AUTUMN 2025 DIGITAL - Flipbook - Page 36
NHS & HEALTHCARE
The future is connected
healthcare - How IoMT ecosystems
can solve medication non-adherence
Although diagnosis can be
one of the great challenges in
healthcare, once a healthcare
plan is developed, we naturally
assume that patients take the
medications that clinicians
prescribe for them. However,
this could not be further from
reality. In fact, medication nonadherence represents one of UK
healthcare’s most persistent and
costly challenges.
Whilst the scale of medication
adherence in the UK has not
been recently reported, a 2018
report from the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) estimated
that poor adherence results in
200,000 premature deaths in
Europe each year. The 昀椀nancial
fallout from medication nonadherence is also huge, with
approximately $100-300 billion
in avoidable US healthcare
costs each year through unused
medications, tests and excessive
healthcare provider visits.
The fundamental cause of
this epidemic is fragmented
communication between patients
and healthcare providers. When
medical devices and applications
operate in isolation, this cannot
provide a connected ecosystem
that supports sustained patient
engagement and adherence.
As part of the digital
transformation in healthcare,
there may now be a breakthrough
to the crisis, via a comprehensive
Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)
ecosystem.
Building a comprehensive
IoMT ecosystem
In order to best illustrate such
a solution that can address the
problem of medication nonadherence, we can look at how a
leading multinational technology
manufacturer with operations
across more than 40 countries
developed a comprehensive
Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)
ecosystem to address the issue.
This was based on three core
strategic pillars designed to
transform patient care delivery:
• Setting up a uni昀椀ed IoMT
ecosystem
The foundation of the solution
involved creating a seamless
communication network that
connected all healthcare
stakeholders. This uni昀椀ed
ecosystem integrates compliant
medical applications with
intelligent IoMT devices, enabling
unprecedented data sharing
capabilities while maintaining
strict adherence to international
healthcare standards, including
HL7 FHIR, HITRUST r2, and
HIPAA compliance.
• Designing a patient-centric
mobile application
The team designed a patientcentric mobile application
that would allow patients to
actively participate in their own
healthcare journey. Through this
app, patients can log medication
schedules, share progress
with healthcare providers and,
most importantly, track their
adherence patterns in real-time.
The platform features intelligent
alert systems with customisable
reminder options delivered via
a variety of channels - SMS,
in-app noti昀椀cations, and email.
This allows patients to tailor
their medication reminders
according to their communication
preferences.
• Intelligent and insightful
medical decision-making
Taking healthcare beyond patient
engagement, the app offers
clinicians authorised access
to patient data, which drives
more intelligent and informed
medical decision-making.
Pharmaceutical companies
can also bene昀椀t from valuable
insights while receiving regulated
software solutions that comply
with stringent requirements for
protecting patient information
and processing data.
Through this multi-stakeholder
approach, all appropriate
stakeholders in the healthcare
ecosystem can utilise shared
data to improve patient outcomes
while maintaining high standards
of privacy and security.
The bene昀椀ts of patientcentered digital health
technology
The implementation of
this comprehensive IoMT
solution delivered signi昀椀cant
improvements across many
healthcare metrics, including:
Retention rate - The patientcentric mobile application
achieved an impressive 89%
retention rate, signi昀椀cantly
higher than the typical retention
rate of healthcare applications.
This retention rate suggests
that patients derive sustained
value from the platform, with
potential for long-term changes in
healthcare behaviour.
Patient engagement - Most
signi昀椀cantly, patient engagement
with the application resulted
in medication adherence rates
reaching 75%. This achievement
is down to the platform’s
reminder systems, progress
tracking capabilities, and
patient empowerment features
in encouraging consistent
medication compliance.
Data-driven treatment decisions
– In generating real-time and
accurate patient data, clinicians
are able to make more informed,
data-driven treatment decisions.
Healthcare providers can now
access comprehensive patient
medication patterns, adherence
trends, and outcome metrics.
This means more personalised
treatment plan adjustments and
can enable medication reviews
and proactive intervention
strategies. This visibility into
patient behaviours supports
more effective care coordination
and potentially better health
outcomes across patient
populations.
Harnessing clinical research
data - Beyond immediate patient
care improvements, the platform
serves as a valuable tool for
gathering clinical research data,
enabling advances in medical
treatment and understanding
to make future improvements
in medication management
strategies.
The future is connected
healthcare
This successful IoMT
implementation highlights that
comprehensive, patient-centric
digital health solutions can
meaningfully address the crisis
of medication non-adherence. By
creating seamless connections
between patients, providers,
devices, and pharmaceutical
companies, healthcare
organisations can achieve
measurable improvements
in patient engagement and
outcomes while signi昀椀cantly
cutting healthcare costs such
as inappropriate or cancelled
appointments and medication
wastage.
With a medication adherence
rate of 75%, this patient-centric
app translates to saving lives and
improving the UK’s healthcare
system. For UK healthcare
leaders, it means at last building a
holistic ecosystem that supports
regulatory compliance and
data-driven patient-centered
healthcare that bene昀椀ts citizens
and healthcare practitioners
throughout the patient journey.
Mark Scrivens
36
GOVERNMENT
GOVERNMENT AND
ANDPUBLIC
PUBLICSECTOR
SECTORJOURNAL
JOURNAL AUTUMN
AUTUMN 2017
2025
