IoT and wearables are being used by healthcare providers to monitor patients at home

 Manipal Hospitals announced last week that it has begun using a remote monitoring solution linked to Google-owned Fitbit devices to track patients recovering from high-risk surgeries. These devices collect data from patients such as heart rate, oxygen saturation level, sleep quality, steps, and pain score, which is then shared with nurses and doctors via an online monitoring solution provided by Singapore-based company ConnectedLife.

The monitoring solution can be tailored to each patient and can send reminders to patients to take their medications or do their physiotherapy on time. If the solution detects a significant change in a patient's physiological parameters, it can also send out alerts. "At the moment, the patient's data is being sent directly to the doctor." The doctor reviews each patient's data, but as the number of patients using the device grows, "we would like to look at other technologies that should help us with the excess 

The Fitbit-Connected Life solution is currently being used in Bengaluru, but the hospital intends to roll it out to all tier-1 branches in Delhi, Pune, and Goa.

There is a real need for patients to be monitored from home, according to Mudit Dandwate, co-founder and CEO of Dozee, a Bengaluru-based health tech company, but technology application in India is still in its early stages. "There has been a significant increase in demand for solutions for monitoring patients at home." The need for remote and contactless patient monitoring was always present, but the pandemic hastened its acceptance. "Both caregivers and patients want high-quality monitored care delivered at home," he adds.

Manipal Hospitals is just one example. Doctors, hospitals, and healthcare providers across the country have begun to embrace the use of wearables and Internet of Things (IoT) devices to monitor patient health, assess response to procedures, and track chronic illness and geriatric issues. Some IoT solutions even use artificial intelligence (AI) to provide doctors with early warnings based on a patient's vitals.

For example, Apollo Hospitals has introduced a smart in-patient room automation system that employs an AI-powered triaging system to remotely monitor a patient's respiratory rate, heart rate, and other clinical parameters. In addition, the company has deployed IoT-enabled smart health kiosks in multiple locations for screening and diagnosis of various health parameters.

Dozee, which claims to provide remote patient management and early warning systems to over 300 hospitals in India, employs a combination of ballistocardiography (BCG) and AI algorithms to calculate a risk score for patients and provide early warning of health deterioration. BCG is a recording of micro-vibrations produced by the human body as a result of mechanical activity of the heart, such as blood pumping.

This is accomplished by placing an IoT-enabled sensor sheet under the mattress of any bed. BCG, respiration rate, blood pressure, oxygen levels, muscle twitches, temperature, and other body movements can all be recorded. "We recognise that this type of monitoring may result in information overload for doctors, so we designed our AI-based smart alerts system to ensure that only relevant and timely escalations reach the doctor," Dandwate said.

The growing demand for remote patient monitoring is part of a larger paradigm shift in healthcare that is being witnessed around the world. "There is a growing emphasis on preventing the disease from progressing," Ravinder Singh, vice president and head of consulting at CitiusTech, another healthcare technology company, explained. This necessitates a significant amount of continuous closed-loop engagement with patients. That's where we're seeing connected devices enter the picture, as well as a push for remote monitoring solutions."

While the use of technology is increasing, security and privacy concerns remain a concern that the industry must address.

CheckPoint's cloud security report from January of this year identified IoT devices as one of the weakest links in an IT network. The patient data captured and shared via the Fitbit wearable is safe, according to Jose of Manipal Hospitals. He explained that the hospital manages and maintains a Google Cloud Subscription in India, which houses and runs ConnectedLife's enterprise infrastructure and applications, and that the hospital controls all patient data.