S C R U B B I N G U P manage their care themselves , to online symptom checkers and e-triage AI tools , virtual agents that can carry out tasks in hospitals , or a bionic pancreas to help patients with diabetes , adding AI to your technology arsenal can greatly enhance patient care .
Of these AI applications , some help improve healthcare operations by optimising scheduling or bed management , others aid population health by predicting the risk of hospital admission or helping detect specific cancers early enabling intervention that can lead to better survival rates ; others even help optimise healthcare R & D and pharmacovigilance . All of this can go a long way to help hospitals make better use of their resources in an age where they ’ re more stretched than ever . But it takes a strong and secure network to support this .
Step 3 : Security
While a modern network and the IoT devices and AI solutions it can support have the potential to transform healthcare in practice , the growing use of connective devices also poses increased risk for healthcare organisations . In a hospital setting where staff , patients and visitors are always on the go , multiple new devices are constantly joining and leaving the network . Now , securing the network is more important than ever .
The key to a secure network is visibility . This means that everything , from sensors to visitors ' phones , needs to be individually identified , secured and monitored . By ‘ fingerprinting ’ every device this way , any
vulnerability can be spotted and addressed immediately before it is exploited . This level of nuance is also particularly vital in healthcare . In life-or-death environments , critical-care devices that need to run continuously can ’ t be treated the same way as those which can be disconnected if needed . Instead , Zero Trust Architecture ensures that all devices and users trying to access the network are identified and authenticated , before providing the least amount of access required through a predefined security policy .
Conclusion
The Digital Transformation of our healthcare system is being driven by the benefits of a truly IoT-device-connected environment . However , to unlock the promises of this future , it is fundamental that organisations have a network in place to support this . By deploying a modern and secure network and leveraging automation , healthcare organisations can drive operational efficiencies , redeploy employee time and ultimately enhance patient care . �
Jacob Chacko , Regional Director – Middle East , Saudi & South Africa at Aruba
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