Business case for IoT in healthcare still wanting

The Internet of Things (IoT) in healthcare will remain experimental over the 2017-2020 period, according to the latest research from Strategy Analytics.

Strategy Analytics said IoT has the potential to provide significant benefits but must compete for a share of total technology spend. IoT will grow at 18% on a compound annual basis across 2016-2025, with annual global IoT in healthcare revenues passing $27 billion in 2025.

However, healthcare will be dwarfed by primary processing, security and automotive segment spending in the broader IoT market over the forecast period.

Also, security, privacy, training and business case justification for broad deployment “remain elusive.”

“The beneficiaries of IoT in healthcare will be the patients, for whom IoT has the ability to deliver an experience that is less intrusive, less stressful and faster; but also the medical profession which may be able to operate with higher efficiency, through better knowledge of what is happening at any point in time with patients, professionals, equipment, and processes,” said Matt Wilkins, senior analyst at ABI Research.

Chris Ambrosio, executive director at ABI Research, said that healthcare providers are actively exploring IoT in how it can help them to improve patient quality of care, lower re-admissions, and shorten visit times; the advantages IoT offers in allowing them to use analytics for things like population health management to identify at-risk patients; and how using wearables to