| | JUNE 20228CIOReviewA year ago the idea of "IoT in healthcare" might not have meant much to many outside of the industry. Although operating prolifically, digital tools often work behind the scenes, and patients don't have to think about them. But the pandemic brought digital technology in healthcare to the forefront. Anyone who had a doctor's appointment during most of 2020 knows how important connectivity is to their well-being.In fact, healthcare has become more connected over the last 20 years. From the unseen in clinical research and supply chains to patient facing for independent living and remote monitoring, IoT has already had a transformational effect, streamlining drug development and delivery, creating efficiencies, more accurate data and new models of care as well as better care to places once unreachable. Hospital care before intakeTake, for instance, a hospital receiving patients. The process for obtaining patient history and assessing condition would typically be manual. That meant cumbersome, and error prone, information transfer when reaching the facility and less of a chance for expert intervention along the way.Using a connected application, patient data can be securely analyzed in real-time and communicated to caregivers at the hospital before the patient arrives. Phones or tablets enable care from anywhere so doctors and nurses can monitor the journey and offer guidance even in transit. Through IoT, full patient history and medical data is accurate and easily accessible to all those involved in treatment.The same applies to at-home monitoring. Automating data collection helps ensure optimal health of those with chronic conditions for which treatment depends on exact readings. The precision of self-observation driven by technology allows many to remain safe and independent at home rather than in a long-term care facility.Keeping medicine safeSensors attached to medicine packaging perform a different kind of monitoring. They can track and assess drugs during the long trail of the pharmaceutical supply chain to ensure product efficacy in the end. Changes in temperature, movement and light can be detected and alerts sent to allow for correction.THE FAR-REACHING IMPACT OF IOT IN HEALTHCARELudo FassatiIN MY OPINIONBy Ludo Fassati, Head of IOT, Vodofone
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