Maximising the Value of IoT-based Healthcare

The healthcare industry is more complex than ever: An aging population, expensive services, and high patient expectations—plus a wealth of industry regulations—are challenging the market, especially when it comes to deploying IoT solutions. Navigating the market requires a well-defined strategy and a clear set of objectives, along with a deep understanding of the technologies required to make an IoT project successful, according to a report from Beecham Research.

IoT-enabled healthcare is different from the telehealth solutions of yesterday. As the elderly prefer to live in their own home, and those with chronic conditions prefer daily monitoring via home healthcare devices instead of trips to the doctor’s office or emergency room, the use of at-home monitoring has skyrocketed. The keys that unlock it all are connectivity and interoperability of devices, applications and systems.

Healthcare solutions are a core component of our IoT offerings. We’ve developed a suite of IoT solutions that deliver pre-integrated, bundled offers with four key components:

• Network connectivity—global connectivity management that allows customers to monitor their IoT network connectivity from 24 cellular and satellite carriers
• Location-based services (LBS)—supports real-time tracking and monitoring capabilities out of the box
• Professional services—includes device certification, pre-production planning and forward and reverse logistics services
• IoT devices and hardware—includes tablets, routers, gateways, wearables and tracking equipment from leading IoT manufacturers

Our partnerships with leading device and equipment manufacturers allows us to offer a comprehensive suite of solutions for healthcare. These include mobile personal emergency response systems (MPERS) devices that enable users to signal for help, remote diagnostic and outpatient monitoring capabilities that allow caregivers to continuously monitor, record, access and store patient data remotely, and automated defibrillators (AEDs) that monitor and help patients experiencing cardiac emergencies.

The KORE healthcare portfolio was significantly enhanced by our recent acquisition of Integron, an IoT managed services company whose solutions span the lifecycle of most connected health projects, including integrating wireless activity and asset custody, plus sourcing and managing inventory. The solution has three main components:

• The Remote Patient Monitoring solution helps healthcare providers select, configure, provision, deliver and manage the complexity of remote patient monitoring. It also helps them manage recent regulatory changes that allow for virtual check-ins, patient/physician interaction, and remote monitoring of physiologic metrics such as weight, blood pressure and pulse oximetry.
• Managed Services for connected health combines wireless connectivity with network management, device management, and deployment and logistics services. They help source, provision, validate, secure and connect mobile devices that are being used for remote monitoring.
• The Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) solution ensures that individuals that receive personal care of home services actually receive the prescribed care they are authorised to receive.

IoT is transforming the way healthcare solutions are delivered to patients, so it’s no surprise the market is expected to grow to $158 billion by 2020. The applications for IoT-based healthcare are limitless, ranging from remote monitoring and personal healthcare to smart sensors and medical device integration. KORE is at the forefront of the healthcare IoT revolution with solutions that help healthcare organisations reduce costs, manage patient expectations and deliver patient care remotely, helping to reduce office and ER visits.

Learn more about our solutions for healthcare.