The new reality calls for new approaches to appear. In the business world, brands try new communication styles and revise common business processes. Some of these changes have already shown their benefits. In traditional medicine, virtual health care demonstrates such results.

What is virtual health care?

Virtual health care means applying traditional medical practices remotely. The term gained its title as doctors consult their clients during virtual visits.

What is Telehealth?

Telehealth is a broader term. Here, the virtual visit involves technology. Its tools can be simple (a phone call) or sophisticated (collecting analytics and creating the infection images). When it comes to mobile technologies and apps, Telehealth turns into mHealth.

What’s the difference between Telehealth and telemedicine?

The contemporary Telehealth technology started as telemedicine, adopted in call centers. These days, Telehealth relies on various channels of distant communication: videos, e-mails, and even fax.

Besides, it evolved by including augmented reality and artificial intelligence. These days, Telehealth opportunities already include these and other options:

• Google AI Calculation — the tool for distant analyzing and curing diabetic retinopathy,
• Big Data — to prevent calamitous diseases by identifying early symptoms,
• Robots — to provide in-house help for older people.

How virtual health services and Telehealth services transform the contemporary health system

All the Telehealth technologies had appeared long before the international lockdown announcement. Nevertheless, the development of the industry is outstanding these days.

For several years, US Telehealth has been serving the needs of teleradiology, teledermatology, and telepathology. Back in 2014, the majority of healthcare organizations already provided their patients with three key opportunities of telemedicine:

• Store and forward — the electronic tool for storing clinical data and sending it forward for evaluation,
• Remote monitoring — self-monitoring the signs of clinical diseases (like asthma and cardiovascular problems),
• Real-time interaction — virtual care services to get immediate medical attention.

Source: Statista, Availability of selected telemedicine practices to U.S. patients as of 2014

With virtual health care through Telehealth solutions, doctors can make better diagnoses, take eldercare to a higher level, and provide stable patient monitoring. All these possibilities raised extra importance with the Coronavirus spread.

Specifically, Telehealth can address the problems with distant monitoring, the vulnerability of elderly people, and hard-to-track symptoms. Moreover, the national lockdown has fueled Telehealth adoption through the increasing number of mHealth apps.

What are examples of Telehealth and mHealth apps: Successful cases worth your attention

Here’s the list of successful Telehealth technology examples: 3 Telehealth solutions and 2 categories of mHealth apps. They both demonstrate great results and provide a meaningful service in the age of Coronavirus lockdown.

USC Telehealth

USC Telehealth is a Telehealth online clinic that provides medical interventions in the form of video conferences. Being an academic institution, USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work guarantees professional online counseling and psychotherapy services to its clients. The sessions last 50 minutes on a weekly basis for three months. The center is situated in Los Angeles, and its working languages are English and Spanish.

The evidence-based practice from the school includes:

• Motivational interviewing,
• Problem-solving therapy,
• Cognitive-behavioral therapy,
• Other forms of psychotherapy.

Contact: Call (866) 740-6502 or write here

Home Telehealth

Home Telehealth is a tool that helps patients manage their chronic diseases. Among various Telehealth solutions, it’s the best option because it combines the achievements of all three types of telemedicine. You can self-monitor your health state, send the data for evaluation, and contact your doctor for health coaching. For consultations, the system has audio and video conferencing options.

The tool has already proved its extreme effectiveness in Veteran Health Administration and treating chronic diseases. Moreover, Home Telehealth is the basic equipment you need during the lockdown for the regular doctor visit during self-isolation.

Salus Telehealth

Salus Telehealth is the telemedicine institution that makes a difference globally. It aims at popularizing Telehealth among patients, healthcare IT services, providers, and businesses. For patients, the company grants access to virtual treatment.

This list of treatments includes allergies, bronchitis, aches in ears and eyes, sore throat, flu, infections, and bug bites. For providers, the Salus network works as an online team that helps to expand reach.

The company developed the Salus app and several setup devices. This way, it connects patients with the best doctors remotely. The set of Telehealth solutions includes consulting patients, making diagnoses, and choosing the best treatment. In times like these, Salus Telehealth sees its mission in relieving the pressure from the national healthcare system and saving critical space in emergency rooms.

Fooducate and MySugr, top mHealth apps for diabetes

Many mHealth apps have already shown their effectiveness. Among many available options for managing diabetes remotely, Fooducate and MySugr are the best picks.

Fooducate is the eating couch that assists in normalizing nutrition. It has everything needed to track your health state: intake of calories, nutrients, macro elements, sleep quality, and daily activity. For diabetes control, it can calculate the amount of sugar in all the foods, both organic and processed.

MySugr is another option for nutrition management. It assists in tracking sugar in your blood. The app is synced with a glucose monitor. Also, it can send you notifications to follow-up with extra data to make the most of your app. Later, this information can be discussed with your doctor during a virtual visit.

Medici and PingMD: Some of the best mHealth apps for patients

Another category of great mHealth apps is patient-oriented services. Among various mobile solutions, we recommend paying attention to Medici and PingMD.

Medici is the platform for connecting with your hospital online through video chats and texting. With it, you can reach your personal doctor who has a Medici doctor app from his/her side. This feature allows your medical adviser to set the fees and working hours. If you invite all your doctors, you will establish the complete network for your remote consultations. This is the most convenient way to make your regular visits in the pandemic era.

PingMD doesn’t offer video chats but has another helpful feature. It’s the platform to discuss the most interesting information in healthcare, including verifying the news about Coronavirus. However, be careful with the software updates — check the compatibility of this app with your smartphone before filling your information in it.

Pros and cons of Telehealth

Among the most evident advantages Telehealth shows, there are

• broader access to the healthcare system — meaning treating more groups of patients and those living in backwoods,
• cost-effectiveness — minimizing traveling time and costs, and
• service improvements — including greater self-discipline of patients and better shipment quality.

But this success of Telehealth has its flip side. Here arise three types of issues:

• legal compilations,
• ethical and communication problems,
• technological difficulties.

Source: Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, 2016 Survey of US Health Care Consumers

Legal problems arise because Telehealth technology is still associated with old-fashioned telemedicine. These days, the same problem has another root: this complex platform needs management by governmental norms to work better. Before that happens, the issues with trust in doctor-patient relationships will inevitably appear.

The virtual connection also causes communication problems: a phone call challenges doctors with finding new approaches to evaluating the client’s health state. And even if the doctor manages this situation, the ethical problems with Telehealth remain sharp. They involve security concerns and confidentiality of virtual visits.

Finally, the poor Internet connection and novelty of technologies is also the problem for Telehealth expansion. People are still cautious of using smartphones and computers for treatments and consultations, which are used in traditional in-person contact.

Telehealth and other forms of virtual care: Is there a future for them?

The quarantine accelerated the pace of virtual care development, but what will happen when it ends? Many experts believe in this way of healthcare progress. According to Deloitte Insights, the future of virtual health care is more than promising: it will improve procedures, client service, and the overall quality of treatment.

Source: Deloitte Insights analysis

Even though Telehealth still experiences legal and ethical problems, the technology possesses many perspectives. The current lockdown showed its potential to become the real solution for maintaining the well-being of the nation. It can treat both diseases other than Coronavirus-related and mental health.

Moreover, the abilities of virtual health care include saving traveling costs and conducting more accurate patient monitoring. All these factors will fuel the development of this technology long after the Coronavirus lockdown ends. And if this pandemic really shapes new social norms and drives new social rules, humanity should get prepared for starting today.

We, at Intellectsoft, empower companies and their healthcare workforce with cutting-edge transformative solutions and data-driven insights. Are you and your organization ready to shift the mindsets and get the most out of innovations?

Talk to our experts and find out more about the topic and how your business or project can start benefiting from it today!

The post The Future of Virtual Health: Telehealth, mHealth Apps, Virtual Care, and More to Come appeared first on Intellectsoft Blog.

Different devices and apps are great sources of data that can be properly evaluated and used to benefit companies and their customers in different industries. Insurance is not an exception, and thanks to telematics tools, the organizations can provide better services, offer individual underwriting, save costs for both insurers and the insured.

What Is Telematics Insurance?

So, what is “telematics insurance”? The notion is rather new, and only recently it came into practical application.

Telematics insurance means the usage of additional devices or applications to study behavioral statistics to predict loss. It can also be defined as UBI (Usage-Based Insurance).

Customers can get individual premium programs based on their actions.

How Telematics Helps Health Insurance Companies?

UBI (or telematics insurance) is usually used in car coverage, but it is expected that these programs will find their application in other types of coverage in the future. Telematics devices help underwriters price premiums for their customers, thus reducing the costs for the insured accurately.

In this way, the programs’ affordability is increased, and customers have more control over their premium programs. This helps insurance corporations to estimate accident damages more accurately and reduce fraud. The acquired info can also be used to create new UBI products that are refined and more individual.

Nowadays, at the time of the worldwide pandemic, organizations and their customer are looking for cheaper options. Telematics can help with this issue, so the underwriters can offer unique programs for auto insurance, homeowners, and life insurance.

1. Telematics Auto Insurance

Coverage programs based on the behavior input attained from the devices installed in the car. These devices can track the driver’s performance and calculate possible risks. They take into account every aspect, from speed to the length of the road trips.

2. Telematics for Homeowners Insurance

Telematics devices can be used to create refined programs for homeowners. Additional tracking devices and apps can be installed in the houses to increase the security level and provide better protection.

The organization can come up with individual coverage policies for its customers, thus making them more cost-effective.

3. Telematics Life Insurance

Life coverage programs can also be personalized with the help of wearables and IoT to get more suitable premium offers. Tracking tools can help collect behavior data and help the organization create personalized offers for its customers.

The issues that the companies might experience are connected with the implementation of the devices and data analyses. How can companies overcome these hurdles? Who is there to help them? There should one additional department or third-party involved in the process.

Telematics Insurance Industry: Who Can Help You to Create New Programs?

If an underwriter wants to create new programs for its customers based on telematics data, it should work with the insurance telematics development provider.

This niche is new, so the technologies and solutions will constantly change and develop. The organization should find a reliable partner for cooperation who has vast experience in the underwriting field and will help you build the best solutions.

Healthcare Telematics Challenges Faced by Insurance Companies

Although telematics programs have many advantages for underwriting organizations, there are still some challenges that need the right solutions. UBI programs use highly tentative info that raises privacy issues.

Another challenge concerns the cost spent on the devices that track user habits and resources that examine the statistics. UBI programs need technologies that gather and sensitize the data. As the area is rather new, it is not 100% clear on selecting and interpreting the input. The usage of new technologies means changing the existing programs and their price structure. The businesses should think of new ways to maintain the profit or refine the programs they offer.

Apart from this, it can be challenging to implement new coverage programs as they need to be allowed by the state. Their programs need to be approved by the authorities and suit the regulatory requirements.

What is Telematics Car Insurance?

The telematics in car coverage means using additional devices and tools that can track the driver’s performance on the road.

These devices are also known as “black box”. Underwriting organizations use UBI tools to see how risky the driver is and create individual insurance quotes based on the driving style.

Young and inexperienced drivers can benefit a lot from this type of protection.

Pros and Cons of Telematics Insurance for the Customers

Telematics is gaining popularity among the customers of underwriting corporations. Thanks to the latest technologies, the prices for the underwriting premium programs can be reduced. The customers will get personalized offers from insurance businesses and have more control over the programs.

One of the major drawbacks of telematics programs is the cost. Implementation and maintenance require additional resources. Thus the customers might pay more for the program, but it is a worthy investment in the future.

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What is Wearable Health Technology?

Any portable devices such as smartwatches, body patches, ear wearables, headbands, smart clothes, or smart glasses — are wearable devices.

These devices are devised to track, gather, and monitor users’ health data from step counts and calories burned to heart rate, glucose level, stress, sweat levels, and even oxygen saturation level, aiming to provide continuous and accurate health results to boost patients treatment.

What Was The First Wearable Technology in Healthcare?

The first device being implanted and worn by patients was a pacemaker for people struggling with arrhythmia in 1958. Since then, technological advances lead to the development of smart devices operating as “minicomputers” and enabling long-term and remote monitoring of patients in any place and any time.

Wearable Fitness Trackers

The first mass portable device conquering the market of sport-oriented and health conscious audiences. Fitness trackers were formerly designed to help monitor step counts, calories burned, and heart rate, followed by fitness recommendations.

Smart Health Watches

This device took wristbands that could only count steps to a new level. Today, smartphones are considered a practical medical tool, offering a varied number of functions, including heart rhythms measurements.

Wearable ECG Monitors

Specifically designed healthcare IT solutions for users with heart conditions, these devices can measure electrocardiograms and instantly send the accurate results to the user’s doctor.

Wearable Blood Pressure Monitors

An oscillometric BP smart monitor that can examine blood pressure as well as everyday body activity. This enables the devices to track and examine the correlation between daily activity and blood pressure measurements.

Biosensors

An amazing device improving preventive health care, as a self-adhesive patch, can track and store data continuously and alert about the possible cardiac or respiratory arrests.

Wearable Sweat-Sensors

By examining sweat levels, such devices can alert about possible seizures and send notifications to a person’s device as well as their doctor.

Why Wearable Technology in Healthcare is Important?

Facing the consequences of the 2020 pandemic of COVID-19, medical researchers are working towards boosting remote patient care as never before.

Portable technology enables practitioners to receive relevant and accurate data instantly and take action quicker. The smart devices help with early detection of health problems that, in turn, results in better patient treatment.

Significant Impact of Wearable Technology in Healthcare

The population is aging. This is our reality. Wearables are better at predicting death risks when dealing with older adults — and this is our hope. One of the most common issues older adults have to face regularly is health problems due to falling.

Luckily, portable devices can help examine body activity and offer effective fall prevention suggestions. Detection of heat strokes, mental status monitoring, prevention of sudden arrhythmic death with wearable cardioverter defibrillator — it’s already happening.

All the innovative portable devices provide easier monitoring of risks that can possibly threaten the lives of patients, as with the help of the technology, various parameters can be quickly and flawlessly examined (heart rate, oxygen saturation, body temperature, blood pressure, etc.)

Examples of Healthcare Interoperability Challenges That Can Be Solved with the Wearable Technology

One of the key benefits of portable devices is to ensure continuous patient care instead of an episodic one.

All the data that can be stored and examined via wristbands, headbands, patches, and other smart wear can help overcome many virtual and physical challenges medical care faces daily.

Here are just a few examples of how innovative tech solutions can deal with the most common obstacles. One of the challenges includes patient identification that is undoubtedly crucial when it comes to treatment. In the USA alone, 10 out of 17 medical error deaths occur due to the patient’s inability to identify correctly. However, as suggested by Heartlands Hospital in the UK, this issue can be easily solved if all the patients had Radio Frequency Identification wristbands.

Another vital challenge novice doctors have always faced is the lack of practical knowledge instead of theoretical. Though, with the help of Google Augmented Reality Glass, a student from any part of the world can be present at real operations streamed online and learn from the best doctors.

Finally, portable devices like smart glasses, wristbands, and other tiny devices connected to a huge database will enable effective collaboration between medical institutions. This, in turn, will significantly boost patient care, as doctors will have access to patient’s records at any place and at any time.

Benefits of Wearable Technology in Healthcare

• Significant cost reduction per patient

With the latest technology, patients won’t have to visit doctors as much as before, as lots of diagnoses can be made online, and the data from wearables will be enough.

• Alleviating staff workload

Instant access to patient’s data, the ability to collaborate with patient’s doctors from various institutions, and no need to insert data manually can be possible, all thanks to portable technology.

• Improved diagnosis

A tiny device attached to a person tracking, collecting, and monitoring the results continuously, can provide doctors with more accurate info rather than patients’ guesswork. In turn, this will help to make a better diagnosis.

• Prevention of diseases

Imagine a flu season when tons of citizens are rushing to hospitals, suspecting they have the flu. A portable device connected to a personal device can alert an individual about unwanted body activity and prevent epidemics by sending data to a united city/country database.

• Faster clinical decision making

With smart sensors, any emergency can be detected as soon as it occurred, saving time to save a life.

• Overall boost of patient care

The benefits of portable devices are all aimed at improving patient care. With the abundance of functions emerging daily, the opportunities are endless.

• Keeping patients engaged

Patients can be continuously informed and alerted about their health conditions. This, in turn, will help individuals to monitor their health regularly and motivate them to take action.

The Future of Wearable Technology in Healthcare

A recent study predicted that portable technology global sales would reach approximately $62,82 billion by 2050.

Consumers are believed to be more and more comfortable with wearing devices to track their body activities.

The quickest regions to adapt to changes and employ portable devices’ tech solutions will include North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific region.

Wearable Health Tracking Technology Issues Still to Overcome

Undoubtedly, the major tech companies’ two main issues are data protection and measurement accuracy. Patients are concerned about their personal data being securely collected and stored.

Plus, despite the accuracy of most devices being 80% and higher, it’s still not enough to convince all the people to rely on technology completely.

What Are the Key Wearable Technology Trends in Healthcare?

Needless to say that the aging population is one of the crucial factors influencing the latest tech solutions. While smartwatches were first designed as a fun and futuristic devices, the tech moguls are thinking about entering the health space by offering disease-specific features to detect a problem with the utmost accuracy. For instance, a smartwatch designed by Empatica, Embrace 2, can detect an epileptic seizure by examining the sweat level.

What is more, while fitness trackers were on fleek for quite a long period, their popularity is declining, as smartwatches are booming thanks to making common features like step counts and calories burn more accurate and offer innovative functions like non-invasive glucose monitoring and fall detection.

Eyewear technology continues to pave its way into the latest trends by broadening medical training and assistance horizons, all thanks to virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). Surprisingly, the competition is getting pretty rough with newcomers entering the field, such as Epson, Magical Leap, and Medical Realities.

A dark horse of wearable health technology is hearables. Formerly designed to enhance hearing, now the ear-worn devices offer a considerably huge number of functions: heart rate monitoring, sleep examination, steps count, calories burn count, and even brain wave analysis – this is all just a tip of the iceberg.

Finally, smart clothing and skin patches are starting to prosper in the field of healthcare. It’s not surprising, as 10% of people will already be wearing smart garments by 2025. It’s the new fashion and the revolutionizing way to boost patient care when constant monitoring is required.

Wearable Technology Health and Fitness: Apps and Devices That Are Already Booming

The portable technology has already weaved itself into people’s lives, changing the way we see health care and keeping fit regularly. Below you’ll find just a few technologies that are currently booming, and their number will only be rising.

1. AVA

Uncannily accurate portable helping to track women’s health, including fertility, pregnancy, weight and sleep monitoring, as well as stress examination. The recent studies confirmed its accuracy of fertility prediction to be 89%.

2. KardioMobile

An electrocardiogram (ECG) designed by AliveCor to track and diagnose heart issues. It can be attached to the back of the iPhone and Android mobile devices to monitor heart activity through chest and finger sensors to the mobile itself. Keeping an eye on heart conditions has become a manageable daily routine.

3. PIP

A lifesaver for the population being under stress all the time. A teeny device is designed to monitor your level of stress and help you calm down when needed. The device is doing so by examining the changes in your electrodermal activity and then sends the signals to your mobile app.

4. Withings Blood Pressure

Checking your heart and examining your blood pressure as accurately as your doctor will do. The secret is that the blood pressure monitor performs three measurements to provide the average and the most accurate results. Plus, the monitor sends the info via Bluetooth to the app on your phone.

5. TempTraq

A revolutionizing digital thermometer. It has a form of a soft and comfortable patch that can be adjusted to the body up to 48 hours to continuously monitor the temperature. What is more, it’s connected to your mobile device to send alerts and notifications. It’s gaining its massive popularity among parents, as it’s easy to measure a child’s temperature without disrupting a kid while manually and stressfully taking it several times.

6. BioScarf

As relevant as never before – the first scarf to protect from pollution, allergy, cold, and flu. This Bioscarf has an air filter incorporated in it. The filter will protect the wearer from the majority of airborne contaminants having a bad effect on their health.

7. Philips SmartSleep

Philips has designed a Headband to boost the quality of deep sleep. It was developed by doctors and researchers to help people struggling with sleep problems. Thanks to the sensors, the headband monitors the body activity during different sleep stages and then sends this info to a mobile app. The app will then show you the metrics and provide suggestions to make your sleep better.

The future is truly exciting — wearable technology in healthcare is just another evidence that IT solutions are shaping our world already to make it a better place to live.

We empower companies and their workforce with cutting-edge transformative solutions and data-driven insights. Are you and your organization ready to shift the mindsets and get the most out of innovations?

Talk to our experts and find out more about the topic and how your business or project can start benefiting from it today!

The post Wearable Technology in Healthcare: The Holy Grail of Longevity? appeared first on Intellectsoft Blog.

The perks of applying for all the technological advances in one’s industry are endless. The particular benefit is technology having a direct impact on human health and longevity. Healthcare is at the edge of a technological revolution that will bring unexpected opportunities.

In this article, we will cover the top 15 types of healthcare software popular among private and public sectors. We will dwell upon the peculiarities of each program and define its possible benefits in the industry. We will discover how various native and external apps can solve tons of problems. Not only can appropriate software reduce health costs, but it can also provide personalized insights for every patient.

The Top 15 Types of Healthcare Software on Point in 2020

Healthcare Management Software

Management programs aim at optimizing the working process and improving the overall quality of service. Whether it’s an app designed to manage medical equipment or an administrative-like application to assist with financial and organization functions, its goal is to eliminate as many human errors as possible and enhance patient care.

With well-designed software applications and solutions for the healthcare industry, most of the manual processes can be automated, making administrative and management procedures faster and more efficient.

Unfortunately, there is still software that covers a broad spectrum of features, as mostly you’ll come across programs specifically designed to deal with a particular factor like scheduling, billing, analytics, electronic medical records (EMR), etc.

Online communication between patients and doctors is also possible with well-crafted and well-protected applications, securing a safe place for discussing personal details without the risk of these details being exposed.

Healthcare Scheduling Software

There are two distinct types of programs — one dealing with patient schedules, and the other with staff schedules. While the former simplifies the process of getting an appointment with a doctor, the latter maintains health care employee schedules.

Both types of applications are aimed at reducing scheduling friction, detecting any irregularities, and as a result of improving patient care. It exists as a standalone app, as well as it can be added as a feature to a broad-spectrum management app developed for a hospital.

Appointment scheduling minimizes the waiting time of patients, and with a well-designed interface makes this process fast and “painless.” Usually, a patient should register to use the app, and afterward can book an appointment to a particular doctor at a specific date and time. It’s way more convenient than the old lining up and crowding the hall of a hospital.

Healthcare CRM Software

A thoroughly designed CRM focuses on establishing strong relationships between a patient and their practitioners/or a hospital. These interactions are personalized to provide clients with the utmost caring services. What is more, it enables monitoring and assessing the efficiency of professional staff working at the hospital. As more actions are automated with CRM, it improves customer satisfaction significantly.

In addition to this, such software is optimized by marketing and sales specialists, as the key role of individuals using the app is customers. Automated notifications, email marketing, personalization of content, all-round profiles of patients, automated analytics, monitoring various clients’ satisfaction factors – all this is aimed at making patients’ experience as customers better. And that what makes CRM different from electronic health records (EHR) that is primarily concerned with patient treatment and is designed for qualified clinicians only.

Healthcare Billing Software

The best solution to automate manual billing processes and monitor payments from any device within several clicks. Secure payments that improve clients’ satisfaction and centralized medical billing enable access to a single database for various providers in various locations.

Such software usually offers a broad spectrum of analytical data that helps monitor financial health and provides excellent insights into possible revenue opportunities. What is more, with such a single-base program, less manual mistakes will take place that often occurs by copying-and-pasting data between systems.

When several practices are growing to become large organizations, such software is the number one priority for a business to keep profitable and successful. All in this type of program helps to make transactions more transparent and prevent any frauds.

Healthcare Claims Processing Software

Managing healthcare and insurance claims is more efficient with a well-executed program. As many manual processes are automated, the overall analysis and evaluation of applications are faster and more quality. It’s easier to detect fraudulent claims, keep all the data organized in one centralized system.

Healthcare Management Software

Consequently, while the whole procedure is optimized, customers’ satisfaction is boosted as well. The program enables a practice to assess the complexity of a particular claim and the risks and likelihood of litigation. At the time, users enjoy the simplicity and convenience to leave a request with such a program.

All the data is integrated successfully no matter the formatting (whether it’s PDF, images, flat files, etc.) Finally, robust software enables users to proceed with claims via any desirable channel, including email, contact center, website, or even phone applications. A practice may acquire such a program as an independent tool or a wide spectrum software feature.

Healthcare Analytics Software

“Data is the new oil.” The quotation has become so common that no one is no longer surprised by hearing that. Any field can genuinely benefit from acquiring tons of data and analyzing it significantly to improve service quality and future revenues.

In brief, such software will collect all the data a healthcare organization deals with every day and will provide significant insights regarding patient care, management, billing procedures, scheduling, etc.

Suppose such a program is integrated with EHRs. In that case, it opens a unique opportunity of quality predictive and prescriptive analytics for every patient individually and the whole database of patients.

On a global scale, such software can help predict epidemics and pandemics’ outbreaks thanks to the data collected. That is to say, and practice can benefit from employing the following tool.

Healthcare Accounting Software

Another useful tool to optimize the working process is by eliminating the number of manual errors and monitoring accounting operations more efficiently.

Moreover, a single program can significantly reduce staffing costs and follow all the processes more accurately. Big organizations will enjoy a shared chart of accounts and real-time access to any metrics. This saves time, keeping the expenses, and monitoring the revenues. Such software makes it easier to see the bigger picture of a financial situation any time you need it.

Most importantly, with a tool like this, you can examine the current state of affairs at your practice or health organization on the go, whenever and wherever you need. Managing accounts doesn’t cause headaches all the time, and when it does, it’s probably because a practice has no software required.

Electronic Health Record (EHR) Software

Keeping patients’ records can be optimized with such a tool. It’s no longer about the medical record, just going digital and being stored online. The latest programs enable a more meaningful and efficient connection between a patient and a practitioner.

There is a number of features: starting with patient cards organized chronologically to customizable templates specifically designed for the needs of practitioners. All the needed patients’ info, medical charts, and procedures details are all stored in digital format and can be easily accessed by practitioners of a healthcare organization.

The fundamental goal of such a tool is to secure the safe storage of patients’ medical data from various departments within one protected system. So, it speeds up the workflow of EHR and empowers the practice to offer better medical services to its patients.

Medical Diagnosis Software

This particular type probably holds the most potential to offer healthcare. AI technology is developing truly fast and has already started to revolutionize the field of medical care. From a helping feature to accelerate the process of diagnosis to an independent tool to detect a health risk earlier than the practitioners themselves – that’s the future AI holds.

In times of COVID-19, there’s already an AI tool specifically designed to help doctors to detect the suspicious symptoms and come up with the correct diagnosis. With such a program, the exchange of info among various departments is faster, and more quality.

As practitioners from different fields add data to a patient’s card in real-time, it’s easier to see the bigger picture. That adds AI to such a tool, and it will examine and offer a possible diagnosis straightaway.

Imaging and Visualization

‘Artificial intelligence will not replace radiologists … but radiologists who use AI will replace radiologists who don’t.’ The same thing can be said about the practices employing and not employing the opportunities for imaging and visualization tools. CT scanning and MRI took health treatment to a new level, and so medical imaging will.

Such programs will empower practitioners to monitor various body systems in a real-time visual representation. Surgery is the first field to benefit from such a tool, as it helps doctors to conduct safer and more accurate procedures.

Now, add machine learning, deep learning, and/or AI so that such software will significantly enhance doctors’ expertise. No matter how hard a human may try, a machine can examine more info faster, and with a broader number of outlooks.

Medical Database Software

This tool is quite similar to EHR, as it also collects and stores patients’ data like medical records, procedures, medications etc. However, this software classifies cases in accordance with disease diagnosis.

While the EHR is more focused on each patient individually, a database will provide a bigger outlook, as its main concern is overall stored information. The medical data is usually managed via Cloud storage so that it’s easy to access it anytime and any place. With a carefully stored info about previous cases, practitioners are empowered with unique opportunities to make more accurate and faster clinical decisions (that is vital in terms of healthcare).

Generally, such a tool is easy to navigate and customized according to the specific needs of a practice. Customized templates and features improve the quality of service and as a result patients’ care.

E-prescribing Software

Yet another tool to significantly lower the risks of manual errors and misunderstandings. With such a program, a practitioner can directly connect with pharmacies for prescriptions.

In other words, no need to decipher the handwriting of your doctor, as the pharmacy will already get all the needed info about the treatment you need and medications required. That is to say, it speeds up the process of receiving the medication, as well as improves the safety of a patient by eliminating medication errors.

What is more, with such a tool, all the prescribed medicine is instantly recorded in electronic patients’ cards. That is why in case a new doctor will take charge, they will have the info about the whole treatment process of a patient.

Medical Research Software

Such programs work both ways. On the one hand, digital platforms offer accurate and important research literature reviews for practitioners to examine and apply in treating a patient.

On the other hand, when treating a patient, a doctor may reference patient files that, in turn, will help with medical research. As a huge healthcare organization, one can benefit from having a large portal where all the results are stored and can be accessed by different researchers from different fields.

Such healthcare software development helps to increase the speed of new discoveries and outbreaks in the field of medicine. With the opportunities to use the latest tools and provide an in-depth analysis of the findings with the help of machine learning or AI, it’s much easier to reach the edge of a new breakthrough.

Telemedicine Software

Needless to say that telemedicine has never been reaching its potential as much as it’s in 2020 due to COVID-19 outbreak, and everything is going online. More and more patients are eager to receive consultations without going to the doctor’s office.

This tool is what makes medical treatment online possible, accessible, and effective. It won’t enable a practitioner to carry out surgery online, but updating medication prescriptions, and monitoring patients with existing conditions is not only possible, but it’s also easy and convenient.

To bring the best out of it, this tool is often used to feature a wider spectrum of software, including EHR, electronic medication prescription and billing (so that payments are also carried online with no sweat). However, it can be designed as a standalone program as well to meet the specific needs of a practice.

Personal Health Record Software

This particular tool will store all the medical records of family members. Patients enjoy having all the health issues being organized in one easy-to-use interface. It can just serve as an optimization tool that provides access to the needed data on any device so that patients can easily monitor this info.

Combining some analytical features and notifications can inform a patient’s practitioner about their health situation or notify a patient about the upcoming regular procedures. In other words, with all the personal records stored, such a tool can serve as a wellness program that helps patients keep track of their health problems and lead a more sound lifestyle. Personalized wellness strategies, keeping all the documents in one place, and notifying practitioners about unexpected emergencies – it’s all possible with such a tool.

We, at Intellectsoft, empower companies and their workforce with cutting-edge transformative solutions and data-driven insights. Are you and your organization ready to shift the mindsets and get the most out of innovations?

Talk to our experts and find out more about the topic and how your business or project can start benefiting from it today!

The post The Emerging Types of Healthcare Software: Why So Many? appeared first on Intellectsoft Blog.

You will learn:

• Where do beacons come from
• What is beacon technology
• How does it work
• The many types of beacons
• How they benefit companies across industries
• Pros and cons of the devices
• How technology would evolve

Let’s start!

What Is Beacon Technology

Beacon devices are at the heart of beacon technology.

Most beacons are small computers, roughly the size of a standard Wi-Fi router.

Part of indoor and outdoor positioning systems and Internet of Things (IoT) networks, beacons use proximity technology to detect human presence nearby and trigger preset actions to deliver informational, contextual, and personalized experiences.

Brief History: Where Did Beacon Technology Begin?

The concept of beacons is as old as, for example, hand watches. Like lighthouses guide ships and show where the land is, beacon devices provide information and navigation to smartphone users. Beacon technology offers a new context for an old concept.

As we know it now, the beacon technology was introduced by Apple alongside a dedicated communication standard.

Called iBeacon, it was soon followed by Google’s Eddystone. The location beacon, which is rough twice the size of Apple’s Wi-Fi router Airport was a typical beacon device in the first years since 2013. 

In a short time, beacon technology spawned many startups and new beacon types. Unlike other new technologies like Augmented and Virtual Reality, beacons were straightforwardly effective and had a low price tag. On top of that, they provided new, exciting ways to engage customers in a non-intrusive way. As a result, many established retail companies quickly adopted beacons and started reaping their benefits.

How Do Beacons Work

When a user walks past an area where a positioning system or IoT network with beacons is set up, the nearest beacon sends a code with a message to their mobile device. Then, the message pops up as a notification on a user’s mobile device with a third-party or branded mobile app.

You need 3 things to make a beacon-based system work:

• At least one more beacon device
• Mobile app
• User’s permission

Beacon technology offerings usually consist of a software development kit (SDK), back end management tools, and beacon devices. So, you will need software engineers to set up your positioning system, more so if beacons are part of a vast IoT network that includes other devices.

To enable beacon support, a smartphone must have an iOS 7 or higher or Android 4 or higher. Apple’s beacon standard is called iBeacon, while Google’s — Eddystone.

As for the user permission, your users make the final decision on whether they will receive beacon-based notifications and use your positioning system. Beacon technology works only with a smartphone and mobile app, so users can simply opt for turning off Bluetooth. There are also people who use their smartphones without keeping Bluetooth on all the time.

To overcome this obstacle, you can ask your users to turn on Bluetooth for the full customer experience, or even excite your users by notifying them about the beacon-based positioning system, presenting it as an innovative solution, and explaining what benefits it holds for them.

As a result, beacon technology appears as less intrusive than the similar RFID (radio-frequency identification) and other engagement tools, enabling a user experience where a user has a choice to opt out.

BLE as Bluetooth Beacon Technology

Beacon technology relies on Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to send out messages at regular intervals. BLE is a power-efficient Bluetooth technology developed for the Internet of Things applications and devices like beacons. With BLE, a beacon needs only one coin cell battery every three years, and the technology is 60 to 80 percent cheaper than the classic Bluetooth.

Types of Beacons

There is a wide array of beacons available for positioning systems of any type and scale. They differ in size, battery life, use cases, and level of resistance to exogenous factors. Here are the common types of beacons:

• Standard beacon (devices the size of a Wi-Fi router or smaller) for proximity solutions and indoor tracking.
• Portable/small beacon (the size of a credit card or big sticker) for asset tracking and proximity solutions.
• USB beacon (small, portable, quick to deploy) — beacons the size of a flash drive for asset tracking and proximity solutions.
• Video beacon — devices plugged into the back of a screen to deliver contextual visual information (for example, a user approaches a display in a food joint and shows personalized offers based on usage of the beacon-enabling app) as well as for digital signage.
• AI beacon. A machine learning-driven device that can detect different movements and gestures.
• Sticker beacon — the smallest of beacons, used for asset tracking.
• Parent beacon (the size of big Wi-Fi routers) is used to track other beacons, gather data and store it in the cloud, and more.
• Dedicated beacon — devices resistant to exogenous factors (dust, water, shattering, antistatic and UV) for indoor tracking and proximity solutions in harsh environments.

Most of the aforementioned beacon types emerged in the years since the inception of beacon technology to accommodate the business needs of different companies, so new ones may come into being in the future, giving companies new options to engage customers.

Benefits: What Are Beacons Used For

Beacon technology can improve the user experience both at the front and back end of almost any company, helping to streamline operations and gather data, drive sales, and deliver unique user experiences. Still, the retail and marketing industries benefit from beacons the most, as they are almost tailor-made for the two.

Front & Back End of Business

At the front end, for example, at a retail store, you can pair beacons with a custom app to notify shoppers about limited in-store offers, deliver personalized promotions, and provide navigation at vast retail locations.

At the back end, beacons are as effective. You can set up a beacon-based indoor positioning system at a warehouse to simplify and speed up the navigation in its bigger areas for new employees and representatives of third parties. Paired with an enterprise software development solution, beacons also allow for indoor personnel tracking to improve on-premises security as well as asset tracking.

For instance, an employee of a large enterprise needs a new laptop. The system administrator chooses one from the list of available laptops as a sticker beacon on it shows its location.

Beacons Elevate Marketing

Today, companies and their marketing teams mostly rely on emerging technologies to cater to and engage customers. Small and hidden beacons have a smaller appeal, but they can have a big impact.

In a standout example, RedBull used beacon stickers to monitor the movements of audience members at a music event. First, the devices collected different types of data. Then, scientists used it to create algorithms and deep neural networks to understand the movements and energy levels of audience members.

The results were visualized on the walls of a separate room at the venue. RedBull then went further, allowing the audience to take their individual information home as a souvenir, embroidered on a scarf. This is also an example of how beacon technology can be used successfully without a mobile app.

RedBull

Other Uses in Marketing:

• A new avenue for driving sales. You can pair beacons with mobile to deliver highly personalized location-based ads.
• One more way to collect data. Beacons can gather customer data that will help you create better, more personalized experiences, as well as gain additional insights into customers’ behavior.
• New meaningful experiences for customers. Like RedBull’s beacon stickers, some types of beacons give a lot of room to experiment and develop creative solutions that your customers will remember for a long time.

Other industries that can leverage beacon technology:

• Hospitality (navigation, gamification, smart hotel rooms)
• Sports (navigation on big arenas, proximity marketing)
• Logistics & warehousing (asset tracking, security)
• Smart home development (beacons can provide navigations to guests at vast properties; security)
• Construction (geofencing perimeters for projects in the middle of nowhere)
• Events (gamification, navigation, schedule notifications)

Video beacons are the go-to example when it comes to showcasing the high value of beacon technology. For example, you can use video beacons to deliver contextual information and provide navigation at a hotel or resort. Such experiences are fresh, save time, and imbue the customer journey with small but memorable moments.

Beacon Technology Pros and Cons 

Beacon technology has a wide array of solid business benefits and only a few disadvantages.

Pros:

• Low cost. Standard models are small and made of low-cost materials like plastic, making beacons more cost-effective than other state-of-the-art technologies.
• Easy to adopt. Most beacon devices are quick to deploy. Some, like USB beacons, are as easy to install as a computer mouse. Deploying beacons at scale is also easy with parent beacons.
• Tailored-made customer experiences. Beacon technology allows companies send personalized notifications and ads.
• Reliability and scalability. Beacons are dependable devices: unlike GPS, they use Bluetooth, so thick walls or underground areas will not block their signals. More so, some beacon suppliers offer beacons that are reinforced against exogenous factors.
• Vast outreach. All modern smartphones support beacon technology (your users need iOS 7 or Android 4 or higher installed on their devices), so you can reach out to virtually anyone, anywhere.
• Easy implementation. The majority of beacon technology offerings come with a software development kit (SDK) and back end management tools, making it easy to integrate a beacon solution with existing applications.

Cons:

• Users may opt-out. Most beacon-based solutions require user consent. Today, the flow of content from all sides seems endless, and even if you use only a few apps daily, you still get a lot of notifications. In the face of content overload, some users can simply turn off Bluetooth on their smartphones, preferring to miss out on your beacon-based experience, even if it is exciting and non-intrusive.
• A mobile app is a must. In most cases, beacons work only when paired with a mobile app. There are workarounds like third-party applications, but if you want to deliver a smooth experience your customers will definitely enjoy, you will at least need to add a feature to your application.
• Creating a beacon solution is not ubiquitously easy. The use cases of beacon technology are straightforward in the retail and marketing industries. Beacons can also be used effectively by hotels and companies that develop smart room solutions. In other cases, you should get creative or hire a software engineer with expertise in beacon-based or geofencing solutions, and this will take time, more so if your company is a medium-sized business or enterprise that needs a highly scalable solution.

Conclusion: The Future of Beacons

According to Global Market Insights, the beacon technology market is projected to surpass $25 billion in 2025.

In 2018, Google also started sending free beacons to small businesses in the U.S. to make their locations more visible to customers that are nearby. Meanwhile, new types of beacons continue to emerge (like AI beacon, introduced by Estimote in October 2019). Plus, when the amount of content and visual information seems endless, beacons’ promise of the spot-on non-intrusive mode of engagement may make all the difference to consumers.

Taking all this into account, it is safe to assume that more and more business locations will have beacons installed in them in the coming years. Although long-term projections might not reflect reality in the end, there are no visible hurdles on the way of large-scale beacon technology adoption. After all, beacons demand little to invest, are easy to set up and manage regardless of business scale, and bring clear, straightforward benefits to business across industries. Why not leverage them?

We, at Intellectsoft, empower companies and their workforce with cutting-edge transformative solutions and data-driven insights. Are you and your organization ready to shift the mindsets and get the most out of innovations?

Talk to our experts and find out more about the topic and how your business or project can start benefiting from it today!

The post What Are Beacons and How Beacons Technology Works appeared first on Intellectsoft Blog.

With such a prognosis, the technology is predicted to step far ahead than anyone can possibly imagine. But with the rise in popularity of IoT devices, there will be a rise in IoT app development as well as security challenges and issues.

Source: Statista

In October 2016, a hacker found a vulnerability to a specific model of security cameras. Nearly 300,000 Internet of Things (IoT) video recorders started to attack multiple social network websites and brought down Twitter and other high-profile platforms for almost two hours. This attack is just an example of what can happen to IoT devices with poor security.

On October 2016, a hacker found a vulnerability on a specific model of security cameras. Nearly 300,000 Internet of Things (IoT) video recorders started to attack multiple social network websites and brought down Twitter and other high-profile platforms, for almost two hours.

This attack is just an example of what can happen to IoT devices with poor security.

It is not only video cameras, but anything with an internet connection, from a refrigerator, smart locks, thermostats, lightbulbs, vehicles, and even smart toys.

Using them always poses IoT security challenges and risks to overcome.

IoT Security Challenges

Now, it is not only us with our computers, but there are also “things” that interact with the Internet without our intervention. These “things” are continually communicating with the Internet, a fridge sending an update of the food inside or our vehicle transmitting messages to the mechanic to inform its oil levels.

IoT is wonderful in many ways. But unfortunately, technology has not matured yet, and it is not entirely safe. The entire IoT environment, from manufacturers to users, still have many security challenges of IoT to overcome, such as:

• Manufacturing standards
• Update management
• Physical hardening
• Users knowledge and awareness

Top IoT Security Risks

Returning to what happened in 2016, the lack of compliance on the part of IoT manufacturers led to weak and unprotected passwords in some IoT video cameras, which, in turn, led to one of the most damaging botnet attacks, the Mirai malware. There are many IoT security threats, but we will be highlighting the most important.

The following security issues with IoT can be classified as a cause or effect.

1) Lack of Compliance on the Part of IoT Manufacturers

New IoT devices come out almost daily, all with undiscovered vulnerabilities.

The primary source of most IoT security issues is that manufacturers do not spend enough time and resources on security.

For example, most fitness trackers with Bluetooth remain visible after the first pairing, a smart refrigerator can expose Gmail login credentials, and a smart fingerprint padlock can be accessed with a Bluetooth key that has the same MAC address as the padlock device.

This is precisely one of the biggest security issues with IoT. While there is a lack of universal IoT security standards, manufacturers will continue creating devices with poor security. Manufacturers that started to add Internet connection to their devices do not always have the “security” concept as the crucial element in their product design process.

The following are some security risks in IoT devices from manufacturers:

1. Weak, guessable, or hard-coded passwords
2. Hardware issues
3. Lack of a secure update mechanism
4. Old and unpatched embedded operating systems and software
5. Insecure data transfer and storage

A smart thermostat

2) Lack of User Knowledge & Awareness

Over the years, Internet users have learned how to avoid spam or phishing emails, perform virus scans on their PCs, and secure their WiFi networks with strong passwords.

But IoT is a new technology, and people still do not know much about it. While most of the risks of IoT security issues are still on the manufacturing side, users and business processes can create bigger threats. One of the biggest IoT security risks and challenges is the user’s ignorance and lack of awareness of the IoT functionality. As a result, everybody is put at risk.

Tricking a human is, most of the time, the easiest way to gain access to a network. A type of IoT security risk that is often overlooked is social engineering attacks. Instead of targeting devices, a hacker targets a human, using the IoT.

Social engineering was used in the 2010 Stuxnet attack against a nuclear facility in Iran. The attack was directed to industrial programmable logic controllers (PLCs), which also fall into an IoT device category. The attack corrupted 1,000 centrifuges and made the plant explode. It is believed that the internal network was isolated from the public network to avoid attacks, but all it took was a worker to plug a USB flash drive into one of the internal computers.

3) IoT Security Problems in Device Update Management

Another source of IoT security risks is insecure software or firmware. Although a manufacturer can sell a device with the latest software update, it is almost inevitable that new vulnerabilities will come out.

Updates are critical for maintaining security on IoT devices. They should be updated right after new vulnerabilities are discovered. Still, as compared with smartphones or computers that get automatic updates, some IoT devices continue being used without the necessary updates.

Another risk is that during an update, a device will send its backup out to the cloud and will suffer a short downtime. If the connection is unencrypted and the update files are unprotected, a hacker could steal sensitive information.

4) Lack of Physical Hardening

The lack of physical hardening can also cause IoT security issues. Although some IoT devices should be able to operate autonomously without any intervention from a user, they need to be physically secured from outer threats. Sometimes, these devices can be located in remote locations for long stretches of time, and they could be physically tampered with, for example, using a USB flash drive with Malware.

Ensuring the physical security of an IoT device begins from the manufacturer. But building secure sensors and transmitters in the already low-cost devices is a challenging task for manufacturers nonetheless.

Users are also responsible for keeping IoT devices physically secured. A smart motion sensor or a video camera that sits outside a house could be tampered with if not adequately protected.

5) Botnet Attacks

A single IoT device infected with malware does not pose any real threat; it is a collection of them that can bring down anything. To perform a botnet attack, a hacker creates an army of bots by infecting them with malware and directs them to send thousands of requests per second to bring down the target.

Much of the uproar about IoT security began after the Mirai bot attack in 2016. Multiple DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks using hundreds of thousands of IP cameras, NAS, and home routers were infected and directed to bring down the DNS that provided services to platforms like GitHub, Twitter, Reddit, Netflix, and Airbnb.

The problem is that IoT devices are highly vulnerable to Malware attacks. They do not have the regular software security updates that a computer has. So they are quickly turned into infected zombies and used as weapons to send incredibly vast amounts of traffic.

What is more, a botnet can pose a security threat for electrical grids, manufacturing plants, transportation systems, and water treatment facilities, which can threaten big groups of people. For example, a hacker could trigger a cooling and heating system at the same time, creating spikes on the power grid; in case of a big-scale attack, hackers can create a nation-wide power outage.

6) Industrial Espionage & Eavesdropping

If hackers take over surveillance in at location by infecting IoT devices, spying might not be the only option. They can also perform such attacks to demand ransom money.

Thus, invading privacy is another prominent IoT security issue. Spying and intruding through IoT devices is a real problem, as a lot of different sensitive data may be compromised and used against its owner.

On a basic level, a hacker might want to take over a camera and use it for spying. Still, one should not forget that many IoT devices record user information, whether it is health equipment, smart toys, wearables, etc. On an industrial level, a company’s big data that can be collected by hackers to expose sensitive business information.

Some countries are starting to ban specific IoT devices with security problems. For example, the interactive IoT doll with a Bluetooth pin, which gave access to the toy’s microphone and speaker to anyone within the 25-30 meter radius. The doll was labeled as an espionage device and was banned in Germany.

7) Highjacking Your IoT Devices

Ransomware has been named as one of the nastiest malware types ever existed. Ransomware does not destroy your sensitive files — it blocks access to them by way of encryption. Then, the hacker who infected the device will demand a ransom fee for the decryption key unlocking the files.

Here is how a ransomware notice looks like:

Ransomware is evolving, and IoT devices with poor security can become targets as well.

Just before the Trump inauguration speech, about 70% of the Washington DC surveillance cameras were infected with ransomware, leaving the police without the ability to record for several days.

The cases of IoT devices being infected with ransomware are rare, but the concept is quickly becoming a trend in the black hat hacker world. Still, wearables, healthcare gadgets, smart homes, and other smart devices and ecosystems might be at risk in the future.

Here, there is good news, and there is bad news. While this malware might not have valuable data to lock down because most IoT information is stored in the cloud, it can lock down the entire device’s functionality. Imagine that your vehicle will not start unless you pay a ransom fee — or your house is locked down, with the thermostat set to the maximum.

8) Data Integrity Risks of IoT Security in Healthcare

With IoT, data is always on the move. It is being transmitted, stored, and processed.

Most IoT devices extract and collect information from the external environment.

It can be a smart thermostat, HVAC, TVs, medical devices. But sometimes these devices send the collected data to the cloud without any encryption.

As a result, a hacker can gain access to a medical IoT device, gaining control over it and being able to alter the data it collects. A controlled medical IoT device can be used to send false signals, which in turn can make health practitioners take actions that may damage the health of their patients.

For example, a hacked medical IoT device can report a fully charged battery to the maintenance station while, in reality, the battery is about to die. Worse, there are risks of IoT security in healthcare devices like pacemakers or the ones making the insulin shots. The vulnerabilities found on St. Jude Medical’s implantable cardiac gave access to hackers, enabling them to alter the pacing or shocks, or even worse, deplete the battery.

9) Rogue IoT Devices

We might already know about the rapid growth of the number of IoT devices, which is predicted to reach 18 billion by 2022, according to Ericsson. The problem with this number of devices arises not only in the BYOD (Bring-Your-On-Devices) approach in enterprises but also in home networks.

One of the most significant IoT security risks and challenges is being able to manage all our devices and close the perimeter.

But rogue devices or counterfeit malicious IoT devices are beginning to be installed in secured networks without authorization. A rogue device replaces an original one or integrates as a member of a group to collect or alter sensitive information. These devices break the network perimeter.

Raspberry Pi board

Example of rouge IoT devices can take the form of the Raspberry Pi, or WiFi Pineapple. These can be turned into a rogue AP (Access Point), thermostat, video camera, or MITM (Man in the Middle) and intercept incoming data communications unbeknownst to users. Other variations of rogue devices may also emerge in the future.

Interestingly, the horror movie “Child’s Play” was inspired by the concept and can serve as a curious example. In the movie, controlling other devices in a smart home system, Chucky is a rouge IoT device that has become a high-level threat to people’s lives.

10) Cryptomining with IoT Bots

Mining cryptocurrency demands colossal CPU and GPU resources, and another IoT security issue has emerged due to this precondition — crypto mining with IoT bots. This type of attack involves infected botnets aimed at IoT devices, with the goal not to create damage, but mine cryptocurrency.

The open-source cryptocurrency Monero is one of the first ones to be mined using infected IoT devices, such as video cameras. Although a video camera does not have powerful resources to mine cryptocurrency, an army of them does.

IoT botnet miners pose a great threat to the crypto market, as they have the potential to flood and disrupt the entire market in a single attack.

Summary

After the Mirai attack, people realized that any device connected to the Internet is a potential ally for an army of bots. But that was only the beginning.

For now, IoT and security are still not found in the same place. There are still many risks and security challenges of IoT now — and more will inevitably emerge in the coming years.

The more variations of IoT devices we see out there, the more complex IoT security problems will become. International organizations and governments will need to create universal IoT standards to control the security in cities, homes, locations like nuclear plants, the manufacturing process, and other areas and locations.

We have seen the emergence of IoT as a trend in the last few years. There are smart devices coming out that we never thought needed an Internet connection: smart toothbrushes, beauty mirrors, tables, pillows, beds, and the list continues to grow. The world is turning into a network of objects collecting our personal, sensitive information.

We can only imagine the amount of important data hackers could steal from those IoT devices if they do not have proper security. So, the top IoT security threats listed above are just the beginning. If we want our devices smart, we need them to be secure as well.

We, at Intellectsoft, empower companies and their workforce with cutting-edge transformative solutions and data-driven insights. Are you and your organization ready to shift the mindsets and get the most out of innovations?

Talk to our experts and find out more about the topic and how your business or project can start benefiting from it today!

The post Top 10 Biggest IoT Security Issues appeared first on Intellectsoft Blog.

Along with facilitated business operations, the tools of the Internet of Things help insurance companies partner faster, work cheaper, and expand their activity more effectively.

But let’s see whether the involvement of wearables, sensors, and connected tools can keep improving the insurance sector after the COVID-19 changed the world. And how do software solutions for insurance industry transform the vertical.

IoT in Insurance: Use Cases of How the Modern Industry Works

The insurance sector is demonstrating dramatic development. Being generally innovative, insurers gain the most of their current benefits with the involvement of IoT.

In a recent couple of years, all the trustable observers honored the achievements of IoT in insurance. For example, according to McKinsey, the appearance of the digital ecosystem enabled partnering between insurers and outside companies to provide cross-industry service.

The most illustrative use case is the cooperation model under Google Nest for creating the smart house service. In its turn, Deloitte noted the enhanced approach to segmenting customer base and refining pricing models. In particular, the emergence of online rate comparison capabilities is the beneficial consequence of IoT in insurance.

All these trends call digital connectivity to develop even faster and innovate further.

IoT in Life Insurance

One of the top solutions in the sphere of life insurance is mobility/connected cars. This tool enables tracking all the vehicle’s key parameters and its driver behavior — including the intensity of using brakes, the favorable parking places, and the typical driving time.

As a result, the customer gains timely recommendations on preventing the harm of their high-risk actions and increasing driving comfort.

IoT in Health Insurance

In terms of health insurance, IoT introduced smart health. Once incorporated in the smart home ecosystem, it significantly assists people with disabilities, for example, to manage their daily activities.

For other population categories, the achievements of connected health help maintain their healthy state and prevent possible diseases.

IoT Insurance Industry Trends: New Opportunities

Introducing IoT into the insurance sector creates several opportunities.

First, it promises enhanced risk management. With better access to analytical data on driver behavior, it increases the predictability of vehicle use. In addition, customers can enjoy the customized service that accurately fits their needs.

The second perspective is the ability to offer a full-stack type of service. By linking with various outside partners, insurance companies become ready to involve the cross-industry approach to their data-based offering of new services.

Finally, the expansion of IoT technologies creates an environment of better control over finances. This means reducing costs on unnecessary offers and maximizing profits from concentrating on delivering the service people actually want.

2 Key Challenges for IoT Trends in Insurance

On the one hand, the advantages of IoT trends are still hard to achieve in developing countries. Precisely, the immaturity of the insurance market creates chaos in interactions between its key actors. Moreover, the regulation void and widespread illegal driving cause inaccurate predictions on market behavior.

On the other hand, there exist some technical limitations for IoT insurance development from country to country. Mostly, you can’t reach your partner once you and your vehicle leave the homeland. This causes difficulties in expanding IoT insurance trends.

How COVID-19 Affected the Sphere of IoT Insurance

Generally, the Coronavirus pandemic has increased the importance of safety in all the meanings of this word. It refers to the danger of keeping people close in terms of physical distance combined with the intensified use of digital tools, which increases the risk of fraud and vulnerability of business operations.

At the same time, the lockdown caused by COVID-19 left people with their houses and cars alone. And so, they had time to think about enhancing these basic facilities. Surprisingly, this situation attracted the attention of the wide public to IoT insurance technologies.

Future of IoT in Insurance: What Enterprises Can Request from Insurance Companies These Days

Practically, the list of opportunities and the complexity of challenges in front of IoT in insurance achievements determine future work’s direction. In particular, it’s needed to improve the technological base and expand current results abroad.

At the same time, the development of cybersecurity deserves special attention. This trend creates a new dimension in the possible risk management and is highly requested after the reluctant shifting of most of the transactions and business processes online.

Where to Try IoT Tools in the Insurance Industry?

If you’re interested in introducing IoT insurance trends, refer to Intellectsoft. Our task is to empower companies and their workforces with innovation services and approaches to help them survive during these times.

Since 2007, Intellectsoft has been developing impactful and award-winning apps for Fortune 500 companies and established brands. We delivered solutions to:

• Eurostar
• Jaguar Land Rover
• Universal
• EY
• Guinness and other companies

Learn more about the use cases in our Case Studies section and some of our recent awards:

1. Intellectsoft Named Top Software and App Developer in California
2. Intellectsoft is a Global Software Development Leader, Outruns Nearly 1000 Companies

Talk to our experts today to  find out more about the topic and how your business or project can start benefiting from it!

Explore what we offer for the Insurance industry.

The post IoT Insurance Industry Trends: Growth, Challenges, and Future Forecast appeared first on Intellectsoft Blog.

Worldwide pandemic has shown us that countries and their authorities around the globe have to pay more attention and invest more in healthcare IT solutions, the development and enhancement of the medical field.

Top 10 Technology Trends in Healthcare

Nowadays, we experience digital transformation in numerous industries, and healthcare is not an exception to this process. The implementation of available tools and solutions has given rise for several healthcare technology trends among which the following ones:

1. Telemedicine
2. Internet of Medical Things
3. Cloud computing
4. AI/ML
5. AR
6. VR
7. Chatbots
8. Blockchain
9. Data science
10. EHR

Although the process of transformation has only started, the number of benefits they have will change the future of the healthcare field by reducing the costs, giving better diagnosis results, making it easier to get treatment in remote areas, saving time, etc.

Emerging Healthcare Technology Trends and Their Deployment

 Worldwide pandemic has shown us that countries all around the world should pay more attention and invest more in the development and enhancement of the healthcare environment. Making it better means the prevention of severe problems and situations like this one.

Deployment of all the latest technology trends in the healthcare industry can significantly change the image of the field we know today. The enhancement will lead to thousands of saved lives in emergencies.

Intellectsoft helps organizations and companies across various industries, including healthcare, to implement and use technologies for the sake of human life. If you have a revolutionary idea in mind that can help people fight diseases, talk to our experts, and learn more about the topic. Our team of professionals can turn your idea into reality, and together we can make this world a better place.

Telemedicine Trends: Remote Treatment

Telemedicine is a remote diagnosis and treatment of patients using telecommunication technologies as given by the World Health Organization (the WHO) in the 2010 report on eHealth. The use of cutting edge telemedicine trends is especially useful in areas that have limited or no developed infrastructure.

For instance, locals in Alaska recognized two decades ago that some villages do not have proper access to healthcare services, and there are no doctors or practicing nurses. Thus, they tried to bring telemedicine trends into practice and bridged patients with doctors or practicing nurses with specialists who can help locals get high-quality treatment.

Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium has successfully used this technology since 2001, and now there is no need to go on a long journey when it is unnecessary. Trends in telemedicine that have already been applied have given a chance for ship crews to get on-board treatment. Maritime doctors in Alaska are already treating sailors using telehealth platforms and show excellent results.

Trends in telemedicine also show high potential for education and sharing knowledge between developed and developing countries, as they bring together specialists from different countries.

Internet of Medical Things Trends: Connected Wearables

The Internet of Medical Things is another trend in healthcare. It is the collection of medical and wearable devices that connect to healthcare IT systems through online computer networks.

The Internet of things in medical devices gives a chance to take a number of common medical measurements like temperature, blood pressure, glucose level, heart rate, etc. Internet of Medical Things includes such wearables and devices as

• ECG,
• EKG monitors,
• smart beds,
• glucose monitors,
• connected inhalers, etc.

Companies like Philips offer systems like Patient Monitoring to help specialists stay connected with their patients and provide on-time treatment or assign the right practitioner to take care of a particular case. Another example is Dexcom G5 that provides real-time glucose readings for patients with 1 and 2 types of diabetes every five minutes.

This technology helps doctors be aware of the current state of the patients, analyze collected data better, keep all the records, and stay connected 24/7.

How Is Cloud Computing Used in Healthcare?

Cloud computing in healthcare offers different public, private and hybrid platforms that allow easy file-sharing of any size. It also gives an opportunity for hospitals or healthcare organizations to build a secure infrastructure for keeping records. The technology also helps to make consultations easier and more convenient as they can be video- or text-based.

Five Benefits of Cloud Computing in Healthcare

Cloud computing in the healthcare industry brings several benefits that enhance the medical sphere. We have distinguished the top five ones:

• easy and quick accessibility as the data is stored in the cloud and can be reached anytime from any device;
• cost-effective (requires fewer investments than the development of hardware);
• makes data analyzes more efficient;
• facilitates tracking of patient’s state and recovery process;
• scalable — makes it easier for healthcare providers to increase or decrease the space for data storage, depending on the patient’s flow.

Cloud Computing in Healthcare: Examples

Due to its benefits and advantages, cloud computing in healthcare started to be widely used and implemented into IT systems of hospitals and health organizations. For example, IBM has created a cloud-based application, “Collaborative Care Solution,” that helps to accelerate healthcare management.

Companies like Microsoft Azure, IBM Cloud, Dell offer cloud computing platforms that have a high level of security and keep critical data protected. GE Healthcare that runs on Amazon EC2, provides medical imaging tools and diagnostic imaging agents. It transforms collected information from medical devices into valuable patient data and makes it easy to view, process, and share images and patient cases.

What are Cloud Computing Risks in Healthcare?

 Among the top concerns of cloud computing in the healthcare industry are security, privacy, and system downtimes.

Personal patient’s data is tentative and requires a high level of security of a cloud-based platform that will help to protect it from external threats. For example, blockchain technology can be used to ensure security measures and keep stored data protected.

System downtimes can be prevented at the initial stage of app development, knowing possible failures, and having back-up plans on resolving the issues will help organizations to overcome downtimes of the system.

As for privacy matters, healthcare businesses should choose a reliable cloud provider who acts according to the rules and regulations stated by HIPAA of 1996.

How Is AR Being Used in Healthcare?

AR in healthcare becomes more and more applied across the industry. The technology can be used for educational purposes as it allows to have a visual presentation of human body organs.

AR in healthcare makes it possible for doctors to diagnose symptoms more precisely when patients cannot provide detailed information. It also allows doctors to be more illustrative when explaining new treatment or to show patients how drugs will influence their body in an interactive way.

For instance, AccuVein is a vein visualization device that helps professionals find the patient’s veins for blood draws easier. Another example of AR in healthcare is EchoPixel is a medical visualization software platform that depicts human organs in open space. It can be used as a pre-surgery software to simulate and evaluate surgical treatment options.

Innovative Ways to Use VR in Healthcare

Simulated environments have proven to be very helpful both for patients and healthcare professionals. For this reason, VR in healthcare is becoming widely used as it gives access to visual experiences and activities that are impossible in reality, thus helping doctors to provide better treatment to their patients.

VR in healthcare helps with the planning of complicated surgeries, improves doctor skills during professional training, motivates users to exercise, and helps with emotional health treatment.

For example, Neuro Rehab VR develops VR training exercises that suit the individual needs of the patient and make the recovery process more enjoyable and engaging. Another case of VR usage in healthcare is a project by the students of the University of New England. The project aims to show young medical students what it is like to be an older person and help them develop empathy.

AI in Healthcare: Its Benefits

AI in healthcare has great potential in reshaping and enhancing the industry and bringing to the next level. Empowered with human-like processing and analytical abilities, AI  in healthcare can improve the speed of decision-making and make the diagnosis process more accurate, as well as limit the number of mistakes. Benefits of AI in healthcare include task automation, big data analysis, delivery of better healthcare faster.

The future of AI in healthcare means better medical outcomes, advanced treatment, and more patient engagement in the process. For example, PathAI technology helps doctors to reduce errors in cancer diagnoses and develops methods for individualized medical treatment. Enlitic develops tools based on AI to advance medical diagnostics by analyzing unstructured medical records and giving doctors better insights on the patient’s current state and needs.

Chatbots in Healthcare: Alternative to Human Workforce

Chatbots in healthcare are alternatives to hospital administrators, as they can easily collect appointment requests and schedule them. This technology can also be used as a medical consultant and answer questions regarding health conditions.

This is very useful as nowadays, we can find numerous unreliable resources on the Internet and come up with the wrong conclusions, so it’s better to have trustful support that can help patients instantly.

OneRemission is one of the examples of chatbots in the healthcare industry. Its chatbot helps those who fight against cancer by providing the list of diets, exercises, and post-cancer practices. Florence is another great example of chatbots in the healthcare industry or better to say “a personal nurse” who reminds its patients to take pills, helps to find the nearest doctor’s office, and tracks the user’s health state (like body weight, mood, period, etc.).

Data Science in Healthcare: Taking Analysis to the Next Level

Healthcare data science can revolutionize the industry together with the other available tools and solutions. Data science and healthcare are inseparable as medical records contain useful information that can be analyzed and used to prevent diseases, create a better treatment, and help discover new drugs.

Healthcare data science solutions gather information through wearables, monitor, and help to prevent health problems. One of the healthcare data science projects is OASIS that aims to give the scientific community free access to neuroimaging data sets of the brain. One more example is BERG Health; the company analyzes biological samples to reshape the cancer medical market.

Blockchain in Healthcare: Security and Accessibility

Blockchain in healthcare is another trend that helps to enforce the industry with secure platforms and facilitate data access. Blockchain in healthcare today allows patients to use a public-private key and decide who will be able to view their personal medical records or invite a specialist via a system to give consultation regarding health issues.

Blockchain Healthcare Use Cases

Blockchain technology in healthcare has been incorporated into different applications and systems like BurstIQ that help companies to improve the sharing and usage of medical data. Another example of the utilization of blockchain in healthcare is Factom that aims to store digital health records securely.

Electronic Healthcare Records (EHR) in the Healthcare Industry

Medical records of the patients are usually stored in forms like paper, audio, or video and contain information like patient ID, diagnoses, treatment, laboratory results, surgeries, etc. Electronic Healthcare Records (EHR) software helps to store this data electronically and is superior to paper records as they do not deteriorate, could not be lost, and do not require physical space.

For example, Amrita Medical Solutions serves critical access and rural hospitals. The company’s web-based system provides customized billing and 24/7 EHR tech support. CGI is another of the kind and offers health systems with EHR solutions designed to enable more accurate and faster diagnoses.

In a Nutshell

Healthcare technology trends help to reshape and enhance the industry, and what is more, they bring several advantages both for medical professionals and patients. Although the process is rather slow, still more and more hospitals and health organizations acquire cutting edge technologies and solutions to make their services better.

Combined, the healthcare field and IT industry are showing astonishing results and help thousands of people cope with diseases faster, more comfortably, and more effectively. We experience a significant change that once was only possible in Sci-Fi fiction.

This pandemic shapes new social norms and drives new social rules that humanity should get prepared for starting today. We, at Intellectsoft, empower companies and their workforces with innovation services and approaches to help them survive during these times. Are you and your organization looking for some?

Talk to our experts and find out more about the topic and how your business can start benefiting from it today!

The post 10 Healthcare Technology Trends to Watch in 2020 appeared first on Intellectsoft Blog.

In this article, we will take a closer look at Internet of Things (IoT) for Healthcare. 

1. Internet of Things for Healthcare.
2. What exactly is IoT and why it is important in healthcare? 
3. IoT in healthcare examples.
4. How IoT Works in Healthcare?
5. IoT Devices in Healthcare.
6. Benefits of IoT in Healthcare.
7. Challenges of IoT in Healthcare.
8. Future of IoT in Healthcare.

Let’s get to business.

Internet of Things for Healthcare

The market of IoT in healthcare is predicted to exceed $10 billion by 2024, according to a Brandessence market research. This growth forecast is also impacted by other important technologies. IoT is slowly getting traction and evolving alongside the new ultra-fast 5G mobile wireless, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Big Data. Combing this powerful technologies with the Internet of Things will likely revolutionize the healthcare industry. IoT in healthcare using 5G wireless and AI could, for example, completely transform the way patients are monitored and treated remotely.

Still, IoT will not only help with the patient’s health, but also improve the productivity of the healthcare industry workers. 

What exactly is IoT and why it is important in healthcare? 

In a nutshell, IoT is the concept created around the idea of full ubiquitous computing, which is the processing of information linked with external activity or objects. Ubiquitous computing involves connecting electronic devices with microprocessors and sensors to talk to each other. IoT is a ubiquitous network except that all of those electronic devices have access to the Internet.  

IoT in the healthcare industry is a great example of this omnipresent computing. For example, hundreds of intelligent electronic devices can be set up in a hospital to monitor patients’ health status 24/7, talk to each other, make decisions, and upload information to a healthcare cloud platform.

IoT in Healthcare Examples

How IoT can be used in healthcare effectively? Let’s explore three workable Internet of Things healthcare examples below. 

1. Sensing and uploading up-to-date patient information to the cloud in emergency situations, from the ambulance or even from home. 
2. Medical devices capable of performing self-maintenance. IoT healthcare devices will sense their own components, detect low thresholds, and communicate with medical personnel and manufacturers.  
3. IoT and wearables can help home patients and elderly communicate directly with a healthcare facility.  
4. Telemedicine can be considered a “primitive” form of an Internet of Things in healthcare example. With IoT, a patient can be observed and in some cases treated remotely through video cameras and other electronic actuators. 

How IoT Works in Healthcare?

To understand how the Internet of Things in Healthcare works, let’s see how IoT works in general. As discussed above, an IoT unit can be considered as a device with a sensor that can interact with the physical world and send information to the Internet. 

In healthcare, these devices can gather different patient data and receive inputs from health practitioners. An Internet of Things Healthcare example is continuous glucose monitoring for insulin pens that works effectively for patients with diabetes. 

All these devices are able to communicate with each other and in some cases take important actions that would provide timely help or even save a life. For example, an IoT healthcare device can make intelligent decisions like calling the healthcare facility if an elderly person has fallen down. After collecting passive data, an IoT healthcare device would send this critical information to the cloud so that doctors can act upon it — view the general patient status, see if calling an ambulance is necessary, what type of help is required, and so on. 

Thus, Internet of Things Healthcare can greatly improve not only a patient’s health and help in critical situations, but also the productivity of health employees and hospital workflows. 

How IoT helps in healthcare — Process 

Let’s explore an IoT healthcare workflow example:

1. A sensor collects data from a patient or a doctor/nurse inputs data. 
2. An IoT device analyzes the collected data with the help of AI-driven algorithms like machine learning (ML). 
3. The device makes a decision whether to act or send the information to the cloud. 
4. Doctors, health practitioners, or even robots are enabled to make actionable and informed decisions based on the data provided by the IoT device. 

IoT Devices in Healthcare

Although not all IoT devices should have a sensor, they at least need to have a radio and a given TCP/IP address to enable communication with the Internet. As long as a device has access to the Internet, it can be considered an IoT device. 

So, every smartphone is an IoT device. A smartphone with the right set of healthcare apps can help you detect diseases and improve your health. Some examples of these are skin cancer detection apps that use your camera and AI-driven algorithms to map moles on your skin. Other examples would be sleep, yoga, fitness, and pill management apps. 

Still, smartphone is a smartphone. Monitoring healthcare is not its primary application. A dedicated healthcare IoT device can do significantly more.  

• Smartwatch. Wearables sold at consumer electronics stores come with a sensor and Internet connection. Some of them (like iWatch Series 4) can even monitor your heart rate, control diabetes, help in speech treatment, aid in improving posture, and detect seizures. 
• Insulin Pens and Smart CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitoring). These devices can monitor blood glucose levels and send the data to a dedicated smartphone app. Patients with diabetes can use these devices to track their glucose levels and even send this data to a healthcare facility. 
• Brain Swelling Sensors. These tiny sensors are implanted within the cranium to help brain surgeons keep track of severe brain injuries and avoid further deathly swelling. They measure pressure on the brain and are able to dissolve by itself in the body without further medical interference.
• Ingestible Sensors. Prescribed medication is swallowed with a tiny digestible medical sensor that sends a small signal to a wearable receiver on the patient, which, in turn, sends data to  a dedicated smartphone app. This sensor can help doctors ensure patients take their medication at all times. 
• Smart video pills. A smart pill can travel through a patient’s intestinal tract and take pictures as it travels. It can then send the collected information to a wearable device, which in turn would send it to a dedicated smartphone app (or straight to the app). Smart pills can also help visualize the gastrointestinal tract and colon remotely. 

Benefits of IoT in Healthcare.

IoT in the healthcare industry has countless benefits. However, the most important is that treatment outcomes can be significantly improved or maximized, as the data gathered by IoT healthcare devices is highly accurate, enabling informed decisions.

Health facilities and practitioners will be capable of minimizing errors because all patient information can be measured quickly and sent to a board of doctors or a healthcare cloud platform. AI-driven algorithms running on these IoT devices could also help make intelligible decisions or suggestions based on existing data.

Another great benefit of IoT in healthcare is reduced costs. With IoT in healthcare, non-critical patients will be able to stay at home while various IoT devices monitor and send all important information to the health facility — meaning less hospital stays and doctor visits.

With detailed information received from lots of IoT devices, health facilities will also be able to improve their disease management. They’ll have more data in real-time coming in than ever before. Still, this entails a number of challenges.

Challenges of IoT in Healthcare.

Although IoT in healthcare provides many great benefits, there are also some challenges that need to be solved. The Internet of Things Healthcare solutions cannot be considered for implementation without acknowledging these challenges. 

1. Massive inputs of generated data. Having thousands of devices in a single healthcare facility and a thousand more sending information from remote locations — all in real-time — will generate huge amounts of data. The data generated from IoT in healthcare will likely make storage requirements grow much higher, from Terabytes to Petabytes. If used properly, AI-driven algorithms and cloud can help make sense of and organize this data, but this approach needs time to mature. So, creating a large-scale IoT healthcare solution will take a lot of time and effort.
2. IoT devices will increase the attack surface. IoT healthcare bring numerous benefits to the industry, but they also create numerous vulnerable security spots. Hackers could log into medical devices connected to the Internet and steal the information —  or even modify it. They can also take a step further and hack an entire hospital network, infecting the IoT devices with the infamous Ransomware virus. That means the hackers will hold patients and their heart-rate monitors, blood pressure readers, and brain scanners as hostages.
3. Existing software infrastructure is obsolete. IT infrastructures in many hospitals are obsolete. They will not allow for proper integration of IoT devices. Therefore, healthcare facilities will need to revamp their IT processes and use new, more modern software. They will also need to take advantage of virtualization (technologies like SDN and NFV), and ultra-fast wireless and mobile networks like Advanced LTE or 5G. 

Why The Internet Of Medical Things Is The Future Of Healthcare? 

IoT in healthcare industry can improve components, such as medical gadgets or services. It can also enhance healthcare applications, such as telemedicine, patient monitoring, medication management, imaging, and overall workflows in hospitals.It can also create new ways of treating different diseases. 

The Internet of Things for healthcare will not only be used by hospitals or facilities, but also by surgical centers, research organizations, and even governmental institutions. 

Future of IoT in Healthcare

IoT in healthcare industry does not stand alone. All IoT devices and their networks need to be combined with other technologies to help healthcare facilities transform in a meaningful way. As mentioned before, IoT will revolutionize the healthcare industry but it also needs data, high-speed communication, and proper security and compliance. 

5G will provide the ultra-low latency speeds and mobility that the IoT in the healthcare industry needs. In turn, AI-driven solutions will make sense of the data lakes gathered from a collection of devices. Big Data strategies will use such AI algorithms to analyze data in real-time and make critical health decisions. Virtualization will help to reduce or get rid of old infrastructure in hospitals. 

IoT is already using most of these technologies to help healthcare evolve, and this evolution will only continue. Sooner than later, healthcare and Internet of Things will become inseparable, completely transforming how we approach our healthcare.

We, at Intellectsoft, empower companies and their healthcare workforce with cutting-edge transformative solutions and data-driven insights. Are you and your organization ready to shift the mindsets and get the most out of innovations? Talk to our experts and find out more about the topic and how your business or project can start benefiting from it today!

The post IoT in Healthcare: Benefits, Use Cases, Challenges, and Future appeared first on Intellectsoft Blog.

Summary:

1. Healthcare
2. E-commerce and Online Shopping
3. Entertainment
4. Restaurants and Food delivery
5. IT & Tech Industry
6. Construction
7. Hospitality
8. FinTech
9. Sensing and Shaping the Post-COVID Era

Today, for the global sectors, COVID-19 presents two challenges: largely idled sectors disrupting trade and reduced demand from consumers. A few examples to consider, Chile is reeling from reduced copper demand. Germany — from auto parts shortage.

In this article, we examine how different industries react to business and economic turbulence caused by the novel pandemic through innovation and digital capabilities. We discover this through the example of 8 industries that try to win over the battle using digital and innovation capabilities.

Healthcare

As each industry emerges from its acute response phase, many will find that they are entering a “new normal.” Expect the way healthcare is practiced and marketed to be no different.

Beyond the negative impact of a traditional economic downturn, COVID-19 presents additional challenges — fear from the virus itself, collective grief, prolonged physical distancing, and associated social isolation — that will compound the impact on our collective health.

Reported signs of distress related to COVID-19 in the US.

As the way healthcare is practiced evolves, so too will the environment and platforms through which that care is delivered. There will be new needs that emerge; new content will be needed, in new formats, manifesting in new marketing assets.

Digital Transformation in Healthcare and Other Solutions

There are three areas that healthcare marketing leaders should focus on, as the impact on their business and the subsequent need to adapt will be significant:

• Telehealth

The acceptance and utilization of telehealth services within the US were already on a sharp incline before the COVID-19 crisis erupted globally.  Since then, medical and municipal leaders are leveraging the platform as a tool in combating the spread of COVID-19, accelerating adoption in the process.

From a Payer perspective, CVS Health, Aetna, Cigna, and United Health are just a few of the payer organizations recommending patients move to virtual care – going so far as to waive copays for utilizing the service.

Consumers are showing increased interest as well, with SEMRush reporting a 146.15% increase in searches for “in-home doctor visits” and a 53.97% increase in “in-home medical care” searches.

• Urgent care

Urgent Care Centers are quickly becoming the front door in a person’s treatment journey.  A study from the Urgent Care Association found that a median of 35% of patients utilizing UCCs do not have primary care physicians, reflecting the fact that Healthcare is shifting to much more of an on-demand service. Medicare and Medicaid patients made up almost 27% of UCC patients in 2018, confirming that the shift is not driven only by the young or affluent.

The organization is flanking the physical services with digital efforts, with  almost 30% of the landing pages on CVS.com Minute Clinic specific. Not to be outdone, Walmart launched the first of its augmented health facilities in September 2019.

• Almost everything goes online

Medical conferences and congresses are a huge priority for companies in the Health sector. These events are valued by commercial organizations, advocacy groups, and healthcare professionals as key opportunities for medical education, peer-to-peer engagement, and the release of official study data.

While some of those activities have been digitally distributed in parallel, a vast majority of that activity is face-to-face. The COVID-19 crisis is forcing digital transformation in IT solutions for healthcare industry to take new turns.

Intellectsoft Healthcare Solutions

Since healthcare and economic environments force medical experts to take extra shifts, this greatly affects their own quality and safety of life.

The idea behind Intellectsoft’s solution was to empower medical professionals with a simple tool that gives them flexibility, control, and more. We created an on-demand healthcare staffing solution consisting of two parts:

• iOS and Android app with an Uber-like feel (for the Nurse role);
• Web Admin Panel (for Hospital Administrator or Security Supervisor role).

Some of the most significant features included there are a nurse and hospital management, shift management, notification center, data export, etc. Solutions of this kind can be a major stride within the current time frames because they help doctors stay focused on more essential things and certain patients with reaching for treatments.

As consumers and organizations have no other choice, the COVID-19 crisis is accelerating the utilization of digital platforms. While there have been financial, behavioral, and attitudinal roadblocks to adoption in the past, the need to overcome the crisis is superseding those roadblocks and increases the number of first-time users.

E-commerce and Online Shopping

Today, as B2B digital transformation statistics say, online shopping is the fastest-growing slice of the pie, dominating the scene and continuing to invest in digital capabilities.

Traditional, smaller players are also eyeing the online scene. Many traditional small markets have taken to online channels to hawk products, conduct online auctions, and even to carry out customer relation-building, for example, passing tips on how to prepare dishes using their products.

However, most authorities are warning organizations to prepare for the long haul. Virtually every company involved in global trade feels the impact.

Digital Transformation in B2B E-commerce

Digitalization had swiftly come into B2B E-commerce sectors a long time ago. But since recent times the situation has drastically changed, the technologies and trends have changed too. Although some things remain untouchable. Still, most of the E-commerce sales are made through mobile devices (73%). Progressive Web App (PWA), with its native-app-like experience, is also here to stay.

Artificial intelligence, machine learning, personalized customer experience, and predefined analytics — all complement an evolution of B2B consumerization. Data remains the primary fuel for accelerating the development of any organization involved in sales. Focusing on eternal questions: what data to collect and how to process it effectively remains unsolved even today. 

In response to social distancing, many businesses will make their E-commerce operations a key priority.

Solutions

Here is what we suggest you can do right now to mitigate the impact of coronavirus on your E-commerce business:

• Even as early digitalization investments are paying off, the current inability to fulfill delivery of online purchases suggests digitization efforts by businesses have only been focused at the customer-facing end. Supermarket chains should consider integrating their online shopping platforms with the stock-holding information of their physical branches.

• COVID-19 may accelerate the growth of the online grocery sector. People did not just flock to physical supermarkets, but also loaded virtual carts with groceries from online platforms. With government directives to allow workers to work-from-home and to avoid non-essential trips to shopping malls, this trend of online shopping is likely to persist.

• Another possibility is for online shopping platforms to partner with businesses that specialize in delivery fulfillment such as UberEats, Grab, Glovo, and Bolt Food. B2B digital transformation trends are another milestone companies should consider today.

Intellectsoft Solutions in E-commerce

Since 2012, we’ve specialized in custom E-commerce application development, building E-commerce platforms dedicated to client’s needs or modify existing solutions to help scale-up businesses. A multi-category E-commerce platform based on digital tokens is one of the most significant solutions we’ve developed before.

The solution includes a number of software systems released atop of the blockchain network to allow for a seamless experience in different stores. Multiple stores built on top of a shared blockchain network. Merchants can open their account without any extra effort and start selling goods or services for internal cryptocurrency. Customers can securely buy, transfer, and exchange online and offline goods while receiving loyalty points for future purchases.

Get in touch with our top minds to find out how your business can start benefiting from our innovative solution today!

Entertainment

Around the world, COVID-19 is having a marked impact on media supply, consumption, and advertising. Demand for content-streamed, live, and multi-layered — is skyrocketing while new content creation has been largely turned off.

Since cinema and amusement parks across the globe are all shut down for uncertain times, thousands of entertainment organizations suffer formidable losses and fail to receive any kind of income. The outbreak triggered online entertainment and how some companies are finding ways to engage differently with consumers and the new reality.

Digital Transformation in Entertainment

• Demand for all forms of media — TV programs, short-form video, music streaming, and online gaming, particularly in geographies currently under stay-home instructions, has surged. Digital transformation in entertainment is expecting more new turns in the foreseen future.
• The supply of new content may be limited to a few weeks for some formats (e.g., daytime dramas). New TV series currently being launched were completed prior to production sets shutting down.
• Network resiliency and capacity continues to be a focus, as the demand for content surges. In the European Union, streaming platforms are reducing video quality to ensure networks are not overwhelmed and that customers can still view content.
• While sports companies come to terms with a wave of cancellations, many are seeking new ways to reach their customers digitally. Many are looking to eSports or online simulated events to provide content to fans, with even professional athletes engaging in eSports competitions.
• Musicians are going online and relying on streaming platforms as live shows are canceled.

Intellectsoft Solutions in Entertainment

Our partnerships with comprehensive streaming TV, film, and sports apps and websites have brought our clients and us valuable experience and knowledge of this industry.

Our solution was a cloud-based, highly scalable elastic platform with advanced search and ingestion layers functionality to support a multi-million users base with a steep growth curve. Among the most significant benefits our client got were:

• Cloud scalability and elasticity;
• Fast users growth potential;
• Streamlined rich client application.

Restaurants and Food delivery

Despite some concerns, food delivery companies gain their momentum and become a popular option as people practice social distancing. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly how much growth there has been in this sector, but higher demand has led to higher pricing in some areas. What more to expect?

Digital Transformation in Food Industry

Uber, for example, recently provided Uber-only drivers with information on adding Uber Eats food deliveries to their services. Within the first week, around 15% of Uber drivers had completed their first food delivery.

Fine dining establishments, small-town restaurants, and fast foods are now switching to offer delivery services to their customers. At the same time, restaurants that did not previously offer take-outs are now considering this option as never before. Some restaurants choose a third-party delivery service to partner with, and each offer comes with unique benefits.

Uber Eats and Deliveroo, among others, have launched contactless “leave at your door service” to help drivers and customers follow social distancing and quarantine rules.

In addition to understanding already in place strict food hygiene standards, consumers may also be interested to learn if the businesses have:

• New practices for social distancing in the kitchen or during delivery pickups;
• Policy for staff members who display symptoms of COVID-19;
• Changes in food delivery guidelines, such as containers that allow for easier disinfection or better customer experience.

Though it is uncertain where the digital transformation in food industry and the delivery trend will go in the post-COVID-19 era, many businesses are working as hard as they can to ensure they meet consumers’ expectations and remain relevant by providing an excellent service.

IT & Tech Industry

The effects of COVID-19 and are having a significant impact on the technology sector, too. However, the disruption has caused reevaluation on organizations’ business continuity plans (BCPs) as well as the acceleration of remote operations and online meetings. Let’s dive in to see what has changed more and what solutions organizations appeal to remain afloat.

Digital Transformation in IT and Other Solutions

• Companies with remote-working technologies already see increased demand as organizations accelerate their remote-working capabilities.
• Security software will see third-order benefits from a growing remote workforce. Organizations race to secure endpoints, cloud-based tools, log management, and VPNs. So, IT spending on security software will increase too.

• Due to enhanced remote work scenarios, IT digital transformation will play a larger role in future BCPs. Thus, CIOs and senior management will need to ensure a resilient, secure network, disaster recovery systems, and more devices for the ones working remotely.
• The need for ever-faster access to data and automation will drive the focus on network equipment and communications, speeding up 5G network and equipment introduction.
• An increase in the use of tele- and video-conferencing software as more companies encourage employees to commute.

Intellectsoft Business Continuity As Crisis Response

As a part of our Business Continuity Plan, within a couple of days, the global Intellectsoft team organized the smooth transition to remote operation without affecting any core systems and business processes to operate as usual during this period.

As we are always fully committed to continue providing our customers and partners with the products and services they depend on, our senior leadership team remains vigilant and is monitoring the situation in real-time to respond rapidly to continuous change.

Construction

Today, the most vulnerable industries are those lacking digitalization and tech maturity. The construction industry is one of them.

Creating $1.3 trillion worth of structures each year only in the USA, the construction industry remains one of the most under-digitized industrial sectors. Longer-term construction companies across the globe will have to contend with decreased demand as governments face rising deficits, and residential and commercial projects are dampened by unemployment and low GDP growth.

To stay one step ahead of the crisis, the sector requires a different approach to the overall strategy. Digital transformation in construction industry is a burning topic for both — senior management and government. What are the solutions construction companies have today?

Solutions

Today, key questions executives and boards should be asking are: do we need to rethink our company’s digital strategy to remain financially solvent, and how can we use technology to gain operational leverage. And the digital transformation in the construction industry becomes inevitable.

The importance of transformation in different types of construction departments.

Digital Transformation Construction Industry Solutions

The construction giant’s partnership with Intellectsoft has brought us tremendous experience and practical knowledge of this area. We have witnessed how modern technology could transform and improve further processes. It also carried the customer over to the next business development stage, ensuring the company’s end-to-end digital transformation.

We hope to see more and more construction companies implement innovations and disrupt digital transformation in the future, such as:

• Scheduling and resource management system & real-time reporting platform;
• Asset tracking and management system;
• Vendor ecosystem & compliance solution;
• Decision-making dashboard based on Big Data analytics.

Join us at our upcoming Construction webinar hosted by industry top minds on Thursday, April 23, at 12 p.m. Eastern time. 

Register for Webinar

Hospitality

Hospitality is taking proactive financial steps to mitigate the huge impact. It’s obvious today, both revenue and supply chains will be affected the most. Hotels, restaurants, theme parks, cinemas all went silent. The entire disruptive effect of the hospitality industry will have a significant, tremendous impact on the global hospitality industry and economy. And there is a question hangs heavy in the air — can digital transformation in hospitality industry change the rule of the game?

Solutions

Despite this, hospitality shows its maturity level: in working together, showing their true hospitality commitments in helping out our society where they can. Technologies like artificial intelligence, big data, connected devices, virtual and augmented realities are shaping the hospitality industry as we speak.

Only during the last two decades dozens of industry disruptors, such as Airbnb, Skyscanner, and TripAdvisor, have appeared on the market. Companies and organizations are expected to get out of the crisis more digitally mature, and those ones who find enough strength to focus on digitalization — are going to win the race. Here are some of the steps to consider today:

• “We may be apart, but we’ll get through this together,” says Airbnb experts introducing 50 new online experiences with unique activities for their customers. The home-sharing platform curates free online experiences to inspire people and stay afloat.

• Digital transformation in the hospitality industry should now be focused on those that we know are available to travel. The dramatic rise in online gambling during COVID-19 lockdowns is one of the results of current circumstances. The online gambling industry is one of the winners of the current shutdown, and some offline casinos and other organizations can consider this as a potential opportunity for future growth.

• Smart automation confidently moved into the industry through the Internet of Things technology. It has improved not only the convenience and comfort standards for clients but also reduced costs for businesses and organizations.

• Robots that handle food preparation and delivery, predictive analytics, and cloud storage — are the next big moves for automation in the industry.

While the COVID-19 shutdown has brought the industry to a standstill, it is also an opportunity for the companies to reevaluate their digital strategies and map out the right path ahead.

Intellectsoft Digital Transformation in Hospitality

From ordering concierge services in one tap to booking golf courses in less than a minute, our expertise in the Hospitality industry has an extensive history. Despite COVID-19, consumers continue to demand improved solutions and unique experiences. However, today the lockdown hit a stop button for most of the industry players.

During our long-term partnership with some of the key market players, we’ve witnessed that digital transformation remains one of the key drivers of industry growth today. Here are some of the solutions we’re proud to design for our clients:

• Turnkey solutions for the entire hotel;
• Internet of Things ecosystem that connects all amenities and guest services;
• Created an app that adapts to suit type;
• Comprehensive IT audit for software systems;
• Streamlined system, eliminating bugs, and making necessary improvements.

FinTech

Digital-only becomes the new industry norm in financial services, greatly accelerating a trend that started in the last decade. Digital transformation in FinTech triggers a “Big Pocket” battle between incumbents and challengers to win the (newly) online customer. Financial Institutions turn to Tech companies rather than in-house solutions to accelerate digital transformation.

Digital Transformation in FinTech

FinTech sector winners:

• Consumer and SME lending platforms: best-adapting mechanism to swiftly and efficiently deliver capital to key segments of the economy;
• Mortgage and life insurance digitalization: leaping forward with technology to disrupt the role of intermediaries, whose role was often face-to-face.

FinTech’ enablers’ around AI, IoT, and software solutions are in high demand:

• AI: bots for call-centers; account-opening procedures; loan automation;
• KYC: increased need for safe digital ID given volume of digital business transacted and robust solutions required for the protection of client assets.

Sensing and Shaping the Post-COVID Era

Crisis often leads to changes. This time is no exception. The shifts in social attitudes and behaviors we see today pave the broad path to new opportunities and ways of living and working. Some of which is here to stay with us in the long run. Some of which disappear right after the crisis is gone.

Crisis often leads to long-lasting changes. Source: BCG Henderson Institute.

Nevertheless, some changes show a positive dynamic. For example, we see a greater focus on crisis preparedness, system resilience, social inequality, social solidarity, and access to health care. These attitudinal shifts could, in turn, be reflected in significant policy shifts in many areas, including trade, border controls, health care, crisis preparedness, foreign affairs, employment, and social welfare.

This pandemic shapes new social norms and drives new social rules that humanity should get prepared for starting today. We, at Intellectsoft, empower companies and their workforces with innovation services and approaches to help them survive during these times. Are you and your organization looking for some? Talk to our experts and find out more about the topic and how your business can start benefiting from it today!

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