IoT in telecare:
Overcoming 4 major hurdles to a
successful project

Introduction

Telecare is changing how we care for ageing and vulnerable people, and those who live with chronic medical conditions and disabilities. The Internet of Things (IoT) is playing an increasingly pivotal role in this transformation.

Today, connected devices and sensors installed in homes are improving quality of life for many thousands of people, through remotely monitoring their safety, condition and health status. This is also reducing costs and pressure on resources for healthcare and social care.

It also presents a huge business opportunity for technology companies: the value of the IoT in Healthcare (IoHT) market is expected to grow from $128 billion in 2023 to $289 billion by 2028.

In the adult social care sector, IoT is being used to help people live independently and safely in their own homes for longer. Telecare, as it’s known, involves sensors in the home monitoring a range of factors, and transmitting the data they collect to the operator’s cloud. There, it is analysed in real-time, enabling life-improving recommendations to be made.

Telecare allows carers to monitor individuals’ wellbeing and intervene where necessary, but eliminates costly and intrusive non-essential visits. These services enable users to live richer and fuller lives, and bring their families reassurance. They also deliver valuable insights to local authorities and care providers, and ease the burden on already stretched care services.

In this white paper we take a look at the current telecare IoT market, the challenges inherent in executing a deployment – in particular achieving reliable connectivity – and how to deliver an IoT project successfully.

Access Group

The Memo Hub is an advanced home monitoring service that connects smart devices, such as kettles and televisions, and backhauls collected data to the Access Group AWS cloud database, where it performs analytics to draw insights. This triggers alerts if the individual’s usual pattern of behaviour suddenly changes. It can also monitor gradual changes which may indicate a need to review care regimes.

Access Group needed a cellular connectivity specialist who could provide optimal coverage in the UK, and ensure maximum uptime for its Memo Connected Care Suite with safe provision of sensitive data transfer to its database as well as critical alarm calls. Eseye’s AnyNet Connectivity Solution is delivering close to 100% uptime, providing out-of-the-box, zero-touch global connectivity that enables Access Group to deliver a superior user care experience.

Telecare allows carers to monitor individuals’ wellbeing and intervene where necessary"

Both telecare models involve collecting highly sensitive personal data which informs important decisions about people’s lives. It must be captured accurately, or the wrong conclusions will be reached, and connectivity must work absolutely reliably or key data such as a distress signal may be missed.

Achieving this level of performance is presenting major challenges for many organisations in the healthcare and medical device sector, according to Eseye’s State of IoT Adoption Survey.

While 79% of respondents in this sector said IoT was a priority, and 97% intended to increase budgets, healthcare and medical device organisations were also most likely to say that their IoT project had not been successful. A total of 84% said it had not delivered the business outcome or realised the benefits expected at the outset.

Let’s find out why…

Challenge 1: Device design

In a recent survey undertaken by Kaleido Intelligence and sponsored by Eseye, 84% of respondents cited hardware design as the number one perceived barrier to deploying IoT.

Privacy and security of the data is a prime consideration, which means the device must be designed to ensure high levels of control over how information is collected, transported and stored.

This control must not come at the cost of usability, however. The experience needs to be as frictionless as possible, so that even those with a low understanding of technology can use the device with ease. A device that is simple and intuitive will encourage adoption, as well as ensuring it’s used correctly.

Many telecare devices will need to be lightweight, unobtrusive and robust. This places some limits on design options, which is not the case for larger or fixed pieces of technology.

Although connectivity can be implemented into existing devices, there’s a strong argument for designing devices with optimum connectivity in mind from the start. There are choices to be made here that will dictate the optimum design.

If you have lots of connected devices, do you want to manage the whole connectivity path to each one individually with cellular modems, or connect them all to a central hub – for example using Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Zigbee or a proprietary standard?

It’s also essential to bear in mind that communication is not one way. If a device sends an alert to a user, how can they respond in a way that works for them? You also need to think about what happens at the other end.

Does the device connect into a dedicated cloud service which analyses data and makes recommendations? Is there a person who needs to access the data? How should it be presented? Can they respond directly through the system?

All of these decisions will affect how connectivity is incorporated, and hence the device design, hardware, circuitry and power source.

Although connectivity can be implemented into existing devices, there’s a strong argument for designing devices with optimum connectivity in mind from the start."

Challenge 2: Ensuring Reliable Connectivity

In Eseye’s State of IoT Adoption Survey, cellular connectivity was cited as a top challenge for 31% of healthcare and medical device respondents.

Telecare devices require good connectivity to securely and reliably capture and transmit data. For the service to be effective and efficient, connectivity must be dependable and continuous. A dropped connection at a key moment could literally be a matter of life and death. At minimum, it could result in an unnecessary callout or erode the user’s confidence in the system.

Devices should work straight out-of-the-box, automatically connecting to a mobile network without the need for complex setups. They must be able to operate anywhere in the world, in locations from busy cities to remote villages where there’s no guarantee of Wi-Fi availability. Service providers must also bear in mind that some users may not have Wi-Fi in their homes at all. This means that telecare devices need to use cellular connectivity.

Mobile networks all still have reception black spots, and deploying thousands of devices across a country on a single mobile network will potentially leave 15-25% without a reliable connection. Layered on top of this issue is the increasing number of governments placing restrictions on IoT devices permanently roaming, which adds risk and increases the likelihood of downtime. Research by Kaleido Intelligence found 12 countries where permanent roaming is either banned – including Turkey and Brazil – or too challenging to implement economically. This is causing a real issue for both connectivity and deployment.

To overcome this challenge, each device must be able to select the best network for the location it is in, and also seamlessly change from one to another if connectivity is lost or becomes patchy.

Ensuring connectivity is fit for purpose also involves testing it before deployment, to make sure it’s behaving as expected and that the tools for managing connectivity are effective within the device setup. Good testing involves putting the device in a sandbox and simulating difficult network conditions, such as if the local mobile mast breaks, to confirm that the device recovers quickly, or identify the changes that should be made if it does not.

Challenge 3: Implementing Adequate Security

24% of survey respondents in the healthcare and medical devices sector said security of devices was a major challenge – the joint highest of all sectors covered by the research.

Security is absolutely critical for telecare devices and systems, as they handle extremely sensitive personal data. Hardware, software, and connectivity platforms all need to be secure for IoT deployments to work effectively. The data itself also needs to be protected as it’s transmitted from device to database, and at the point of integration with the cloud where analytics will be performed.

Many consumer SIMs lack advanced certificate-based security measures, and send data over standard internet channels. This increases the risk of data being intercepted or lost. Dedicated solutions designed for secure applications offer better protection.

Telecare device manufacturers should take an end-to-end approach to security. This involves encrypting information at the device, and communicating only via trusted private networks and secure gateways such as private APN or VPN which authenticate connections and ensure the service is authorised. Adding in tools which monitor data flows to detect unusual activity helps to prevent malicious attacks. Finally, it’s a good idea to contract a third-party pen tester to examine the system for weaknesses before deployment.

Eseye’s team of technical consultants understands the certification challenges for IoT and will ensure your device complies with standards and certifications."

Challenge 4: Transitioning from Analogue to Digital

24% of survey respondents in the healthcare and medical devices sector said security of devices was a major challenge – the joint highest of all sectors covered by the research.

Security is absolutely critical for telecare devices and systems, as they handle extremely sensitive personal data. Hardware, software, and connectivity platforms all need to be secure for IoT deployments to work effectively. The data itself also needs to be protected as it’s transmitted from device to database, and at the point of integration with the cloud where analytics will be performed.

Many consumer SIMs lack advanced certificate-based security measures, and send data over standard internet channels. This increases the risk of data being intercepted or lost. Dedicated solutions designed for secure applications offer better protection.

Telecare device manufacturers should take an end-to-end approach to security. This involves encrypting information at the device, and communicating only via trusted private networks and secure gateways such as private APN or VPN which authenticate connections and ensure the service is authorised. Adding in tools which monitor data flows to detect unusual activity helps to prevent malicious attacks. Finally, it’s a good idea to contract a third-party pen tester to examine the system for weaknesses before deployment.

The Future of Telecare

The COVID-19 pandemic emphasised the need to ensure that vulnerable and elderly people have the right support in their own homes to stay safe and healthy. IoT innovations are helping healthcare organisations to improve the delivery and quality of patient care, reduce costs, increase efficiency, and boost revenue.

Telecare is a rapidly expanding opportunity for both business innovation and social good. By addressing the challenges and barriers created by the unique characteristics of a telecare IoT deployment – including a geographically dispersed estate, and the unique needs of users – providers can deliver an efficient, effective and profitable service.

Ultimately, ensuring every device has completely reliable, out-of-the-box connectivity will be key to industry growth, and customer satisfaction and trust.

Everon UK
Everon is a leading provider of integrated digital health and care solutions. These include Lyra – an intelligent telecare platform used in a number of care environments. It consists of smart sensors placed around the home together with a stills camera and GPS watch that track vital signs and behaviours.

Everon needed a partner that could offer a flexible and futureproof cellular connectivity solution with the ability to roam between networks to ensure all service users stay connected, wherever they are.

Eseye’s IoT eSIM solution enables Everon to deliver near 100% connectivity uptime to each device, wherever it’s located. This facilitates 24/7 intelligent monitoring that allows operators to identify changes quickly and prevent decline. The process of optimising network coverage is seamless and automatic, with no need for Everon to juggle different SIMs and provider contracts.

Eseye’s IoT eSIM solution enables Everon to deliver near 100% connectivity uptime."

Why work with Eseye on your telecare IoT project?

Eseye is a cellular connectivity specialist with a wealth of experience in guiding organisations through complexity to deliver IoT successfully. We understand the unique challenges faced by telecare manufacturers, whose users are widely dispersed and not always tech-savvy. Working together from the planning and development stage right through to device testing and rollout, we enable them to maximise business value while minimising project risk.

Our AnyNet+ eSIM allows continuous and ubiquitous cellular connectivity to be built into telecare devices by design. The eSIM can be programmed to automatically detect and connect to the most available mobile network, and to switch network if the connection drops or the environment changes – for example, the user goes for a walk and ventures into a black spot. This is true anywhere in the world, thanks to Eseye’s relationships with more than 700 mobile network operators.

Data security is also built in. Our eSIMs encrypt information and communicate only with Eseye’s secure private access point name (APN). This authenticates connections and routes the data from the device to the cloud via trusted channels, and automatically integrates directly with trusted cloud services.

Eseye’s Infinity IoT Platform™ is the enabling infrastructure underpinning our solution, providing complete oversight and seamless management of both connectivity and device from a single system.

Wherever you are in the development of your telecare device, system, or service – and whether you require one-off specialist guidance, or need someone to manage your expanding IoT estate – Eseye’s IoT connectivity solutions and IoT services can help you.
• Mitigating IoT project risks

To talk to Eseye about the issues explored in this whitepaper, or discuss the next generation of IoT solutions,