The healthcare industry is one of those few industries that vigorously adapt to the changing landscape of technology and medical care. Even when global industries failed to cope with ongoing changes, the healthcare industry evolved. An example would be the COVID-19 pandemic.
In remote areas, people were not receiving the medical care they used to, and many were left wondering how this would affect those already struggling to receive primary healthcare. Fortunately, thanks to the ever-evolving technology, healthcare is now becoming more accessible to even the remotest corners of the world. Check out mips vs apm and how this type of healthcare benefits employees and employers.
With the advent of telemedicine, mobile applications, and virtual care, healthcare is steadily being streamlined and becoming digitally accessible. Let’s look at how the following latest technologies are making healthcare accessibility more effortless than ever.
- Remote Patient Monitoring:
One of the biggest takeaways from the recent pandemic was that people could receive medical attention at their homes. The most significant benefit of remote patient monitoring (RPM) is that it offers patients better access to healthcare regardless of their location.
It is a tool to help clinicians access patient data without delay and burnout while delivering quality care to more patients. RPM is a way to improve the quality of care by relying on technology to handle complex tasks. Since only 10% of doctors practice in rural areas in the U.S, remote patient monitoring is a lifesaver for millions of people disconnected from mainstream healthcare.
RPM has also opened ways for newer educational and research opportunities. Forward-thinking programs like healthcare systems engineering implement information technology to improve overall operations, healthcare access and lower costs.
Technology is the future of medicine, and tools like RPM are helping people become part of a system that provides remote medical consultations.
- Smartphone Health Applications and Add-ons:
When was the last time you needed to know about your vitals and had to go down to a hospital? Rarely if you have a smartphone or device in your hand. We’ve come a long way from simple watches and phones used only for making calls.
Mobile gadgets have transformed into sophisticated medical devices used to monitor vitals and access medical information. We are now even coming out of that phase when at one time, smartwatches that showed your oxygen levels and heartbeat used to be fascinating.
Mainstream mobile apps like Glucose Buddy are helping people track and manage their glucose numbers, insulin dosages, carbohydrate consumption, and other activities. Not only that, patients can even have their queries answered immediately by qualified doctors through apps like Health Tap.
Access to quality healthcare is not only easy for patients, but doctors are also benefiting from smart apps like PEPID PEDS, UpToDate, Epocrates, and more.
- Telemedicine:
Now, if we think about it, in-person visits to the hospital are time-consuming and exhausting. People have to wait hours to get a regular checkup. Telemedicine is a technological leap in healthcare that has allowed people to receive remote medical consultations.
According to reports by WIRED, more than a million people have used telemedicine services since last year. Telemedicine is simply a way for healthcare professionals to diagnose, evaluate, and treat patients using telecommunication technology.
Though the concept has been there since the 1950s, the rise of the internet age made the practice easily accessible to everyone. For high-quality video transmission, only a smart device and an internet connection are required to access quality care and deliver it to their homes remotely.
Telemedicine is a massive facilitator for treating as many patients as possible without burnout and decreasing waiting time. It is also spectacularly cost-effective compared to physical visits because telemedicine doesn’t require a significant outlay.
All the information is stored on a secure electronic medical record database.
- Advanced Medical Devices:
The healthcare industry heavily relies on medical devices for precise diagnostics, evaluation, treatment, and data collection. Not just professionals, but the availability of the best medical devices means that patients receive quality care.
For instance, 5G-enabled devices are the future of telemedicine. The cutting-edge technology takes healthcare to the next level and ensures that the highest care is accessible worldwide.
The possibility of real-time and lightning-fast connection will help professionals transmit data instantaneously and use medical devices to their full potential to improve patient outcomes.
Not just 5G but other advanced devices like smart pacemakers, nanomedicine, and AI doctors are changing the face of medicine. Such technology-driven medical care is revolutionary for practitioners and offers patients a chance to access better and quicker care.
- Easy Access to Data:
Data-driven healthcare is the future of the industry and the way towards limitless access to quality care. Data-driven healthcare aims to aid professionals in exchanging information between organizations to prevent delays in providing treatment and to receive faster results.
The healthcare industry’s big data market helps make its application widespread, thus improving patient outcomes and treatment options. However, interoperability in the healthcare industry, especially during COVID-19, was lacking, and data could not easily be transferred from one facility to another.
But thanks to Google Cloud, which launched in November 2020, participants can access app blueprints, implementation guidelines, data templates, and security tools, making interoperability easier. Not only big data but machine learning and artificial intelligence are also helping medical facilities to eradicate uncertainty and offer virtual medical assistance to doctors and patients alike.
Many tech giants are working on digital assistants and other systems to allow people to receive medical advice from artificial intelligence. For instance, Saykara, an AI startup, has launched a voice assistant to understand a physician-patient conversation without a voice command.
Conclusion:
It may take years, but we will witness revolutionary medical technologies that will change the world. Artificial intelligence giving medical advice, devices helping people manage their condition, and doctors readily available on your phone are all things that will become streamlined within a few decades.
Such technologies are the steppingstones towards making quality healthcare accessible to every human being. Even with today’s telemedicine, smartphone apps, and electronic systems, we can see a significant reduction in patient waiting time, cost, and staff burnout.
COVID-19 has pushed the world to explore technologies that are free from the restraints of distance and time.
