Unlike other industries, the health care system is relatively slow in adopting modern technology. Why? In healthcare, it is not customary to take risks, and providers seek to comply with clear rules. There is no right to make a mistake, as any failure can have a detrimental effect on people's health and lives. The world's plunge into a global pandemic showed once again how unprepared the healthcare industry is for evolution. Recent events have demonstrated the importance of innovation, remote medicine, and artificial intelligence to healthcare.
The pandemic is a catalyst that will likely force healthcare providers to innovate. The pandemic will end sooner or later, but the lessons that healthcare learns during this period will continue to be applied. For example, we are already witnessing the importance of digitizing patient medical records. How much easier would it be if telemedicine were around the world?
The patient remains the heart of healthcare. It is imperative to do as much as we can to ensure that people can access quality medicine. The importance of technology in healthcare makes treatment more accessible and cheaper, which means that more people will be able to use quality services. However, most healthcare providers prefer to keep their information in paper form. This prevents both doctors and patients from taking advantage of digitization and significantly slows down treating and monitoring patients.
2021 will be the year patients and providers both realize how important, convenient, and necessary to innovate in treatment. Let's take a look at the fundamental principles of effective use of technology in medicine.
The Importance of Patient Data Sensitivity
Protecting patients' health and treatment data is a critical priority in medicine and for today's healthcare providers. Patient health data is confidential information, and must be inaccessible for viewing and processing by third parties. In an ideal world, only the patient and healthcare provider have access to patients' medical records. In the real world, this is still a challenge, and the healthcare industry has yet to implement innovations that can secure of data from being shared with third parties.
The unauthorized transfer of medical data is a serious violation that can lead to dire consequences. These can include discrimination, human rights violations, as well as various forms of blackmail and manipulation. Healthcare professionals must ensure that all human rights are respected, and medical confidentiality is one of them. You never know in what context your medical data may be used and what consequences this may lead to in the future.
It is not the patient's job to take care of healthcare data; it is up to healthcare providers to preserve health information. The processing and analysis of patient health information can only occur with the patient's explicit consent or if the patient's life or death is at stake; doctors cannot share information about their patients with other doctors unless the patient consents.
On the technical side of medical secrecy, the medical providers are beginning to use advanced data protection technologies pioneered in other fields. Healthcare providers should focus on safely and effectively implementing innovations that keep patient data completely confidential.
On the technical side of medical secrecy, the medical providers are beginning to use advanced data protection technologies pioneered in other fields. Healthcare providers should focus on safely and effectively implementing innovations that keep patient data completely confidential.
“Readily accessible health data can improve the speed and effectiveness of patient care. Beyond that, the ability to synthesize and analyze that data has important implications for research and public health and has spurred innovations throughout healthcare.”
— Nick Culbertson, CEO of Protenus, leveraging AI to improve patient trust for health care systems
Because of the pandemic, healthcare providers have already begun implementing tools for easier access to medical information. However, in this rush, it's important to remember to pay proper attention to data protection. According to a 2019 Mental Health of America report, the prevalence of mental health diagnoses continues to rise among both adults and children. It is just one example in which data breaches can have a devastating impact on stigmatizing attitudes toward mental illness in patients' lives.
Time Management for the Patient and the Doctor
No matter how much regular health monitoring is recommended to patients, there will still be many people who ignore these appeals. Healthcare providers should inform patients of the importance of checking their health regularly, undergoing exams, and reviewing test results with their doctors. This should be a key point of advocacy in 2021. The best way to treat a disease is to avoid it in the first place through prevention and regular medical exams.
However, people continue to go to hospitals only when urgent and absolutely necessary. These delays greatly complicate the treatment process, since the earlier the disease is detected, the faster, easier, and cheaper it will be to treat. Consultations are time-consuming for doctors. Before the appointment, the patient needs to be assisted in determining what to focus on, what to discuss, what is bothering them, and what they are willing to do to get rid of the symptoms or disease.
Time management is another principle of the new medical era. It concerns both doctors and patients. On the doctor's side, it is about how efficiently the patient's appointment will go, how to spend time wisely, and what goals this visit will achieve. Before this meeting, the doctor can clarify what the patient wants to discuss. Actively engaging with the patient's unique situation will help establish a trusting rapport and approximate an estimate of the time of the upcoming appointment. If the patient has many requests at once, use priorities; the doctor should try to devote more time to the major complaints and symptoms.
The more responsible the doctor and the patient are, the more visitors the particular doctor will have in a day, and the more health issues the doctor will tackle. Use apps, such as Google Calendar, to track how many patients you can see in a day and how much time you plan for them. Using tools can significantly improve the process of seeing patients.
Health Care System in One Touch
Let's take a look at the healthcare system overview. In today's pandemic environment, it is easy to lose sight of an individualized approach to solving individual patients' problems rather than all at once. This new age of medicine is driven by Big Data, namely big data processing, telemedicine, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and portable gadgets, cloud technology, robotics, and blockchain. And importantly, it works seamlessly with business practices and takes care of the patient. Now is the time to develop a one-touch system that allows for single-source patient care.
Too many options for treating patients and too many different approaches and treatments offered by various doctors can lead to the patient becoming overwhelmed by the information and being left untreated. Unfortunately, doctors who deal with such a patient may not be aware that the patient has seen more than one specialist.
“With the One Touch approach, patients can use telemedicine to ensure they are being offered the best possible solution to their health problems. The essence of the solution is that the patient will be able to go to several doctors. In the case of disagreements on treatment options, the doctors will be able to share their observations and recommendations. Then you, as the patient, will be able to sign a declaration of clinical services with a doctor remotely.”
— Vlad Medvedovsky at Proxet, a custom software development solutions company
Medical Technology Tools: What Innovations Will Be Trending in 2021
The healthcare industry is working hard to develop innovations that will make it easier to monitor and treat patients. Here's a look at the essential tools and apps for health care that have already entered the healthcare industry.
Telemedicine
New research by doctor.com shows that virtual care will survive the pandemic itself and continue to be needed by patients. The telemedicine market is expected to reach $185.6 billion by 2026.
These numbers tell us that the demand for and development of telemedicine is accelerating rapidly in the new global context. The essence of telemedicine is the provision of medical services in a remote format. Patients no longer need to travel to the doctor's office and spend time and money on travel. Thanks to telemedicine, we can contact the doctor via Skype or other mobile medical apps. This way, it will be easier for doctors to monitor patients' health and empower patients to actively participate in their own treatment.
Mobile Health Monitoring Devices
Today, people use their smartphones for various purposes, including counting their steps for the day, heart rate, and sleep phases and quality. Thanks to mobile devices, people can monitor their body condition and transmit these readings, if necessary, to their physician. In the case of acute illnesses, the doctor can give the patient an electronic bracelet, which will contain data on the progress of the disease and treatment methods. Electronic bracelets can also serve other medical purposes, such as contact tracing.
Virtual Reality
Thanks to significant advances in technology, medical students can now gain surgical experience without participating in real-life procedures. Virtual technology tools can explain and illustrate how a person is built from the inside, how surgeries are performed, and offer rehearsals of more complex surgical procedures with patients. VR devices have also proven to be useful in the rehabilitation and further recovery of patients.
“One of the greatest innovations for training doctors is VR. Computer software to help train students has been around in different forms for decades. But VR operates at a whole different level, allowing students to feel like they are truly conducting a procedure in real-time."
— Morris Panner, CEO of Ambra Health, makers of the leading cloud-based medical image management suite
Proxet is ready and able to provide software to implement innovations in healthcare. Our seasoned experts can help you implement the latest technology in your healthcare company.
