Healthcare
08 Jun 2022 13 min

Published:

Last update 19 MAY 2023

Internet of Things (IoT) in healthcare

Healthcare
Navigine - Internet of Things (IoT) in healthcare
08 Jun 2022 13 min

Published:

Last update 19 MAY 2023

Source - tubik.arts

The healthcare system today requires the ongoing implementation of innovative solutions and developments. Thanks to new technologies, it is possible to improve patient care and significantly increase medical staff efficiency. Many executives apply IoT healthcare solutions for these purposes. Integrated services are based on navigation systems and allow solving a wide range of tasks on optimizing the performance of medical institutions.

What is IoT?

IoT covers a wide spectrum of physical objects that are connected to the Internet and can exchange data. The concept has a great influence on the modern world and is applied practically in all spheres of life but the biggest demand for the Internet of Things is in the spheres where understanding clients is essential for enhancing the effectiveness, optimizing operations and working processes.

In healthcare, IoT technology is used for data streaming in real-time. Having the access to current information, medical service providers can take quicker and more effective solutions aimed at improving the medical institution’s performance. IoT in healthcare examples can include the following:

  • Remote monitoring of patients with gathering information about their health (temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, etc.);
  • Monitoring hand hygiene (used both for patients and nurses, doctors, and other medical employees to reduce the risks of infection);
  • Tracking the cases of asthma attacks and automatic inhaler connection;
  • Using swallowable sensors that gather data about the functions and state of the digestive system;
  • Smart contact lenses and many more.

Indoor navigation and tracking systems, also belonging to IoT technologies, are worth paying special attention to. Their integration into the existing hospital infrastructure improves the current business processes and ensures a modern integrated approach to patient care.

Which systems for clinics and hospitals can be realized using IoT?

Using healthcare navigation solutions makes this sphere safer and more convenient for both medical employees and patients. The technologies enable clear positioning of any object, building routes to wards and doctors’ rooms, and convenient navigation for the medical staff.

Tracking assets and other objects

Employees and executives can track medical equipment in real-time and instantly define its availability at the moment. It significantly improves asset management and gives employers the necessary analytics for optimizing logistics inside a clinic.

Thanks to the technology implementation, asset thefts or losses can be easily prevented. Medical equipment is fitted with special sensors that track its location and send out notifications in case they are leaving the hospital territory.

Learn more about wheelchair tracking system

Navigine is an RTLS healthcare vendor, so it often uses IoT tools for its solutions. You can find out more by watching the video:

Creating optimal routes to hospital rooms and offices

Many medical institutions consist of a big number of rooms and buildings, which complicates the search for the necessary place. Difficulties with navigation increase patient dissatisfaction and lead to wasting their time. The technology implementation can help solve the following tasks:

  • Creating digital maps with the indication of room location;
  • Performing step-by-step navigation around clinics;
  • Building routes to any place inside medical institutions;
  • Sending out personalized location-based messages.

The hospital wayfinding system can help people navigate around the territory of a medical institution. Patients just have to install the mobile application on their phones to quickly search for the required rooms.

Navigation for the staff

Using the systems for navigation and indoor positioning, one can optimize the routes for the medical staff. The platform builds detailed interactive maps of the hospital where all the key company components and assets are displayed. It allows calculating the shortest routes to various objects, navigating the list of tasks, and changing the task statuses for the employees.

The technology makes it possible to meet the high requirements of current business processes in medical institutions. Navigation allows for improving the clinic management and increasing the operational activity of the staff. Moreover, an important aspect is the possibility to track the staff workload for optimizing the schedule and setting daily tasks.

Navigine SDK

Professional real-time Indoor Positioning solutions for mobile apps.

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Benefits of IoT system implementation in healthcare

The use of IoT systems significantly enhances the performance of hospitals and clinics by optimizing working processes. The key benefits are:

  • Increasing the quality of outpatient care due to comprehensive analytics and remote monitoring;
  • Increasing the level of patient safety and their satisfaction with the clinic’s work;
  • Minimizing the risks of equipment breakdowns;
  • Possibility to optimize investments into assets thanks to detailed analysis of their cost and operating features;
  • Reducing medical staff workload by automating daily tasks (such as equipment disinfection, and defining the vital signs of patients);
  • Improving the level of labor discipline;
  • Ongoing control over movable property, theft prevention;
  • Possibilities of a quick search for patients or medical equipment.

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Ways of applying the Navigine system and IoT equipment (beacons) in healthcare

Navigine offers clinics and hospitals effective solutions in the sphere of indoor navigation and positioning. Clients are provided with a set of tools that allow the development of mobile applications for location-based tracking objects in real-time. The platform helps build interactive maps, monitor asset movement, and send notifications to employees and patients.

Special sensors (beacons) are implemented into the infrastructure of a medical institution to ensure system performance. These beacons are installed on tracked objects (inwards, on equipment, on wearable devices) and at the preset intervals they send out radio signals. Special readers detect these signals and send them to the server. After that, users’ smartphones receive the necessary information.

Digital platform from Navigine makes it possible to create advanced web services that meet the current trends in healthcare. New technologies increase client loyalty to a clinic, which leads to bigger profits.

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