Are we not all glued to our smartphone and tablet 24/7? Looking for the nearest WiFi has almost become natural behaviour? Technology has become embedded in our every day live and changed it for good.
The healthcare industry might have been affected the most by these innovations. More than any other market. The amount of new high tech possibilities have forced the healthcare industry to find out how to take advantage of them. How can they use technology to increase the access to information? To drive better patient results and to unlock medical mysteries hidden in plain sight? You probably cannot help but get excited about this. But in healthcare facilities there's always the issue of privacy and security. Perhaps more than in any other industry.
1. Smartphones, Apps and Wearable Devices
One of the most important healthcare technology trends is the rise of wearable devices. Today we live in a health conscious world. We love tracking everything and keeping score. We use apps to see how far we have run. How much calories we ate today and how many that run burned off. We will even go as far as to record our sleeping patterns and use a wearable device to measure our blood pressure.
Collecting all this information makes us feel in control. It empowers us to track our own health and how we are doing. Registering all this information does not only help us, but our doctors too. Wouldn't it be great to deliver your latest medical information during a doctors appointment? Without your doctor having to use a single instrument or machine? With the rate at which new wearable healthcare devices pop up we can start looking at the bigger picture. The next step will be to collect large amounts of data and integrating them. Helping the medical industry predict and prevent health issues in specific regions or countries.
2. Big Data to find Patterns, Problems and Opportunities
What is a healthcare technology trends list without mentioning big data? As we collect more data, the focus shifts to acting upon this data. Healthcare providers are looking for more ways to access, store and use the gathered information. Taming the large amount of healthcare data brings many benefits to doctors and researchers. They are able to better understand diseases and improve their collaboration. And the available resources get divvied up more equally. Getting the right treatments to the right patients at the right time. Having all this data may even minimize or completely eliminate outbreaks and pandemics.
3. Easy Access through Cloud Computing
The best quality of cloud technology is the central storage and access of information. Using the 'cloud' healthcare researchers can easily access and analyze massive amounts of data. This speeds up innovations and help them response to warning signs even faster. Doctors and patients benefit from cloud technology through the EHR (Electronic Healthcare Record). Digitizing these health records means patients can effortlessly access their own health information. And doctors have a more complete picture of a patient's health status. The cloud offers many benefits. Flexibility, expand-ability and lower costs have to be the main ones.
4. Security Risks
A large portion of identity thefts target medical companies and hospitals. Just like any other store, hospitals can also fall in the hands of cyber criminals. Personal information like health records, billing information and data from wearable devices force hospitals to focus on securing this data. Cloud stored data make our lives easier, but also comes with security risks. We want to keep taking advantage of the cloud's benefits. But this asks for a commitment to thoroughly protecting our sensitive health data.
5. Tele-Health
Tele Health is a healthcare technology trend that will completely change the way we interact with our doctors. It means we can use our trusted smartphone, tablet or Skype account to connect with our physician. That way patients don't always have to physically meet with their doctor to discuss their health. Saving them a lot of time and effort. It enables frequent health consultations for patients who live in remote areas. Or are in any other way unable to see a doctor at the actual hospital. It might even save a doctor a walk across the hospital to answer a simple question. A question that can easily be answered through video chat. Saving the doctor time to spend on other patients. Tele Health eliminates the distance between doctor and patient. Improving the actual quality of care.
6. Advanced Interoperability
Connecting different hospital systems closes the gap between more data and useful data. Linking these systems and sources of information puts data together seamlessly. It forms a clear and uniform picture of the patients health. Helping doctors come up with the best possible program of treatment. Connecting the hospital's information system with the Electronic Health Records creates a complete health history of every single patient. Quality of care and work efficiency can only benefit from this trend in healthcare technology.
There is no doubt in anybody's mind that technology and healthcare are closely connected. Technological advancements help doctors and nurses work more efficiently. Giving them more of their valuable time back to give to those patients that need it the most. Patients will feel more in control, empowered and can take ownership of their own care. This will make doctors and patients work together in finding the best treatment. Looking into the future, registering illnesses before they spread can help millions of people. More data does require a higher level of security to protect this valuable collected health information. But when used right it re-shapes our healthcare to a whole new level.