IoT is often lauded for investment opportunities. Early adopters and first movers are often lauded, too. I’ve been watching for early adoption and for those companies involved with early adoption.
A friend is a Vet, and gets treatment from the VA.
He has a weight scale, blood pressure cuff, blood glucose monitor all of which he uses daily and the information is automatically uploaded each time he uses the system. A VA rep (I assume the rep is an RN?) calls him on occasion, sometimes due to data issues, sometimes just to connect with him socially (the nurse is always professional, but calls just to see how he’s doing).
The above three items are physically connected. The data is uploaded automatically - no connection to his cell phone, or to a land line. It appears to be a stand alone “cell phone service”?
He also has a CPAP - which ALSO uploads data about his usage patterns. It’s not physically connected to the other instrumentation. Another stand alone cell phone service?
The sensor equipment is off the shelf brands (true Metrix, Medtronic, ResMed, etc). Therefore sensors don’t seem to be much of an investment opportunity.
I assume this generates a huge amount of data uploaded continuously, and monitored more or less real-time (since there is an RN that contacts my friend?). PEW research says there are 20.4 million Vets in the US.
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/11/10/the-changing…
The VA is a large entity and obviously is adopting IoT tech.
For Saul’s board, Teladoc is a potential way to invest in the VA use of IoT. Or perhaps Oracle?
https://mhealthintelligence.com/news/va-finalizes-anywhere-t…
The initiative was supported by a wide array of organizations, including the American Telemedicine Association, American Association of Family Physicians, AAFP, American Medical Informatics Association, Federal Trade Commission, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), Teladoc, Oracle, the American Psychological Association, the Brain Injury Association of America, the National Association of Social Workers, the University of Pittsburgh Center for Military Medicine Research and Health IT Now.
So far, this is the largest organized example of IoT that I’ve personally observed.
Teladoc has been mentioned for “remote surgery”. Exciting, but how often is that going to happen? Millions of diabetics monitor their blood glucose several times per day. Millions monitor their blood pressure each day. The VA telehealth system is the only health care system that I know is using IoT tech for this.
Who is doing the data analytics? Is there AI involved, and if so, who?
FWIW
ralph
I agree this market will be very large and a high growth segment, but I think it’s too early to pick out winners in this space. Medical monitoring will be a big one (VA, as you point out, also look at where Apple is taking the watch). So will automation in warehousing and factories (think self driving fork lifts, or bots that pick items and fulfills orders). Farming is going to go this route as well, as workers are getting harder to come by (I’ve already seen videos of autonomous robots that can spot-kill weeds in fields, and can harvest apples).