By As constant as change, technology continues to improve each day, infiltrating our lives in every way possible. Today, almost all our activities are influenced by technology, whether it’s our jobs, the way we shop, or the way we travel. Truly, the digital age is transforming the way humans live and behave.
Healthcare has seen first-hand technology’s breakthroughs in medical research, treatments, information gathering, and communications. Such new tools and innovative approach have made healthcare an easier and more accessible commodity to all.
Technology has become the driving force behind healthcare innovations, but how much is the tech revolution really shaping the healthcare industry?
- Improved Disease Control and Worker Efficiency
Without technology, the World Health Organization may not be able to keep track of illnesses, including their causes and symptoms, and compile them into a massive database. With the development of certain software programs, this is made possible through the use of more than 14,000 individual codes. This resource has guided researchers and medical professionals in their duty to control disease and to improve patient outcomes in general.
Aside from this highly informative digital roster, the right software can also be used to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare in the simplifying of billing methods and other electronic medical records. This improved degree of transparency has benefited not only medical professionals but patients as well. Information technology has greatly made patient care more reliable than ever. With all the patient’s medical history and disease information literally accessible through hand-held computers, correct treatment is always underway.
- Better treatment and health outcomes
Of course, technology has molded healthcare in the most obvious way: by providing new treatments and innovative machines to save and improve lives each day. Many diseases would still bear no cure to date without the intervention of technology. Not only does technology treat patients directly through modern medical practices; it has also improved the quality of research made by experts, making healthcare more effective through the years.
- Innovations in home healthcare
Technology has become such a huge part in patient care experience, even making healthcare more accessible in patients’ homes. Today, patient monitoring can simply be done without having to visit a medical facility. Devices that obtain vital signs, such as a non-invasive blood pressure monitor and an SpO2 pulse oximeter, can easily be acquired by patients themselves. These portable devices are so easy to use that patients themselves can easily wrap the NIBP cuff around their arm and press a button to start a blood pressures reading.
Meanwhile, artificial intelligence has enhanced the way home healthcare providers deliver care, helping them to complete basic tasks more efficiently and sparing more time for them to focus on more pressing healthcare issues. For instance, entering basic patient data need not take up much of the carer’s time through a manual approach; AI technology can simply automate this process. Meanwhile, caregivers are only left with the task of carefully analyzing patient data.
This comes as a huge advantage to the healthcare provider, as with the huge volumes of patient information, one can easily lose track of specific data.
- Smarter, more empowered patients
With internet becoming one of the basic commodities of people today, it’s no surprise that more and more patients are accessing the web to search for healthcare information. Gone are the days when the only source of reliable medical information are lengthy medical books and healthcare professionals themselves.
With the advent of technology, patients are becoming more educated about their medical condition through the myriad of data they can access on the internet. Not only are you able to look up symptoms on the web but also medicines and potential treatment methods that treat certain medical issues. Although a doctor’s advice is always the best road to take when it comes to your health, it is undeniable that the internet has made more individuals empowered through sufficient patient education and has made them more confident on decisions concerning their health.
- Contribution to global growth
Seeing things in a different light, health technology is even contributing to the growing world economy. With the wide acceptance of medical technology today, more and more business owners and companies are highly investing on the industry. In fact, 95% of medical technology companies, which belong to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, have invested in research and development. Moreover, approximately 8% of sales in this industry is reinvested into product research and development.
With the increase in investments focused on the development of medical technology, it can be deduced that there is indeed great interest in the sector. This alone entails that change is coming in the global economic landscape, especially in the United States.
Technology has reshaped healthcare in more ways than we can imagine, and it’s not stopping nor slowing down anytime soon. The healthcare industry will continue to progress—growing more effectively to deliver patient care, improve cost control, and encourage caregiver satisfaction in increasingly exceptional levels. Both patients, caregivers, and medical professionals can only witness its unfolding.
For more on healthcare industry and trends, head over to Lincoln Health Network to see more.
