There is no doubt that advances in technology have had a dramatic effect in healthcare outcomes for patients. Advances in information gathering, research, treatments, and communications have given the healthcare sector new tools to work with and novel means to practice medicine. There are a few trends that will play a critical role in helping us lead longer, healthier lives.
Telehealth patients have increased markedly over the last decade, with Covid-19 boosting figures substantially. Access to quality healthcare no longer means a trip to the doctors or a hospital. Specialists will be able to see patients without them having to travel across the country, saving both time and money. In one study, published in CHEST Journal, it showed that patients in an ICU equipped with telehealth services were discharged 20% faster and had a 26% lower mortality rate than traditional ICU.
Machine learning can be deployed to efficiently and effectively scan through healthcare data for signs of illness quicker than any specialist. Specific algorithms can offer patients a “second opinion”. Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be an invaluable aid to help lung doctors interpret respiratory symptoms accurately and make a correct diagnosis, according to research presented in 2019.
AI can also help find what drugs work best against diseases. AI has the potential to reduce costs, improve processes and save money.
Fitness trackers can do more than tell us how far we have run. Wearables can collect data on bodily processes that can be uploaded to a healthcare facility to be quickly analysed to prevent diseases and aid other advancements. A recent MarketsandMarkets report revealed that experts predict the global healthcare IoT market size will grow from $72.5 billion in 2020 to $188.2 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 21.0% during the forecast period.
The use of IoT in healthcare will transform the communication between patients and doctors, including virtual prescriptions. It will also provide virtual and augmented reality to teach students healthcare courses.
Big data can provide hospitals with predictive analysis about admission rates and help them properly staff facilities. It could also help in predicting what illnesses and diseases will become major problems soon. Constant monitoring of patients will be standard through wearable technology and IoT and will send vast amounts of information to big data stores to be processed and turned into valuable insights. Aggregated data can help healthcare providers recommend health lifestyle options to their patients.
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