5 Ways Technology Is Democratizing Healthcare

Featured article by Chee Gates, Independent Technology Author

The smartphone was once known as an essential technology for millennials; however, it crossed the generational lines in 2014. Nielsen first revealed previously this year that the majority of mobile users, including those 55 and older, own smartphones across all age groups. As such technology becomes more prevalent among all customers, the healthcare industry is now shifting to democratization. Nowadays, today’s customers are leveraging technology for health care reasons. Thus, health care providers are actively seeking fresh methods to use innovative techniques and patient information to improve the experience of health care and drive commitment.

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 Fortunately, the healthcare landscape is changing from hospitals and medical professionals to alternatives at home. Whether it is sharing information between patients and physicians or helping with high-risk surgery, it is evident that vibrant technology apps are well underway to improve the healthcare industry.

Through the democratization of technology, we will see a fresh emerging trend in this sector. Communities will grow and develop to understand this exciting technology’s health and financial advantages. On the manner, issues will come up and we’re here to reflect, learn, innovate and iterate together. Here are five ways in which technology is democratizing healthcare industry:

Introduction of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence will affect many sectors dramatically, and healthcare is no exception. A large portion of healthcare executives has already used artificial intelligence in their medical operations, with information illustrating last year’s plan to boost the budget.

AI is anticipated to assist diagnose strokes, eye disease, heart illness, skin cancer, and other diseases as the technology becomes more advanced and common. Health practitioners will make a quantum leap towards value-based health care thanks to the implementation of AI. Combined with reduced re-admissions, they may boost the discharge rate. They can be successful in maintaining patients out of hospitals, helping to diagnose rare disease patients soon, and supporting people with epilepsy or chronic conditions to live ordinary lives being controlled from their living room instead of waiting for hours in the emergency room.

Virtual Healthcare Assistance

Through technology such as video conferencing or mobile apps, virtual healthcare enables patients and physicians to touch base remotely. Also, many patients become comfortable using wearable technology to track any changes in their health–and share that information with their doctors.

With huge success in the healthcare industry, telehealth and mobile applications are now being used, but the key to this lies beyond the technology. Hospitals and doctors need to provide their patients with more personalized experiences in a consumer-driven healthcare environment, just as retailers did.

Using psychographic segmentation to define the various motives, values and feelings that drive patient conduct can assist healthcare companies to identify the best mHealth alternatives and communication strategies that can enhance patient results and create higher confidence and allegiance to customers when coupled.

A health care provider could introduce easy text message programs to enhance patient results if they’re armed with this knowledge and a better understanding of their patients that will most likely to react to text reminders. Convenience, ease of use, and travel to your nearest physician are the primary reasons why patients choose virtual care. Patients can consult with their physicians without leaving their cozy mattress. On the contrary, many are worried about the quality of care, or fear of losing a physician’s personal connection.

Emergence of wearables

When Fitbit entered the market in 2008, the concept that people could monitor their fitness so carefully became addicting to certain individuals. The market has saturated with the recent wearables since then. That information, however, is somewhat superficial.

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 Wearables such as fitness trackers have made it very simple for individuals to gather a lot of information about themselves. How helpful some of this information is from a health perspective or even in terms of precision may be debatable, but irrespective of that, it created an appetite among consumers for more aspects of their life to be measured and quantified. As technologies become more and more sophisticated, this trend will only increase and more phones will become accessible that will allow us to monitor some health aspects of our life like how our sleeping positions affect our overall health, and understanding the different factors that can influence our sleep quality like how many hours should you eat prior to bedtime or how wide is a queen size bed should be.

It takes a comparatively long time for most adjustments to our bodies to manifest, making it psychologically hard to link conduct and reward. Quantifying our daily life generates more systems of short-term reward that promote beneficial behavior. For example, if you were able to achieve your target steps for the week, you can reward yourself by treating yourself on a luxury spa, purchasing rugs for kitchen that you’ve been eyeing for a week or even checking out online home products to create a comfortable sanctuary. .

Digitalization of Health Information

Health care providers acknowledge that the industry is now leaning towards consumer-driven health care. Physicians are increasingly aware that patients have easier access to care and cost information and that this gives them more voice in the decision-making process. To improve patient care, sharing health care information is vital. However, how data is shared should be controlled by a number of laws and regulations for this usually involves an exchange of critical information on health care.

Overall, an exchange of records on health care enables offices, hospitals, nurses, and other organizations of physicians to interact electronically about a patient. These schemes are intended to shorten the care cycle and enhance general care quality while reducing expenses as well.

Paper documents cannot be updated as fast as electronic records, nor can they be searched as easily. If health care providers can communicate digitally about a patient, all physicians who access the exchange can readily update their personal electronic patient charts in an exchange that adheres to that communication directly to the patient’s chart. This implies less opportunity of being readmitted, misdiagnosed, and even helping to reduce unnecessary test duplication. If providers were able to integrate these innovative exchanges into their workflow, full, helpful data about the clients they serve would be much easier to acquire.

Technology for Fighting Addiction

Technology also changes how we treat distinct types of addiction. Technology-Assisted Care (TAC) involves using technology equipment to provide patients directly with certain elements of psychotherapy or behavioral therapy through communication with a web-based program.

A number of technology-based measures in the treatment of substance use disorders (SUD) prove to be very efficient. An instance of this is the Therapeutic Education System (TES), an interactive, web-based psychosocial tool for SUDs Another case is a web-based smoking ending program called “Project Quit.” Many addiction therapy centers across the U.S. are utilizing these methods of addiction therapy based on technology to obtain more efficient outcomes.

The technology-based scheme merely replicates a treatment program that, when provided by a person, is already known to operate, and they do so consistently and at the moment and location suitable for the patient.

Final Words

Over the past two decades, several developments have been created in our healthcare industry, and technology is regarded as the driving force behind most of these changes. Technology is revolutionizing the healthcare industry in a very distinctive way by shifting healthcare, altering the way medicines are developed, and how treatments are delivered. As a result, the healthcare landscape is changing very rapidly. The technology is moving healthcare forward in a manner that could give healthcare providers and customers excellent dividends.

Chee Gates is a writer, editor, and content strategist who covers all things health, wellness, and home. She’s been published in O, The Oprah Magazine, Family Circle, Fitness, and more. If she weren’t such a word nerd, she’d be a celebrity vegan chef and YouTube-famous break dancer.

You can find the author’s picture attached to this email.