Top 5 Trends in Healthcare Technology
Although the acceptance of technology by the healthcare industry was not that rapid, this field is expected to see huge changes in the next few years. By 2020, the medical market is expected to reach US$206 billion via digital transformations. Large corporations are already refocusing on themselves through digital revolutions and applying them in their core areas in a customer-oriented approach. It has been evaluated that deep learning algorithms can assist for cancers with 94% precision as stated by the New York Times. This information may seem unbelievable to most foreigners but to health professionals, it is an indication that the times have been progressively changing. The healthcare has been changing from a model of products and services to a model of solutions. The improvement of patient experiences and preventive care will be the center of future technology and innovation and will have an important role in achieving this goal. The forthcoming years of the medical field lies in big data, wide-ranging healthcare platform, and healthcare analysis.
For us, it is important to understand the latest healthcare technology trends. These inclinations are usually best reflected in major global events at the medical discussions and conferences. Although companies usually rely on mature systems, healthcare organizations are still constantly searching for new customs to improve productivity and performance through technology. They have been working on new approaches and have extensive methods to provide services. Now let’s talk about the new trends in the healthcare industry.
Trend 1: Internet of Things
Several mobile applications and devices have played a role in preventing and monitoring chronic diseases of many people. The combination of telemedicine, the Internet of Things, and the development of telehealth has created a new era. This method involves various portable devices, medical measurement tools, and wearables, including devices for blood pressure value and glucose level as well as the EKG and ECG monitors. According to data from Frost & Sullivan, nearly 60% of healthcare companies introduced IoT systems in 2017. This has led to developments in various areas from cost-effectiveness to patient experiences. By 2020, 20 to 30 billion IoMT devices will be available and the Internet of Things devices is expected to reach US$136 billion by 2021. With the introduction of new management methods, for example, the pills approved by the FDA, healthcare experts have proposed many interesting options to improve the efficiency of care.
Providing effective and consistent communication with many IoT devices is one of the healthcare industry’s biggest challenges. The developers still usually use their proprietary protocols to communicate with devices. This can cause problems particularly when you try to bring together the huge data from the server. The storage method in the local microcontrollers needs to be more powerful to avoid loss. According to the report of the Ponemon Institute’s study on data protection and healthcare issues, the potential security issues also need to be addressed.
Trend 2: Telemedicine
The development of telemedicine is one of the largest foundations of hasty variations in the medical field in the USA. The unprivileged groups also suffer the problems of improper healthcare systems. Therefore, telemedicine improves the diagnosis and treatments of patients by promoting the connection between healthcare experts and patients. The accessibility of e-records also makes it easier to send brochures and other reports to experts. Although today’s industry-leading video chat platforms can achieve huge goals the telemedicine services can do more. For instance, clinical institutes can reduce the readmission rate by monitoring patients. With the beginning of portable devices, it is typical to include the evaluation and assessment for the patient discharge plans.
Trend 3: Healthcare and Cloud computing
Various hybrid cloud-based, private and public platforms can be used to share big documents. The medical companies are striving to meet the needs of operating, establishing, and maintaining the record infrastructure. So, cloud computing has become an attractive possibility for the medical or healthcare field. The cloud-based solutions generally provide better access to records and simplify the consultation processes. However, these apps place higher demands on asynchronous and synchronous messaging systems. The desire to assimilate video for real-time consultation also puts a burden on achieving fast, stable, and secure WAN connections.
Due to legal restrictions on protected electronic health information (ePHI), companies often give up the opportunity of completely adopting cloud computing. It is problematic for healthcare specialists to gather all ePHI data in an organized format that can reasonably provide security. All public systems can access various conventional sources and can store and retrieve the organizational data. The private systems can be used for a more security-related scenario such as patients’ bills, pharmacy orders, and doctor inquiries.
Trend 4: VR/AR/MR in Healthcare Industries
The advent of augmented and virtual reality solutions has directed major advancements in medical technology. From the planning process to freshman training, the fields of augmented reality and virtual reality in healthcare are very promising. Transferring the patients to an environment that is sufficient to improve the condition is one of the biggest concerns. The data can be collected through monitoring to help the therapist develop a personalized care plan. Some institutes for instance Maplewood Senior Living Center in Connecticut make use of virtual reality headsets to collaborate with people who suffer from problems like cognitive decline or dementia. They can access experiences and activities that are not available in the present settings.
In the healthcare system, Augmented reality is one of the most instinctive options. By displaying 3D material in real scenes, AR enables doctors and surgeons to master real procedures and access all available data through other medical technologies. Doctors can compare data with the data they see in the real world to diagnose and plan procedures. Medical treatment may become one of the main influences of RA in the future.
Trend #5: Healthcare Systems and Artificial Intelligence
The development of AI machines has driven a whole new field of pioneering technologies as they can improve the precision of the diagnostic processes. The analysis can also allow physicians to find possible treatments for the patients. The ML approaches are also used to study biological and chemical interactions in drug discovery and bring new drugs to the market faster. Being approved by the FDA, an AI-based diagnostic system can use retina photos to search for eye diseases and this correctly identifies diseases in 87% of cases. Developed by Microsoft, Project InnerEye involves the 3D plan of the patients and the oncologists can fully monitor the consistency and accuracy of the configurations. The potential for artificial intelligence and other machineries to create synergies can lead to the digital revolution in the healthcare sector. The IoMT systems and mobile devices will increase the size of available data sets that can be analyzed by AI software. The healthcare experts and data science consultants must also participate in the process to ensure whether statistically relevant responses are generated. However, providing quality services to everyone will improve the performance that deep learning applications can bring.