HOW THE INTERNET OF THINGS (IOT) IS ADVANCING HEALTHCARE

MIKE SUSI is GLOBAL SENIOR DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT for RADIUS. With over 20 years of experience managing innovation and development projects, Mike leads the company’s ongoing growth and planning initiatives for all of the studios.

Individuals are more connected to and are taking ownership of their daily health.

Healthcare is a hot topic for everyone these days. Individuals are more connected to and are taking ownership of their daily health with devices such as Fitbits, home blood pressure monitoring devices, and smart-watches. In the healthcare sector, manufacturers are becoming fully invested in the Internet of Things (IoT) and what it means for medical equipment, including connectivity, communication, monitoring, and data collection. Researchers are leveraging the ability to collect and aggregate more data to uncover deeper insights into health needs to unlock more meaningful solutions… digging into how they can use the cloud and integrated technologies to provide education opportunities, lead remote training, and quickly share and communicate key data with another. Insurance companies are trying to learn how they can use the data provided by personal devices and that from medical equipment to better deliver customized health insurance, and in some cases, to drive behavior.

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This all adds up to a huge opportunity for change, growth, advancement, and success. The key though is to remember that IoT is a vehicle, but the success comes from understanding how to implement IoT to create value for the user, HCPs, insurers, etc. A deep understanding of this value helps cut through the sea of what can be done, and uncovers what should be done; to use the best of IoT to advance healthcare technologies and communication. Success starts with uncovering opportunities to generate value and finishes with mastering and leveraging the right technology solution to deliver the value. To do this properly, it’s necessary to take a step back and really understand what the opportunities IoT offers you and how you can translate this into real innovation.

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Harnessing the IoT

The real conundrum lies in how to best harness the IoT for your distinct opportunity. The industry is buzzing about the IoT but we need to really understand what the possibilities are for each company. Naturally, IoT is not the best solution for some opportunities, whether due to the particular stakeholder need, cost drivers, or simply due to the state of technology itself.

Knowing when and how to take advantage of the latest technology and then knowing how to develop this technology to meet your unique needs is what we do. We are experts in innovation, on uncovering opportunities and capitalizing on them, and in making sure that your unique opportunity is realized to its full potential. Part of our uniqueness is in the multidisciplinary approach with folks advocating for the user, with experts in understanding technology possibilities, and with experience in commercializing solutions. This can’t be done with a few spreadsheets and brainstorming sessions, instead, we take an iterative and connected approach to fully understanding, researching, testing, and prototyping your ideas and opportunity.

  • Do you know what struggles your customers face?
  • Do you understand their world and the broader set of technology and business solutions available? What technologies are working and not working?
  • Do customers want what you’re offering? Who are your customers and what are they currently using?
  • What are the latest in FDA standards and ISO regulations?
  • Do you understand the real cost-resource-company benefit of your idea? Is the expense of production going to smother your revenue?

Yes, there is a rush to market and being the first to offer the latest connected solution but it’s vital that you’re coming to market with the right solution. We want to bring our experts to work with yours so that, together, we can fully realize the potential that IoT offers you and your market.

Personal health monitoring adds up to improved peace-of-mind, decreased healthcare costs, better care, and more informed doctors, healthcare providers, and patients.

Doing More the Best Way Possible

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Knowing what the best opportunities are and how to use these the best way possible that will result in success for you and real benefit your customers.
Within the healthcare space, there are a number of areas of convergence where IoT is making significant impacts and where Radius is being called upon to assist.

  1. Home and personal monitoring. Think smart-watches that monitor blood pressure, heart rate, and provide alerts to remind people to drink, move, and sleep. With an older demographic, we see a need for connected and smart alerts to remind people to take their medication, to alert doctors when there has been a missed dose, and personal in-home safety tools such as video monitoring, emergency call buttons through-out the home, and monitoring solutions for dementia patients. When done correctly this all adds up to improved peace-of-mind, decreased healthcare costs, better care, and more informed doctors, healthcare providers and patients.
  2. Remote healthcare. Telemedicine has been hovering in the background for a while now and with the real advances in connectivity, cloud technology, and communication, we’re now able to realize this opportunity. From providing better healthcare to rural communities to offering specialist services to smaller hospitals to providing live training and education to students/doctors/nurses in environments that lack access to experts – remote healthcare is ready to break-through.
  3. Medical device technology. This is the realm that seems to bog down the healthcare system, the delay in getting results to the patients, consulting specialists, insurance companies, and other healthcare providers. Now with the IoT we’re seeing the ability to quickly and seamlessly communicate vital test results, scans, and data, eliminating the two-week wait for results and stress on behalf of the patient. Real-time outcomes of blood analysis while the patient waits or the instant display of an MRI to a specialist in another hospital or instant access to health data for a patient who is being transferred via ambulance.

A Front Seat

Radius is privileged to consult with many clients as they explore and harness the power of IoT within their new product ideas and evolving business and service models. From the latest in wearable technology and oral care to sophisticated remote monitoring, auto-alert, diagnostic and drug delivery devices, we are witnessing first hand. – The IoT is advancing healthcare – making life better and healthier for everyone involved.