2018 Trends to Watch in Health Care Industry

Electronic health record(EHR) system 

EHR is a modern electronic method that hospitals and other healthcare institutions use to store and transmit patient data. This data usually includes a wide range of information including the patient’s demographics, medical history, allergies, imaging data, medications they are currently on, and so on.

This method is now being widely adopted as managing patient data via an electronic form is much easier than via traditional methods. For one, doctors can get comprehensive data regarding each patient at their fingertips within seconds. This allows them to see the whole picture regarding each patients’ health situation and use the information to provide a custom treatment solution tailored to the requirements of each patient.

Using EHR also improves accuracy by miles and has less chance of being tampered.  The data will be the same across all time and unlike paperwork has less chance of being lost. Storage and organization of data also become much easier.

Telemedicine services 

Telemedicine is a way of providing patient care when both the doctor and the patient are in different physical spaces. This type of care usually happens through video conferencing or other similar technologies. The international telemedicine industry is forecasted to be around $40 billion by 2021. 

Telemedicine already has made a huge impact on the present. Thanks to it, there are now several patients around the world who are able to undergo treatment even during adverse conditions. 

Using various video conferencing tools like Skype and Zoom, patients are able to communicate their difficulties, physical or mental, to medical professionals. The professional can then diagnose the ailment and provide adequate treatment and/or instructions, including the prescription of the right medicines.

A huge benefit this approach gives to some patients is that it allows them to access the care of specialists to whom they otherwise would not have had access to. It allows a patient from one part of the country to get care from a specialist who lives in a distant part of the country or even another country altogether.

Cloud based solutions 

A lot of the cloud’s features and use cases directly tie in with the EHR.

For one, cloud technology when used properly provides a very secure environment to host and store your data. Healthcare institutions can safely store vast amounts of data by rendering the services of one of the many secure cloud providers around the world. These providers will have secure systems and even back-ups so that data never gets into the wrong hands nor is lost.

Using cloud technology can also reduce overall costs. Using dedicated servers for storing one’s data and assigning a cybersecurity team to monitor is usually very costly. Oftentimes, it may even be less secure as well. By using a reliable cloud technology partner, however, healthcare institutions can save a lot.

Besides, cloud technology also facilitates easier collaboration. Oftentimes, doctors will need patient data immediately. A cloud storage system will enable them to access this data and send it across to those needed, even when they are not present within the premises of the hospital itself.

Cloud technology will also give a lot of analytics data. Using advanced methods, this data can be interpreted and used for improving overall efficiency in various areas.

IoT in healthcare 

There is a wide range of technologies that have pushed IoT into the mainstream in the healthcare industry.

Chief among them are fitness trackers and other trackers which allow patients to monitor their various health-related data. Some of them provide details like the number of calories the wearer has burned per day. Others provide details like blood pressure, which can be crucial to people who suffer from serious illnesses.

This data, in certain cases, can be transmitted to healthcare professionals. They can then monitor the situation and assess the variations that arise over time. Sudden changes can also be communicated via alerts, which doctors can respond to immediately too.

The scope of IoT will further expand in the future. The current technology is incredibly helpful for aged citizens and others living alone.

Fitness band which is an excellent example of IoT tells all about health conditions and suggests medical sessions. It is estimated that this year alone there will be about $5.26 billion in revenue from fitness tracker devices. IoT will grow beyond wearables and provide innovative use cases for the healthcare industry. Right from monitoring patient’s vitals to enabling hospitals in managing their administrative tasks, IoT will make significant strides in the healthcare industry. It may well be instrumental in suggesting treatments, diagnosis and in the process enhance the patient care.

Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

Last but not least comes AI or Artificial Intelligence. This impacts a wide range of healthcare activities.

Errors in diagnosis is a major problem that the healthcare industry has been fighting to have less of. When physicians use AI in tandem with other methods to diagnose diseases, it leads to fewer errors in diagnosis. Thanks to reduced errors, patients will get effective treatment and recover quicker.

In addition, it is also used for machine learning, which identifies patterns from vast amounts of medical data. This allows physicians to identify better treatment methods and other patterns.AI also helps when it comes to drug research. Several studies have been conducted using Artificial Intelligence to produce effective drugs.

In the future, AI may also help people to treat themselves. It may offer solutions so, in certain situations, patients will be able to treat themselves as opposed to going to a healthcare professional

Blockchain 

Being compliant and preserving patient data are two vital elements for healthcare providers all across the world. There are literally too many regulations which have to be abided by the healthcare providers who usually yield to the pressure. Imbuing the use of blockchain when building the healthcare solution avoids the number of problems. The security features of Blockchain makes them the ideal partner of EHRs because the information travels from one network to other. With such a single security procedure the patients get assured that their data is safe and rightly so.

Healthcare Data Security 

Cyber Attacks are common in all industries and healthcare is no exception. Healthcare data security is important because it holds the patient’s biological and medical, financial and personal information. If it reaches the wrong hands it can lead to personal threats. So there are regulations like HITECH, HIPAA and FDA guidance to safeguard the data and to prevent the Cyber Attack. Cyber security safety measures and precautions are helping to keep the system and data safe.

Health Insurance Companies (HIC) 

Health insurance will is a key domain which would be in need of ar app development company services using emerging technologies like Cloud, Mobility, BlockChain etc… It is based on the assumption of about 85% of HICs that customers would be willing to share their health data with them to build an effective healthcare ecosystem.

Augmented Reality in Healthcare

Augmented and Virtual reality has a wide range of used cases.

Using AR doctors can augment virtual models onto a patient to better assess their situation much closer. This allows them to diagnose diseases faster and with more accuracy. A few have proved that these technologies also help during surgeries as well.

Medical education is another area where this works. Many institutions now use VR and AR to teach students about the human body. By recreating the entire human body in virtual 3D, students can learn about various organs before seeing and interacting with a real one. Some even allow students to perform virtual surgeries, which will better equip them to deal with the real one.

Conclusion

Healthcare industry is growing rapidly due to health-consciousness of the people and the adoption of latest technologies in the domain to make healthcare services more affordable to everyone. That being said here are some of emerging healthcare technology trends which will have a significant impact on the healthcare industry. As we are ever in tune with these developments you can know more about them through our articles, blog posts, press releases.