The technical innovations in the healthcare industry are increasing rapidly, making it easy for healthcare professionals to diagnose the patient’s condition.
Today people got used to electronic medical records and online registration services. Many healthcare practitioners acknowledge the importance of technical innovations in the healthcare and medical industry. According to the forecasts, 2019 will become a turning point in the adoption of new technologies in medicine. The digital health market is supposed to reach $206 billion by 2020.
Below given are the most progressive digital trends which will shape the development of healthcare and the medical industry in 2019 and beyond.
Evolution of telemedicine
Telemedicine is a major contributor to quick changes in the global healthcare system. It is one of the biggest sources of rapid change in the US healthcare system. With the evolution of telemedicine, patients are enabled to get better access to providers and specialists. By using efficient healthcare mobile app development and the advent of devices for remote patient monitoring, telemedicine is going to transform healthcare delivery.
In the digital health market, telemedicine is playing a key role in improving diagnosis through easy access and data exchange platforms. The hospital readmission rates will be reduced by using Telehealth services as they provide real-time patient monitoring outside the provider’s offices. Technology has led to the emergence of devices that allow even taking EKG in conjunction with mobile devices.
Telemedicine is also improving treatment and diagnosis making it easier for patients to get access to specialists. The availability of electronic records has also made the task simpler by forwarding documents to specialists.
Internet of medical things (IoMT)
By combining IoT (Internet of Things) development with telehealth technologies has given rise to IoMT that includes several wearables such as EKG and ECG monitors. It helps in assessing critical parameters such as glucose levels, blood pressure, and skin temperature as well.
The modern healthcare sector uses different devices and mobile applications for managing an individual's health. Tracking illnesses and preventing chronic diseases have been made possible by the usage of modern tools and healthcare apps.
IoT technology has been growing significantly to make its presence felt massively in the healthcare environment. The use of IoT for remote monitoring of patient’s health via mobile applications, wearables, and smart sensors is on the rise. The new technologies in medicine have revolutionized the healthcare sector making the most critical tasks to be done more simply.
AR/ VR/ MR solutions in healthcare
AR systems in healthcare offer one of the most intuitive options. After the arrival of augmented and virtual reality solutions, significant advances have been experienced in healthcare fields. Apart from diagnosis and healthcare education, AR and VR have found exceptional use in treatment related to a wide range of illnesses as well.
AR and VR allow doctors to have access to all necessary data through the latest technologies, enabling them to stay grounded in procedures. Doctors can easily compare data to what they are seeing in the real world to make the diagnosis and plan for procedures. By making smart use of AR and VR, healthcare app developers can create apps that enormously help the medical field in areas such as prevention and diagnostics, surgery, and education.
VR headsets are utilized by Maplewood Senior Living in Connecticut to work with individuals who have concerns ranging from dementia to cognitive impairments. They have access to activities that are otherwise unavailable in their current environments. This allows patients to unlock memories and develop their emotional well being.
Artificial intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most popular technical innovations in the medical industry. AI-based applications and technologies such as robotics and chatbots have already been developed. Diagnosis processes and medical procedures will be improved with the use of AI-based apps. Data accuracy and patient outcome will be considerably increased.
Developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) machines can process information and provide decision-making data like what a human does. This has given rise to an entirely new sector of innovative health technologies. AI apps can improve the speed and accuracy of the diagnosis process. Analytics can also identify developments and allow doctors to start looking at possible approaches for early treatment. Machine learning algorithms are used to explore chemical and biological interactions in the drug discovery process which helps in bringing new drugs to the market faster.
IoMT systems and advanced mobile devices, with the help of healthcare applications in mobile, will increase the availability of data sets for the innovative AI software and enable analysis. Medical product development and diagnosis are two crucial areas that are expected to improve health technologies. Recently, the FDA has approved the first AI-based diagnostic device, a system that looks for eye disease by examining the photos of the retina. The disorder was correctly identified by the software in 87% of cases, and it correctly identified individuals without the disease most of the time.
Role of chatbots in healthcare
Chatbots are revolutionizing the business world, and they can be expected to create new digital trends in the healthcare domain. Chatbots with creative AI-backed voice and messaging systems are very helpful to healthcare organizations. By using chatbots, routine queries can be handled efficiently. The capacity of chatbots in addressing routine issues allows healthcare professionals to focus better on their core functions.
Chatbot application development, when performed by an experienced healthcare application development company, enables practitioners to utilize smart bots as digital assistants. This facilitates keeping better track of their contacts, scheduling appointments, and making changes when required, in an effective manner.
Chatbots are creating a new trend in the business world, and they can be expected to be a big part of the digital transformation in the healthcare domain. Attention needs to be paid to some of the possible risks. Automated systems should not be considered as replacements for the opinions of expert doctors, especially when the risks include threats to patients. Any chatbot system will be liable to the same rules that manage the rest of the industry, so compliance with HIPAA in the US and the GDPR in the EU will feature highly.
Data science and predictive analytics
Recent technological advances led to dramatic growth in the amount of medical data gathered about individuals. It creates new opportunities for hospitals and health organizations in extracting insights from these massive figures. New integrated solutions can gather, process, store, and analyze data for any other purpose. Healthcare practitioners make use of this big data to make the diagnosis quick and easy. By using the data analysis efficiency within a healthcare organization can be improved. The insurance companies can use this data to offer customized insurance products.
The most widespread application of data science and analytics in the healthcare industry is Electronic health record systems (EHR). EHR allows keeping a digital record of each person which includes medical history, laboratory results, diagnoses, and other details. Each record is saved in one file which can be modified and not only helps doctors from the devastating manual work but also serves as an important statistical source. It also can be used for intervention and provide reminders when a patient needs new medical examinations. In the USA, 94 % of hospitals are in the process of adoption of EHRs. By 2020, a centralized EHRs is believed to become a reality.
Cloud computing in healthcare
A variety of public, private and hybrid cloud-based platforms are within easy reach for the sharing of large files. Healthcare organizations are trying to build, run and maintain infrastructure for record-keeping needs. Here cloud computing becomes an interesting choice for digital technology in healthcare. Patients and healthcare practitioners both tend to get better access to records through cloud-based technology and can make the consultation process easier. These telemedicine applications have a greater demand for synchronous and asynchronous messaging systems. The need to integrate video for live consultations also makes pressure to deploy WAN connections that are speedy, stable, and secure.
Enterprises often avoid from fully embracing cloud computing. Conducting remote doctor calls makes it difficult to collect all ePHI (electronic Protected Health Information) data within structured formats that can be assured to be secure. Methods to secure messages, audio content, video, and emails all need to be in place to ensure full compliance with HIPAA.
Public cloud systems all access a wide range of general health information sources and permit storage and retrieval of an organization's data. Private cloud systems can be used for more security-sensitive purposes, such as pharmacy orders, bills of the patient, and healthcare professional inquiries. Hybrid cloud solutions provide some of the best benefits of cloud computing in the healthcare industry, and they often allow more portability.
Blockchain and data security
The huge volume of health data generated from sensors and wearables has led to a rise in new challenges like data integrity, interoperability, security, and privacy. Blockchain helps in solving these challenges by placing the patient in the middle of the healthcare ecosystem and, in turn, will help the patient to gain more control over their health data. When it comes to EHR, blockchain can help prevent patient data from being changed or stolen by using a secure protocol.
Read more: Healthcare App Development With Virtual Reality (VR): A Boon To The Healthcare Sector
The new technologies in medicine are providing the best medical care by storing the patient’s information securely and making the diagnosis easier. Nextbrain Technologies provides progressive healthcare technologies that remain as the basis for the digital transformation of business in the healthcare sector.
Saran
September 15, 2020 Author