The Internet of Things (IoT) and its accompanying technologies have enormous potential to help the United Arab Emirates (UAE) achieve its 2021 healthcare targets, research firm IDC said.
The majority of the goals are focused on alleviating the growing rates of chronic diseases.
The potential application areas for IoT to support these goals include various levels of care provision and administration, including public health surveillance systems, the monitoring and control of critical health risk factors, the screening and early diagnosis of chronic diseases, and the remote monitoring of patients in outpatient settings.
"The Internet of Things can be viewed as one of the most powerful enablers of patient-centered healthcare in the modern era of connected patients, when healthcare systems are being urged to move from the 'diagnose and cure' model to the 'sense and prevent' model," said Nino Giguashvili, IDC Health Insights' lead research analyst for Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (CEMA).
In addition to chronic disease control, IDC said IoT can be leveraged to support the achievement of the UAE's 2021 healthcare targets in a number of other areas.
These include issues related to healthcare workforce and the quality of medical care, via IoT-based systems such as those for monitoring patients in clinical settings, managing medical inventory, monitoring human resources, and delivering remote medical education.