The digital revolution has affected just about every aspect of our lives. One of the most important cases for this has been healthcare.
Here are five ways that tech has begun to change the way we think about and experience healthcare.
Treatment at a Distance
Also known as telemedicine, the advancement in telecommunications technology has provided a convenient avenue for physicians to work with their patients outside the office. Those with chronic conditions no longer have to make constant trips back and forth from their home to their specialist. With just a smartphone and wireless internet connection, people now have access to high-quality care.
This has been most beneficial for mental healthcare, as people can now connect with needed resources faster and easier than ever before.
And let’s not forget the best thing about healthcare at a distance – no more waiting rooms!
No more nerve-wracking time spent worrying about the results of a medical exam, blood test, biopsy, or anything of the sort. Those in the healthcare industry have begun to utilize cloud storage for medical records. A patient only needs to be granted access to a file to be able to see it anywhere at any time.
Of course, having healthcare data stored in the cloud raises cybersecurity and privacy concerns. Healthcare data has huge value on the black market, and HIPPA laws require strict protocols when it comes to information regarding patients. That leaves healthcare tech professionals with a high burden of keeping these systems safe.
In generations past, doctors used to make house calls. Technology has transformed medicine to the point where there’s now an app for that. In fact, there are multiple apps. Too many to count.
Wearable Tech Devices
Printers, scanners, copiers, and fax machines used to all be separate devices that were large, bulky, and immovable. Today, a single device can perform all those functions.
Similarly, many medical devices can now be reduced to the size of a watch, a phone, or smaller. Devices that can be used for electrocardiograms (ECG), blood tests, thermometers and more can all be used by an individual in their own home. The results can then be sent to a doctor’s office in an instant.
The combination of cloud storage, wearable tech, and bulk data could one day lead to quantum leaps forward in understanding for medicine. In addition, machine learning techniques present new diagnostic methods that can be more accurate than anything we have ever known. For example, AI recently invented by Google appears to be able to predict cardiovascular risks via retina scan.
These five aspects of new tech having an impact on healthcare are only the beginning. The twenty-first century is still young – it just became old enough to vote!