Modern healthcare systems respond to the need for quick
transformation in a highly dynamic environment. Technology is
integrated into modern healthcare systems to ensure patient care,
provide better outcomes, and help them run more efficiently. These
systems use advanced digital innovations to provide more services
than traditional healthcare systems.
Technology plays an important role in transforming the delivery of
healthcare by empowering healthcare providers to improve their
efficiency, accessibility, and person-centered ways of treating and
managing patients. From telemedicine and electronic health records
(EHR) to artificial intelligence (AI) and remote monitoring devices,
technology has completely changed how healthcare services are
accessed, delivered, and experienced.
These innovations are improving modern healthcare: technology is
improving patient outcomes, empowering patients, helping to optimize
how healthcare resources are used, and enticing providers and
consumers of care to embrace emerging best practices that help
everyone achieve their health goals. This is the last point –
experiencing these beta-stage technologies is not leaving them to
their own devices – it is being inspired into thinking ahead,
thinking big, and thinking carefully because as we advance, this is
the kind of thing that healthcare is going to do. For healthcare
providers looking to improve care quality, decrease operational
burdens and remain relevant to the modern consumer of care, the
obligation to provide technology in healthcare is not just a choice,
it’s a mandate.
The advances in telemedicine and virtual care have been a
breakthrough in making healthcare services available and delivered.
Telemedicine services allow healthcare providers to grant medical
consultations, diagnoses, and treatments for patients who are far
apart from where licensed healthcare providers physically are, which
often rely on video conferencing and telecommunication technologies.
While it is surprisingly very effective, as noted that underserved
rural populations can be served, patients can avail healthcare
services that are not available in their areas, as well as
delivering healthcare services overcomes those known barriers to
healthcare access to patients, thus enhancing patient satisfaction
and easiness to engage with the healthcare process. Patients have
more convenient access to their healthcare professionals or
specialized providers through virtual visits, not incurring overtime
traveling costs and time, as well as obtaining timely access to the
service.
At the same time, robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) are
being integrated into surgical procedures and patient care, playing
a key role in precision medicine and broader benefits in treatment
outcomes. Robotics are augmenting surgeons by assisting during
minimally invasive surgeries to increase precision and reduce
recovery times as well the risk of complications. In addition, AI
algorithms are analyzing big data in genomics, gene sequencing, and
medicine to aid in clinical decision-making, predict patient
outcomes, and personalize treatment plans. This allows for creating
personalized treatment plans and tailoring medical interventions to
each patient’s health profile, ensuring that health care is more
effective and efficient, leading to better treatment outcomes and
improved patient safety.
The capacity to monitor patient health metrics 24 hours a day from
virtually anywhere has revolutionized access and efficiency of care
by closely monitoring patients outside an acute care setting. Over
the past decade, connected health technologies such as wearable
fitness trackers and medical-grade sensors have enabled remote
caregivers and healthcare providers to remotely monitor a patient’s
vital signs, medicine-taking behaviors, and disease progression.
This person-centered capability is particularly conducive to
managing chronic conditions, avoiding emergencies through early
detection, and the concept of personalized medicine supported by
proactive intervention with the use of personal health data.
Health information exchanges (HIEs) and interoperability programs
allow for easier access to and increased healthcare utilization.
These systems allow patient information, such as medical histories,
laboratory results, imaging studies, and treatment histories, to
move across medical facilities and healthcare systems. HIEs are a
network of interconnected electronic systems that exchange patient
data with each other in a secure way. Interoperability standards
allow health IT systems to communicate with and share data with each
other. HIEs and interoperability allow clinicians to access all of a
patient’s information, regardless of where they travel for care or
what healthcare setting they are in, and promptly communicate with
each other as care is provided.
Even so, remote monitoring technologies and health information
exchanges are key game-changing technologies poised to improve
healthcare access and care efficiency. Healthcare providers can
deliver care when and where patients need it, providing a
personalized, coordinated form of care to each patient. As these
technologies evolve and become mainstream, they will effectively
transform patterns of healthcare delivery, drive operational
efficiencies, and improve population health outcomes globally.
In today’s healthcare systems, the increasing utilization of big
data has revolutionized how medical information is collected,
analyzed, and implemented to improve patient outcomes continuously.
Big data in health care refers to the aggregation and analysis of
large volumes of data in structured and unstructured forms from
different data sources, including electronic health records (EHRs),
medical images, genomic data, information from wearable devices, and
patient-reported outcomes. The availability of this abundant data
enables healthcare institutions to make decisions based on evidence
and to implement targeted healthcare interventions.
Predictive analytics can also help to prevent disease or plan future
treatments. It can leverage data-driven algorithms to predict
probable health outcomes in the future and identify individuals or
groups of people who are at a greater risk of developing specific
diseases before the symptoms can be detected. We can train
predictive models based on their historical data to identify those
individuals whose past or current characteristics may indicate a
heightened risk of developing a chronic disease or experiencing a
health emergency. These models can help medical experts develop an
individualized risk score for each patient by assessing the
likelihood that someone will become sick or experience a disease
progression.
The need for efficient communication and collaboration is one of the
main pillars of contemporary healthcare delivery models, greatly
facilitated by new electronic health records (EHR) and digital
note-taking. EHRs continue to expand physicians’ ability to record,
save, and retrieve patients’ data in digital form. These data
replace cumbersome paper notes with comprehensive electronic medical
records (EMRs), where information can be entered, edited, and easily
retrieved in outpatient and inpatient settings, hospital wards, and
emergency rooms. They allow care coordination across providers and
different sites of care. EMRs allow important patient information,
including medical histories, laboratory results, treatment plans,
and medications taken currently and previously, to be transmitted
electronically in real-time to the entire care team situated in
different settings and locations.
Beyond EHRs, collaboration technologies are essential for teamwork
across various silos and barriers. These technologies include secure
text messaging, teleconferencing tools, and project planning
applications that improve the efficiency of clinical communications.
Enabling instant expert consultation, virtual meetings, and shared
decision-making tools, collaboration technologies enhance clinician
efficiency, enhance remote work, and enable multidisciplinary care.
Patient engagement and empowerment are crucial to current health paradigms. Mobile health apps and patient portals, along with personalized medicine and genetic testing, support these initiatives.
These mobile health apps and patient portals give patients rapid access to their health information, self-care resources, and a line of communication with their care team. Whether scheduling appointments, checking lab results, tracking medications, or monitoring chronic conditions, patients can do it more readily thanks to mobile health apps, which allow patients to monitor or manage their health from their smartphones or other mobile devices. The ability to actively engage in health management and self-monitoring boosts patient involvement, treatment adherence, and ongoing communication with the care team.
The good news is that personalized medicine and genetic testing continue to provide novel ways for healthcare professionals to tailor their treatment approaches. This precision is based on an individual’s genetic profile, biomarkers, lifestyle, and health habits. Genetic testing screens for genetic susceptibility biomarkers to diseases for predictive, preventative, and personalized health strategies. Methods are increasingly available to screen for medication treatment response, thus predicting more effective medications or doses of medications. For example, genetic testing can determine a patient’s predisposition to a low or increased response to treatment, their risk of side effects to certain medications, and whether an alternative medication would better treatment outcomes or risk for adverse reactions.
Privacy and security are critical concerns in the adoption of healthcare technologies, driven by the sensitive nature of patient information and regulatory requirements:
Although healthcare technologies hold a lot of promise, there are several issues that have slowed down their widespread adoption, and subsequently, limited equitable access, such as:
The past few decades have seen a significant shift in the healthcare
industry as technology comes to the forefront, fundamentally
transforming the face and future of modern medicine. Access to
electronic health records (EHRs), telemedicine advancements,
artificial intelligence applications, and predictive analytics are
just some ways that technology continues to transform every aspect
of patient care, healthcare operations, and service delivery in the
modern era. Not only have traditional ways of accessing, delivering,
and receiving healthcare become more innovative than ever before,
but these shifts have also revolutionized the industry, enabling
greater access, flexibility, and quality of care for patients.
Overall, the future of healthcare technology appears poised to
provide more innovation, with the potential for personalised
medicine, more telehealth, and better medical research and
education. However, an ongoing effort needs to be made to tackle
issues such as privacy and cybersecurity, as well as adoption
challenges and challenges due to technological differences. This
will help make healthcare technologies accessible to everyone.