Healthcare industry trends which we go on to witness today happen to be new technologies as well as solutions that address the needs when it comes to clinical diagnosis, treatment, as well as disease management. The COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in technologies when it comes to disinfecting, limiting transmission, disease spread detection, patient management, as well as immunisation. The advancements within the healthcare industry range from telemedicine, e-consultations, real-time diagnosis, and evaluating digital therapeutics offered by immersion technology tools.
Technology advancements within the healthcare gamut, such as genetic analysis, clinical data storage, and big data and analytics, go ahead and help the development in terms of precision medicine. Startups personalize treatment planning as well as execution for individual patients by way of making use of real-time, remote monitoring devices. The embrace of artificial intelligence- AI, the internet of things- IoT as well as the data management practices is helping to make hospitals smarter. These solutions elevate workflows along with staff scheduling as well as provide connected infrastructure, devices, and systems so as to accelerate precise as well as equitable clinical services.
Effects of the Top 10 Healthcare Industry Trends
HealthTech startups go on to employ AI and the internet of medical things- IoMT for real-time, continuous, as well as remote monitoring when it comes to patients. Telemedicine solutions elevate the accessibility to clinical services for those patients who are not able to visit hospitals on a regular basis. Big data as well as analytics solutions process structured along with the unstructured medical data as well as biomedical literature so as to generate novel insights.
Virtual reality- VR augmented reality- AR and mixed reality-MR enable MedTech startups to come up with enhanced digital therapy experiences. 3D printing, especially bioprinting, helps the development when it comes to quality prosthetics as well as organ transplants while at the same time also decreasing the risk of graft rejection.
With the progress made when it comes to digitization within the healthcare gamut, blockchain as well as cloud computing technologies are going to play a major role when it comes to clinical data collection, storage, and exchange.
Finally, the developments when it comes to genomics, nanomedicine, as well as regenerative medicine are indeed advancing customized healthcare.
Healthcare AI
Artificial intelligence happens to be advancing the healthcare industry by way of replacing traditional, labor-intensive processes with swift, remote, and also real-time solutions when it comes to diagnosis, treatment, as well as disease prevention. HealthTech startups happen to be developing software platforms, APIs in addition to digital products to make use of the potential of AI. Major applications go on to include the clinical workflow management, in which the AI streamlines patient care coordination as well as administrative tasks.
Internet of Medical Things- IoMT
IoMT happens to be instrumental when it comes to the development of products that require little or no human interaction in order to provide healthcare services. Connected medical devices, equipment, as well as infrastructure enable numerous applications, such as automatic disinfection, smart diagnosis, and remote patient management, to name a few. Cognitive IoMT- CIoMT is indeed a recent sub-trend that integrates sensory information, automatic processing along with communication by way of networks when it comes to real-time diagnosis, evaluation, tracking, along with disease control.
Telemedicine
The COVID-19 pandemic has sped the adoption in terms of telemedicine by numerous governments, healthcare systems, clinicians, along with patients. In order to tackle the pandemic, guidelines are issued by the government regarding telemedicine so as to decongest healthcare facilities. Telemedicine goes on to reduce the load on facilities as well as decrease the usage of personal protective equipment- PPE since medical practitioners go ahead and reach their patients by way of telecommunication. HealthTech startups happen to be working on telehealth services that go on to facilitate public health mitigation strategies by way of raising social distancing. Telemedicine also helps to assist elderly people in a remote way, reduces bed space, and conserves clinical supplies.
Big Data as well as Healthcare Analytics
Digitization happens to be transforming medical data collection, diagnostic techniques, storage, treatment planning, remote patient monitoring, surgical workflows, and even consultations. The health volume as well as medical data are most likely to increase exponentially in the years to come. MedTech startups go on to make optimal use of big data as well as analytics so as to analyze the unstructured as well as huge volumes pertaining to medical data. It enhances patient-based services, tracks diseases earlier, and also generates new insights within the disease mechanisms. Furthermore, big data solutions track the quality of processes within healthcare institutions and also help establish better treatment methodologies.
Technology that’s Immersive
The usage of immersive technologies like AR/VR and MR, happens to be on the rise in the healthcare industry. Applications when it comes to VR in healthcare vary from rehabilitation therapy as well as exposure therapy for anxiety disorders to going ahead and helping in cognitive along with physical rehabilitation. AR/VR also goes on to play an important role when it comes to medical education. Immersive technologies also go on to find applications in surgery, for example, for the perioperative projection of holographic images, patient information, and scans.
Mobile Health- mHealth
mHealth technologies go on to offer access to tailor-made information by way of using digital solutions as well as connected devices. Mobile devices help with the visualization of health issues that safeguard patient commitment. Unconstrained by the geographical boundaries and by way of using real-time data streams, point-of-need diagnostic devices, smartphone-linked wearable sensors, as well as medical-grade imaging go on to make the healthcare deliveries across the spectrum become more equitable as well as accessible. mHealth solutions played a crucial role when it came to controlling the spread of COVID-19 by making sure of contact tracing, quarantine control, surveillance, management, testing, dissemination of relevant information, and also immunization cycle tracking and even notification.
3D Printing When It Comes To Healthcare
3D printing happens to be gaining traction within the healthcare industry when it comes to multiple applications such as bionics, printing lightweight prosthetics, and castings in terms of fracture repair. The usage of inexpensive, lightweight biomaterials along with smart materials makes sure of improvements within the care delivery and also time of production while at the same time reducing costs. 3D printing technologies happen to be advancing development when it comes to patient-specific models pertaining to organs as well as surgical tools by way of using patients’s self-medical imaging. One more area of application goes on to include personalized surgical instruments that go ahead and increase a surgeon’s dexterity as well as support better surgery outcomes while at the same time also facilitating faster and less traumatic procedures.
Blockchain Technology
The security as well as traceability when it comes to blockchain go on to make the technology more suitable for numerous applications within the healthcare sector. Some of them include remote patient monitoring, electronic medical records, the pharmaceutical supply chain, as well as health insurance claims. Blockchain technology goes on to support management when it comes to EHRs and FHIRChain- Fast Health Interoperability Records in terms of sharing clinical data. It also goes on to play quite a significant role when it comes to smart contracts, making sure to tackle drug counterfeiting while at the same time also storing, sharing, as well as retrieving remotely collected biomedical information.
Cloud Computing as well as Healthcare
Cloud computing enables clinicians so as to establish quality patient journeys that happen to be supported due to tech-enabled care delivery through telehealth as well as remote monitoring. It enables much greater storage capacities and processing power pertaining to data analytics, as well as eliminating the requirement for on-premise storage. Cloud platforms go on to integrate network, billing, security, monitoring, alerts with access, as well as identity management.
Genomics
It is well to be noted that there have been quite notable efforts when it comes to developing genomic tools for numerous applications in recent times. Integrating both genomic knowledge as well as the genomic processes within the existing clinical workflows would also make sure that physicians go on to perform established communication as well as actionable recommendations that genomic tests can go on to offer to patients.
Challenges that are faced in implementing emerging technologies in the healthcare sector and how to overcome them:
Digital transformation can go on to impact all areas of healthcare, right from helping better access to care to making sure to enhance quality as well as lowering costs. With the progress of digitization within the healthcare gamut, blockchain as well as cloud computing technologies can play a major role in clinical data collection, storage, as well as exchange.
Some of the challenges are:
Data privacy as well as security: Healthcare data happens to be sensitive as well as confidential. The usage of emerging technologies goes on to elevate the risk of data breaches as well as cyber-attacks.
Dearth of interoperability: Healthcare systems happen to be complex and fragmented, and the lack of interoperability in different systems goes on to make it quite difficult to share data as well as collaborate.
Cost: Executing the emerging technologies goes on to require significant investment in the infrastructure, software, as well as training.
Regulatory compliance: Healthcare happens to be a highly regulated industry. Executing the emerging technologies happens to require compliance with numerous regulations as well as standards.
Resistance to alterations: Healthcare professionals may as well be resistant to change and even not be willing so as to adopt novel technologies.
In order to overcome such kind of challenges, healthcare organizations require a strategic approach so as to implement emerging technologies. They need to develop a crystal-clear roadmap for execution that takes into consideration the unique challenges as far as the healthcare industry is concerned.
