Olivier Pauzet, Senior Director of Marketing and Market Strategy at Sierra Wireless considers the NHS of the future, aided by advances in wireless – The NHS today is facing up to the challenge of making £20bn worth of efficiency savings by 2014-15. Along with the Government-driven reforms, which set out to massively overhaul the structure of the health services, the NHS is going to have to contend with a comprehensive re-evaluation of the way it conducts its operations – and all without adversely affecting patient outcomes.
To meet these challenges, the NHS is going to have to embrace a raft of new technologies to help it improve its operations and deliver an ever-improving level of patient care.
The introduction of new technologies to monitor and report on patient health can help enhance preventative care, encourage compliance with prescribed treatments, and ultimately improve patient outcomes across the board.
In particular, integrating wireless modules into medical devices can provide a new way of treating patients.
For example, the ability to wirelessly transmit patient health data (such as heart rate, temperature etc.) means that patients can remain at home and be monitored remotely.
Also, by integrating cellular embedded modules into overall technology solutions used in the health-care system, will enable faster exchanges of patient medical information.
This seamless and secure transmission of information from healthcare professional to hospital care facility or even patient may reduce health expenditures and increase possible scenarios for home care in the future.
Such solutions are already being deployed, for example, embedded wireless modules integrated into mobile health solution for real-time diabetes management.
This solution works by wirelessly enabling data-capable glucometers.
Once a patient takes a glucose reading, the device communicates the results to a cloud-based database, accessible to patients and their healtcare providers.
The service provides both track over time and real-time feedback for patients and their caregivers, flagging issues for medical attention before they become critical.
M-to-M communications
Machine-to-machine communications open up a vast range of possibilities for innovations in healthcare that can improve the lives of patients and the quality of care available to them.
But for this goal to be realised, OEMs must look to integrate the right technologies, based on the specific requirements of the healthcare sector.
However security is paramount. The nature of the information that will be wirelessly transmitted is extremely personal and highly sensitive and therefore must be protected.
In wireless healthcare, security for transferring sensitive private information is performed by using a combination of different features available on the cellular embedded wireless module, providing endpoint authentication and communication confidentiality over networks.
Cellular encryption technology, communication protocols used for the Internet and other similar networks (TCP/IP), cryptographic protocols at the transport layer (SSL), and virtual private networks (VPN) all make data travelling over the network seamless and secure.
Information transfer in some medical applications does require high-speed broadband capability and high-quality of service levels enabled through 4G wireless technology.
To support these capabilities in multiple countries around the world, devices need to be compatible with a range of network technologies, including GPRS, EDGE, CDMA, WCDMA, TD-SCDMA and HSPA. Wireless technology can have a significant impact on efficiencies within an increasingly stressed health-care system.
Embedding cellular wireless modules in medical devices can help relieve the stress on the system and improve patient care by for example, better enabling the long-term management of chronic illnesses outside the hospital setting, relieving time pressures on healthcare providers and enabling more effective and less burdensome care for patients.
With current and future innovations that integrate wireless communications into healthcare, the NHS of the future can be increasingly flexible and efficient and patient outcomes will benefit greatly as a result.
