet and Tandem Diabetes Care. Other form factors such as such as connected medication caps, blister packs, pillboxes and pill dispensers are also starting to get traction.

“There is especially an increasing interest from research organisations and pharmaceutical companies to use medication management solutions in clinical trials”, said Samuel Andersson, IoT Analyst at Berg Insight.

The North American market for connected care solutions is affected by several trends and developments that will have an impact on the competitive landscape during the following years. Changing demographics is driving the demand for home care, while technological developments and regulatory changes affect the competitive landscape for solution vendors. The industry is becoming more patient-centric which calls for integrated systems and improved interoperability of connected care solutions. One example of this development is the on-going convergence of the medical alert and remote patient monitoring markets, where more and more medical alert providers have started to offer remote patient monitoring solutions. This includes integrated solutions that enable a combined delivery of medical alert and remote patent monitoring services.

Mr Andersson concluded:

“Care providers will start to offer more and more proactive and predictive services, by continuously analysing user data and acting on abnormalities. Such solutions rely on data not only from medical alert devices, but also from other sources such as smart home sensors, healthcare records and connected medical devices.”

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Stronger wearable developed to keep pace with the growing demands of patient safety market.

In response to market demand for a stronger and more reliable hand hygiene compliance monitoring solution, Vitalacy, Inc., today announced the release of the new Gen4 SmartSensor, a smarter, faster and more powerful device to monitor and improve safety initiatives with healthcare partners.

Designed to capture hand hygiene compliance data and to provide real-time reminders to perform hand hygiene at critical patient care moments, the new Vitalacy Gen4 SmartSensor has built-in features for future products currently in Vitalacy’s development pipeline. In addition to containing improved hardware and firmware, the Sensor now includes a gyroscope and animated screen and provides longer battery life. These features bring more value to healthcare providers looking to improve quality and safety measures that save lives.

“Our fourth-generation wearable is a more powerful and durable sensor, designed and manufactured by our Vitalacy team of engineers and developers,” said Vitalacy VP of Engineering Dylan Humphrey. Many of these enhancements were the result of direct client and user feedback using the Gen3 SmartSensor in the healthcare environment. “This new device was developed with future looking applications in mind including care provider messaging, duress buttons, and patient fall alerts,” Humphrey added.

The Gen4 SmartSensor is placed inside a band worn on the user’s wrist or a clip holder worn on the user’s upper torso. IoT-enabled devices across the facility monitor dispenser usage and the entry and exit of patient rooms in relation to recent hand washes. The device uses Bluetooth to monitor hand hygiene behavior such as compliance and wash duration and reminds staff to wash at the point of care if they forget and to wash longer if the wash is too short. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends washing hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and water or with hand sanitizer of at least 60% alcohol if soap is not available.

The Gen4 SmartSensor is the latest improvement to the Vitalacy’s Patient Safety Platform – a suite of products including hand hygiene compliance monitoring, workflow and nursing rounding monitoring, contact tracing, and a fall risk alert. The platform is capable of monitoring workflow in near real-time, allowing healthcare enterprises to monitor rounding, caregiver fatigue and contact tracing. These innovative measures help decrease infection risk and improve the patient experience.

1 in 31 patients suffer from a healthcare-acquired infection (HAI) each day

On any given day, about 1 in 31 hospital patients has at least once HAI, according to the CDC. The World Health Organization states:

“hand hygiene is one of the most effective actions you can take to reduce the spread of pathogens and prevent infections, including the COVID-19 virus.”

A lack of real-time feedback and coaching about hand hygiene was one of the major barriers to hand hygiene compliance, according to survey results presented by a hospital network at the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) 2022 Annual Conference.

To meet Leapfrog Group standards, healthcare organizations must complete at least 100 observations of hand hygiene opportunities per month per unit, with the observations occurring across all days of the week and all shifts. Because of the difficulty, expense and inherent bias of doing these observations through direct human monitoring, organizations are increasingly turning to electronic hand hygiene monitoring solutions to meet Leapfrog’s criteria.

“Vitalacy is constantly innovating, leading the market with first-in-class solutions to meet the growing needs of their clients,” said Vitalacy CEO and Cofounder Janel Nour-Omid. “This recent innovation improves Vitalacy’s suite of products and demonstrates an investment in future development and integration capabilities with the company’s offerings.”

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The development of telehealth in recent years has optimized operations in medicine by providing diverse medical services remotely. By reducing the need for transport, use of on-site facilities, and chances of cancellations or delays, telehealth has heightened efficiency for both patients and healthcare professionals.

Today, the growing incorporation of the Internet of Things (IoT) contributes to the further development of telehealth technologies. In fact, Future Market Insights predicts that the IoT in the global healthcare market will grow at an 18.0% year-over-year, rising from US$ 181.4 billion (€177.9 billion) in 2022 to US$ 952.3 billion (€934.1 billion) by 2023.

If you’re curious to see how IoT is incorporated into telehealth and what its benefits are, then read ahead.

Benefits of IoT in telehealth processes

IoT refers to physical devices that make use of technologies like sensors and processing abilities to collect data and facilitate its communication to other systems through the internet. Applied to telehealth, these devices can function as remote monitoring devices for patients, fitness and wellness trackers, and dose reminders for medications.

One of its largest benefits is increasing accessibility for patients, particularly for the elderly and disabled. Wheel’s article on how telehealth can help make healthcare more accessible points out that for seniors and mobility-impaired individuals, the time needed and stress encountered in getting to and from doctor appointments can discourage them from pursuing consistent treatments. IoT-enabled telehealth devices can lessen the frequency of trips to a medical institution by automating the monitoring process.

IoT can also lessen the strain on medical professionals, as telemedicine technology may allow healthcare providers to care for more patients. Project Hope notes that there will be a healthcare worker deficit of 80 million globally by 2030. This seriously compromises the ability to meet patient needs. But IoT in telehealth can shorten clinical visits, prevent emergency treatments through remote detection, and make patient data access more efficient. It also reduces the likelihood of transferring viruses like the seasonal flu or a cold, keeping both patients and providers healthier.

Uses of IoT in telehealth today

The uses of IoT in telehealth today primarily fall on remote patient monitoring. HealthTech reports that remote patient monitoring and the data collected through it can prevent admissions, yield better clinical outcomes, and empower patients to improve their health.

Patients and doctors can easily track their progress through the automated recording of patients’ vitals and fitness. As such, doctors can remotely monitor patients without needing them to come in. Patients, too, can better observe the follow-through. In addition to monitoring their vitals, their devices can serve as reminders for maintenance medicines.

This level of automation may be particularly useful for patients dealing with chronic conditions like diabetes, asthma, or hypertension. IoT-enabled remote patient monitoring can also be largely beneficial for home health patients, including those with chronic diseases or those who were recently discharged and need ongoing evaluation. They can also be used to monitor pregnant patients to detect any changes in maternal or fetal health.

The future of IoT in telehealth

There is reason to be optimistic about the future of IoT in telehealth, as it continues to face improvements to raise the efficiency of the healthcare system. A study from Griffith University found that the IoT in healthcare needs to face challenges such as the barriers to market adoption, confidence in terms of data security and privacy, interoperability, and control and ownership. To address these, the healthcare industry will have to rely on transforming healthcare policies to provide support, careful strategic planning, and transparency within healthcare organizations. But considering the overwhelming benefits of IoT in healthcare, the occurrence of these transformations is only a matter of time.

Even now, further technological innovations in the IoT — such as the incorporation of artificial intelligence or robotics — can yield unprecedented possibilities for telehealth and medicine. While the IoT remains relatively new, it only serves as a pathway for furthering efficiency in healthcare.

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Berg Insight has found in its latest research that around 8.6 million people in Europe were using connected care solutions at the end of 2021.

The figure refers to users of traditional telecare, next-generation telecare and telehealth solutions in the EU27+3 countries.

Until 2027, Berg Insight forecasts that the number of connected care users will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.1 percent to reach 17.1 million. Traditional telecare is currently the largest and most mature of the three market segments, but the next-generation telecare and telehealth market segments are expected to have a higher growth rate in the next years. Berg Insight expects that next-generation telecare will overtake traditional telecare solutions and become the largest segment with a forecasted 7.7 million users in 2027. Traditional telecare will follow with 7.5 million users and the telehealth segment will have an estimated 5.7 million users at the end of the forecast period.

The traditional telecare equipment market in Europe is highly consolidated. The two major players – Tunstall and Legrand – hold leading positions in nearly all markets even though they are challenged by local players such as Careium, TeleAlarm and Chubb. The next-generation telecare market is on the other hand more fragmented. In addition to the leading telecare equipment vendors, companies active in the next-generation market include specialised providers such as Essence Group, Everon, Vitalbase and Vivago in activity monitoring; Navigil, Libify, Oysta Technology, SmartLife Care and Smartwatcher in mobile telecare; and Evondos, Vitavanti, AceAge and iZafe Group in medication compliance monitoring. The telehealth market is similarly a fragmented market that is evolving quickly and includes both start-ups and well-established solution providers such as Huma, Luscii, Dignio, Comarch, eDevice and SHL Telemedicine.

The European connected care industry is facing major changes that will reshape the competitive environment for solution vendors and service providers during the coming years. One of the main developments is the ongoing digitalisation of telephone networks around Europe. Large-scale replacements of telecare equipment will be needed as analogue devices do not function reliably on digitalised networks. At the same time, the digitalisation enables new types of solutions that can advance the delivery of care to the next level. This includes next-generation telecare systems with new functions as well as integrated solutions that enable a combined delivery of telecare and telehealth services.

“Care providers will start to offer more and more proactive and predictive services, by continuously analysing user data and acting on abnormalities. Such solutions rely on data not only from telecare devices, but also from other sources such as smart home sensors, healthcare records and connected medical devices”, said Samuel Andersson, IoT Analyst at Berg Insight. Another trend worth noting is the effect that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the adoption of telehealth and remote patient monitoring solutions.

Mr. Andersson concluded:

“As lockdowns and quarantines were imposed all around the world, healthcare providers were motivated to adopt remote patient monitoring and telehealth solutions. This helped overcome some of the institutional hesitancy and conservatism that previously were major barriers for the adoption these solutions.”

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According to Future Market Insights, the worldwide IoT in Healthcare market is expected to reach US$ 181.4 Billion in 2022, growing at an 18.0% CAGR to US$ 952.3 Billion by 2032 over the forecast period.

Furthermore, a dollar opportunity worth US$ 770.9 Billion is anticipated for the market in the forthcoming decade.

By enabling real-time patient data access and remote patient monitoring, the Internet of Things (IoT) has the potential to disrupt traditional paper-based healthcare therapy. With the emergence of this digital healthcare technology, the impending need for enhanced diagnostics and targeted therapeutic options was met.

Furthermore, it not only enables physicians to remotely monitor patients, but it also functions as a fitness and wellness tracker for athletes and a dose reminder for patients. The successful implementation of IoT in remote monitoring of diabetic and asthma patients, along with the growing usage of fitness and wellness devices, has resulted in a considerable demand for the IoT healthcare business.

Key Takeaways from the Market Study

• IoT in healthcare experienced a growth rate worth 18.8% between 2015 and 2021
• Portable diagnostic devices in the IoT in Healthcare segment to expand at a CAGR of 10.1% during the forecast period
• In the U.S., the market is predicted to reach US$ 208.1 Billion while growing at a CAGR of 18.9% during the forecast period
• China’s market is expected to reach a market value of US$ 92.8 Billion with a CAGR of 19.5% during the forecast period

“Big data analytics is an area of IoT that is quickly expanding. The most recent breakthroughs in machine learning, logical procedures, computational intelligence, and data mining are required for big data analytics”, says an FMI analyst.

Competitive Landscape

Key players that have been profiled in the report are Apple Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., GE Healthcare Ltd., Google (Alphabet), International Business Machines Corporation, Medtronic PLC, Microsoft Corporation, Proteus Digital Health, Koninklijke Philips N.V., QUALCOMM Incorporated, and Abbot Laboratories are among companies that offer products and technologies that will allow customers to take advantage of new technologies.

• In April 2019, Royal Philips and Spencer Health Solutions expanded their relationship to provide chronically sick patients in selected European Union (EU) nations with in-home medication adherence and the Philips telehealth platform.
• Medtronic worked with IBM Watson in January 2019 to provide IQcast, a new feature of its current product Sugar.IQ, for iOS mobile devices in the United States. The software would provide patients with a hypoglycemic episode to monitor their low glucose level by anticipating the occurrence 1 to 4 hours in advance.

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Eseye’s Award-Winning AnyNet+ eSIMs and Cellular IoT Expertise Enable Telli Health to Achieve Verizon Network Device and eUICC Certification.

Eseye, today announced that it has enabled Telli Health’s innovative range of global remote patient monitoring (RPM) devices, including a blood pressure monitor, blood glucometer, pulse oximeter, and thermometer, to become the first in the global healthcare device marketplace to achieve eUICC certification on Verizon’s award-winning 4G LTE network in the United States.

With Verizon as part of Eseye’s global federation of connectivity partners, Eseye can offer IoT connectivity across the U.S. through its award-winning AnyNet+ eSIM, featuring an embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card (eUICC) and multi-IMSI capabilities, which can ensure Telli Health devices stay connected to the Verizon network.

Device certification on Verizon’s LTE network means that a device is confirmed to be technically compliant with and fully functional on the network. By attaining device and eUICC certification on Verizon’s expansive LTE network, Telli Health can scale its RPM solution across the U.S. medical IoT market, incorporating Verizon mobile connectivity that has been awarded #1 for Wireless Network Quality a record 28 times in a row by J.D. Power.

Telli Health selected Eseye to manage this process end-to-end, utilizing Eseye’s unrivaled technical device and network expertise to achieve eUICC certification.

Working with Eseye, Telli Health successfully achieved certification, including:

• Device preparation and behaviour analysis.
• Onboarding with AnyNet+ eUICC eSIMs to ensure the RPM device responds to changing connectivity environments.
• Testing the device and ensuring it has passed tests for eUICC-compliant network switching.
• Launching the device and enabling eUICC localization to Verizon once devices are live.

Will Dos Santos, Head of Sales, Telli Health emphasizes the importance of Verizon certification to Telli Health: “Achieving certification onto Verizon catapults us above our competitors and ensures our patients can reliably use our RPM devices even in more remote and rural areas. Eseye’s technical expertise and support was invaluable during the certification process. Verizon certification has positioned Telli Health for further success in the RPM market, with plans to deploy a total of 300,000 devices by the end of 2022.”

Erik Varney, Managing Director, Telematics and Industrial IoT, Verizon Business, added, “eUICC is transforming global IoT connectivity for business. It’s enabling the multinational enterprise to achieve interoperability and securely connect their devices locally to Verizon’s leading LTE network for IoT. Eseye and Telli Health are key contributors in establishing this cutting-edge service for the market, utilizing Verizon’s long-heralded network performance and reliability..”

Reliable connectivity central to Telli Health’s RPM proposition

Telli Health decided to design and build bespoke hardware so it could provide the best and most efficient solution for patients and healthcare providers.

To achieve this, it knew a multi-network approach was essential to deliver the reliable, ubiquitous connectivity fundamental to ensuring the accuracy of its RPM solutions. However, this introduced challenges in terms of device network certification and roaming capabilities, something that healthcare decision makers in Eseye’s 2021 research cited as a major issue..

This is where the Eseye AnyNet+ eSIM’s ability to localize onto the Verizon network was a critical factor for Telli Health. Verizon’s LTE network is essential for enabling devices beyond just population centers and into rural and under-served communities, where access to healthcare is difficult. A reliable connection is essential to deliver a steady stream of patient data, whilst building patient and doctor confidence in RPM solutions, potentially leading to better health outcomes and more efficient healthcare resource allocation in the future.

Since partnering with Eseye, Telli Health has witnessed:

• A 73% improvement in unique daily data transmissions, whereby reliable connectivity can provide data in real time.
• A 67% reduction in patient churn.
• A 94% reduction in support costs; RPM devices work out-of-the-box, leading to an 80% increase in patient onboarding times.

Nick Earle, CEO, Eseye concludes:
“Eseye is uniquely positioned in the market to offer a superior level of specialist technical support for customers, such as Telli Health, to achieve eUICC certification onto the required network, including Verizon’s in the US.”

“Adoption of eSIM technology in multi-country IoT deployments, where devices can seamlessly localize onto the network with the strongest signal, is only going to increase. Similarly, we expect to see a growing requirement for a managed-services approach to IoT, which can guide customers from ideation and proof of concept, through the design, development, and deployment of global IoT solutions at scale.”

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Ontex’s smart diaper tag, Orizon, utilizes LoRaWAN® connectivity to alert caregivers when pad needs to be changed.

Semtech Corporation announced a collaboration with Ontex, a leading international personal hygiene group, for an Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled diaper tag.

Ontex developed and owns the smart diaper concept, and worked with Belgian medical device agency Zenso Electronics to seamlessly integrate Semtech’s LoRa® devices and the LoRaWAN® standard to alert caregivers via an app when the pad needs to be changed. The solution features a printed sensor, transmitter (clipped onto the diaper) and a mobile or web application, which can accurately determine the saturation level of the diaper. LoRaWAN connectivity offers a small form factor design and ultra-low energy consumption, ideal for this type of solution in a smart hospital or elder care facility.

“Improving the quality of life of patients was a key goal in developing the Orizon smart diaper tag and the reason why we choose to utilize LoRaWAN for the solution,” said Annick De Poorter, executive vice president, innovation and sustainability at Ontex. “Caregivers and patients need the flexibility to move around distances in which LoRaWAN was able to securely provide coverage. As a result, the patient experience is immediately improved.”

According to Statista, the global smart hospital market in 2026 is expected to reach a value of $84 billion U.S. dollars with outpatient vigilance playing a key role in this growth. As hospitals and elder care facilities face tremendous time and budget pressure to take care of residents, the value of low power wide area networks (LPWAN), such as a LoRaWAN network, is extremely useful to immediately identify any incidents that require follow-up action. The Orizon diaper tag smartly employs LoRaWAN to provide instant saturation data in real time for the caregiver to change the diaper as needed.

Marc Pégulu, vice president of IoT product marketing and strategy for Semtech’s Wireless and Sensing Products Group, said:

“The Orizon smart diaper tag is a strong example of how LoRaWAN is making the world a better and smarter place to live through the improved patient experience. Health and safety should never be overlooked and this joint solution highlights how the IoT is valuable for improving the future of smart hospitals.”

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• Smart Meter IoT Devices in Remote Care Programs Dramatically Improve Health in 84% of Diabetes Patients and 88% of Hypertension Patients
• First-in-Class Smart Meter Cellular Pulse Oximeter to Debut at CES 2022

What’s the news?

AT&T is teaming up with Smart Meter to improve health outcomes for patients with chronic conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure.

Smart Meter supplies healthcare providers with cellular remote patient monitoring (RPM) devices and services, including the SmartRPM solution, iGlucose®, iBloodPressure 2.0, iScale and soon, the iPulseOx, being unveiled at CES 2022 in Las Vegas. These devices run on AT&T’s nationwide IoT network, known for its reliability and coverage.

Chronic diseases are the leading causes of death in the U.S., and they’re on the rise. Hypertension can lead to 2 of the biggest killers in this country – heart disease and stroke – while diabetes ranks 7th for deaths. But studies show remote patient monitoring can help change this. For example, 84% of diabetes and 88%1 of hypertension patients at highest risk for severe disease complications experienced significant improvements in their health when using the Smart Meter iGlucose and iBloodPressure as part of RPM programs.

Why is this important?

Consistent use is a must for an effective RPM program. So, the simpler the solution, the more likely the patient will use it. Smart Meter’s cellular-enabled devices simplify RPM. They are an easy out-of-the-box solution; just insert the included batteries and press the start button. The monitoring devices contain IoT SIM cards, so they automatically send the patient’s data over the AT&T IoT network to the SmartRPM cloud. The healthcare provider then accesses the data there via secure log-in.

Unlike cellular-enabled RPM devices, Bluetooth-enabled monitoring devices require the user to pair the device with a smartphone or tablet, download the data, and then send it to the doctor. It’s a more complicated solution that oftentimes involves troubleshooting. This can be intimidating and frustrating for users and can lead to them not continuing with the RPM program. Cellular RPM devices help lessen the technological divide and are more accessible to patients of all ages, regardless of digital literacy and access to connectivity.

What are the benefits?

For patients, Smart Meter’s cellular RPM devices mean easy access to improved healthcare with the peace of mind that comes from frequent assurances and support. For health care providers, the benefits include ready access to more complete patient data and the ability to act on it in near real-time, while automatic record keeping meets requirements for reimbursement.

Because of these benefits, a growing number of doctors are embracing RPM. A recent survey found 43% of clinicians believe RPM adoption will be on par with in-patient monitoring in 5 years.

What are people saying?

“The iGlucose solution proved to be an outstanding resource for my clinical team to enable greater insights into our patients’ results between visits. More than 70% of participants required some form of intervention prior to their next in-office visit, and as a result, there was a reduction in emergency room visits and need for hospitalizations, demonstrating better overall diabetes care.” – Dr. Gail L. Nunlee-Bland, MD, Howard University Diabetes Treatment Center

“Our collaboration with Smart Meter is another example of how our IoT connectivity is advancing connected healthcare. IoT-enabled devices ultimately provide a quicker and more convenient patient service with better outcomes for both the patient and the healthcare provider.” – Joe Drygas, VP of AT&T Healthcare Industry Solutions

“As an early RPM innovator, Smart Meter has done extensive work to drive the best outcomes by improving patient engagement and adherence, and our cellular alliance with AT&T has been a large part of our success.” – Casey Pittock, Smart Meter CEO

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Berg Insight, the world’s leading M2M/IoT market research provider, today released new findings on the mHealth market.

The number of remotely monitored patients reached 45.6 million in 2020 as the market acceptance continues to grow in several key verticals. This number includes all patients enrolled in mHealth care programs in which connected medical devices are used as a part of the care regimen. Connected medical devices used for various forms of personal health tracking are not included in this figure.

Berg Insight estimates that the number of remotely monitored patients will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.8 percent to reach 115.7 million by 2026.

The three main applications are monitoring of patients with sleep therapy devices, monitoring of patients with diabetes and monitoring of patients with implantable cardiac rhythm management (CRM) devices.

The number of remotely monitored sleep therapy patients amounted to 23.5 million in percent in 2020, mainly driven by ResMed and Philips that together dominate the sleep therapy market.

Glucose level monitoring has grown significantly in the last years and is now the second largest segment with 6.2 million connections at the end of the year. The growth is driven by the increased adoption of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems from providers such as Abbott and Dexcom. The CRM market is led by companies such as Medtronic, Boston Scientific and Abbott that started to include connectivity in CRM solutions more than a decade ago. Other device categories include ECG, telehealth, medication compliance, blood pressure monitors and others.

Samuel Andersson, IoT Analyst at Berg Insight, says:

“One of the most promising segments is medication compliance, which we expect will have the strongest growth in the next five years.”

More than 50 percent of all connected medical monitoring devices rely on cellular connectivity today and has become the de-facto standard for most types of connected home medical monitoring devices. The number of mHealth devices with integrated cellular connectivity reached 24.1 million in 2020. The use of BYOD connectivity will increase the most during the next six years, with a forecasted CAGR of 22.1 percent.

“BYOD involves low cost and the technology is mostly adopted in patient-centric therapeutic areas such as diabetes and asthma that have younger patient demographics compared to many other chronic diseases. Many of these patients prefer to use their own smartphone as the interface instead of carrying around a dedicated device for remote monitoring”, concluded Mr. Andersson.

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Hospital systems investing in virtual care turn to IoT managed services to enable remote patient monitoring platforms.

KORE, a global leader in Internet of Things (IoT) services and solutions, today announced that it has teamed up with Myia Health, an enterprise platform for healthcare delivery in the home, to provide major hospitals with software and IoT managed services that ensure IoT devices are kitted and shipped to patients who are being treated where they live.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the pace of digital transformations in all industries, especially in the healthcare sector.

“The connected health segment has experienced 18 years’ worth of innovation and IoT adoption during the 18 months of the pandemic,” said KORE President and CEO Romil Bahl. “And the pace isn’t slowing down. Virtual patient care and remote patient monitoring have become the go-forward norm in part because IoT has matured, and we can service this demand with our one-stop-shop IoT enablement services.”

Powered by advanced data analytics, Myia’s platform connects clinical actions with patient outcomes and identifies patients with the greatest need for high-touch care. When a patient is identified as vulnerable in a population or upon discharge from the hospital, KORE and Myia collaborate to handle the device logistics and deploy Myia’s patient and clinician software technology that allows healthcare providers to manage patients’ health in a continuous and preventative manner from the home.

Hospitals have consistently encountered the same significant logistics hurdles, though, as they attempt to build their virtual care/virtual hospital strategies. The virtual care experience is possible because of the advancement in market-ready health monitoring devices and improved choice in and reliability of the required connectivity for those devices. Take, for example, a hospital located in the mid-western part of the U.S. It typically adds 5,000 remote patients annually, and each of those patients has on average three health monitoring devices.

Before leveraging KORE, this hospital was handling the sourcing and logistics for 15,000 devices that were out in the field. The hospital quickly realized that it made more sense to outsource these services to a third party to manage the sourcing, servicing, kitting and retrieval of those devices.

“Hospitals prefer to stick to their knitting and focus on giving care, not the details of ensuring a heart monitor device has arrived at the home of the patient and will work out of the box, including connectivity and secure flow of data,” Bahl said.

Myia CEO and Co-Founder, Simon MacGibbon, said:

“Myia utilizes its advanced analytics and machine learning to partner with major hospital systems to provide the digital infrastructure of their virtual operations, which fuels and optimizes patient outcomes, clinical operations and the economics of these state-of-the-art virtual command centers where many thousands of patients can be monitored and preventatively managed in near-real time.”

“KORE plays a fundamental role in the success of these endeavors because it handles all of the managed services and logistics of making sure the right devices are delivered to the right patients at the right time.”

With a chronic heart failure patient, for example, KORE kitting and logistics capabilities are critical to ensure the cellular connected sensors and tablet arrive at the home of the patient with the proper software and configuration. KORE integrates sensors that capture vital health stats such as blood pressure and oxygen levels along with temperature and patient weight. KORE testing ensures a flawless out-of-the-box experience at a most critical point in the patient’s recovery process.

“The ultimate outcome is that we’re helping keep people healthy after an acute event so that they don’t have to go back to the hospital and are as well-managed and healthy as possible. This ultimately will help improve patient outcomes, and drive down overall healthcare costs and utilization,” MacGibbon said.

As hospitals move into the new norm of virtual care, they are no longer just hospital caregivers. The hospitals now have a highly complex, home-based logistics piece of their business that they have never before encountered. AI, technology, and specialized managed services are enabling hospitals to make their visions for virtual care a reality, as effectively as possible, while ensuring the behind-the-scenes processes are as streamlined and cost-efficient as possible.

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Sudden cardiac arrest causes about 20 percent of all deaths in Europe. In the United States, it kills about 400,000 people a year — more deaths than from breast cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, and prostate cancer combined.

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) occurs when the heart unexpectedly stops beating. Blood stops flowing to the brain and other vital organs. Before SCA, some people have chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea, or vomiting. Others simply faint and are rendered unconscious. Unless treated right away with an automated external defibrillator (AED), survival rates are low — just 5-20 percent.

Little is understood about sudden cardiac arrest. As yet, we don’t know of any effective preventative treatments other than a belief that a healthy lifestyle seems to reduce risk. But still: A Japanese study found 2.18 per 100,000 marathon runners have an SCA. With marathon runners being among the fittest athletes available, none of us should consider ourselves without risk of sudden cardiac arrest. Age also isn’t necessarily a factor: The young can have SCA.

The facts for SCA are grim, but this is critical: There is a solution for all of us and a device that can save our lives that costs less than US$500.

An AED in Every Home and Office

The way to improve the mortality rates for SCA is to have working, automated external defibrillators in our homes, offices, and public spaces.

AEDs are lightweight devices that deliver an electric shock through the chest to the heart — and they are remarkably effective. Between January 2005 and March 2017, the Japanese instituted a rapid-response system for marathon runners at organized events. Guided by central dispatch, paramedics on bicycles and on-foot teams were equipped with AEDs to support 1,965,265 runners in 251 road races of a distance of 10.0 to 42.2 kilometers.

The paramedics managed to resuscitate 28 of 30 runners who had a cardiac arrest using AEDs. The two remaining runners who did not survive died because they fell through the cracks — they didn’t have timely access to a defibrillator.

And that’s just it: Proximity to an AED matters — in fact, every second counts. In Japan, the marathon runners had a hundred percent survivability from SCA when shocks were delivered within 2.2 minutes.

In short, as one study phrased it, it’s a “lottery”: You win the lottery if you have proximity to a defibrillator, but you lose if one is too far away.

Given that an estimated 80 percent of cardiac arrests happen in the home, everyone could be at risk without a home or office defibrillator. In the US and Europe, laws dictate AEDs be placed in many public spaces. On an airplane where they have an AED installed or at the gym equipped with an AED, there’s a good chance for survival. However, in the home or many offices — most of us lose the lottery.

Unless we can put AEDs into our homes and offices — and make them affordable, connected, and highly portable — we’re never going to get ahead of the problem of sudden cardiac arrest.

“Connected” Counts

Many are looking for new ways where AEDs can become more accessible world-wide. For example, the US Medtech startup, HeartHero, set out to do just that, then they created the Elliot, an automated external defibrillator. HeartHero has been working on Elliot which is endorsed by the American College of Cardiology. What sets this AED apart from being rugged, portable, and affordable is that the Elliot is a connected device that can communicate with first responders.

When you put the HeartHero Elliot pads on the patient, it analyzes the heart rhythm. Then, it puts the gathered information through an AI algorithm and determines if a shock is needed. If needed, the device automatically delivers the shock. Because of its onboard connectivity, the Elliot can auto-notify emergency services and provide the GPS location of the patient.

For HeartHero — in this instance, Vodafone is the vital link to those outside services, providing that much needed IoT component. With the advanced data and global connectivity abilities, Vodafone is able to provide network connectivity for HeartHero in over a hundred countries which means Elliot can be taken on vacation to the Maldives, Europe, Australia – anywhere.

With that IoT component, the Elliot’s onboard connectivity also lessens a barrier to entry at the workplace. Normal AEDs require monitoring: Is the battery charged? How are the pads? An automatically monitored device means office managers don’t have to proactively assure the AED is ready to go. With HeartHero, you can manage one machine or a thousand from one account.

Older models were notorious for device malfunctions. In addition, regulations and concerns about legal liability made many corporations reluctant to have an AED on hand. Connectivity removes that major stumbling block and provides great resources for individuals and businesses world-wide.

As companies look to increase AED accessibility, it is important to notice the advantages new technology like IoT has. Without the advanced technology of IoT the Elliot wouldn’t be able to provide automated assistance to self-notify emergency services and provide the GPS location of the patient no matter where they are in the world. The Elliot is just one example of how IoT technology is helping many.

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Zoetis, an American drug company, the world’s largest producer of medicine and vaccinations for pets and livestock, which employs almost 10.000 workers globally, has implemented Actility’s LoRaWAN-based Detection and Contact Tracing Solution for COVID-19*, for its workers in Japan.

Zoetis has experienced the fear of being temporarily shut down due to COVID-19 worker infection, as many other companies around the globe. In Japan, as in many other countries, in the event of finding an infected worker by COVID-19, the Public Health Department may request all of the employees to stay home for 14 days, involving great losses for the whole company as business gets stopped, and pushing Zoetis to find a solution for their Japanese subsidiary, based in Tokyo.

Covid-19 sanitary policies focus on two main goals: enforcement of distancing policies, and rapid and immediate identification of contamination clusters in case of confirmed infection. This was obtained by equipping each employee with a compact wearable Abeeway Proximity Sensor which enables easy monitoring of interactions within the common areas, also working alongside security badges for access control. When the sensors record that two or more people have exceeded the safety limit, it warns them with an audible or visual alarm. The solution also allows to instantly trace workers through the data provided by the connected Proximity Detection Tags which ensure that the potential contamination cluster can be immediately back-traced around the infected employee, limiting the impact to only this cluster.

At the time of considering different solutions, Zoetis first investigated app-based solutions like Cocoa. Officially provided by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan (MHLW), this app notifies you of close contact with COVID-19 positive users to help the government and healthcare organizations contain the spread of COVID-19. However, this great app, essential for the big public usage, had to be completed with another solution on order to avoid shutdowns, as the company needed a solution showing which specific workers were in close distance with the ability to alert workers if they are not respecting distancing policies, and in consequence, to quickly identify the covid clusters and minimize the impact on the workers who must work from home.

After considering these factors, the reasonable cost of the Actility solution and the battery lifetime of the devices, Zoetis decided to adopt Actility’s Proximity Detection and Contact Tracing Solution, allowing to daily check the dashboard and, due to the strong accuracy of the solution, talk directly to any employee who might be infected and those who have been in direct contact.

Hideo Kato, Director, Customer Service and Operations at Zoetis Japan, said:

“Zoetis needed a solution to show the Public Health Department objective data evidence to minimize the amount of people staying at home and consequently avoid temporary shutdowns of their business. With the Actility LoRaWAN Safety Solution, Zoetis was able to automate the monitoring of new safety policies, while empowering employees as part of the new normal in business operations.”

Added Takashi Matsubara, Asia Region Sales Director at Actility, added:
“This compliance solution protects workers by ensuring secure social distancing, but it is also protecting the continuity of corporate operations and – by avoiding costly full shutdowns- provides instant RoI.”

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Sanofi, Capgemini, Generali and Orange announce plans to create a joint venture in France to fast-track the development of concrete healthcare solutions and to make them available to the market for the benefit of patients.

The project, on a scale that is unique in Europe, will bring together leading scientific and technological expertise in France and Europe. It will benefit from both a virtual platform and a physical base located in Paris, linked to the « PariSanté Campus » initiative announced by the French President and will strengthen the international positioning of France in digital health.

The founding partners are planning an initial investment of 24 million euros in the new entity, which will be operational from June 2021* for the virtual platform and December 2021* for the physical platform.

Digital innovation and data have become essential in healthcare. France and more broadly Europe have the necessary assets for large companies to capitalise on the innovation and agility of startups in order to jointly develop digital solutions that will bring value to patients and to the healthcare ecosystem. Work will focus on key themes for one or two years at a time and may revolve around a technology, a pathology, a patient population or be related to a public health topic. The new ecosystem, will bring together the 4 founding companies and aims to federate large companies and startups at a European level, around an open-innovation approach, conducive to the emergence of disruptive new models.

The uniqueness of this project is based on three pillars:

• the founding companies will share and pool their technologies, expertise and data with selected startups, in compliance with regulations and within an ethical and responsible framework, to support the implementation of digital solutions that improve the quality, security, accessibility and productivity of healthcare.

• the multidisciplinary nature of the ecosystem will be embodied by the founding companies, the partner companies and around a hundred French and European startups, as well as other players in the healthcare, technology and insurance sectors, public and private hospitals, patient associations, regulators, schools and universities.

• the development of concrete solutions to build tomorrow’s healthcare services, from the initial idea right through to making them available to patients and/or healthcare professionals. The strength of this alliance is based on the fact that the entire ecosystem will simultaneously focus on the same commitment, which will limit the dispersion of energy and increase the chances of success and creation of value for patients and the entire sector.

Paul Hudson, CEO of Sanofi, explained:
“We believe that France, and more broadly Europe, have all the necessary assets to be among the leading global players in digital healthcare innovation. Thisproject is the cornerstone of the open ecosystem centered on digital technology and healthcare data that we want to build with our partners.”

“Our shared ambition is to bring together all the players, including startups, that will collectively invent the future of healthcare for the benefit of patients and thereby place France at the heart of European innovation in this strategic field.”

“As a global leader in digital technology, one of our major responsibilities for future generations is to put technology at the service of health. This is now a priority for Capgemini, which is proud to participate in this fine project. The founding members all believe that digital technology will provide a tremendous boost; we have the ambition to quickly achieve concrete results”, said Aiman Ezzat, CEO of Capgemini Group.

“Through this alliance, our motivation as an insurer and assistance provider is to participate in an innovative and powerful ecosystem that will help model the healthcare solutions of the future and to work on new technologies and innovative services for patients. The insurance business works on the basis of statistics drawn from a large volume of anonymised data reaching back over several decades. This can be made available to startups to fuel their search for solutions. As an historical player in the healthcare market, nationally and internationally, Generali wishes to actively contribute to the creation and running of this unique ecosystem in France and Europe, in collaboration with other leading international companies in their sector”, said Jean-Laurent Granier, CEO of Generali France and Chairman of Europ Assistance.

“We are pleased to engage in this ambitious partnership that aims to harness digital technology to improve health services for everyone. At Orange, we are convinced that digital transformation is an important source of progress and that the potential for e-health is immense. This is a major challenge for society and, as a responsible operator, we believe that we can contribute to this effort. By creating a multidisciplinary ecosystem bringing together major European groups and startups, we are providing ourselves with the means to accelerate the development of solutions for the benefit of both patients and caregivers”, said Stéphane Richard, Chairman and CEO of Orange.

A digital platform to stimulate innovation in the digital health ecosystem

This project will be hosted on an online platform centred around an institute whose main mission will be to bring together experts, institutions, schools, universities and hospitals around issues concerning the use of data and digital tools in the healthcare sector. The platform will also be the entry point for interactions between founders, partners and startups to launch hackathons, initiate competitions, and share data and expertise in compliance with regulations and ethical standards.

A unique place in Europe, located in Paris

The ecosystem will be located in the heart of Paris. It will include a creative laboratory, a Fab Lab, a Data Lab and a Living Lab in which patients and healthcare professionals will be able to develop, test, adjust and assess solutions. In addition, a specific laboratory will also be dedicated to ethical and economic issues. It will synergize the PariSanté Campus, which aims to structure and federate an international digital health sector, open to national and international partnerships.

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With unprecedented demands on emergency services due to COVID-19 pandemic, the need for delivering high quality healthcare is now more critical than ever. In emergency conditions, each and every second is crucial in saving a human’s life. The success of emergency treatment is greatly influenced by the time, availability and accuracy of contextual information given during emergency call and ambulance transportation. Thereof, the provision of proper and timely treatment at the first scene, and collection of accurate patient vital signs are required to improve the possibility of successful emergency rescue.

What are the issues facing in emergency service delivery?

Ineffective communication is the most common weak link tied to ineffective emergency operations. This will include information passed between patients (or their relatives), ambulances and medical institutions. In reality, information or data given during an emergency call is usually inaccurate or insufficient. And the process of information collection, storage, processing and retrieval, which is conducted during an ambulance transportation, is remaining manual and time consuming. This will lead to a common situation where emergency experts lack patient’s health records and can only base the medical treatment on a series of information collected during transportation or from patient (or his relatives).

Another issue raises in delayed treatment. Nowadays, thousands of lives are being expired before the patient reaches the hospital in ambulances. In rural districts where patients locate distant from hospital, time consuming on long distances driving can be a fatal cause of death; while in crowded urban areas, unpredictable traffic conditions expose a high risk of delay in effective rescue measures.

5G-connected IoT ambulances empower medical emergency system

With the development of the Internet of Things (IoT) technology, many high-tech technologies are gradually introduced into the medical emergency system. Connected ambulances empowered by 5G’s high band width, low latency, and ultra-reliable connectivity presents tremendous benefits in improving rescue efficiency.

Modern ambulances are equipped with advanced diagnosis and treatment equipment like heart rate sensors, blood pressure testers, ultra-sound scanners, ECG monitors and automatic ventilators. In a connected scenario, connected equipment can monitor a patient’s vitals and symptoms while transmitting in real-time to central hospital database, providing timely and accurate electronic data and report to doctors; and the hospital can also pull up patient’s health records and share with paramedics on ambulances.

5G technology also enable 360 degree 4K/8K video streaming on the ambulances. Emergency experts can obtain a real-time interactive view by using VR headset and gain a better understanding of type and condition of emergency involved in advance. In this way, it avoids the circumstances where wrong treatments are conducted upon inaccurate or insufficient information input.

Video calling between the ambulance and hospital can turn the ambulance into a temporary consultation room. Emergency experts can monitor patient’s condition remotely, diagnose symptoms and prescribe urgent treatment which paramedics can perform on ambulance. On one hand, it saves time by allowing the hospital to do necessary medical preparation before patient reaches; on the other hand, timely implementation of treatment methods will effectively increase the chances of successful rescue.

Smart ambulances are featured with GPS that provides precise positioning that helps emergency center to assign the nearest ambulance for mission, and smart navigation that is able to plan shortest optimal route with least traffic. Furthermore, ambulances can also be connected into city’s traffic management system. Along their way to the hospital, traffic signals will be operated by using 5G message through cloud, and turn green when ambulances approach. IoT-based traffic control guarantees clearance of paths to hospital and saves time to the utmost extent.

In cases where access to city’s traffic control system is not supported, or traffic is inevitable, hospital can send out drones to transport necessary medication or equipment to the scene and assist paramedics for further treatment.

Fibocom’s 5G Modules Enable Modern Connected Ambulances

The revolutionary 5G technology creates an innovative new way to connect patient and remote medical experts in real time. It demonstrates new possibilities to modern medical system which 4G technology cannot. Fibocom’s 5G modules support reliable and seamless data, audio and video transmission on medical equipment, cameras, VR/AR headsets, and 5G CPE, making these IoT operations feasible. With super-high transmission rate and ultra-low latency, 5G-enabled equipment can reduce the possibility of misdiagnosis by synchronizing accurate real-time information to hospital. It also moves partial rescue measures forward by allowing emergency experts to instruct treatment from miles away. This would be meaningful, especially in severe and complex emergency cases, as it can shorten rescue time and help ambulance workers to best utilize, as called, “Golden Rescue Hours”.

Fibocom FG150 (W)/FM150 (W) 5G modules were launched in 2019 globally. Supporting 5G standalone network (SA) and non-standalone network (NSA) network architectures. It supports the 5G Sub 6 and mmwave bands, and it is also compatible with LTE and WCDMA standards. This eliminates customers’ concern on investment in the initial stages of 5G construction as it helps customers quickly implement 5G applications in different network conditions.

Fibocom’s 5G modules have already been applied in various scenarios like 4K/8K HD live streaming, cloud office, Industrial 4.0, C-V2X, smart grid, smart security and other innovative applications, such as 5G mobile network PC, 5G HD video communication terminals, 5G electric power terminals, 5G connected devices and systems (wireless gateways, routers, CPE, SD-WAN), 5G smart dressing mirrors, 5G drones, 5G robots, 5G AR/VR, 5G cloud gaming terminals, 5G HD digital signage, and more.

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Temperature and symptoms screening solution allows organizations to clear employees for work, while protecting students, guests, customers and workplaces from unnecessary exposure.

As part of an ongoing commitment to aid in the safe reopening of the US economy, TouchSource and Cleared4Work have united to launch a post-pandemic solution for getting people back to work with a first-to-market comprehensive screening, monitoring, and health check platform.

The partnership combines the in-building temperature and wellness solution of the TouchSource Taos wellness kiosk integrated with the Cleared4Work mobile wellness platform to assure employee safety as they shift from home back to the office.

TouchSource’s Taos wellness kiosk offers temperature screening, touchless hand sanitizer and digital information displays as an all-in-one service. Clear4Work is integrated with the solution to ensure that employees pass a coronavirus health survey and onsite temperature screening before entering the workplace. Employers can safely and securely manage GDPR- and HIPPA-compliant information while assuring the public of the highest standards of safety. Together, these solutions reduce the risk of workplace shutdowns, and exposure of students, guests and customers to infected employees.

“Companies are struggling to open and stay open amidst constant change with the global pandemic,” said TouchSource CEO, Ajay Kapoor.

“We’re in the same boat as are our customers. That’s why we teamed up with our innovation partner Cleared4Work to provide real solutions for pandemic challenges.”

“This innovative solution helps keep employees safer while protecting the public—powered by easy-to-own, turnkey software and kiosks.”

“Adding the Taos wellness kiosk extends our platform, enabling clients to ensure that healthy employees and visitors can easily check-in, while seamlessly handling those with possible symptoms,” says Cleared4Work COO, Ashley Heather.

“This ‘check-in’ data is also used to automate contact trace reporting which is another unique feature of our platform.”

The solution is future proof in that screenings can be used for flu symptoms and other contagious illnesses for a safer workplace year-round. In addition, the platform is already integrated with health providers and testing labs for validation of vaccine and other immunity situations. The kiosk is a fully-featured digital information station that can shift from wellness screening to a full range of other content.

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