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Connected Healthcare: Challenges and the Way Out
By Embedded Advisor | Monday, February 11, 2019
The advent of technology has offered a drastic change in every walk of life. The field of medical science has witnessed a paradigm shift. Connected medical devices have changed the whole game by offering an easy and reliable way to track the patient’s health. According to a new BCC Research report, the market for connected medical devices will witness a predicted growth of $5 billion in 2016 to $8.3 billion in 2021. But, while adding connectivity to medical devices manufacturer needs to introduce some significant changes like networking, wireless radios and, systems integration with EMRs.
Cybersecurity is an important concern for connected medical devices. These devices remain connected to the internet, hospital networks, and other devices. Connectivity makes them vulnerable. They can face some deliberate attacks, or there may be some undirected malware. Commodity malware is becoming a great threat to medical devices. So, important steps should be taken to ensure security.
Interoperability is a big problem to create a digitally enabled health care ecosystem. The providers should build open platforms, based on open data standards to allow health plans, health care providers, and technology vendors to share data among them. A unified platform has to be made to share clinical data.
Some manufacturers are not regular in developing new products, and the primary focus of the engineers remains on the core technology of the company. But, to add the connectivity feature, it is necessary to be an expert in different areas. The provider has to identify the diversified traits that are needed to add connectivity and has to recognize the pitfalls and repair them.
Embedded devices generally remain connected to the patient and a power source. The installation process of such devices is not easy. The whole process depends on proper engineering. The connected device must be linked with customers’ networks, and an application has to be installed in customers’ computer to enable appropriate support.
Connectivity provides change into the whole selling process. It demands a consultative selling process. Embedded devices include workflow automation. The buyer will certainly have questions. This department has to address these questions accurately and has to deploy proper tools to meet this criterion.
