Empowering Doctors and Patients with Connected Healthcare Applications

Transcription

1 Empowering Doctors and Patients with Connected Healthcare Applications

2 Contents Executive Summary... 3 The Role of Cellular Communications in Healthcare... 3 Leveraging a M2M Platform... 5 Key Requirements for M2M Application Development and Management Platforms... 6 Best Practices for Wireless M2M Application and Management Platforms... 8 Conclusion

3 Executive Summary Cellular machine-to-machine (M2M) communications are opening the door to a world of innovative new healthcare applications. With the ability to collect real-time data from people and devices anywhere, anytime, healthcare organizations and technology vendors are creating amazing applications that improve people s health and well being. Connected health devices are now being used in a variety of applications, such as: Medical and home health monitoring Connecting mobile caregivers and medical equipment Improving fi tness and athletic training Assisting people with disabilities Many of these applications are simply not practical some not even imaginable when relying on traditional fi xedline communications. In today s growing M2M market, however, new connected devices, services, and application platforms make it easier than ever before to develop innovative mobile health applications and quickly bring them to market. This paper explores how healthcare organizations, caregivers, and patients are benefi ting from cellular-connected devices and applications. It also discusses the essential requirements and best practices to consider when developing and implementing a connected health solution. The Role of Cellular Communications in Healthcare Modern medical science can do amazing things to improve people s health and well being. However, effective healthcare is only as good as the information doctors have. To make the best decisions, to detect problems earlier, and to empower people to improve their own health and well being, doctors need up-to-date, accurate health information about their patients. Today s cellular M2M technologies can provide unprecedented insight into the real-time health and status of individuals, medical devices, and clinicians. As a result, connected health applications can enhance preventative care, improve compliance with prescribed treatments, extend the reach of healthcare organizations, and ultimately improve health outcomes. Consider some of the possibilities: Medical monitoring: To provide the best medical outcomes, caregivers need access to vital signs and other patient information at all times. New M2M solutions allow doctors to capture a patient s heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature, and other vital signs remotely allowing patients to remain under constant care, even when they re at home. Connected health monitoring devices can play an even larger role in the 3

4 management of chronic conditions such as diabetes or sleep apnea. In the past, doctors have long relied on patients to track and record their day-to-day (or even hour-to-hour) health information themselves. Connected medical devices can track information about glucose levels, sleep patterns, medical implant status, and other information, and transmit that data instantly and automatically to the patient s doctor. Connecting mobile caregivers and medical equipment: Mobility can play a crucial role in health care delivery, in applications as diverse as emergency response, ambulance dispatch and tracking, and mobile clinics. Cellular M2M devices can empower all of these applications and more. For example, ambulancebased cellular gateways can monitor the location, status, and likely arrival times of vehicles, and allow hospitals and emergency providers to better monitor their fl eets. Cellular-connected in-vehicle WiFi routers can keep emergency medical technicians and equipment connected with hospital emergency departments at all times, and transmit vital health information (and even video) that can save lives. Connected medical equipment can also help healthcare organizations expand their reach, for example, bringing mobile MRIs and diagnostic equipment to markets that cannot support their own state-of-the-art imaging centers. Large healthcare institutions are also using cellular technology to track the location of doctors and enable instant communication on the medical campus and off. Sports and fitness: Cellular solutions can be used to connect sports monitoring devices that provide realtime results to analyze and enhance athlete training. Even for everyday fi tness, cellular devices embedded in wristbands or clothing can power applications that capture heart rate, distance, elevation, and other metrics to help runners and bikers visualize and optimize their workouts. Assisting people with disabilities: One of the most exciting possibilities of cellular-connected health devices is just beginning to be explored: providing personalized, real-time services to help people with disabilities. For example, applications can track people with cognitive diffi culties like dementia or Asperger s Syndrome, and provide reminders to help them manage their daily routines. With connected applications assisting with alerts, medication reminders, and other services, people suffering from a variety of disorders can accomplish more on their own, and improve their quality of life. In all of these cases, cellular connectivity can address a variety of diffi cult healthcare challenges and enable a number of important benefi ts. With M2M connectivity, organizations can: Create innovative mobile health applications to effi ciently collect, aggregate, and share real-time health information Give doctors the ability to more accurately track and monitor their patients Extend caregivers and medical services and equipment to more places than was previously possible 4

5 Make it easier for patients to comply with medication instructions, therapies, and self-reporting with inhome connected medical devices Empower individuals to more effectively track and take charge of their own health Take advantage of remote monitoring solutions that lower overall operating costs by decreasing patient readmissions and visits Maintain and protect patient records securely and comply with healthcare regulatory and privacy requirements Provide the highly reliable, always-on communication that connected health applications demand Lower the barriers to entry for innovative ideas and solutions that can improve people s lives and well being Leveraging a M2M Platform Clearly, cellular connectivity can provide a number of valuable benefi ts for many kinds of health applications and organizations. But how do healthcare institutions and companies designing solutions for them take advantage of it? The architecture of a cellular M2M infrastructure is simple in concept. It starts with connecting a remote device be it a glucose monitor, a mobile MRI system, an onboard diagnostics device on an ambulance, etc. to a cellularconnected modem or module. That cellular gateway interfaces with the connected asset and communicates with the back-end application infrastructure through a cloud-based portal. Through this cloud portal, the organization can monitor and control all of its assets anywhere they may be operating, securely and remotely, in real time. While the concept behind an M2M solution is straightforward, however, a great deal of complexity exists beneath the surface. An M2M infrastructure must include a redundant, fault-tolerant wireless messaging system, deployed with connection to the mobile network operator (MNO). It requires redundant back-offi ce hardware, including database, servers, disk arrays, load balancers, etc. Designing a connected health application has also, historically, been an extremely complex task. In the past, building these kinds of applications required extensive software development, including application development tools, user interface development tools, embedded development tools, etc., all of which could require thousands of hours of custom integration and development. This is to say nothing of the many applications that can be overlooked, yet are nonetheless vital to a remote communications and control infrastructure: Mechanisms to subscribe wireless devices to the network Mechanisms to control and update wireless devices Systems to collect information from the wireless devices, and other systems to acquire and visualize that data Systems to manage and control the assets being monitored 5

6 Fortunately, organizations developing connected health applications in the current marketplace no longer have to start from scratch or go it alone. Today, they can take advantage of mature, comprehensive M2M platforms. Modern M2M platforms include standardized application development tools that make it easy and inexpensive to connect and interface with remote assets, and comprehensive management portals that make connecting devices over cellular networks almost a plug-and-play solution. With MNOs worldwide now aggressively targeting M2M customers, organizations can also now take advantage of end-to-end cellular service offerings and special air time rates for connected assets. To realize the most benefi t from a cellular M2M implementation, however, organizations should make sure they are using a strong and well-designed M2M platform that provides all of the essential capabilities their cellular deployments will require. Key Requirements for M2M Application Development and Management Platforms A cellular M2M communications solution encompasses fi ve primary elements (Figure 1): Intelligent wireless communication devices to connect to equipment and assets Remote confi guration and management tools to set or change parameters and remotely troubleshoot any potential connectivity issues A centralized and redundant front-end database where the wireless devices send data A centralized command-and-control infrastructure to receive and present that data An operations portal to manage uptime of the network of M2M devices An application programming interface (API) to link data from the M2M front-end database with the organization s back-end system applications and user interfaces 6

7 Figure 1. M2M Platform Overview Connected Assets Asset API Asset API Module Communications Gateway Wireless Device Data, Events, Commands, and Updates Connected Asset Data, Events and Commands Industrial Protocol & Logic Engine MNO Subscription Control and Usage Configuration for Connectivity Logic M2M Cloud Services API Subscription Management Device Management Asset Management Build your own M2M Application UI Or interface to: - ERP/CRM Applications - Inventory and Billing Applications - Work Force Management Applications X 1000 s Mobile Network Operators In addition to providing those basic attributes, the M2M management platform must perform the following core management applications: Subscription management: This encompasses all the core tasks related to managing wireless devices on a public cellular network, including activating and deactivating devices, suspending and resuming operation, changing rate plans and monitoring wireless data consumption. Wireless device management: This encompasses the tools necessary to monitor and control all connected wireless modules and gateways. This capability allows organizations to manage updates and fi rmware confi guration changes, for example, to respond to changing requirements of the mobile network operator. Management of the underlying asset: This encompasses how the wireless device communicates with and controls the connected asset. 7

8 Best Practices for Wireless M2M Application and Management Platforms In addition to meeting the basic requirements for supporting M2M applications, what should organizations building a connected health solution look for in a wireless M2M application and management platform? To assure a system that is effective and easy to deploy and operate, the platform should meet the following criteria: It should be carrier-agnostic. Depending on the application, an institution or solution vendor could have assets to connect across a country, or even around the globe. To provide the fl exibility to connect assets in the best manner possible no matter where they may be located, the M2M platform s subscription management systems should be carrier-agnostic, and capable of operating with multiple mobile networks worldwide. It should provide advanced wireless device management capabilities beyond simply pushing out firmware or configuration changes. Organizations should choose platforms that can provide granular information about the health and status of wireless modems or modules to allow them to quickly diagnose issues. For example, if a device has lost wireless signal strength, the organization needs to know if it is an issue with the device or the cellular network. The M2M platform should provide the information necessary to debug those issues and communicate effectively with the network operator about any problems. It should also be scalable enough to accommodate large regional and national deployments, without adding management complexity. It should provide advanced tools to manage and monitor connected assets. To avoid the need for extensive (and expensive) custom software development and integration, the M2M platform should make it as easy as possible to connect with deployed assets in the fi eld. Developers should be able to easily capture control parameters and command systems for any connected health monitoring device, mobile imaging system, medical apparatus, or other asset using standard programming languages. And, they should be able to easily access exposed APIs to incorporate features and functions into the control system. The platform should provide comprehensive development tools. The most functional M2M platforms include application simulation tools that provide developers with detailed information about a planned function before anyone ever uses the application, allowing solution developers to make smarter business decisions. (As one example, the solution should be able to provide accurate predictions of cost differences between collecting status updates on a glucose meter every four hours versus once per day.) The M2M platform must be designed to support secure information exchange: In any healthcare context, confi dentiality and security of patient information is essential. Any viable M2M solution must incorporate strong security mechanisms such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), encrypted IPSec virtual private network (VPN) connection to the cellular network, and jamming detection. For U.S.-based mobile health and 8

9 healthcare monitoring applications in particular, the solution should support all of the security mechanisms necessary to comply with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) mandates. The M2M platform must be designed to support connected applications under less-than-ideal conditions. To support ambulances, mobile imaging clinics, and other applications that must function outdoors, organizations should look for a ruggedized solution designed to withstand the elements. The M2M platform should also be fully redundant, highly reliable, and able to quickly recover from faults. Most important, to provide the nonstop reliability that healthcare applications demand, the M2M platform should support nearly 100 percent uptime and seamless failover from the primary to backup connection. Finally, the M2M platform should be comprehensive. It should include leased infrastructure, cloud software and every other component necessary to build and operate an M2M communications platform, rather than forcing organizations to work with multiple vendors and assemble the solution themselves. Conclusion Today s healthcare organizations are just beginning to explore connected health applications, and the possibilities in this market seem unlimited. In the coming years, innovative mobile applications will take advantage of anywhere, anytime cellular connectivity to keep patients better connected to their doctors, to empower individuals to improve their health, and to capitalize on real-time health information in ways we can only begin to imagine. The barriers that previously would have prevented healthcare solution developers from taking advantage of mobile connectivity no longer apply. With today s mature, comprehensive M2M application development and management platforms, organizations no longer need to develop and integrate every aspect of a connected health solution from scratch. Instead, they can rapidly transform their good ideas into real-world solutions that improve people s lives. About Sierra Wireless Sierra Wireless is a proven partner in M2M communications for healthcare. Developed based on two decades of experience supporting M2M applications, the Sierra Wireless AirVantage M2M Cloud is the fastest way to build, deploy, and manage wireless healthcare applications. Sierra Wireless brings every element necessary for M2M application connectivity and development together: pre-integrated gateways and embedded modules; a comprehensive remote device management service; and an enterprise M2M platform to simplify development and integration. With the complete, ready-to-deploy AirVantage M2M Cloud, organizations implementing connected healthcare applications can: Reduce the cost of deploying and supporting an M2M solution Simplify and reduce the costs of developing connected applications Signifi cantly reduce time to market for M2M deployments Eliminate IT operational expenditures necessary to support connected assets and locations, with no server software installation or maintenance required More effectively scale and expand M2M systems as business needs dictate For more information: 9