III. Healthcare

Advancing data management and remote health services

Healthcare:

Advancing data management and
remote health services

Today’s healthcare providers face data management issues related not only to patients, but also equipment, operations, maintenance, personnel, and supplies. As wireless and mobile (radio) technologies continue to evolve, the healthcare ecosystem stands to benefit from these advances, particularly from 5G.

The healthcare ecosystem encompasses everything from critical care equipment, ambulances, patient information, and radiology to wearables that monitor patient health. The IT systems require high reliability, high bandwidth, and low latency to deliver data to the right people at the right time. The needs for connectivity and access involve many different people, places, and devices. Connectivity is involved in everything from hospitals and clinics to financial services, devices and sensors, ambulatory care, and physical plants.

5G and data

The bandwidth improvements in 5G will enable the transfer of huge data files like the ones generated by medical imaging devices. The images generated by MRI, CAT, or PET scans for just one patient can generate hundreds of gigabytes of data.

The low latency of 5G also will improve the performance of critical-care applications, which is important in situations where decisions and response times must be fast. The dense, distributed-access architecture of 5G networks has the potential to unlock data from Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and devices. It will exploit cloud technologies and include edge computing solutions to rapidly share information and collaborate across multiple entities.

The industry is still uncovering all the myriad ways 5G might be used, but it's clear that the increased speed, bandwidth, and low latency will benefit healthcare, especially around telehealth, asset tracking and proactive maintenance.

Remote care and telehealth

5G technology should improve connectivity in underserved rural areas and in cities where demand currently outstrips capacity.
These rural areas often have limited access to healthcare services, so patients have few choices or are forced to
travel long distances.

Telemedicine or telehealth is the ability to remotely diagnose people where doctors aren’t available. It can reduce healthcare costs while broadening access to more patients. According to a study by Market Research Future, the telemedicine market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 16.5 percent from 2017 to 2023.²

By extending the reach of healthcare providers beyond hospitals, telemedicine will improve access to quality care. Currently,
the American Medical Association is advocating expanding broadband access to underserved areas to promote the
development of telemedicine services.³

With 5G, providers can extend services outside the hospital, whether it’s to an ambulance, a mobile clinic, or the comfort of
your own home. Doctors can quickly gain access to high-quality imaging scans and clinicians can collaborate with
colleagues across the street or around the world. 5G can enable advanced high-quality video, real-time imaging, and
collaboration technologies because of its low latency and high speed. Because of the expected improvements in remote care,
rural patients can be treated sooner and have access to specialists that might not otherwise be available.⁴

Private networks and connected devices

With network slicing, IT departments of healthcare entities can create their own private mobile networks. This ability to manage quality of experience, data privacy, confidentiality, and other functionalities on a mobile network is a significant opportunity.

Wearables are another form of connected devices. The Apple Watch, Fitbit, and smartphones have connected health monitors that can benefit patients in multiple ways. In fact, an Apple Watch recently saved a person’s life because the EKG sensor triggered an alert.⁵