At DesignCon 2021, Mark Wehde of Mayo Clinic delivered a keynote on the digitization of health care to enable remote monitoring of patients and effective remote health care.

Wehde discussed the massive impact of artificial intelligence and Internet of Things technologies on health care. AI and IoT have enabled health care organizations to offer remote monitoring of patients and more remote care.

Wehde noted a trend that COVID-19 accelerated the digitization of health care and the imperative to enable effective remote  healthcare. As Wehde noted, remote visits increased 20 times during COVID-19 and that increase has persisted nearly two years later.

To effectively treat patients at a distance,  Wehde said, IoT devices are key in gathering patient data.

“To effectively monitor patients in a remote setting, we have to be able to get data off them,” Wehde said. He also noted a trend IoT World Today has reported on: the increased blurring of lines between consumer and conventional medical devices to enable remote monitoring and remote care.

Wehde noted that remote health care opens up possibilities as clinicians are no longer constrained by physical boundaries.

“You are no longer geographically limited, and I do expect some of the major health care systems like Mayo… will partner with rural hospitals and community hospitals to provide services,” he said, “That has huge advantages in terms of being able to provide care around the country and the world, as we now provide care in places where they may not have access to physicians.”

Check out the interview on remote health care with Mark Wehde of Mayo Clinic below.