Will IoMT be able to salvage Indian healthcare?

Soma Tah

IoMT can drive more tangible reforms and sustainable development in Indian healthcare, by fueling a series of data-driven innovations in healthcare focusing on better healthcare outcomes. 

Digital technologies have become foundational to healthcare delivery today. In its global strategy on Digital Health 2020-2025 to promote healthy lives and wellbeing for all the World Health Organization (WHO) has launched and acknowledged advanced digital and communication technologies as a key enabler of the Digital Health vision.

Taking a cue from the possibilities unleashed by the Internet of Things (IoT) and connected devices in various industries of late, the healthcare industry has also shown a growing interest in  exploring the ways IoT could transform healthcare outcomes and most importantly, making it cost-effective.

IoT has the potential to transform the speed and accuracy of diagnosis and treatments, monitor and manage the patients’ health and care delivery in real time, which, in turn, can boost healthcare providers’ operational productivity, and improve cost-efficiency and profitability to a considerable extent too. Significant advances in computing and processing power, software, wireless technology and miniaturisation have expanded the possibilities further and created the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT).

Today, the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) is efficiently bridging the gap between the physical and the digital worlds by bringing together People (doctors, patients, nurses, caregivers), Data (patient and healthcare performance data), Processes (care delivery and patient support), and Enablers (connected medical devices, cloud and mobile applications).  

Figure 1: The IoMT Ecosystem 

Data & Image Source: MarketsandMarkets & Deloitte

IoT-based health devices have enabled healthcare providers to collect and analyze more patient data than ever before- fueling a series of innovations in healthcare focusing on better healthcare outcomes. A lot of thrust has been on the preventive and personalized healthcare solutions as well which can also alleviate the burden on our healthcare systems by reducing unnecessary visits to hospitals, or even reducing the hospital stay with timely intervention and treatment.

IoMT Application areas

Patient interactions with the healthcare system involve the use of medical equipment and devices to a great extent. MedTech companies manufacture more than 500,000 different types of medical devices, including wearable external medical devices (skin patches, insulin pumps and blood glucose monitors), implanted medical devices (pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillator devices) and stationary medical devices (home monitoring devices, connected imaging devices and scanning machines). The technologies used in these devices also extend far beyond those of pharmaceutical science to include materials science, bioengineering, engineering, electronics, software, information and communication technology, nuclear, aerospace, plastics technology, surface technology, and many more.

IoMT comprises medical devices, wearables, and applications that can connect to healthcare information technology systems to close the feedback loop between patients and medical practitioners and provide real-time monitoring. One of the prominent and simple uses of IoMT so far are wearables such as Smartwatches with functionalities like blood-oxygen level measurement, blood pressure and heart rate monitoring, etc. Remote monitoring of patients using smart devices such as BP Monitors, asthma monitors, etc. are also few popular uses of IoMT. Some of the common use cases being used at the institution level are Smart scheduling, patient and staff trace /track, fall detection, etc. 

Figure 2: 7 ways IoMT impacting Healthcare

Data & Image Source: Deloitte

Frost & Sullivan has identified five key application areas, where IoMT is making its mark predominantly.

On Body: Covers consumer health wearables and medical and clinical-grade wearables such as smart health devices, peripherals, and implants.

In Home: covers personal emergency response systems (PERS), remote patient monitoring (RPM) and telehealth virtual visits such as digital/virtual assistants, activity monitors, and home medical devices.

Community: covers Mobility services, Emergency response intelligence, Health Kiosks, and Point-of-care devices such as automated kiosks at community centers to improve access to informational services, pharmaceutical products, and telemedicine services, etc.

In Clinic: covers Point-of-care devices and care-coordination technologies as well as administrative support tools. Point-of-care devices here differ from those in the community segment. Instead of the care provider physically using a device, the provider can be located remotely while a device is used by qualified staff.

In Hospital: covers  IoMT-enabled devices and smart solutions for tracking patient/personnel flow, for better assets, inventory and hospital environment management and resource utilization.

IoMT market potential

Digital and communication technologies are going to transform the future of the healthcare sector in a way no one could not have imagined even a couple of years back.  The share of connected medical devices as of now is less than 50% of the total medical devices, but with improved efficiencies backed by an increasing spend in the research and development, the share will grow significantly in the next few years. A study estimate by MarketsandMarkets pegged the global IoMT market at around $72.5 billion in 2020, and forecast the market to be $188.2 billion by 2025, at a 21% CAGR. As per MarketsandMarkets estimates in 2017, the global IoMT market is likely to rise to $158.1 billion in 2022. (See Figure 3).  The demand for smart healthcare solutions is likely to shoot up further with an increasingly ageing population worldwide manifesting a higher prevalence of chronic diseases.

Figure 3: IoMT Market Growth Forecast across Geographies  

Data & Image Source: MarketsandMarkets & Deloitte  

India embracing IoMT 

By enabling last-mile digital health connectivity and facilitating efficient healthcare delivery, IoMT is generating an enormous volume of data streams and creating unprecedented opportunities for the HealthTech solution providers in India. The ongoing pandemic woes, for instance, have created opportunities for IoMT innovation in ambulatory, remote monitoring and patient care assistance. Public and private healthcare providers are harnessing the power of IoMT data to improve accuracy of diagnostics and impact of targeted treatments.  

Hitachi, for instance, is working on multiple large Digital Health Pilots which will not only augment India’s IoMT capabilities but also deliver care at remotest of the location. Hitachi has been working on a bunch of Digital Health initiatives across the globe that leverages Operational technology (OT)- Information Technology (IT) prowess to deliver solutions and products that improve care coordination/delivery.

Shishir Kumar, Director- Healthcare and Lifesciences, Hitachi Vantara India said, “IoMT has been a catalyst in delivering healthcare to those who require assistance in daily living through chronic disease and medicine management. In the current context, especially in the post pandemic normal, IoMT is also becoming an essential bridge to virtual care and remote monitoring of patients. With continued integration of IoMT with healthcare, India can innovate in both preventive, curative, and rehabilitative health-technologies, while bringing access to care even in the remotest parts of the country. In the future, as IoMT advances in India, and with mass awareness, 5G and policy interventions, I feel small clinics will coexist and collaborate with large hospitals and home care to deliver holistic healthcare. IoMT will also support virtual hospitals/clinics and wards where patients can be treated remotely, especially during the pandemic and time to follow.

Anupam Kulkarni, Co-Founder & CEO, iauro Systems said, “The healthcare industry is redefining itself with IoMT, moving the
healthcare facilities from hospitals to home. Today it is possible to create a one-stop platform for medical consultants, doctors, students and patients to be connected on a single dashboard. This integrated dashboard can capture real-time data for tracking the patient’s health in a holistic manner – storing of all relevant medical information of the patient’s health reading through various medical and healthcare devices, i.e. CT-scan, MRIs, X-rays, etc.; creating alerts related to patient’s medicine requirement patterns and routine health check-up notifications; benchmarking the patient's healthcare data with geographical norms and compliances; amongst others – all to ensure the best of the medical care are provided, in a timely manner.”

“The innovations in the healthcare space will soon adopt the 3Ps model – offering Predictive, Preventive, and Personalized measures in the interest of both the patients as well as doctors and 5G and IoT will be a key enabler in all the key instances,” he said.

“5G wireless tech will enable medical facilities anytime, anywhere through tele-health, allowing patients to seek the best of medical support even from remote locations. This will not only increase accessibility but also help in reducing time and cost drastically; will lead to providing the required diagnosis on time and thus resulting in healthier lives. Additionally, there is also a scope for introducing wearable technology which will play a crucial role in decreasing operational expenses for doctors and provide real-time patient health tracking. This will lead to an increase in preventive measures reducing the risk of potential diseases,” explained Kulkarni.

However, to maximize the potential of IoMT, India needs to focus on three key areas- building digital health infrastructure, e-governance, and skilling/public awareness, advised Shishir Kumar, of Hitachi Vantara India. But most importantly, it requires more active collaboration and partnership between patients, healthcare providers and facilities, pharma, academia, MedTech manufacturers and HealthTech providers to drive more tangible reforms and sustainable development in healthcare with IoMT.

Also Read: 

https://www.pcquest.com/whats-fueling-next-wave-healthtech-innovations/