5G to improve access to healthcare and patient monitoring

In France, COVID-19 has accelerated the use of telemedicine. In 2020, the Caisse Nationale d’Assurance Maladie (National Health Insurance Fund) covered one million teleconsultations each week, compared to only 75,000 in 2019. The e-health phenomenon (remote diagnosis, care, and monitoring) has become more democratic, and 5G has emerged as a key player in its deployment. The 5G mobile network is fast, autonomous, and has low latency, guaranteeing an instantaneous high-speed connection anywhere without needing a local network connection. This will help switch from curative to predictive medicine, and from remote telemedicine to mobile telemedicine – which comes directly to the patient.

Anticipated care, improved medical monitoring, decongestion of the hospitals, etc… 5G opens up a new field of possibilities thanks to the use of connected objects outside the hospital, allowing the gathering of qualitative health information. For example, connected ambulances can use 5G to better diagnose with the help of remote doctors during emergency interventions and better prepare for hospital treatment. The same is true for 5G-connected operating facilities, where being free of all cabling offers considerable advantages for increasing the efficiency of care. For example, by carrying out operations remotely assisted by experts! This is a significant advantage for both patients and the medical crew.

5G is also a revolution in nursing homes. It helps these establishments improve the well-being of their residents by becoming places of care but also places of life thanks to innovation, especially robotics. With its low latency and high speed, 5G allows these facilities to open their doors to autonomous telecommunication robots. These robots allow instant and fluid interaction between residents and their loved ones. They also provide new possibilities for entertainment and relaxation. All this in total security since the reliability of the 5G network guarantees permanent control over the robots with immediate recovery. With 5G, other robots like those eradicating viruses and bacteria via ultraviolet UV-C radiation are emerging as an asset to all healthcare settings. Connected by 5G, these robots intelligently disinfect spaces quickly and without chemicals. Autonomous from any local connection, they walk around the rooms to be disinfected, detect a human presence, follow the levels of pollutants and adapt their behavior according to the pathogens to destroy. Once again, no risk to residents, patients, caregivers, or maintenance staff thanks to real-time interaction with the robots.