Telli Health and Senet have introduced a remote patient monitoring product powered by LoRaWan technology to increase access to equitable healthcare, particularly for underserved communities.

Senet is a New Hampshire-based provider of cloud-based software and services that enable global connectivity and on-demand network build-outs for the IoT. Florida-based Telli Health specialises in medical remote patient monitoring (RPM) devices. Together, they have launched RPM hardware powered by LoRaWan.

This technology should allow providers to reach more patients in remote and underserved areas – such as indigenous communities worldwide – boosting healthcare equity and inclusivity, and creating the foundation to provide more smart home services in the near future.

LoRaWan is an open protocol on which low-power, wide-area wireless telecommunication networks are designed, allowing connected objects such as battery-operated sensors to communicate over long-range and at a low bitrate. LoRaWan has advantages over Bluetooth in that patients can have a plug-and-play experience with their RPM devices without needing to pair with anything.

Today, some patients rely on Bluetooth devices placed throughout their home and, despite having a Bluetooth hub, its protocol-limited range of 15m often causes lost connections and interrupted service. LoRaWan, however, can transmit at a significantly longer distance between 5 and 16km depending on the environment, eliminating frustrations that are common in a Bluetooth or other wirelessly connected device experience.

Through this partnership, Telli Health will build its own private LoRaWan and use Senet’s managed network services to offer more in-home monitoring services with the goal of servicing all patients’ RPM needs, no matter the location. For historically underserved communities, such as indigenous communities in remote areas, Telli Health can deploy a LoRaWan gateway in central areas that will provide an estimated 16km of coverage range and only require a dial-up modem to transmit health readings to patients’ providers. In addition to dial-up, network backhaul can be delivered through wired Ethernet, cellular or satellite communications.

“As a leading LoRaWan cloud software and network service provider in North America, we are proud to partner with Telli Health in their mission to become the first LoRaWan remote patient monitoring provider,” said Bruce Chatterley, CEO of Senet. “We believe that Senet’s technology and expertise will play a crucial role in helping Telli Health bring innovative and reliable solutions to the healthcare industry. We are excited to be a part of this important initiative and look forward to helping improve the lives of patients through our collaboration.”

Telli Health sales executive William Dos Santos added: “This game-changing technology is ideal for the millions of people who don’t have a reliable connection to the internet or cellular coverage, and therefore are missing out on an equitable healthcare experience. I am thrilled that we have introduced LoRaWan technology to this space through our partnership with Senet. We can now better serve these communities with our award-winning RPM devices and improve healthcare equity like never before.”

According to the Federal Communications Commission, 19 million people in the USA, or 6% of the population, still lack access to fixed broadband service at threshold speeds. In rural areas, nearly one-fourth of the population, or 14.5 million people, lack access to this service; in tribal areas, nearly one-third of the population lacks access. Even in areas where broadband is available, approximately 100 million Americans still do not subscribe.

Globally, a Unesco report found that only 54.8% of the world’s households have an internet connection, and the International Telecommunication Union reported that around 37% of the world’s population, or 2.9 billion people, have still never used the internet.

Telli Health medical devices work globally in 191 countries and with all major US cellular carriers, including Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint.

Senet develops cloud-based software and services used by network operators, application developers and system integrators for the on-demand deployment of IoT networks. In addition to industrial and commercial applications, Senet has designed smart meter networks for many municipal water utility districts across the USA, representing millions of households. Senet offers services in 180 countries and owns and operates one of the largest publicly available LoRaWans in the USA.