IoT and AI Can Unlock Real Value Beyond the Hype, and Here’s How
Embracing connected technologies and artificial intelligence can help medtech achieve the goals of value-based and consumer-driven care. Still skeptical? Consider this example.
Everyone who works in healthcare is currently sitting in the center of a turbulent convergence. The drive toward value-based care is demanding better outcomes for less cost, while consumer-driven care demands patient self-empowerment and a more collaborative relationship between patient and physician. In my latest book, The Big Unlock, I discuss how the Internet of Things (IoT) and a connected healthcare ecosystem serve as a beacon for stakeholders within the convergence to help them navigate their way to the goals of value-based care. But many still struggle to see value in this approach as the technologies involved continue to mature, and the standards and processes surrounding them continue to coalesce.
In this context, it is helpful to define what this connected IoT ecosystem of the future can look like through a specific example, breaking it into the components that will make it work.
Imagine a patient with type 1 diabetes spending a day with her family. Instead of finger-sticks, this patient wears a medical device—a small, personal sensor that updates glucose levels in real time. Predictive analytics compiles the data to identify clear trendlines, compares this to population health norms, and determines the level of control the current treatment plan is exerting over the condition. Later that evening, the patient looks at the trendlines on her chosen, mainstream smart device. She compares the data to both the past week and the past month, and sends a message to her physician to share how she feels she is doing. The physician looks up this same data, as part of the patient’s universal health record, while on the way to dinner. The physician responds to the patient and is pleased with the current treatment plan. The doctor notifies the practice management system to schedule a regular follow-up with the patient.
Originally published on mddionline.com
