The healthcare sector has experienced a lot of advancement through integration of technology into the daily operations undertaken within the industry. The internet of things is among such advancement that can help improve the relationship between healthcare providers and their patients within a given institution. An effective patient-healthcare provider relationship contributes significantly in enhancing patient satisfaction after accessing services within specific institutions. For instance, integrating such technology in an institution can enhance remote connection between healthcare providers and their patients. Such a measure is essential because it enables the providers to monitor the adherence of patients to the medications provided to them. Alternatively, it also becomes possible for the patient’s to raise alarm whenever they are faced with urgent medical attention, whereby a quick response will help in saving lives. Internet of things (IoT) can effectively help in addressing the issue because it facilitates interconnectivity of computing devices via the internet to help sending and receiving of data. The research intends to evaluate ways in which IoT sensors can help in tracking the actual location of medical equipment within a healthcare center.
IOT Proposed Product
The proposed product in this research is a sensor that will enable the management to have real time awareness about the actual location of medical equipment such as nebulizers, oxygen pumps, wheelchairs, and defibrillators. It is essential to note that hospitals tends to have a set of medical equipment that are shared between different departments. Accordingly, it can be frustrating and ineffective for the healthcare providers to locate such items whenever the need arise (Sooyoung Yoo et al., 2018). It is essential that physicians have access to these equipment whenever a need arises because they can help in either accurate diagnosis of an illness or move patients during emergencies. Consequently, capability to locate the equipment on real time basis facilitates efficient operations within the healthcare centers and also helps save lives.
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Statement Need for the IoT Product
Using sensors in hospitals to locate shared medical equipment serves a paramount purpose because it helps in making operations more efficient and positively contribute towards patient satisfaction. The analog search for the medical equipment can be time consuming since the doctors might be required to move from one department to another searching for one item. The practice can also be tiresome and this aspect can substantially minimize the productivity of the healthcare giver. Accordingly, the patients are unlikely to acquire satisfaction from the services being rendered to them.
Similar Products in the Market
GPS systems is among the products that hospitals use to locate and manage inventories within the healthcare institutions. The GPS enables a healthcare management to create a system that facilitates easy tracking of equipment in case of emergencies. Moreover, the GPS system enables the healthcare facilities to protect theft of medical equipment since the patients will be caught as they exit by the guards manning the institution (Martínez Pérez et al., 2016). GPS tracking also enables the management to make more informed decisions because they get to know the equipment that are mostly used and invest more on them. However, installation of GPS has some disadvantages because the battery can go low at any given time, which will make it difficult for the caregivers to locate it. Moreover, GPS tracking systems has been associated with some inaccuracies, thus demonstrating that healthcare providers cannot rely on it fully. Finally, the GPS market is characterized with commercial exploitation since it is extremely expensive to purchase a system making it expensive to accumulate the initial capital. Accordingly, it is more convenient for healthcare institutions to invest in IoT sensors compared to the GPS tracking systems, which are more expensive.
Features that Make an IoT Scanner Better
Using a scanner to track and monitor movement of medical equipment within a healthcare facility is essential because it is more accurate compared to the GPS system. In the section above, it is already evident that GPS systems are characterized with challenges when tracking equipment because they are inaccurate. Hence, this attribute makes the scanners more competitive. Moreover, it is possible for the scanner to enhance hygiene within healthcare institutions by avoiding equipment used in departments where patients with a contagious disease are being admitted. Furthermore, the healthcare providers devise measures that will enable them handle such equipment effectively without risking being contaminated with a specific illness. Such a measure requires that the tracking system is accurate in locating the movement of an equipment to ensure misguiding the providers and the IoT scanner will achieve this measure. Additionally, unlike the GPS system that tracks each equipment at a time, the scanner is more efficient because it has the potential to monitor multiple products and give on time notifications about their location. It is also essential to note that the tags used by the scanners are extremely cheap making it cost efficient for a hospital to invest in the IoT tracking system compared to using GPS. Moreover, IoT is more convenient in terms of energy consumption compared to the GPS systems associated with high energy levels. Hence, to enhance the profit margin in a hospital, it is essential to ensure that a more energy efficient product is used.
Description of Market
The chosen market in this case is the Medical and Healthcare, where patient satisfaction plays a critical role in influencing customer satisfaction. The healthcare sector is associated with activities that help in saving lives of the sick individuals and thus time is a vital resource. Moreover, it is also essential to acknowledge that healthcare institutions uses a complex system because there are different departments serving varying purposes. However, there are some equipment that are relevant in every department making it inevitable to share them. Nonetheless, it can be an exhausting task to determine where a specific equipment is located at a given time because they move from one department to another. Therefore, it becomes essential to create a system where the healthcare providers can locate such items on time to avoid delays in an emergency situation. The healthcare sector has acknowledged the role of technology in enhancing its operations. Thus integration of IoT scanners will only contribute to the advancement and integration of technology in hospital operations aimed at achieving some efficiency.
The IoT product suggested in this proposal helps the healthcare givers to solve an existing problem. As earlier stated, the healthcare givers have a challenging task of locating equipment that are shared amongst multiple departments. Subsequently, it becomes tedious for the providers to locate such items and attend to their patients that might be in need of emergency care. Consequently, providing a product that will enable the healthcare givers to get real time response and notifications on the location of certain equipment not only help to save lives, but also improves efficiency of operations within the hospital.
The IoT scanners proposed for this institution plays an essential role in promoting business to business commerce. The hospitals are institutions or business premises that intends to use the scanners to enhance the experience of their customers. On the other hand, the hospital management must liaise with institutions that deal in manufacturing of scanners to achieve the intended objective. Hence, the transaction involved in the purchase of the scanners will be between two businesses. The benefits of engaging in business to business engagements is that the involved parties will have more clarity about the sales and specification of commodity needed thus meeting the needs of the organization. Furthermore, it is also essential to note that business to business engagement enhances transparency due to lack of a middle man and this increases the chances of the business saving some costs during the procurement process. Thus, using a business to business e-commerce in procuring scanners in healthcare facilities is a more recommendable approach.
Pros and Cons of the IoT Product
Integrating the IoT scanners in hospital operations has some associated benefits that make the systems more recommendable compared to other products in the market. Firstly, using IoT scanners is cost saving compared to other tracking systems because the required tagging component is readily available in the market at a low cost. Hence, it is easier to install the IoT scanners compared to other systems that can serve a similar purpose within the healthcare centers. Secondly, the IoT systems makes it possible to have point to point communication that makes it essential to have an elaborate feedback given at any time when it is needed. Furthermore, the M2M communication approach makes it possible to have the systems integrated on a larger scale meaning that even hospitals that are large in size can effectively use IoT scanners to track equipment. Finally, the IoT systems do not require manual input since they are automatic making them more efficient because they can help to locate products at any given time.
However, the IoT scanners also have misgivings that the management ought to address before implementing them in their hospitals for tracking movement and location of medical equipment. To begin with, the scanners will be over dependent on technology and any malfunctions means that it is impossible to use the systems efficiently. Therefore, it is critical that the management should consider how they can easily solve technology hiccups when they arise. Additionally, since IoT systems store their data in the cloud, it is easy to comprise with the security and privacy of the institution. Malicious characters can easily access the data through hacking and use it at the disadvantage of the institution. Finally, the IoT scanners will contribute to displacement of jobs in a hospital because individuals responsible for organizing and distributing the equipment might be required to move to different departments after digitization of their tasks.
Literature Review
| Author | Year | Title | Study Design | Sample Size | Aims | Findings |
| Gholamhosseini et al., | 2019 | Hospital Real-Time Location System (A Practical Approach in Healthcare): A Narrative Review Article | Empirical Review | Undefined | To identify the importance of real time tracking of medical equipment, medical staff, and patients in hospitals in Iran. | Various technologies are currently being used and have played an essential role in minimizing errors and cost of operation. |
| Dash | 2020 | The Impact of IoT in Healthcare: Global Technological Change & The Roadmap to a Networked Architecture in India. | Empirical Review | Undefined | To evaluate the emerging trend of using IoT systems in the healthcare sector globally. | The emergence of new technologies have influenced developments made to enhance the operation of IoT systems in hospitals. |
| Laplante et al. | 2018 | Building Caring Healthcare Systems in the Internet of Things | Structured systematic review | Undefined | To illustrate the applicability of IoT within the healthcare system | IoT can help in enhancing security, privacy, safety, and provision of care to the patients. |
Conclusion
Integrating IoT sensors in a healthcare facility requires a researcher to evaluate various ways through which it can be useful in tracking medical equipment within a facility. It is evident that integrating IoT within the healthcare system plays an essential role in ensuring that it is possible to access any given equipment within a short period of time. Internet of Things plays an essential role in ensuring that the management achieves patient satisfaction and also promotes productivity within an institution. Hence, conducting research in this area will help to understand how IoT scanners benefit hospitals and achieve the intended purpose.
References
Dash, S. P. (2020). The impact of IoT in healthcare: Global technological change & the roadmap to a networked architecture in India. Journal of the Indian Institute of Science , 100 (4), 773–785. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41745-020-00208-y
Gholamhosseini, L., Sadoughi, F., & Safaei, A. (2019). Hospital real-time location system (a practical approach in healthcare): A narrative review article. Iranian Journal of Public Health , 48 (4), 593–602. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6500521/
Laplante, P. A., Kassab, M., Laplante, N. L., & Voas, J. M. (2018). Building caring healthcare systems in the internet of things. IEEE Systems Journal , 12 (3), 3030–3037. https://doi.org/10.1109/jsyst.2017.2662602
Martínez Pérez, M., Vázquez González, G., & Dafonte, C. (2016). Evaluation of a tracking system for patients and mixed intravenous medication based on RFID technology. Sensors , 16 (12), 2031. https://doi.org/10.3390/s16122031
Sooyoung Yoo, Kim, S., Kim, E., Jung, E., Lee, K.-H., & Hwang, H. (2018). Real-time location system-based asset tracking in the healthcare field: Lessons learned from a feasibility study. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making , 18 (1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12911-018-0656-0
