By Simon Boyd, International Sales Lead at Deutsche Telekom IoT
For many years, connectivity was viewed simply as an enabling feature that allowed data to move between devices and systems. However, mounting pressure from government targets and rising waiting lists is turning remote monitoring, wearables and connected services from useful innovations into necessities.
The growing reliance on real-time data and continuous monitoring is changing the consequences of connectivity failure. A delayed alert or interrupted connection is no longer just an inconvenience; in some scenarios, it can directly affect patient outcomes.
As a result, medical device manufacturers are being forced to rethink connectivity, treating it as a fundamental part of device reliability, security and safety.
The shift from tethered to embedded connectivity
For many years, connected medical devices often relied on a patient’s smartphone, local Wi-Fi network or another external connection to transmit data. A wearable may be designed to support the patient, but if it depends on them pairing and maintaining a connection to a smartphone, a new potential point of failure is introduced. Devices can become disconnected if phones are left behind, settings are changed or software is not updated, creating risks that have little to do with the device itself.
The evolution of remote monitoring and connected healthcare services is prompting many organisations to rethink this model, with connectivity increasingly embedded into the device itself. When a healthcare provider relies on a device to monitor a patient’s condition remotely, connectivity becomes inseparable from the patient experience. A medical device can pass every performance test and still fail in the real world if connectivity has not been designed with the same level of rigour as the device itself.
Major consequences when connectivity fails
As connected medical devices become more commonplace, tolerance for connectivity failure is rapidly disappearing. In many applications, healthcare organisations now view even 1% downtime as unacceptable.
While not all connected healthcare applications carry the same level of risk, the stakes are significantly higher when connectivity underpins clinical monitoring and decision-making.
For organisations such as BIOTRONIK, whose pacemakers and defibrillators automatically transmit patient health data for continuous analysis using Deutsche Telekom IoT networks, reliable connectivity helps ensure clinicians can access the information they need to monitor patients effectively. Indeed, BIOTRONIK has reported that remote monitoring can contribute to a 60% reduction in mortality rates.
Given the life-or-death nature of such applications, connectivity forms part of the care pathway itself. If critical information cannot be transmitted when it is needed, healthcare professionals may not receive alerts in time to intervene, with potentially serious consequences.
Data security and compliance are raising the stakes
Healthcare organisations are responsible for managing highly sensitive patient information, making secure data transmission a fundamental requirement. At the same time, the growing number of connected devices is expanding the attack surface that healthcare providers and manufacturers must manage.
As data moves between devices, applications, cloud platforms and healthcare systems, organisations must ensure that information remains protected throughout its journey. This requirement places additional importance on secure connectivity architectures that provide visibility, control and robust security measures.
Technologies such as private APNs, encrypted connections and private network environments can help protect patient data, restrict unauthorised access and support compliance requirements. Viewed through this lens, connectivity decisions play a significant role in determining the security, resilience and governance of connected healthcare solutions.
Connected healthcare on a global scale
Many connected medical devices are designed to support patients throughout their daily lives, creating an expectation that they will continue to function reliably wherever in the world the patient happens to be.
Returning to the BIOTRONIK example, their devices transmit patient health data to more than 5,000 clinics and medical practices worldwide each day. This introduces an additional challenge for manufacturers: ensuring devices continue to perform reliably as connected healthcare solutions are deployed across multiple markets, networks and healthcare environments.
Connectivity must support continuity of care wherever the patient is, reinforcing its role as a critical component of modern medical device design. Operating globally also introduces additional considerations around network availability, roaming arrangements, and country-specific regulatory requirements, all of which must be carefully managed to ensure consistent device performance.
Connectivity is no longer simply part of the device. Increasingly, it is part of the service the device delivers, directly shaping device reliability, security, and patient outcomes. In an industry where trust is built on consistent performance and lost through failure, connectivity has become the foundation upon which modern connected healthcare depends.
Author biography:
Simon Boyd is International Sales Lead at Deutsche Telekom IoT. Prior to joining the company in 2022, he has held senior positions at BT and Telefonica 02.
