The future is now: Transforming healthcare with the Internet of Things
What does a connected hospital look like?
- Physicians carry Wifi-enabled tablets and can access patient files and test results wherever they go.
- “Smart rooms” automatically monitor and send vital signs to the hospital’s database over a wireless network.
- Patients stay connected with friends and family or surf the Internet using a dedicated hospital network or watch TV on demand.
- A surgeon consults a patient record on his Google Glass while in surgery.
- Nurses monitor heart patients who have returned home after a cardiac event through devices that remotely track heart rate and blood pressure.
While this may seem like a glimpse into the future, it's possible now because of groundbreaking advances in Internet of Things (IoT) technology.
"IoT is transforming the healthcare industry and providing tremendous benefits for hospitals, physicians and patients," said Paul Lepage, president, TELUS Health. "More and more healthcare providers are investing in connected wireless systems and sensor-based devices that are reducing healthcare costs and ensuring that patients get better care."
At the heart of IoT in healthcare is the idea of linking healthcare providers with patient data in ways that was never possible before. For example, physicians and nurses at Ottawa Hospital are equipped with iPads – leveraging a partnership with TELUS Health – that give physicians quick access to a patient's full medical record, no matter where they are in the hospital. Doctors can use them to communicate with specialists or nurses and access reference materials on the fly.
"Doctors and nurses can also use the devices to capture vitals and explain a diagnosis to a patient using digital images, MRIs or X-Rays during an interactive bedside checkup," said Mr. Lepage.
IoT is allowing healthcare providers to access more patient data in other ways too. Beds with built-in sensors can monitor vital signs and transmit that data in real time to a hospital's database. And with remote patient monitoring (RPM), physicians can even monitor patients and provide continuity of care once they've left the hospital.
Outside of a hospital or clinic, wearable and sensor-based devices can be used to remotely track things like glucose levels, blood pressure and heart rate in vulnerable patients. In an aging population where more people will be dealing with chronic disease management, this kind of technology could make IoT-aided assisted living a cost-effective reality.
Currently, TELUS offers an RPM solution where biometrics for diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypertension and diabetes can be remotely monitored by nurses with the aid of an app while the patient remains at home.
"With RPM, patients are proactively engaged in their health, they get daily monitoring and have a better understanding of their own symptoms – without a trip to the hospital or doctor's office," said Mr. Lepage. "RPM solutions can drive a 50 percent reduction in visits to the emergency room and related hospitalizations as physicians and nurses can identify problems before they become serious. The entire healthcare system benefits."
IoT technology combined with pervasive wireless coverage is creating exciting new possibilities for mobile apps and wearable technology. For example, "smart socks" with built-in sensors are being developed that can detect diabetic foot ulcers. Similarly, "smart bras" can pick up irregular patterns in cell behavior to detect breast cancer, earlier than a mammogram can.
But as hospitals utilize IoT technology to improve how they monitor patients' health, many in the medical industry are recognizing the big benefits of even greater connectivity between hospitals, family doctors, pharmacies and labs to turn that information into better patient care.
"It all boils down to connectivity and collaboration – how do you make healthcare systems all interoperable and more importantly how does that connection increase collaboration among healthcare providers and communication with patients?" says Mr. Lepage. "That is where we come in. We're working on taking electronic health records, medication profiles from the pharmacy and lab records and making them interconnected and available. That way, healthcare providers will have all the right information for better decision-making, resulting in a better health outcome for the patient."
To help facilitate the healthcare industry's widespread adoption of transformational new technologies, says Mr. Lepage, TELUS has invested $1 billion dollars to develop healthcare solutions. The company's vision for IoT in healthcare is an integrated one, including client devices, applications, hardware, software and system infrastructure that leverages their coast-to-coast, secure wireless network.
More than 40 per cent of Canadian physicians who are currently using an EMR are using one powered by TELUS Health and close to a third of pharmacies in Canada use a TELUS solution. TELUS's Open Architecture Clinical Information System (or OACIS) uses a built-in connectivity engine to gather patient data from across different systems and centralize it into one clinician-friendly tool. More than 12 million Canadian patient records are currently on the OACIS system, with numbers growing every day.
"TELUS truly believes in the power of the internet to provide better care, with less chance for error and with better outcomes," said Mr. Lepage. "As the industry continues to adopt new technologies, healthcare in Canada will be revolutionized – and TELUS will be at the forefront of this transformation."
This content was produced by The Globe and Mail's advertising department, in consultation with Telus. The Globe's editorial department was not involved in its creation.