Technology is not just important for healthcare but it’s a rhythm of many industries whose pillars are made of technology and they stand with the support of technology.
From small to big organizations, everyone is trying to utilize technology for their growth and to make their firms more flexible.
And healthcare is one of the most important industries which relies on technology. However, these days Healthcare is focusing more on utilizing technological solutions after taking many lessons from pandemics.
Healthcare firms are in a race of making their business technology driven.
As per the report, last year healthcare enterprises including start-ups raised more than “$29.1 billion across 729 deals, according to the rock health report 2021.”
Major companies raised funds to expand their tech team and for R&D development.
Why do we need technology in healthcare?
The way healthcare is facing challenges day by day it needs the support of technology to be stable.
Situations like COVID-19 have acquainted healthcare enterprises to start adopting technological solutions to tackle the threats.
Many problems need to be underlined.
Critical problems in healthcare:
- Until now, many healthcare enterprises are not aware of technological solutions. We need to spread awareness
- There are still many weak spots in the care delivery system that need to be upgraded.
- Rural areas are still not getting proper care delivery, they are cut off from all the facilities of healthcare
- Administrative work is becoming a burden for healthcare professionals to manage with traditional methods.
- High prices of pharmaceuticals keep patients far from getting affordable treatment.
- Doctors are not able to handle numerous patients at one time. However, “the average ratio of doctors per patient is 1:1000 to the total population of the world.”
Although, there are many other metrics and issues which need to be highlighted and technology can help to solve these puzzles.
Let’s see how technology can help to solve this mess…
Could technology be a helping hand for healthcare?
Of course, there is no doubt about that. Technology always had a friendly relationship with healthcare. The innovation and adoption of technological solutions like AI, IoT, and machine learning are enthusiastic in care delivery.
For instance, AI is the leading tech solution in drug discovery. The drug discovery process is coming faster than ever before. AI manages a large amount of sample testing data and helps to identify the right drug.
However, IoT-based devices monitor the symptoms of patients in real time and can be shared with healthcare professionals from anywhere.
Even though doctors can measure patients’ real-time metrics like heart rate, pulse rate, and blood pressure by seating in their comfort zone and can guide patients when needed.
Let’s talk about some other tech-driven solutions that are helpful to healthcare professionals as well as patients.
Digital health solutions:
Digital health solutions like telemedicine, patient monitoring software, and even for medical practice software like medical practice management software are effective for healthcare.
#1 Telemedicine:
Telemedicine is telecommunication through which the exchange of electronic information takes place.
In simple words, telemedicine support healthcare professionals to connect with a patient when the distance separates the participants.
Especially for chronic patients who need to visit hospitals and clinics for regular check-ups for them, telemedicine is the best tool to connect with doctors.
Patients get treatment in their comfort zone through virtual treatment given by doctors. There are many benefits of using telemedicine for care delivery.
#2 Patient management software:
There are certain data of patients like medical reports, payment details, prescriptions, and so on.
Handling this data in a physical form is overwhelming for patients as well as for healthcare professionals.
With the use of patient management software data of patients can be easily stored in one place and one can access those data from anywhere anytime.
The features include EHR(electronic health records), EMR( electronic medical report), and even healthcare professionals can monitor real-time metrics of patients like heart rate and pulse rate.
#3 Appointment booking app:
Most of the energy and time of medical staff is consumed in booking appointments, billing, and vice versa.
However, it is also overwhelming for patients to book an appointment and go through the long process of calling, calling on hold, waiting for confirmation, and after this process when patients visit the clinic they have to wait in a waiting room for several minutes.
Patients have to take a long journey if they want to meet the doctor. Especially chronic patients who need to visit the hospital for regular check-ups have to deal with this time-consuming journey.
As a result, appointment booking apps can comprise this long journey with few taps. With the help of an appointment booking app, one can easily schedule meetings at a suitable time.
Impact of technology on healthcare
While implementing technology in healthcare you can see the results are marvellous.
#1 Cost reductions of pharmaceuticals:
In the past several decades, the cost of drug development has increased significantly and healthcare has faced challenges like shortage of medicine and increase in price.
But, AI has shown its promise in structuring big data.
However, with this innovation, pharmaceutical companies can make the development process faster and more affordable.
Easy supply chain systems are also one of the key factors to reduce the cost of medicine.
#2 Making healthcare accessible:
Even today, healthcare facilities are not available in many rural areas. The population remains without getting proper care facilities.
According to RHIhub research, 660,893 U.S. residents live in a rural area without FQHC(federally qualified health centers) or acute care hospitals.
As a result, technology is the only gateway to connect rural areas and deliver care facilities. It can be done using technological solutions like telemedicine app development.
Global scope for Health-Tech
Health tech is always a trending industry that is at the top of the table. The demand for health tech solutions is increasing day by day and looking at the future scope.
The companies are going to generate billions by 2030. According to the report of Grand view research, “the market size was valued at $175.6 billion in 2021 and expected to grow by a 27.7% annual growth rate from 2022 to 2030.”
Sources: Grand view research
Crimp:
Although, health tech is a never-ending game and is also the pillar of the overall healthcare ecosystem.
Healthcare enterprises are in a game to boost their speed using tech solutions that have horsepower technology.