IoT and sensitive data in healthcare: issues and answers

The Internet of Things has revolutionised the healthcare system. The main achievement and an ongoing goal of IoT implementation is a shift from a hospital-centric approach to a patient-centred one. IoT offers limitless opportunities for remote monitoring, care, alerts, treatments, diagnosis, and rigorous medical data analysis.

Implementing advanced technologies like IoT, AI, Big Data for healthcare providers is not only an option but a necessity to keep pace with the swiftly digitised world. New possibilities and unprecedented access to private data come with great responsibility. Implementation of IoT in healthcare, the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), requires a tactical strategy and new advanced data safety measures.

This article will help you understand the challenges and limitations of the IoM, and will explore the proven solutions to make IoT integration flawless, safe, and efficient.

Obstacles Med IoT is facing today

Tech-minded healthcare providers see how IoT will completely revolutionise the way we think about healthcare. Yet, these positive predictions concerning the IoT future in the long run. Today's reality is not so promising: many medical companies are sceptical of IoT implementations, doctors and care professionals, and patients do not trust new devices and apps or simply do not know how to use them.

We summarised the key obstacle for IoT, which prevents sensor data from becoming a functional part of the healthcare industry.

• Compliance. Mass digitisation requires new policies that will regulate data access. Overall, two main documents that regulate data protection in healthcare are European GDPR and American HIPAA.
• HIPAA. The Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act was developed to ensure protection for all types of healthcare data, including analyses, prescriptions, treatment, and records. HIPAA strictly controls that patient’s data is not shared without the owner's consent.
• GDPR. Unlike HIPAA, GDPR, or General Data Protection Regulation oversees healthcare and all personal data safeguarding. E.U. data regulation protocol considers the following types of data-sensitive:

• Medical records and any health data
• Biological and genetic data
• Biometric or identification data.

When it comes to data access negotiation, it is important to remember that healthcare services are complex and involve different parties and vendors: insurance companies, healthcare providers, drug companies, etc. While co-ordinating the workflow, one should consider protecting data, which will ultimately be shared with different parties. 

A lot of progress can be achieved with interoperability, which enables relatively safe data automation. Yet, many healthcare providers are hesitant about universal and digitised solutions. Thus, it is vital to be on the same page with departments and vendors about data access management.

Let’s move on to cyber safety. Medical records are the most desired target for cyber thieves. The personal healthcare record contains much more valuable information than a social security number or a debit card. The medical chart is an official comprehensive portrait of the patient that contains sensitive case history, medications, address, age, chronic illnesses, to name a few. Here are obligatory measures that will help to protect sensitive data:

• Design IoMT solutions with security in mind
• Develop detailed strategy and response protocols for specific risks
• Carefully manage access 
• Provide a sufficient budget for security management. For instance, make sure to test the performance with software companies specialising in security before deploying a product.

Cyber thieves are constantly finding new ways to access sensitive data illegally. Thus, security management and protocols should be constantly updated and adjusted to satisfy new security demands.

Personal health record data is an attractive target for cybercriminals. It is also interesting to drug corporations and insurance companies. The development of IoT solutions always involves third-party vendors, who might need data about users of their software and devices. According to HIPAA and GDPR, you cannot share any data without the patient's consent. To resolve this juxtaposition, both EU and U.S. regulations developed an anonymous mechanism that allows de-identifying sensitive data, protecting its owners.

Data hazards can often come from inside: IoT and software are not fully protected from technical errors. Before any unexpected jeopardy, like web connection failure or platform crash, occurs, make sure to design an alternative solution for the “offline” data protection.

The effect of IoT on medtech manufacturers

IoT technologies are ensuring the ultimate connectivity never imagined before. Medtech is not the only industry transformed by IoT: it is hard to think of a field or business where IoT would not be useful. According to Forbes, by 2027, the industry is expected to reach around $43 billion worldwide. So how does medtech IoT transform the economy and manufacturing? Here are the key insights you need to know.

Undoubtedly, IoT offers limitless possibilities for analysis and prediction. Yet, sometimes healthcare data can be abundant. Managing and processing the acquired data from different sources is challenging: using all this potential. Possible solutions include raw data acquisition, resources data extraction, semantic reasoning, and clustering.

One of the most apparent issues is that many medical manufacturers develop automated systems but do not go further. Still, they could develop new software and IoT sensors to ensure 24/7 connectivity. To nurture IoT innovation, one should trust IoT implemented and developed by medical and technical expertise. 

Moreover, high recall rates signify that many healthcare organisations are not satisfied with the quality of the new devices. There is a need for closer cooperation between manufacturers and healthcare professionals to establish new quality standards for IoT.

Overall, the main takeaway is that flexibility is key. The pandemic accelerated the development of healthcare manufacturing, bringing new solutions like smart temperature monitors and COVID-19 alert buttons on our smartwatches. Pandemic showed that adjustability is necessary for healthcare manufacturing: vendors should develop business strategies and production models that ensure a quick switch in the produced products.

IoT sensor data: Wrapping up

Today, healthcare depends on data, and this tendency is only getting stronger. Innovative tools like IoT allow revolutionising industry and how we think about our health. But with great possibilities comes great responsibility. Healthcare providers should seriously approach