The internet of things (IoT) has innumerable applications in healthcare sector, be it remote monitoring or smart sensors and medical device integration. IoT has immense potential to not only assist in keeping the patients safe and healthy, but it has a direct scope to improve how physicians deliver care as well. IoT in Healthcare also promises to boost patient engagement and satisfaction whereby it allows patients to spend more time interacting with their respective doctors.

Lets glimpse through one such use case that aims to create a doctor patient relationship.

Key Challenges:

1. Lack of focus on prevention of an attack in the current model for asthma care.

2. Reversal of apathy among patients (30%-70%), who did not adhere to their prescribed medication.

3. Simplification of the clunky, difficult-to-analyse paper-based reports.

Solution

IoT in Healthcare – An advanced IoT-based smart inhaler that not only monitors the condition of the patient but also educates them on the measures and actions to prevent their next attack.

Connected App: Enables asthma patients and doctors to monitor and fight respiratory illnesses through usage tracking via the app.

Tracking: Accurate monitoring further helps in identifying the triggers for asthma attacks and prevention of future attacks.

Records and Reminders: Accurate records of when each dose is taken are used to communicate status to doctors, and help track illnesses. Reminders are also sent to patients to use their inhaler whenever necessary.

Patient Education: Patient is educated about triggers, like pollen or temperature, aggravating factors etc. and is better equipped to avoid asthma attacks and preventable hospitalizations.

The Methodology

Problem definition

Neebal assembled a team of industry experts, business analysts and content writers to survey and understand the pain areas to be addressed. Neebal team researched for 90 days on the existing hardware and built a prototype to capture the desired parameters in a single test cycle.

Designing the prototype

The team decided to implement the latest technology of Internet of things (IOT). The technology team wired an inhaler with a Bluetooth transmitter to communicate with an asthma patient’s smartphone. The idea was to get the sensor to activate when the inhaler is pressed.

Enhancing the prototype

The team aggregated and embedded multiple sources of public and private information into the App to supplement expert comments.

Application Launch

Post the client’s sign off, the application was launched and tested for effectiveness and efficiency with a pilot run in a supervised group of 1000 patients.

The Result

Stringent Monitoring

Doctors get a picture of both individual cases and asthma incidences overall.

Improvement in dosage errors

More than 90% patients take their dosage correctly.

Reduced hospitalisation

Timely prevention of Asthma attacks have minimized emergency room visits.

Overall cost reduction

Smart tracking has reduced the overall risks and healthcare cost towards asthma control.

Multiple Devices

Single app caters to 3 devices.

Increased Loyalty

Increased patient loyalty index with improved quality of service.

We at Neebal believe the healthcare community should come up with more such real-life applications of IoT in healthcare that not only help the patients to be healthy but also to create a doctor-patient relationship.

Do you agree? Is connectivity one of the next big frontiers in healthcare?

For 'Making Possibilities Real' visit Neebal.com