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5G refers to the 5th generation of wireless technology that promises to deliver game-changing benefits to users, including dramatically increased bandwidth, higher speed, reduced latency, and network slicing. The bottom line: 5G will accommodate dramatically more devices, media, and users. This will especially impact the Internet of Things, which will result in a huge increase in the amount of remote monitors and sensors that will allow patients to be tracked while on the go. The new level of patient-generated healthcare data will permit enhanced analysis of various conditions and diseases, which will support personalized medicine and improved outcomes.

5G technology will also enable wireless carriers to offer providers and payers new ways to manage spectrum. This will permit the development of wireless private networks that are able to support a healthcare enterprise’s evolving IT needs. There will be numerous opportunities for healthcare enterprises to gather and transmit huge data files, such as teleradiology images, quickly and securely. Also benefiting from 5G private networks will be the virtual care market, which includes companies that supply platforms, software, devices, services, advisory services, and analytics.

This report reviews the important drivers that are propelling 5G in the transformation of the healthcare industry to a value-based care business model, and the challenges may slow healthcare stakeholders’ willingness to implement 5G network solutions. It also provides an overview of the potential for 5G wireless to become the technology of choice for the healthcare industry, making certain functions more scalable for the management of trillions of bits of new patient- and provider-generated data. Although the technology capabilities are easy to position, the costs of moving to a 5G private network remain a concern.