The COVID-19 pandemic has turned the world upside down. The healthcare system all around the globe exhausted from unforeseeable surge of medical attention. The shortage of life supporting supplies plummeted. Those requiring continuous monitoring and treatment suffered the most. Bangladesh also faced the similar crisis in its healthcare system. Even disregarding the impact of COVID-19, ensuring proper diagnosis and treatment to the rural population in Bangladesh, or anywhere else in the world for that matter, can be a real challenge. The modern technology can facilitate the healthcare fight such challenges.
Telemedicine is now a popular way of taking medical services in Bangladesh. But the limitations come in terms of regular and continuous monitoring of patients. Here IoT (Internet of Things) can play a very important role. IoT devices are embedded with sensors and software and got processing capability; and can exchange data with other devices or systems.
These IoT-enable devices have made the remote monitoring of the patients convenient, unleashing the potential to keep patients safe and healthy, and empowering physicians to deliver superlative care. It has also increased patient engagement and satisfaction as interactions with doctors have become easier, more efficient and cost effective. Furthermore, remote monitoring of patients’ health helps in reducing the length of hospital stay and prevents re-admissions. IoT also has a major impact on reducing healthcare costs significantly and improving treatment outcomes.
Popular IoT devices for healthcare sectors can be the wearable fitness bands, or any other wireless devices that can regularly check heartbeat, blood pressure, glucose, etc. These devices are also efficient to calculate burned calories. IoT enabled weight machines can also be efficient for patient monitoring.
Apart from monitoring patients’ health, there are many other areas where IoT devices are very useful in hospitals. IoT devices tagged with sensors are used for tracking real-time location of medical equipment like wheelchairs, defibrillators, nebulizers, oxygen pumps and other monitoring equipment. Deployment of medical staff at different locations can also be analyzed real-time.
The spread of infections is a major concern for patients in hospitals. IoT-enabled hygiene monitoring devices help in preventing patients from getting infected.
Considering such huge potential of the IoT-based healthcare system, the IT service providers can come forward and make a good contribution in the healthcare system of Bangladesh.
Kona Software Lab Ltd., the Bangladesh office of the South Korean smartcard, payment and security industry pioneer Kona I Co., Ltd., has been active in the IT sector of Bangladesh for the past few years. The company has an Open API-based IoT platform named as KONA Things Platform which ensures scalability in compliance with international IoT standards like oneM2M, LWM2M. Kona Software Lab Ltd. is committed to grow more values by simplifying the industry adoption of IoT and improving the life of the people.
