It doesn’t take a genius to notice all the different ways that technology has changed our lives for the better. Thanks to the internet and social media apps, we are now just a click of a mouse button or touchpad away from our nearest and dearest, even if they live on the other side of the world. Sharing information and data has also never been easier and many people and companies are benefiting from secure shared storage platforms such as the cloud. But these aren’t the only ways our lives have benefited from tech. Thanks to various forms of business intelligence, the business world is changing too.
The health world has also been revolutionized by the introductions of some tech developments, including those using machine intelligence. And it looks like many of these tech developments are going to continue to change and advance the various treatments, medicines, and consultations that we receive. In fact, 2018 is set to be the biggest year for tech influences in the world of health and medicine. Here are some of the big ones that many experts are forecasting.
No More Paperwork
For anyone who has ever been seen by a doctor, there can be one obvious issue with the consultation. The doctor has to do two things at once: try and figure out what is wrong with their patient and also keep all documentation and paperwork up to work with all the symptoms and information given by the patient. This can be extremely difficult for the doctor to keep up with and trying to do both jobs at once can be inefficient. However, they simply don’t have the time to keep up with each individual’s paperwork outside of their allocated appointment time. But now it looks like tech is going to iron out all of these issues. Thanks to devices like Google Glass, doctors can use AI software to transcribe what their patient is saying to them. These smart glasses can transcribe what the patient says as they speak. So then the doctor only has to worry about figuring out what is wrong with them.
Genome Sequencing
For years now, doctors and health experts have been forecast that we will soon be able to predict the different diseases and health conditions that some people will be predisposed to developing throughout their life. But we are getting ever closer to being able to successfully predict people’s future illnesses by taking a look at their genome sequencing. And that means treatments for illnesses like cancer can be administered at a very early stage of the disease. There are many advancements in cancer treatment, and you can read about it all online. Hopefully, these advancements when coupled with genome sequencing can bring about the end of the disease for good.
More Remote Monitoring
Thanks to the introduction of many new tablet devices, doctors and healthcare professionals are now able to offer remote monitoring to many of their patients. If you have yet to experience this so far from your medical team, you might not have that long to wait anymore as it is expected to be rolled out on a much larger scale in 2018. Patients will be able to monitor their own health in the comfort of their own home, and this will drastically cut down the number of people who need to stay in hospitals. That will, therefore, cut down the number of hospitals that struggle to find beds for those patients who need them most. Not only that, though, but patients’ doctors will be able to also follow the data that they log at home and can intervene whenever they see fit. As well as tracking symptoms and treatments at home, patients will also be able to take advantages of remote consultations. That means that they will be able to use online platforms like Skype, FaceTime and other medical-focused video call software to talk to their doctors and healthcare givers. There will no longer be any need for them to travel while they are unwell just to see their doctor for a checkup.
Non-Traditional Insurers
Before now, there were a select few insurance companies which you could take out your health insurance policy with. These included big-name firms like AXA Strategy Ventures. But now, the market is opening up and a lot more non-traditional insurance companies are coming onto the market. This is highly beneficial to the public as it means they have a wider choice of companies to choose from, which means that companies are now being forced to rethink their pricing strategies and come up with much more competitive prices for their various plans. Lots of these new insurers have come up with creative ways to finance their startup capital. For instance, many have used crowd-funding methods to raise cash from the public. So, it goes to show that the health industry isn’t all about making a quick buck anymore. If an entrepreneur is passionate about creating a company to provide insurance for people with specific disabilities or health conditions, then their passion and dedication are enough to get their company up and running!
Big Health Data
“Big data” has been something of a buzzword for the past couple of years now. And it is finally moving into the world of health and helping to transform it for doctor and patients. Thanks to all this data that many doctor’s surgeries and health companies now have stored on their systems, they have a pool of data and information that they can dip into to help inform their decisions, treatments, and consultations. This can be a big time saver for many doctors and nurses. They no longer have to do much research, as they have all the data they need right at their fingertips.
As you can see, the world of health is set to be transformed by so many different technological advancements and developments over the next year. And it doesn’t look like it will stop there. Many experts are predicting that the next decade should see some pretty major changes afoot. Who knows where we will end up in the end?!
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