A Healthy Future for Smart Wearables and BPM
Blog: AuraQuantic Blog
The combination of the right intelligent Business Process Management Suite (iBPMS) and personal wearable devices has the potential to transform health care. In previous articles we have looked at how new technology, in particular the Internet of Things, is increasingly used to improve many industries including the financial and agricultural sectors and we have seen a glimpse of the future of how efficient Smart cities can run. Due to the incredible potential offered by the rise of wearable devices, recent technology could also be the solution for the health care industry.
Wearables can be worn as accessories or even incorporated into clothing as displayed in the image below. They can collect and transmit health data directly from the wearer’s body.
The implications of wearables on healthcare are not only limited to clinical research, indeed if combined with the right iBPMS, wearables can significantly improve many aspects of healthcare, for example, wearables can be used as mobile tools for administrative tasks to achieve more efficient workflow processes and to assist patient transporters and disaster emergency planners. Some devices enable patients to receive notifications about healthcare, appointments, advice, medication reminders, instructions on how to exercise smarter, etc.
The wearables in healthcare challenge in April 2015, in which people were invited to explain how they would use wearables to benefit patients, physicians and healthcare workers, demonstrated the vast potential wearables have to offer this industry. One finalist spoke of how wearables could help people with autism by encouraging eye contact, helping them to decode emotions, and providing them with coping mechanisms when the device senses heightened signs of distress.
The winner of the most innovative wearable device demonstrated how wearables can ensure adherence and quality of orthopaedic rehabilitation at home. The device encourages patients to exercise and ensures technique precision by using motion sensors to track limb movement during exercise with the aim of achieving optimal patient recovery time whilst reducing the cost of post surgical care.
Other winners included the use of wearables to improve the management of chronic diseases, the use of iThermometers to discover each patients personal “normal” temperature, and a personalized device to help orientate people with Alzheimer’s or dementia which also functions as a GPS location device with warning system.
Many innovative products will be developed over the course of 2015, including a device to monitor and manage Asthma, a pill which transmits real-time vital information about the patient to clinicians and even a bra with sensors to track breast health and alert of the possibility of cancer. The possibilities are indeed endless.
Wearable technology certainly has incredible potential that can only be achieved when combined with an intelligent Process Management Suite (iBPMS) like AuraPortal, which can align applications across a wide variety of device types, integrate pre-existing workflows and ensure the continuous optimization and flexibility necessary to transform healthcare. The result is a drastic reduction in errors, improved patient care, personalized treatment and overall greater efficiency.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
