Before developing an IoT solution, ICURO hit a major roadblock with its healthcare platform. Limited data sharing between healthcare providers and insurance companies impeded effective communication, resulting in frequent duplication of efforts and making it difficult for each entity to deliver better care while maintaining reasonable costs. ICURO wanted to resolve these data sharing issues, they started developing tools and systems that connect products in meaningful ways, enabling both entities to collaborate more effectively.

The client had limited or inefficient integration of its data sources, which made it difficult to see patients through a longitudinal lens. The client was, however, uniquely positioned to leverage the expansive patient data contained within its network of care, and set out to do so in 2012. Specifically, they wanted to improve the outcomes of patients with Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD) through improved care management with goals of reducing readmission rates, better managing patient cholesterol levels, and better managing patient blood pressure. Specifically, the regional healthcare provider was interested in implementing a machine learning platform, that quickly automates complex analytical processes and integrates powerful information into existing applications and portals.

Recent studies have found that patients return to the hospital at an alarmingly high rate among those who are hospitalized for heart failure, almost one in four are re-hospitalized within 30 days. Such a focus has led to novel approaches to improve patient care and reduce the need for re-hospitalization. Many of these strategies depend on technologies that employ remote patient monitoring (RPM), using the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing, so that their health care team can track their progress without needing them to come to the office. At the Hochschule Furtwangen University (HFU) in Germany, students across multiple disciplines are working to develop this RPM technology into mechanical devices to aid in monitoring patients remotely. Their idea is to utilize the Internet of Things to develop “smart” wheelchairs and walkers that will transmit patient information to a dashboard developed in PTC’s ThingWorx to monitor various parameters and develop alarms specific to each patient. Achim Bumüller, Senior Assistant in the Mechanical and Medical Engineering Department, is managing the project along with five other faculty members dedicated to each discipline such as electronics, informatics, and mechanical engineering. “Since our university is located in the Black Forest of Germany in Baden-Württemberg, the project was originally developed due to the need for remote monitoring in the small villages that are 20-30 kilometers from their nearest doctor or hospital; however, the target has grown to include the necessity of monitoring patients inside a hospital, nursing home or other areas,” states Bumüller.