As soon as COVID hit the world with the worst effect possible, there was a necessity for digital transformation in healthcare. In recent years, the way professionals monitor and treat patients has evolved. Surprisingly, a huge advancement in the medical field will keep growing. Also, the recession in the post-pandemic era might not affect the digital transformation in the healthcare industry. The professionals in the healthcare industry are adopting this transformation and learning to make the most out of it. Are you willing to explore what trends have taken over in the medical field? Keep reading to know more.
What do you mean by digital transformation in the healthcare industry?
Digital transformation in healthcare trends utilizes the latest technologies and processes to deliver the best results to patients, organizations, and professionals. Digital transformation signifies adopting new, best-in-class technologies and extraordinary efforts to produce the best results. According to a survey, 90% of healthcare institutions and professionals employed digital transformation and found better results.
People are continuously shifting to the usage of digital assets, even in the healthcare field. Healthcare software development companies are expanding their influence. The involvement of digital transformation has led to better business agility. The latest healthcare trends helps professionals provide patients with best treatment.
The Importance of Digital Healthcare Transformation
The word transformation suggests moving toward innovation, improving the present scenario. And digital transformation in healthcare means innovation and improvement that facilitates resilience and change in healthcare organizations. This transformation will raise patients’ satisfaction and assure the quality of health care services.
The usage of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and the Internet of Things, along with cloud technologies, is a major part of digital transformation in the healthcare industry. It comprises many instruments that can help doctors provide patients with better services, increasing the accessibility of healthcare services. Its major benefits include better patient results, lesser costs, and elimination of human error.
Technology and many other factors are driving the digital transformation in the industry. These technological integrations can either be simple or complex. But each technology that has brought transformation holds its importance. Each has provided a special contribution that can propel the healthcare sector. These transformations have enhanced and have upgraded the healthcare delivery system to a higher level.
Top Digital Transformation in Healthcare Trends to Have an Eye on in 2023
Here is a list of digital transformation in healthcare trends that you must know:
1) Health Wearables
In the past, people used to get their body checkups once a year and visit a doctor when they felt health issues. But now, patients continuously want to maintain their health at its best. They want to maintain their health and need information regarding it continuously. Hence its better investing more in wearables. This wearable technology helps them monitor important metrics and inform them about the chances of facing any hampering health event.
A recent study has revealed that the wearable healthcare market might surpass 74 billion US dollars by 2026. It was earlier $27 billion in 2020. It is a massive leap. The list of popular health wearables includes:
- Exercise trackers
- Fitness bands
- Oximeters
- Sweat meters
Wearable devices are connected and can help healthcare professionals get better ideas about medical information in real-time. The best-fitted example of wearables is the Apple Watch. It saved a man’s life by calling respective authorities after falling off his bike.
2) Patient Portal
Another trend that is leading the market is the patient portal. As its name says, these portals are for patients that help them access their health records, book an appointment and consult with the doctor. The main reason behind the popularity of patient portals is that it makes the process transparent and convenient. Recently a study revealed that most healthcare professionals mark patient portals as a significant trend in the healthcare industry.
With patient portals, one can view their medical history and have prescription records. It can also help them share their data with multiple healthcare professionals. Hence it would eliminate the need to hand them over manually. Also, doctors can easily assess the patient’s entire record from one location.
3) Data Aggregation
Although patient portals are bringing digital transformation in healthcare, data aggregation holds its importance. Healthcare institutions need to manage their data for many reasons. But this gets tough as the inflow of data is huge. Hospitals these days have to keep records of the huge amount of data, such as:
- Patient-provided data
- Lab results
- Pharmacy data
- Internal & external electronic health records
- Data from medical devices like health wearables
- Imaging data
- Insurance claims
As all these data come from different sources, some may get overlooked. Hence, data aggregation can help healthcare institutions make faster and better decisions without human error. In other words, data aggregation will help provide better patient care at lower costs.
4) Virtual Healthcare
After the pandemic hit the world, there was a rise in the demand for virtual doctor visits. Virtual healthcare has become the most popular healthcare trend. The facility of virtual doctors lets patients interact with their healthcare professionals through video or audio calls. Hence this eliminates the need to visit a doctor’s clinic. And thanks to this trend, doctors could visit more patients than usual during COVID. A survey found that 80% of people these days take help from telehealth instead of visiting doctors personally.
If you are starting, it becomes easier to scan patients, know their health concerns and schedule an appointment if necessary. Also, it makes the process of follow-up easier and more convenient. Also, virtual visits save time for patients and doctors. Just schedule appointments online and chat with the doctor for easy assessment.
5) Disease History Analysis
With each passing day, more and more digital healthcare tools are invented. These tools help doctors analyze patients’ disease history to provide them with the best and necessary treatment on time. There is a lot of software that has a special tool that keeps a record of a patient’s disease history. These tools analyze the in-depth history of a person’s health and provide a personalized treatment plan. Hence these tools can help healthcare professionals make better decisions.
6) AI Screening
Another trend of digital transformation in healthcare is AI Screening. These trends make the most out of the benefits provided by AI. It will help the staff know about the care that a patient needs at first and guide him to the needed place. Plenty of hospitals across the globe have adopted this technology to eliminate hustles of the staff. Also, it will eliminate the huge number of people making a huge crowd in the waiting section. AI screening will collect callers’ data and send them to their appropriate location. Also, the implementation of chatbots is another attractive part of AI screening.
7) Blockchain in Healthcare
There are plenty of reasons behind the utilization of blockchain in the healthcare industry. This technology will help professionals get control over pharmaceutical supply and patient’s data. It is a known fact that this industry is still having setbacks due to a variety of reasons. And this raises the need for transformation in the industry. The resources of the team are depleted and the patient care is not given properly due to the long procedure of getting access to medical reports. Instead having reports on blockchain can make the process easier and effective.
Conclusion
With time passing, the medical industry must keep itself in terms of all the latest technologies in the market. More and more advancements are expected to take over the healthcare industry. Professionals and patients are expecting digital transformation in healthcare where they can get the best results. These digital trends have changed how patients get treatment for the better. You must know about healthcare trends to stay at the forefront. As mentioned earlier, ensure you have an eye on all the trends.