No industry is immune to the technological advancements made in the last couple of decades. The healthcare industry is no exception to this rule. Today, patients have the best care, no matter what kind of condition they suffer from. At the same time, the recovery process is much faster and smoother than ever before.
Overall, advanced healthcare technology offers many new opportunities for curing numerous conditions. However, with technology playing so big of a role in today’s healthcare, one cannot think but wonder how technology influences the industry. That’s why we would like to look into this topic in greater detail.
Medical transcription services
The first thing we technology we want to talk about is using software for medical transcription. For those who don’t know, we refer to services that help convert the voice recordings between physicians and other healthcare workers with their patients into reports.
Compiling these conversations into reports makes it possible to look at all the main aspects of the patient experience in healthcare. For example, you will find diagnostic tests, health history, symptoms, and treatment plans. All these elements being a part of the official report makes it easier for a medical professional to have an insight into the patient’s state at all times.”
Before the appearance of medical transcription services, this was done manually by the physician. So, you can imagine the amount of work the physician must do daily. Thankfully, they can use services like Ditto to make this process smoother and more efficient.
Big data
Big data is one of the hottest trends, no matter what industry we’re talking about. The amount of data that goes through the hands of professionals is nothing short of exceptional. Therefore, big data technology comes to the rescue and helps handle all these massive amounts.
In healthcare, the amount of data that goes through a physician is massive. Therefore, categorising it is an absolute must. But we are not just talking about categorisation; another important thing is to use the data for analysis. That way, it becomes possible to make certain predictions and see whether there are some risk factors.
It is especially helpful in developing lifesaving formulations and medical treatments. When storing all this data, we recommend using cloud storage. It is easily the most cost-effective solution, which offers several features like backup and recovery. In the meantime, you will have no problems with management whatsoever.
Improved access to care
Healthcare access is the biggest barrier to quality care. Several factors can influence this, like physical limitations, distance, and even costs. In the most severe cases, delayed treatment can result in a fatal income. Fortunately, modern technology helps by improving access to care for millions of people.
Since there are so many people out there who are affected by this, concepts like telehealth come to the rescue. They help by lowering the costs and reducing emergency room visits for patients and physicians. Another aspect that helps with providing better care is portable diagnostic tools.
Healthcare wearables
Wearable fitness bands help track the patient’s condition and movements throughout the day. So naturally, measuring things such as ride pace, heart rate, and the number of steps taken during the day significantly shows how an individual takes care of their fitness.
Furthermore, wearables help with communication with medical professionals. Besides fitness, wearables can help monitor blood sugar, blood oxygen, and even lung function. In some diseases, like Parkinson’s, wearables are developed to track all the important metrics.
Tracking the metrics is an absolute must with these conditions since the data helps with the treatment. The physician needs an insight into all these to create the proper treatment. The same can be said about Alzheimer’s disease.
Artificial intelligence
Lastly, we want to touch upon the technology that completely revolutionized healthcare, artificial intelligence. AI algorithms can help design treatment plans, develop drugs faster, and even help establish diagnoses. But, of course, machine learning is the most important element of artificial intelligence.
It proved a useful tool during the Covid pandemic by helping with CT scan analysis. That way, diagnosing the condition has been made significantly easier. Another example of it being efficient is cancer diagnostics. For the last couple of decades, a biopsy was the only method. However, it wasn’t efficient enough to provide the whole image of the organ tissue.
By using artificial intelligence, it is possible to see even the smallest of details, which doesn’t only help with better diagnosing but also with the prevention of cancer returning. For these reasons, we would say that AI will be the most influential technology in the healthcare industry for many decades.
Closing thoughts
The pace of technological advancements is so high that it can even be uncomfortable. Here, you can see the manifestations of the growing role of technology in the healthcare industry. We believe this insight will be more than helpful in understanding how crucial technology has become for it.
Tim Williamson, a psychology graduate from the University of Hertfordshire, has a keen interest in the fields of mental health, wellness, and lifestyle.
