Internet of Things:

The Internet-of-Things (IoT) consists of a large number of devices that are connected via the Internet
to sense and respond to conditions in their environments. The devices are typically sensors and
actuators that exchange information with a controlling software for a defined purpose. For example, in
the context of a smart city, there may be a large number of sensors in the water infrastructure that
sense and collect information on water pressure and water flows. This information would be relayed
over the Internet to a software that would identify the location of the information and process it to
determine if any action is required. In case action is required, this information would be sent out over
the Internet to the actuators that can effect changes in the pressure and flow of water. (An actuator is
a device that moves or changes the physical state of a machine. For example, an actuator may be a
motor that responds to an electronic signal to open, close or change the position of a valve.)

IoT thus consists of sensors and actuators, data that flows to or from these things, the Internet that
enables the signals to flow, and software that can analyse the data from the sensors and determine
control signals that will flow to the actuators (Figure 6.6).
IoT is defined in various ways and is also named differently. The different definitions highlight different
aspects of IoT, though the common elements include those given in the above figure. The things are
the devices that sense the environment and convey the data, or make changes in it. Data is col- lected
from the things and forms the basis of the entire ensemble. Software analyses and responds to the
data in a manner suitable for the objectives of the network. The Internet provides the connectivity
that brings everything together. Cloud technologies form the basis of collecting, storing and analys- ing
data that is obtained from the devices.
IoT is seen as a powerful method of control and coordination of different environments. Homes,
offices, buildings, cars, personal devices, machines, amongst others, all have sensory devices, and
some have actuators, and

Sensors
Things Internet
Actuators Internet-of-Things

Software
Data

constitute the world of IoT. It is estimated that in 2017 there were 13 billion devices or things
connected to the Internet. Industry commentators and experts estimated that by 2020 there would be
20 billion devices connected to the Internet and used in almost all domains of human activity.

Some industry experts also refer to the configurations of things connected to the Internet as the
Internet-of-Everything (IoE), while others refer to it as Internet 4.0. The latter is also called the
Industrial Internet-of-Things (IIoT). IIoT is possibly one of the biggest application and focus areas of
IoT. The sensors in IIoT are connected to a vast number of industrial devices and machines and that
provide data on detailed and minute aspects of operations. This is a significant achievement as, so far,
the use of the Internet and its facilities was not significant in the operations domain. The data that is
harvested from manufacturing and service operations is analysed to see where improvements can be
effected. Research shows that even tiny savings, say a 1% gain in efficiency of energy use, result in
massive cost savings (as the scale of operations is large).
The use of sensors has also enabled a new business model, where specific devices can be marketed
based on outcomes. For example, the Rolls Royce Company is a market leader in jet engines. It sold jet
engines in the past to airplane manufacturers and then set up maintenance contracts to service those
engines. However, with the advent of IoT, this model of doing busi- ness changed. Rolls Royce now
embeds thousands of sensors in its engines and gives them to airplane manufacturers. The sensors
record every aspect of the engine and send the data to the company over the Internet. This data is
used with complex software that simulate the performance of the engine, in real-time, as its ‘digital
twin’. The company knows how much the engine has run, how much wear its parts have experienced,
and when certain parts have to be serviced or changed. Rolls Royce’s customers pay for the service of
the engine, based on how much it is used, and not for the total engine itself. This change in the
business model is significant as, like in the cloud, it shifts the costs from buying up-front assets to
paying for the engine ser- vice on a usage and measured basis. This model gives the manufacturer,
Rolls Royce, a better handle on its product for servicing across its entire life cycle.
IoT deployments in different applications constitute a vast range of problems and solutions. The
following subsections discuss examples from logistics management and healthcare.

https://www.peerbits.com/blog/internet-of-things-healthcare-applications-benefits-and-
challenges.html

https://www.ubuntupit.com/iot-in-healthcare-20-examples-thatll-make-you-feel-better/

cybersecurity challenges in using IoT in healthcare

For IoT, too, security is a concern. IoT devices and gateways remain points of entry, if unprotected, for
malicious software to be inserted into the organisation. There are instances where IoT devices have
been compromised to disrupt industrial processes for competitive reasons and also as acts of warfare.
In some cases, monitoring of IoT devices is undertaken as a form of industrial espionage. Managers of
IoT systems have to ensure that devices at the device and network layers remain secure.

Enlist a few areas in which IoT can be used in healthcare.

There are several ways to use the Internet of Things technology in the healthcare industry.

 HIMS collects and manages medical records or data about doctors, patients.
 EHR tracks electronic records of patients’ health conditions. Such systems provide
real-time information instantly.
 mHealth apps can be used in two cases — for emergency or regular treatment.
 Remote health monitoring.
 Wearables.
 Patient-oriented medicine.
Hospital Information Management System (HIMS)

IoT brings a lot of changes to hospital management systems.

HIMS collects and manages such information as medical records,data about

doctors and patients. The system provides up-to-date information about
appointments, hospital rooms, and so on.

Hospital Information Management System brings several significant benefits to

the healthcare sector:

 Easy search of documents;

 Remote access to patients’ records;
 High-security level;
 Drug management;
 Improved patient experience;
 etc.

A lot of companies offer ready-made Hospital Information Management Systems

that can be used on various devices to provide easy access to the records.
Among these systems are:

 Aarogya
 eHospital
 eVisit
 myNapier
 Insta HMS

Electronic Healthcare Records System (EHR)

The next IoT healthcare use case is EHR.

EHR stands for electronic health records. Such systems provide real-time
information instantly and securely to authorized users.

EHR systems not only store information about patients. They can also share data
among various specialists to achieve better treatment results.
Electronic Healthcare Records systems tend to offer various benefits to the
healthcare sector for doctors and patients. For example, doctors get instant
access to the latest tests of the patient and can see the full disease history. As for
the patients, they can contact doctors 24/7 that is important for patients with
chronic diseases.

Mobile Healthcare

Such solutions also called mHealth applications  that improve the patient

experience. The App Store and Google Play offer approximately 320,000
mHealth, according to IQVIA. mHealth app development  gives a lot of
opportunities like getting consultation online, scheduling the offline consultation,
and more.

It’s possible to use mobile healthcare IoT applications in two cases — for
emergency or regular treatment. Apps connected to wearables tend to collect data
about physical activity or health conditions. It’s possible to create IoT apps for
wearable devices that can transfer the healthcare data to smartphones.

There are several types of mHealth apps:

 Meditation applications
 EHRs
 Sleep tracking applications
 Fitness apps

there are more ways to use the Internet of Things in healthcare:

Remote health monitoring:

Special IoT healthcare devices and custom software make it possible to read data
from medical cards of patients in a real-time. They allow doctors to conduct
analysis, send notifications to suppliers and patients.

Wearables

These gadgets continuously monitor the daily activity of patients, and they can
inform about steps taken, burnt calories, heart rate, etc.
Patient-oriented medicine

This medicine includes devices that can provide medical care considering all
individual demands of each patient using IoT healthcare sensors.

Medical assets monitoring

IoT helps medical employees spend less time on routing and management tasks.
Specialists will be able to spend more time with patients due to the improvement
of medical assets monitoring and managing them. So IoT and healthcare can be
mutually beneficial for each other.

Identify the benefits of using IoT in healthcare in a

developing country like India

There are three primary use cases of IoT in healthcare:

 Hospital Information Management System (HIMS) collects and manages such

information as medical records or the data about doctors, patients.
 Electronic Healthcare Records System (EHR) tracks electronic records of patients’
health conditions. Such systems provide real-time information instantly and securely
to authorized users.
 mHealth apps can be used in two cases — for emergency or regular treatment.

The combination of the Internet of Things and healthcare creates several vital benefits.

 Health monitoring. There are various smart devices like smartwatches that track
health conditions constantly.
 Better patient experience.
 Drug management. IoT technology allows controlling the amount of taken medicine.
 Healthcare automation. IoT devices can help automate various administrative,
manual, and routine tasks.
 Preventive healthcare.

Modern healthcare devices include wrist bands and health bands that measure body parameters such
as heartbeat rate, blood pressure and blood oxygen level. These parameters are relayed, using the
Bluetooth wireless protocol, to smart phones that forward them to controlling applications. Hospitals
use such devices to constantly monitor chronic care patients.
The Giraff project in Sweden is another example of the use of the IoT for healthcare. Giraff is a
telepresence robot that is placed in homes where people need monitoring and round-the-clock care.
The robot has a screen display and cameras on it, and the whole assembly is mounted on wheels. The
robot can be remotely controlled by an operator to move it about in the house of the patient. Its
cameras provide a feed about the activity of the patient and, if there is a need, enable the patient to
speak to an operator or nurse using a teleconferencing facility like Skype. The operator or nurse can
move the cameras about and check the vicinity of the patient, zoom in on details, provide voice
feedback and have the robot move back to a position from where it can monitor the location and be
charged from an electrical connection. The sensors on this device are the cameras and microphone
that convey information via the Internet about the patient.

Five Main Benefits of IoT in Healthcare

Internet of Things and healthcare gain more popularity every year. It means that such a solution has
several vital benefits. Let’s discuss them more precisely.

Health Monitoring

Smart devices can track health conditions. IoT applications for healthcare can send an emergency
signal if the patient has an asthma attack, heart failure, or another medical issue.

For example, Apple has integrated a Fall Detection System in Apple Watch. It detects if the user falls
and shows an alert. The person needs to tap ‘I’m OK’ for one minute. In another case, AppleWatch
calls emergency services. They also send a message to emergency contacts.

Better Patient Experience

IoT in hospitals improves the healthcare system, gives patients a more comfortable way to get in touch
with doctors. It leads to improving patient experience and gaining customer loyalty. The hospital from
New York, USA — Mt. Sinai Medical Center — managed to reduce the waiting time for 50% of their
emergency patients using AutoBed software.

The hospital has approximately 1,100 beds, but admits at least 59,000 of patients. The primary task of
AutoBed is matching available beds with new patients.

Drug Management

One of the Internet of Things healthcare benefits is better drug management. IoT technology allows
controlling the amount of taken medicine. Doctors can monitor the dose and track effectiveness of
treatment.
Also, the Internet of Things allows sending reminders to patients when they should take their drugs. In
some cases, it’s possible to notify the family member when the patient hasn’t taken medicine on time.

Healthcare Automation

IoT devices can help automate administrative, manual, and routine tasks. Internet of Things medical
applications can analyze a significant amount of information and create different metrics to see any
changes in the patients’ health conditions.

Automated processes of collecting data can reduce the number of errors in making diagnosis.

Preventive Healthcare

A lot of people die from chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and more. Using the
analytic capabilities of IoT, it’s possible to provide patients with more personalized forms of treatment
and care.

Smart, Connected or Wearable devices can monitor health conditions of elderly or patients with
chronic diseases. Having all that data, doctors will be able to give a better treatment and see the first
symptoms of the disease.

Advantages of IoT in Healthcare

The ‘all-consuming’ connection of health devices and data centralization
brings many significant benefits to the table, such as:

 All-around technological enhancement. Rendering hospital visits

unnecessary, passively accumulating and deeply analyzing important
health data, etc. We’ve already pondered on all these advanced tech
capacities galore enough. The IoMT provides space for fantastic long-
term innovations.
 Cost savings. One of the greatest advantages of IoT in healthcare is that
efficient autonomous systems will cost less to manage and ‘employ’ in
the long run. Things are even better when it comes to patient cost
savings due to fewer hospital journeys as well as accelerated
diagnostics and treatment.
  Accessibility. Doctors can view all the necessary data on command and
check real-time patient conditions without leaving their office.

Disadvantages of IoT in Healthcare

Alternatively, some downsides that come along with the massive
implementation of the IoT in healthcare include:

 Privacy can be potentially undermined. As we’ve already mentioned,

systems get hacked. Lots of attention will need to be focused on data
security, which requires significant additional spendings.
 Unauthorized access to centralization. There is a chance that
dishonest interlopers may access centralized systems and realize some
cruel intentions.
 Global healthcare regulations. International health administrations
are already issuing guidelines that must be strictly followed by
governmental medical establishments integrating the IoT in their
workflow. These may restrict possible capacities to some extent.

1. Netmeds.com, one of the largest e-pharmacies claims more than 3.7 million customers in over
610 cities and towns. The market size of e-pharmacies was approximately $512 million (Rs 3,500
crore) in 2018. It is predicted that there will be a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 63
per cent which will reach $3.6 billion (Rs 25,000 crore) by 2022. Explain how information systems
help in managing the supplies of medicines by online pharmacies and delivering them to
customers.
Answer:

How e-pharmacy is beneficial to customers

An online pharmacy can effectively address multiple issues the Indian healthcare
consumer and system face.

1. Consumer convenience: The consumers would be able to order medicines in a

convenient manner, from their mobile or computer. This will significantly help
patients who are already sick and not in a condition to go out to find a pharmacy

2. Consumer access: Online platforms can aggregate supplies, making otherwise

hard to find medicines available to consumers across the country. Offline
pharmacies can only keep limited inventory, resulting in a consumer having to ask
multiple stores to get his or her medicine

3. Consumer education: Online pharmacies have the technology infrastructure to

provide value added information to consumers, such as drug interactions, side
effects, medicine reminders, and information on cheaper substitutes. The more
aware consumers will always benefit from the power of knowledge, which is easily
distributed through the electronic medium.

4. Data records: All medicine purchases can be tracked - effectively reducing the

problem of drug abuse and self-medication.

5. Medicine authenticity: With full tracking systems and solid technology backend,

counterfeit medicines can be traced back to the channel/ manufacturer/ supplier,
thereby making the market a lot more transparent and ensuring that authenticity is
strictly maintained.

6. Transaction records: Organized online players would have systematic records

for all transactions, with full taxes paid on each transaction. A great benefit to the
state considering the size of the market

7. Data analytics: Online pharmacies can store and analyse large amounts of data
on consumers across the nation which can be very useful for planning public health
policies

8. Industry sustainability: An online pharmacy model will enable existing

pharmacies to start online operations and serve a broader set of customers, or a
network of pharmacies integrating to one platform and accessing a broader
customer base while also ensuring that the inventory is consolidated. "This would
reduce working capital requirements, remove wastage from system and increase
margins, making the pharmacy model sustainable and higher value add," says
Tandon.

E-pharmacy is well aligned to objectives of national development

According to industry experts, an online pharmacy aligns very well with national
development objectives and has clear and tangible benefit to consumers as well as
the industry. Across the world, it has been seen that growth of ecommerce and
retail are complimentary and reinforce each other. Traditional brick and mortal
retailers also innovate and strengthen their operations by leveraging e-commerce
to reach more consumers.

The small sector of organized pharmacy retail in India would get a huge boost and
a full industry can be transformed by leveraging the internet in a smart way.
Besides, internet-based transactions are well aligned to address key known issues
in pharmacy retail – tracking for authenticity, traceability of medicine, abuse
prevention, addressing consumption of drugs without prescription, tax loss and
value added services for consumer empowerment in healthcare, which are all key
areas of national development. Besides, this would also enable doctors to adopt e-
prescriptions in a big way – addressing the significant issue of errors due to
misreading of doctors’ hand writing as well as recording of data for public health
planning.

Industry experts say it is, thus, the right time as a country to define the regulatory
framework to help e-pharmacy have a clear-cut operating model, in line with the
concerns of the regulator, while providing benefits to the customers.

Pharmaceutical management information systems

https://www.msh.org/sites/msh.org/files/mds3-ch49-infosystems-mar2012.pdf

https://holisollogistics.com/online-pharmacy-way-forward-supply-chain-perspective/

https://staff.emu.edu.tr/sensevpayanilkan/Documents/courses/ITEC107/LECTURE6.pdf

https://solutiondots.com/blog/his-hospital-information-system/healthcare-information-systems-
support-automating-pharmacy-operations/