An Insight on How IoT Can Aid Prevention and Help Steer Clear of Conventional Treatment

IoT is bound to make a great example of itself in the healthcare industry

Regardless of how fast and how far technology goes, mankind will always require excellent healthcare. Mankind has definitely taken significant strides in healthcare technology. Despite this however, we clearly have a long way to go. How often do we successfully detect a fatal malady in its primitive stage? Is preventive treatment dispatched effectively in a timely manner? Who bridges the gap between doctors and patients in the typical healthcare model?

These are questions often left unanswered, yet the answer is inevitably among us. A deeper look at the problems points to one obvious solution; the internet of things. From a technological standpoint, IoT could be one of the biggest paradigm shifting inventions towards dispatching better healthcare. Putting IoT to good use in the industry is bound to add tremendous value to the industry.

Let's look at how IoT can have a diverse positive impact on healthcare

The emergence of increased health awareness has led to a larger need for individuals to take better care of themselves. The concept of better prevention and the need for simple healthcare advise is on the rise. The rise of this healthier outlook and lifestyle has shifted the first point of care from medical centers to the homes of individuals themselves. For this reason, the need for real time information, collation of data, analysis and breakdown are key prerequisites. Pioneers in technology can make use patient generated data (PGD) to enable healthcare at home.

This has given birth to preventive healthcare being the central focus of the modern age. The impact medical devices at home and healthcare applications will have is nothing short of enormous. IoT can aid in the fields of clinical monitoring and assisted living, disease management and understanding, as well as wellness and preventive care. This transformative shift towards affordable, accessible and qualitative data being available in homes is what drives the coalition of IoT and health. Pioneers in technology can make use patient generated data (PGD) to deploy better healthcare solutions. As a result, cutting edge technologies and newer innovations are being developed to put the patients in complete charge of their own wellbeing.

Classic examples come to mind when it comes to IoT being mobilized towards wellness. Wearable devices like FitBit allows users to reach their fitness goals. Cloud based services like Omada Health aid in pre-diabetes weight loss management and reduction in diabetic diagnosis. Where prevention is concerned, heart monitoring devices such as AliveQor can help detect anomalies in regular heart function in a jiffy. Monitoring systems like Qardio allow for users to get an ECG test done in the comfort of their own homes. Smartglass wearables like Google Glass can be utilized for charting healthcare patterns in real time. Services such as Awarepoint make use of IoT for real time location tracking of patients and medical equipment.

IoT and healthcare is a mainstay in the modern scenario

IoT has far reaching implications with regards to improved outcomes, reduced costs and putting patients in charge of their wellbeing. It bridges the gap between sporadic patient-doctor interaction, reduces limited mobile monitoring, cuts down on delayed detection of illnesses and adds a dash of much needed efficiency and automation. Healthcare can only stand to benefit with automatic data collection, rapid data analysis and real-time measurement and monitoring. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that IoT holds great promise for a future where personalized and improved preventive healthcare is at the forefront of modern human wellbeing.