Healthcare delivery worldwide has been transformed with digital connectivity advances as new implementations such as telehealth, remote care and hospital-at-home models gain substantial traction. These care delivery models provide specialized medical care from the comfort of patients’ homes, effectively simulating the hospital or clinic environment. With many healthcare systems strained to their limits, telehealth, remote care and hospital-at-home emerged as a practical solutions to reduce pressure on facilities while ensuring patients continue to receive high-quality care. The rise of telehealth, remote care and hospital-at-home has provided a large market opportunity for medical device manufacturers. However, like all new technologies, many companies struggle in integrating the necessary IoT devices and systems to successfully adapt to this new patient care model.
- Are you struggling with the integration of IoT devices and connectivity into your product development process?
- Would you benefit from a full-service engineering strategic partnership to launch your innovative patient care systems?
- Are unexpected manufacturing challenges causing you to miss emerging trends and lose market advantage?
These are exactly the challenges faced by our client when they approached us to help bring their IoT devices to market.
Adapting Devices for Remote Care Settings
Our client, a globally recognized leader in the healthcare industry, focuses on developing innovative health monitoring devices and solutions. With expertise in manufacturing a wide variety of commercially available cardiovascular health products, they were eager to adapt their products for a telehealth, remote care and hospital-at-home setting.
The client’s project was to develop an innovative blood pressure monitoring system which would limit the need for inpatient visits and provide a more comprehensive screening for cardiovascular health. This system would monitor patient’s blood pressure and weight from their own home and forward the information to a secure server in the cloud that could be accessed by a healthcare team for review and further analysis. Providing accurate data helps both consumers and healthcare professionals make informed decisions about health and wellness.
Our client, like many others, faced challenges in developing their system due to the complexities of integrating IoT devices. Despite two years of initial development efforts, they were unable to find a suitable solution. As a large global company, the client had vast engineering resources inhouse, and those resources were already allocated to other equally important projects. The inhouse team was forced to coordinate a comprehensive solution while managing multiple outside vendors.
Simplifying Telehealth with IoT Data Management
With our partnership, we were able to provide a single-source, turn-key and comprehensive IoT data management system that works seamlessly with our client’s existing suite of technologies. At the core of our IoT devices solution was the development of a central data hub to connect to our client’s blood pressure monitors and weight scales through Bluetooth within the patient’s home. When the monitors and scales have new readings, the data from those readings is securely transmitted to a cloud server via built-in cellular connectivity. The patient’s medical team has easy and instantaneous access to the patient data.
This end-to-end IoT devices solution became a reality thanks to our industry-leading expertise in product development. Our comprehensive plan oversaw all aspects, from design and testing to supply chain management and transition to in-house manufacturing. The result is a final hub that surpasses our client’s expectations, thanks to its innovative cellular solution.
In remote care systems, cellular connectivity plays a vital role as it ensures reliable data transmission without relying on existing internet systems within a patient’s home. Our hub’s ability to utilize cellular networks was made possible through our extensive index of existing partnerships, by gaining support from major cellular providers and access to secure cloud servers. The combination of the centralized data hub and cellular support has enabled our client to receive a truly holistic data solution.
After two years of unsuccessful attempts by our clients to develop their own IoT devices and data solution, we stepped in and delivered a successful prototype within a matter of months. Through our collaboration with an extensive network of partners and the meticulous approach of our dedicated team, we successfully navigated the complexities of IoT integration for our client.
The centerpiece was a full-service IoT devices solution that seamlessly integrated with their existing technologies. This comprehensive solution provided a centralized data hub, securely synchronizing crucial patient data from their health monitoring devices to a cloud server. By overcoming any gaps in their previous attempts, we ensured a smooth transition from design to manufacturing.
Discover How Nortech's IoT Solutions Can Help Your Business
Not only did our solution meet our client’s requirements, but it also enabled a faster market launch. In the rapidly evolving healthcare industry, speed-to-market is crucial to gaining a competitive edge. With our support, our client achieved an accelerated launch of their innovative telehealth, remote care and hospital-at-home system, creating a significant market opportunity. As a result, they gained a substantial early market advantage and acceptance among healthcare providers and patients.
The rapid development and successful launch of the integrated IoT devices system perfectly exemplify Nortech’s approach to addressing our client’s key challenges. As a strategic partner, we not only helped overcome the integration of IoT devices connectivity into their product development process but also provided full-service engineering support to bring their innovative patient care system to market. Our collaboration effectively addressed development and manufacturing challenges, enabling our clients to seize emerging remote care trends and gain market advantage. This case study underscores how Nortech can turn the perceived challenges of IoT devices integration into a strategic advantage by leveraging our comprehensive, turn-key approach to IoT devices and systems.
