Research and Markets has released a new report on the future of IoT in healthcare.
Research and Markets has announced the release of a new industry report, entitled ‘The Internet of Things (IoT) in Healthcare: Market Analysis and Forecasts 2016–2021‘.
According to the report, the healthcare industry is poised for monumental changes in the coming years, pushed forward by countless innovations in the field of connected health. These advances depend on a number of IoT technologies, applications, services, and solutions.
The healthcare IoT sector is, according to another report from Technavio, expected to grow at a CAGR of around 37 percent by 2020.
Awareness is fuelling rapid growth
Speaking exclusively to Internet of Business, Lord Paul Drayson, former Minister for Science and CEO of Drayson Technologies, highlighted the growing awareness of the potential in healthcare IoT.
“The healthcare sector is becoming more aware of the benefits of implementing IoT networks, which is fuelling this rapid growth,” he said.
“There’s an economic benefit to healthcare providers; locations for patient care can implement monitoring systems that allow better management of free beds. There’s also the benefit to the patients themselves. Healthcare providers can offer a better level of care by utilising the latest technologies available to them.”
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Lord Drayson also suggested that healthcare companies taking the leap now will reap the rewards in the years to come.
“These networks will also only continue to grow. What might start as an IoT network that monitors patient movement, can expand to collect data from multiple areas of patient care. Forward-thinking organisations are investing in IoT networks that can accommodate this continuous growth, realising a greater ROI in the long-term.”
Healthcare is on the move with IoT
Collette Johnson, director of medical at Plextek, pointed out that the sector’s growth is supported by the more personal, domestic approach to healthcare that it enables.
“The biggest opportunity that will come to the fore in the next few years is the movement of care from the hospital to the home,” she told Internet of Business. “This will be the result of the growth of high-value intelligent technologies and I believe we can expect to see movement in this area within the next few years.”
Changing demographics will also have an impact. Johnson continued, “The other area we can expect to see growth is with the aging population, as we look to enable the independence of vulnerable people and provide them with easy-to-use devices that can enable them to stay in their homes for longer. The integration of these technologies within smart city networks will expand these markets even wider.”
Lack of interoperability could hinder the market
As well as the expected security concerns that come with connecting devices to patient details and outcomes, the need for standardisation across the healthcare IoT sector is clear.
Wayne Miller, director of healthcare practice EMEA at Zebra Technologies, argued that “we need to recognise that data from multiple sources and devices needs to have some form of standardisation with respect to communication, to ensure the data is useful. Data and its accuracy is more important than ever in understanding patient outcomes, financial planning, and longer term strategic decisions.”
Plextek’s Collete Johnson agreed. She said, “Currently, vendors are working on their own technologies with their own connectivity. This means there is no interoperability, which in turn slows the market down.
“However, in the future a big player is likely to step in to drive forwards the standards in this area, therefore pushing smaller vendors out of the market.”
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Taking place in London on the 21st-22nd September, the Internet of Healthcare will examine how IoT is supporting clinicians to improve efficiency and raise the quality of care.
Through real-life case studies, workshops and roundtable discussions, explore the future of healthcare alongside pre-qualified healthcare leaders– including NHS England, WHO, Dubai Health Authority, and more. Click here for more details.