If you or a loved one has undergone medical treatment recently you are probably aware of some of the cool new devices that help perform diagnosis and treatment. You may not be aware, however, that some of these devices are connected to the Internet and have become an important part of the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem.

How exactly does connecting MRIs, a CT Scanner, or lab test equipment in this way improve patient care? Here are three benefits:

1. Reducing device downtime through remote monitoring and support

An IoT device can be tested and diagnosed remotely. For example, a technician can connect from their own office and run diagnostics on an MRI that has failed. They can pinpoint the root cause of the problem and leverage a Knowledge Management application to find answers to common problems. The technician can also remotely connect to hospital technicians to provide “hands-on” support. When the root cause is identified, a needed new part can be shipped with instructions about how to replace the defective part or it can be delivered by a field engineer.

Companies like Varian Medical Systems are seeing a 50% reduction in mean time to repair their connected devices. Varian reduced service costs by $2,000 for each problem resolved remotely, with 20% fewer technician dispatches worldwide. Elekta is also seeing excellent results from providing instant expert advice and “over-the-shoulder support” to their customers for Elekta radiation oncology machines.

2. Proactive fulfillment by replenishing supplies before they are needed

An IoT connected medical device can report back to the “mother ship” when critical operational components are being depleted in a device. For example, helium levels in an MRI machine need to be monitored to ensure that the device is operating correctly. A field engineer can be dispatched to the hospital in advance of the helium being depleted, avoiding a total machine shut-down and patient rescheduling.

Lab devices require specific chemicals and compounds to operate and these assets can be tracked by connecting these devices. The asset depletion information can trigger alerts and automatic replenishment of the supplies limits down time and improve spatient and caregiver satisfaction. Abbott Laboratories performs just-in-time consumable replenishment by monitoring system parameters through the cloud.

3. Efficient scheduling by leveraging utilization to serve more patients

I attended a meeting recently along with several hospital CIOs. A recurring them at this conference was “these machines are too expensive for them not to be managed efficiently.” Machine utilization is not readily available and when it is available, it is gathered manually. An IoT medical device can provide daily utilization statistics that can be leveraged for patient scheduling.

For example, if a MRI in one location is only 20% utilized and one in another location is over-subscribed, doctors can re-assign patients to use the other scanner during off-peak times. The data can be fed into a cloud-based scheduling application and can also factor in periodic maintenance information. Or, if helium levels are low in one MRI, you can schedule a technician, schedule the maintenance activity, reschedule the patients affected, and perform the inventory/asset management functions and track them through a cloud application.

About the Author

Charlie Isaacs is VP of Service Cloud Strategy and Customer CTO at Salesforce.com.

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