The year 2020 is going to end in a few days, but the second wave of COVID-19 is at its peak. The only good thing in this wave is that we are quite prepared to combat and manage this disease, especially in the health sector. Thanks to these healthcare technology trends, our medical infrastructures are evolving to fight pandemic-level viruses in the most efficient manner possible.
The key factor that keeps running the heath departments other than the medical staff is the technology.
Innovations and discoveries are the foundation of the health industry.
And in this era, every Sun brings new hope in the form of discovery.
The trend's acceleration is increased many folds with the emergence of the novel coronavirus.
The healthcare personnel and tech-people worked day and night to manage the disease and its outcomes. The technology expansion is beyond the limits just to take control of this virus.
Some of the reasons behind these accelerated trends are;
- Decrease workload on manpower
- Increase work efficacy
- Saving time
- social distancing and following SOPs
- patient safety and satisfaction
- controlling and managing the virus
The vaccine is already out in the world. Many countries are administering it among the population and some countries start volunteering some volunteers to check the efficacy and results of the vaccines.
In these circumstances, healthcare needs proper records and management to get the best results. But first, let's discuss the previous and current trends in healthcare accelerated by COVID-19
Telemedicine
Tele means “far away”. The concept behind every “tele” service is to ensure social distancing and decrease the physical contact among the people. One of these services is telemedicine.
Telemedicine is the online or telephonic consultation and patient-care services given by health professionals.
In this year, this new technology-health service makes its importance throughout the world. People suffering from coronavirus or any other chronic disease take benefit from this without stepping out of their homes.
Only in an emergency, patients need to visit hospitals. Otherwise, you can consult your doctor while sitting in your home.
Many online platforms are functional in this regard and help millions of people in remote areas or even in big cities to find and consult the best health specialists.
Health-related Apps
Health-related apps that can help you to maintain your health are also on the market. Just download the app on your mobile phones or tablets and get benefits from it.
Apps to record your vitals like blood pressure, heartbeat, oxygen level, and many more things are developed by the technology industries.
Similarly, to remain fit in the lockdowns, you can do exercise and walking, and count your footsteps through apps.
Fitness bands are in the market, that relate to mobile apps, and you can track your steps, calorie burnout, and other things through them.
Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
Many leading healthcare organizations are using AI and other algorithmic technology to enhance their existing workflows and automate their tasks processes.
With well-designed human-AI collaboration, the patient and provider experience can make a long-term relationship and gives better results.
AI decreases the workload on humans.
And Hospitals setups having this technology facilitates their workforce by using chatbots.
In addition to simple chatbots, AI applications have been developed to perform all types of high-level tasks, such as scanning medical images to identify potential cancers and tumors.
Its use can also be seen in analyzing data in pathology, lab tests, genetics, and other clinical areas to accelerate processing and help facilitate decision-making and diagnoses.
But keep in mind that AI does not make the diagnosis by itself, rather it helps the specialists to perform the tasks effectively.
Wearables
Smartwatches and fitness bands are very much famous among the healthcare sectors. Fitbit and Apple Watch are two well-known wearable healthcare monitors that can tell you your activity level, your heart rate, or even warn you of symptoms of atrial fibrillation.
Many biosensors are available that helps in detecting the blood sugar levels.
A “smart” ring that can detect COVID-19 symptoms up to 3 days in advance is also developed by Oura.
The titanium ring was originally intended to provide its users with a way to track their health by looking at their movement, sleep, and other functions. But its users began noticing that changes in their overall health score could be early predictors for illness.
Physicians themselves are early users of this technology; nearly half of physicians, residents, and medical students use a wearable, compared with one-third of the general US population, according to the Stanford Medicine report.
Among these medical specialists, two-third of them use data from this technology to make medical decisions about the patients. So according to these results, doctors will surely use this technology and use wearables regularly to practice their services more effectively.
Data-driven Approach:
Collecting data and keeping records is very important in this time of the pandemic. And this only possible with the help of technology.
Records can help us to manage and prevent this disease and other diseases more effectively. Many governments of the different countries start recording the data so that in the future they can manage the situation according to that data.
The virus is continuously mutating, and we must keep data in the record to see the trends in different health sectors that are driven by the change in the mutating virus.
The death rate and disease spread rate can be taken under consideration while managing the disease spread. The software and apps are used to keep records and analyze the data according to the researcher’s need.
In a nutshell, technology Is everywhere now. Before COVID19, the influence of technology on healthcare was very less and limited.
But now, everyone has realized the importance of technology and knows that this technology can make our lives easier in so many ways.
And healthcare technology trends that are accelerated by the COVID-19 are one of those examples.