IoT in Telemedicine: Supporting Healthcare Delivery through Technology

IoT in Telemedicine
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Executive Summary
Medical industry has been influenced by technological innovation through adoption of
Telemedicine. This is a medicine based technology which enables patients to access healthcare
services over the Internet of Things (IoT). Through use of Telemedicine, state governments are
able to increase healthcare delivery. Several application technologies such as mobile apps,
websites as well as messages and alerts are being used to support Telemedicine. Besides
technology, IoT support Telemedicine through use of tools such as wireless sensors, RFID and
Health Cards among others. Despite benefits realized from Telemedicine in conjunction with
IoT, there are some challenges that hinder its implementation. These issues are; security and
privacy of data, payment parity, widespread implementation of Telemedicine and misdiagnosis.
From the study, it has been observed that most states have Telemedicine services. However,
most of Telemedicine services from some states are poor while others are performing
excellently. Solutions to Telemedicine issues involves educating people on importance of online
medical services and enacting rules and regulations that govern Telemedicine operations.
Introduction
Technological innovations have made modern world more advanced than ever and almost
every industry has been affected. With almost every aspect of life is going online, it is now
possible to use Telemedicine to monitor patient conditions with help of advanced technologies
related to Internet of Things (IoT). Through use of IoT, it has been possible to construct a
patient-centric applications to facilitate remote medical consultation as well as monitoring
services meant to help patients with critical conditions (Mora et al., 2017). Some patients require
continuous monitoring with frequent visits to hospitals. To minimize number of visits to the
hospital, Telemedicine was introduced with aim of reducing congestions in hospitals when some

of these patients does not require them. Telemedicine has been undergoing some advancements
and with help of sensors to monitor changes in patient’s body in real-time, it actually gives a
relief to both patients and doctors. Apart from monitoring patients to improve their lifestyle,
Telemedicine can provide lifesaving information as well as related educational programs on
medicine. To achieve Telemedicine goals, patient’s data is collected through implanted body
sensors and transmitted over the internet (Lazarev, 2016). Important to note is that, number of
patients have been quite high than available doctors required to treat acute diseases. To make
sure all patients receive services on timely manner, virtual doctor consultation through
Telemedicine has been of great help. Few experts from recognized health facilities are able to
serve a bigger number of patients across the globe. Therefore, technology in medical industry has
made it possible to extend quality medical services by providing continuous medical support and
educational programs (Kenganal & Rengaprabhu, 2016).
Application of technology
It is obvious that the backbone of Telemedicine is technology because all its aspects
should be run over the internet with help of some tools. Some of these technology tools that
support Telemedicine are; websites with medical information where patients can access
healthcare information, create accounts in order to contact available doctors, provide patients
feedback from analyzing provided symptoms and payment for services received. The next
technology involves mobile apps which help people to monitor their health by tracking
individual diet, heart rate and blood pressure (Sermakani, 2014). Additionally, patients are able
to receive their health status through alerts and notifications. System users are required to either
signup or subscribe to some alerts which would be generated automatically by system once a
certain condition has been detected by the system. Such alerts would be accompanied by

recommendations on required preventive care, vaccines available and medications to take.
Besides, telemedicine is also supported by some other technologies to enforce required data
protection and confidentiality. Telemedicine is supported by both live video and audio
conferencing with patients to get required explanation and recommendations for treatment
(Zhang & Xu, 2012). Since communication would involve revealing personal information on
illness which should be kept confidential, privacy security has to be enforced.
Additionally, according to Sermakani (2014), there are special telemedicine equipment
that have been designed to facilitate secure patient monitoring. These remote tools and
equipment help service providers to collect important information about specific illness from
several patients for a long period of time without making single on-site patient visit. These tools
help doctors to monitor and control patient chronic illness such as; blood pressure, heart rate,
blood sugar and temperature among other signs. Majorly, these tools are being used to monitor
home based patients and elderly people who stay on their own. Due to nature of the age, they
require special health observation. Since it is challenging for them to take some advanced
precautionary measures, telemedicine technologies becomes an important part of their lives
(Castro et al., 2017). Once doctor receives an alert from the implanted equipment, immediate
actions such as visiting the patient at home or calling an on-site team to attend the patient should
be prioritized.