Sanjiv Verma, Vice President-Asia Pacific, Ruckus Networks, CommScope emphasises on the three crucial factors that public and commercial healthcare organisations should consider as they begin their transformation and innovation journey
Even before the pandemic occurred, it was estimated that digitised healthcare services such as telehealth — the practice of consultations between patients and medical providers by remote electronic format will grow and the e-health market size will reach USD 10.6 billion by 2025. To further support the country’s integrated digital health infrastructure and address the critical gaps, the Government of India is making focused investments with its Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission. The trend toward digitally enhanced care, and increased government investment will further the healthcare sector’s transformation.
Hospitals and other organisations in the healthcare ecosystem rely more than ever on the network infrastructure to ensure a secure, accurate and reliable flow of information. While the majority of healthcare data from connected medical devices is stored on the cloud, sensitive patient information must be handled and safeguarded under legal and regulatory standards. Data security and privacy remain critical challenges.
Few commercial spaces can even approach the data processing needs of a modern healthcare institution or hospital. The fast and dependable movement of information is mission critical. Hence, healthcare data must serve distributed staff and patients requiring far-reaching connectivity.
Additionally, the global value of the internet of medical things market will reach USD187.60 billion by 2028. The growth of health-focused Internet of Things (IoT) devices and wearables, the adoption of telemedicine, clinical informatics and rising healthcare data breaches have led healthcare institutions to invest in modernising infrastructure. For example, numerous local and national hospitals in India are deploying services in conjunction with Wi-Fi modules, thereby making significant strides in asset tracking, device management, and patient care systems within the healthcare ecosystem. This integration of hospitals assets, patient care services using enhanced connectivity is going to provide end-to-end solution for hospitals.
Here are three crucial factors that public and commercial healthcare organisations should consider as they begin their transformation and innovation journey.
More attention on patient safety, data security and privacy in modern healthcare
The conventional face-to-face interaction between doctors and patients and healthcare methods are gradually being replaced by remote consultations and care models backed by technology. For example, several hospitals in India have implemented e-consultation services and health management applications across India, allowing remote patient care and consultation services for improved last mile accessibility. This growing trend has put modern healthcare networks under immense pressure to meet the increasing demand for telemedicine all while spotlighting patient safety, data security and privacy.
Today, data collected by wearables and mobile health applications is being transformed into actionable insights to enhance patient care and improve medical best practices.
Apart from data centres hosting confidential patient and medical data, patient care is governed by regulations, and lives rely on the network. This makes the standards-compliant network—from the server room to the emergency room, from the nursery to the nurse’s station—critical.
Infrastructure security must prevent unauthorised access from an unauthorised person. Additionally, it should detect and repel unauthorised access by authorised personnel by tracking all changes to the physical layer in real time.
IT-operations technology synergies for a smart, efficient healthcare
Modern healthcare organisations rely on a timely flow of information for efficient operations. Within the hospital, the use of the IoT can help the facility speed up healthcare delivery and make services more efficient. Faced with mounting pressure, healthcare operations are increasingly in need of solutions that help optimise operational expenditure (OpEx) as critical systems become more connected and capable.
To achieve the industry’s success—improved patient outcomes and patient experience—IT and operational technology teams can create joint avenues of efficiency. For example, a shared physical network can unlock the potential for more efficient network administration and facilities operations.
Working together on a converged network, IT and operations technology teams globally are leveraging IoT capabilities that have led to exponential growth in the number of wired and wireless network devices.
For example, Wi-Fi 6/6E is connecting smart beds, oxygen monitoring devices, and real-time access to X-rays, among other staff alert and patient monitoring applications. IoT adoption has also gained traction in lighting, HVAC, physical security, asset tracking, smart parking, smart locks and security cameras within a healthcare facility. These real-world IoT deployments operate on a complex and costly array of network protocols, equipment and disparate management tools.
Patient experience at the heart of tomorrow’s healthcare
Healthcare is transforming—with patient experience at the heart of everything from patient care delivery to personalised healthcare. The adoption of digital technologies helps to improve remote patient monitoring and care delivery to achieve the best possible outcomes. Meanwhile, simplified, and automated processes can significantly enhance the patient experience, staff efficiency, recruitment, and inventory monitoring and control. One scenario is where we can track the number of hospital beds, specifically premium beds designated for critical healthcare patients such as those with heart conditions. The asset tracking of these patients, along with relevant device tracking can enable hospitals to effectively monitor the progress of each patient’s healthcare journey, providing hospitals and doctors with valuable insights to support their recovery and plan ahead and to facilitate the admission of new patients.
The bottom line is that while healthcare organisations embrace next-generation services like telemedicine and virtual ICU centres, there must be a careful balance between operational efficiency and patient experience. One example is the use of Artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analytics to provide insights that help improve patient care while reducing healthcare costs.
According to an Accenture report, 84 percent of healthcare executives believe AI will fundamentally alter how healthcare providers gain patient information and interact with consumers. For instance, AI systems that analyse data from IoT solutions, electronic medical records, DNA testing, genome sequencing, and personal health devices can assist clinicians in tailoring care and experiences for each patient.
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