Digital Transformation in Healthcare Industry: Top Trends
Owing to the many challenges faced by the healthcare industry due to the Covid-19, healthcare organizations have gained some hard-earned insights into the need for digital transformation. These insights include expanding access to services, delivering effective experiences that will help their transition well into the future.
Even at a time when offering personalized care and support to the needy was arduous, the healthcare industry reached out to a diverse population of patients who need care and support, thanks to digitalization that pushed the innovations in the healthcare sector forward.
Digital Innovations in the Healthcare Industry
Before beginning let us check what exactly the healthcare industries are. Healthcare industries are the integration of the sectors that provide goods and services to treat patients with curative, preventive, rehabilitative, or palliative care1.
Then what is digitalization in healthcare? Digitalization is way more than adding technology to the industry. It creates a revolutionary change in the basic functioning model and the way it connects with its customers.
By taking the healthcare sector from its traditional platform to the novel and varied digital platform you are truly reforming the medical system to improve the works of medical professionals and upgrade the impacts on the patients or the beneficiaries.
Major Digital Transformations
Even in the beginning stage digitalization has brought tremendous positive transformations in the sector. Let us check a few trends.
AI-powered Services
Integration of emerging technologies is another important aspect of the digital transformation in healthcare services. AI-based chatbots and virtual health assistants are used to assist stressed-out medical professionals. AI has brought further improvement in precision medicine, medical imaging, and genomics.
A recent study conducted by Mayo Clinic has found that pairing electrocardiograms with AI helps detect asymptomatic left ventricular dysfunction2. Robot-assisted surgery, dosage error reduction, virtual nursing assistants are a few of the AI applications. According to Accenture3 AI is becoming the new OS in health.
Telehealth Provider
Telehealth includes video visits, phone calls, online communication, and storing patient data. There is still a fair share of hurdles and challenges but still, you can go for it to find an immediate solution to your health problem. Doctor recommender/Online scheduler, ePrescription software can also be used.
Wearable Devices
Wearable devices remotely measure patients' physiology with greater efficiency. A study conducted by Accenture reveals a rapid growth seen in the use of digital technology, especially wearable devices and mobile, tablet apps4.
While many use wearable devices like wearable blood pressure monitors, ECG monitors, biosensors as self-service tools for managing their health for others, health bands and smartwatches are their fashion statements. Studies show that there will be no slowing down for wearable devices.
Mobile Health-Wellness Apps
Keeping their customers in mind, health care companies are developing health/wellness apps. They integrate the latest technologies to improve lives. Exercise trackers, oximeters, heart rate sensors make sure that you are good to go.
Medisafe Pill Minder keeps your medical profiles, dminder app calculates the best time to get sun, MyFitnessPal is an all-in-one tracker. Health care apps store personal health details in a hassle-free manner.
Cloud Platform to Store Data
Even though most of the companies in the healthcare ecosystem remain as laggards when it comes to digitalization, device manufacturers and drug makers have started to modernize their data storage by using cloud platforms.
Cloud platforms help to reduce data storage and boost the speed of processing information to win their markets. Massive digital transformation done by Johnson and Johnson made them a perfect fit in the digital era.
Merits of Digital Transformation in the Healthcare Sector
- Able to reach doctors directly in a smart healthcare environment
- More effective diagnosis
- Personalised healthcare
- Promotes healthy behaviour among patients
- Efficient communication
Emerging opportunities of digitalization to smart use medical data are plenty. 5 G-enabled drones, blockchain electronic health records, advanced analytics, 3D printing are a few more to name. Even though it is not easy to replace the age-old healthcare systems, going digital will bring the highest standards to collaborative care.
References:
[1] https://www.technofunc.com/index.php/domain-knowledge/healthcare-industry/item/overview-of-healthcare-industry
[2] https://www.dicardiology.com/content/ekg-artificial-intelligence-reliably-detects-heart-failure-precursor
[3] https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/artificial-intelligence-summary-index
[4] https://newsroom.accenture.com/news/accenture-study-finds-growing-demand-for-digital-health-services-revolutionizing-delivery-models-patients-doctors-machines.htm
[5]https://www.businessinsider.in/science/latest-trends-in-medical-monitoring-devices-and-wearable-health-technology/articleshow/70295772.cms
