IoT in healthcare : exploring the impact on healthcare career paths

Who would have imagined doctors should also graduate from a BA in software engineering to be good practitioners?
With the development of the IoT in healthcare and the increasing number of devices entering the operating room, healthcare career paths have changed. So too is the role of digital solution service providers. For the better?

Doctors, nurses, hospital managers have now to be familiar with a myriad of digital applications, solutions and devices to carry out their daily job. To an external eye, the digital transformation of the rather archaic healthcare industry is highly beneficial. That’s a no brainer as it brings with it the promise of improved patient safety and cost reduction.

The examples are numerous:

Augmented reality and virtual reality have been used to reduce pain and provide necessary information during surgery, thus helping to minimise invasiveness and improve the clinical outcome.
Wearable medical devices that track patients’ health condition enable constant monitoring at home and in hospitals, supporting physicians in their treatment options and allowing early diagnosis.
Asset tracking solutions facilitate the daily management of staff and equipment within the hospital such as tracking the completeness of any set of surgical instruments before a procedure (link to article on asset tracking solution)

The pandemic has prompted a lasting change in healthcare career paths

But innovative solutions should contribute to smoothen the daily tasks of healthcare professionals and healthcare organisation managers and it should not be the other way around. How can doctors get the most out of AR smart glasses during orthopedic surgery ? How can asset tracking solutions facilitate the work of nurses when checking the sterilization dates of a surgical kit?

During the pandemic, telemedicine has been used massively not only to detect Covid-19 patients but also to ensure patients continue to receive care remotely. Between 2019 and 2020 the number of US patients using telehealth has been multiplied by 4, Mckinsey says.
It means healthcare professionals have had to adapt to this new reality. It also means new roles have emerged such as the virtual hospital manager.

Only solution providers that offer training and customer support will stand out

This puts a lot of pressure on solution providers who are competing to sell their services and devices. Not only should they integrate the end user when designing innovative technological solutions but they should also offer regular training and easy-to-maintain devices and applications as well as optimal customer support. A word to the wise.

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