New Revolution in Healthcare —
Digital Health
New Revolution in Healthcare
You will notice that digital health and healthcare are made for each other if
you look closely.
Behind the scenes, experts are developing health tech digital that is
transforming and streamlining healthcare services— these digital health and
wellness advance aids in detecting and treating chronic and short-term
ailments.
Because they help detect problems early, healthcare costs might be reduced
dramatically, and services could be tailored to individual needs.
The COVID-19 incident has also highlighted the importance of digital health.
Digital health technologies have helped the healthcare business overcome
traditional constraints and processes, from remote consultation to intuitive
smartphone apps.
If you work in healthcare and want to turn your regular practice into a
profitable digital machine, you must first grasp the current digital health
ecosystem.
Digital health, often known as digital healthcare, is a wide, multidisciplinary
term that encompasses ideas from the interface of technology and medicine.
Digital health incorporates software, hardware, and services into the
healthcare profession, resulting in a digital transformation.
Mobile health (mHealth) apps, electronic health records (EHRs), electronic
medical records (EMRs), wearable devices, telehealth, telemedicine, as well as
personalized medicine all fall under the digital health umbrella.
Patients, practitioners, researchers, application developers, and medical
device makers and distributors are all stakeholders in the digital health area.
In today’s healthcare, digital healthcare is becoming increasingly important.
In simple terms, digital health is the combination of digital technologies
(wearable devices, telemedicine) with health-related services to improve the
efficiency of healthcare delivery. Healthcare becomes more individualized and
accurate as a result of this discipline.
Patients can use digital health to make informed health decisions, get an early
diagnosis of life-threatening disorders, and manage chronic ailments outside
of traditional healthcare settings.
Digital health provides a comprehensive perspective of patient health,
accurately detects diseases, and improves the delivery of health services to
individuals for healthcare providers.
Importance
Digital health, according to Deloitte Insights, encompasses “radically
interoperable data, artificial intelligence (AI), and an open, secure platform as
essential to the promise of more consumer-focused, prevention-oriented
treatment.”
AI, big data, robotics, and machine learning are all driving significant
developments in digital healthcare. In addition, changes in the digital
healthcare sector are continuing to produce ingestible sensors, robotic
caregivers, and gadgets and apps to remotely monitor patients.
“AI will enable huge scientific discoveries, expediting the production of new
treatments and vaccinations to battle diseases,” according to Deloitte.
Consumers would be able to develop health difficulties with the help of
AI-enabled digital therapies and individualized advice.
Diagnoses and treatment options will be influenced by AI-generated insights,
resulting in safer and more successful therapies. Furthermore, intelligent
manufacturing and supply chain solutions will ensure that the proper
therapies and interventions are supplied exactly when the patient requires
them.”
Benefits
Individuals can use digital health to monitor and manage chronic conditions
and prevent sickness and reduce healthcare costs. It can also tailor medicine
to each patient.
Digital health advancements can also help healthcare providers. Digital tools
give healthcare providers a full view of their patient’s health by dramatically
increasing access to health data and allowing individuals control over their
health. As a result, efficiency has improved, as have medical outcomes.
Patients do not need to go via the hierarchy to communicate (receptionist,
attendant, assistants, etc.). Direct communication with the doctor fosters
confidence, and the patient does not have to be concerned about disclosing
personal information in front of others.
Quick treatment – Digital health innovations relieve doctors of repeated tasks,
allowing them to devote more time to patient engagement and monitoring.
Financial stress is lessened – Medical technology that is both affordable and
accessible reduces the financial load on the healthcare practitioner and the
patient.
Increasing the audience – Patients can easily schedule an appointment online
or over the phone at a suitable time. It encourages patients to keep
appointments on time and allows clinicians to see how many appointments
they have on a given day.
Clearly defined patient profile — Doctors will be able to see the patient’s
current health status in real-time. Information such as drug allergies can be
entered, providing a detailed picture of the patient’s health.
Challenges
The digital transformation of healthcare has an impact on patients, medical
professionals, technology developers, policymakers, and others. Due to the
vast volumes of data generated from a variety of systems that store and code
data differently, data interoperability is a constant challenge.
Additional roadblocks include data storage, access, sharing, ownership
concerns, and concerns about patient computer literacy and the resulting
unequal access to healthcare. Questions concerning security and privacy
occur as a result of these considerations.
What if, for example, a company or insurer wanted to collect information from
direct-to-consumer genetic testing results for employees? What if a hacker
gains access to medical equipment?
Two further challenges that must be addressed are technology and ethics.
Who is responsible for surgical errors when medical robots are used, such as
the hospital, the technology developer or manufacturer, the physician who
performed the surgery, or someone else?
Digital Health Trends You Need to Know
Telehealth
Non-clinical services such as training, administrative meetings, medical
education, and clinical care are delivered through the internet and
telecommunications.
The World Health Organization defines telehealth as “monitoring, health
promotion, and public health duties.”
Telemedicine
Type of telehealth that includes telemedicine. It entails employing
telecommunication technology to deliver clinical services to patients who are
unable to attend in person.
According to Market Research Future, the telemedicine market is predicted to
develop at a compound annual growth rate of 16.5 percent from 2017 to 2023.
Wearable Medical Devices
Patients in the digital age are increasingly concerned with preventive
maintenance. They want to be updated on their health frequently.
High-risk patients can be closely watched with wearable technology gadgets,
and clinicians can quickly predict the possibility of any significant health
event.
Surgery with the Help of a Robot (RAS)
Robotic surgery is known as robot-assisted surgery. That allows surgeons to
conduct a variety of medical procedures with more control and flexibility. The
process is most commonly linked with minimally invasive operations;
however, it can also be utilized to execute some standard open surgical
procedures.
Bioprinting in three dimensions
Medical gadgets, prosthetics, and transplants have been created using 3D
printing technology. Hearing aids and dental implants are two of the most
common 3D printing applications. This technology is also being used to
generate heart valves, blood arteries, and cartilages.
This procedure has gained demand because of the global organ shortage and
the widespread opposition to animal testing of cosmetics and other
chemicals.
Augmented and virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) started as
entertainment technologies. However, they are now also utilized in the
medical field. Stress disorders, mental health issues, and other issues are
treated with this technology.
According to Statistica, the healthcare business will be the second to reach a
market share of 15% in AR and VR by 2025, with a value of more than $5
billion.
Analyze the data
Medical data gathering and analysis are aided by cloud computing, big data,
and artificial intelligence.
Cloud computing has made data access and sharing much easier for medical
businesses. Many people like this since it allows healthcare practitioners to
access data while remaining compliant with the Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Cloud services in healthcare will expand from
$3.73 billion in 2015 to approximately $9.5 billion by 2020, according to
HIMSS.
5G in the Healthcare Industry
The healthcare business is expected to be transformed by the next generation
of mobile network technology, known as 5G. Fast transmission of huge data,
telemedicine growth, and providing vivid experiences for healthcare
professionals during training are some areas where 5G is projected to help
healthcare centers meet the growing need for digital transformation.
Blockchain
Healthcare professionals have been developing methods to effectively handle
electronic health records (EHR) for many years. The majority of medical
information is stored in unstructured formats. Duplicate medical records,
misdiagnoses, and treatment delays have resulted from this.
Blockchain in healthcare is predicted to reach $890.5 million by 2023,
according to a market research analysis published by P&S Intelligence.
Conclusion
Digital health’s major goal is to make healthcare preventative rather than
reactive.
Although several of the innovations highlighted in our blog are still in their
infancy, digital healthcare promises to be a game-changer.
Many professionals in the healthcare industry are working behind the scenes
to develop new technology. The current healthcare problems can be lessened
or eliminated if they fully employ the advances highlighted in our blog.