41% of APeJ healthcare organisations plan to launch IoT solutions in the next two years: IDC

• Remote patient monitoring, resource utilisation and tracking are the key priority areas
• Security-related concerns, the fear of recurring costs drive acceptance of IOT on a large scale

RESULTS from the IDC 2016 Global IoT Decision Maker Survey highlights that 41% of healthcare organisations in Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APeJ) plan to launch at least one IoT solution in the next two years, with over 63% of organisations believing it to be the central theme for driving digital transformation in health.

Other key findings for APeJ from the 2016 survey include:

• Sixty-three percent of organisations see IoT as strategic to their business in order to overcome disruptive changes in the health delivery process.
• Remote patient monitoring, resource utilisation and tracking are the key priority areas that these health organisations will focus their IoT efforts on.
• Security-related concerns and the fear of recurring costs are the two primary reasons for acceptance of IoT on a large scale – especially with large private hospitals.
• The promise of reduced operational costs in the longer run, improved energy efficiency and creating new revenue streams are the key features decision makers expect as an outcome of an IoT implementation.
• Decision influencers for IoT implementation are now evenly distributed between the IT departments and the Line of Business.

"The focus on mobility and analytics, coupled with the need for optimizing resource distribution, especially in the urban setting are driving acceptance for IoT implementation at healthcare organisations" said Ashwin Moduga, research manager Health Insights, APeJ, IDC Asia/Pacific.

"With the advent of digital disruptors in the form of Virtual Care, the traditional hospital system could face gradual revenue losses unless digital transformation is undertaken as a proactive measure for the next decade – and IoT is key to improve operational efficiency, clinical confidence and patient engagement for any large hospital," Moduga added.

The survey, now in its third year, serves as a way to gain insights from large and medium sized healthcare enterprises, including both IT and business decision makers about their perception of IoT as well as their future plans for deployment of IoT solutions.

Topics covered in the survey include: levels of enterprise awareness of IoT; deployment plans; IoT adoption drivers and inhibitors; perceptions of IoT vendors and vendor selection criteria; organisational factors; and security, cloud, and analytics requirements.

The survey covered responses from enterprises where respondents were moderately to very familiar with the term ‘Internet of things’ and managed a minimum of 100 employees.

Respondents are required to be involved in IT and/or business decisions at their company.