How cellular IoT is helping transform the healthcare industry
Increased demand coupled with staff shortages and budgetary constraints are putting the health care sector under increasing pressure.
However, the benefits that advanced cellular technology brings to hospitals, supply chains, ambulances and operating theatres is already doing much to help ease some of that strain.
Asset tracking
The cost of looking for and replacing lost or stolen hospital equipment runs into the millions. According to one investigation, 66 National Health Service trusts in England spent nearly 17 million euros over five years just on walking aids like wheelchairs and crutches, but almost four in five of the aids were never returned.
Low-cost trigger tags – connected by low power wide area cellular technology like NB-IoT or LTE-M – can help medical staff quickly locate equipment in an emergency or track it down if it’s taken off-site. Without the need for new cabling or Wi-Fi infrastructure, the same cellular connectivity can also monitor stock levels for drugs and help understand how often equipment is used to manage resources better.
Supply chain monitoring
Global pharmaceutical suppliers face the persistent challenge of safeguarding temperature-sensitive products. The independent climate consultancy Carbon Trust estimates that 35% of medicines are spoiled, leading to over US$30 billion in losses. Cellular connected IoT devices can make a huge impact in reducing wastage by sending real-time alerts about any temperature fluctuations, so companies can take urgent preventative action. For example, Controlant, a global leader in the digital monitoring of pharma supply chains, uses Vodafone IoT SIMs in its c.200,000 data loggers to track and monitor the condition of drug deliveries worldwide. Since implementing the solution, Controlant’s clients have achieved a successful delivery rate of perishable medicines of over 99.9%.
Remote expert support
5G’s ability to transfer very large files – such as MRI scans and support near real-time interaction with a delay of less than 10 milliseconds – has vastly expanded the possibility of remote expert support in operating theatres and ambulances. For example, Vodafone partnered with remote surgery software specialists, Proximie, to trial 5G-connected training that allowed clinicians and surgeons to ‘scrub in’ to any operating room or catheterisation (cath) lab virtually from anywhere in the world. Meanwhile, 5G-connected ambulances in Milan have been equipped with high-resolution video, AR glasses and live clinical data transfer tools so hospital clinicians can remotely examine and prescribe urgent treatment for patents before they arrive at the hospital.
The power, flexibility and security of cellular technology can help improve everything from asset management and logistics to the quality of medical training and patient treatment. And, by combining it with other technologies like artificial intelligence and virtual reality, new applications and possibilities are opening up every day.
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