What is Health Tech & The Future Of Healthcare Using Health Tech

Technology has really evolved in the last decade or so. Every industry in the world is looking for ways to integrate new kinds of technology in their work to increase productivity. One such industry is the health care industry. In recent years, especially in the last year, with a pandemic hitting the world, a lot of breakthroughs have been made to improve healthcare delivery and patient outcomes. Cures have been found for diseases that did not have one. Health tech has really advanced and keeps on becoming better.

Table of content

•       What is healthcare technology?
•       Uses of healthcare technology
•       Benefits of technology in healthcare
•       Conclusion

What is Healthcare Technology?

Healthcare technology is any kind of tech, including IT tools or Artificial Intelligence that is used to boost hospital and healthcare productivity and give a better quality of treatments by providing a better insight into the patient’s disease.

The healthcare industry is looking to improve its ways in almost every way it can because of the huge amount of expenses that come with healthcare facilities. That is why, by including technology in this field, they will be able to improve both, efficiency and quality.

Health tech has the potential to personalise everything, from insurance payments to diets to sleep patterns. This reduces the unnecessary strain on healthcare workers to maintain individual files. Apart from this, they also reduce the skyrocketing costs of the industry not only for the patients but also for pharmaceutical companies who are making the drugs.

Uses of Healthcare Technology

The uses of technology in healthcare are almost endless. It can be used in everything like administrative research for the cure of diseases. This can help improve efficiency and improve the client experience. Here is a list of ways healthcare technology can be used –

1.     Administration – Hospitals have had a growth in their administrative workload and it is getting difficult for them to handle it. That is why the healthcare industry has started using software and IT tools to help them manage it.
2.     Surgery – This segment of healthcare has probably advanced the most. There are robots that are not yet performing surgeries, but assisting in some minor and even open-heart surgeries. They come in all sizes and shapes and are very precise.
3.     Development of drugs – Pharmaceutical companies have been relying a lot on the development of drugs through AI. Because of technology, the cost of the drugs is reduced and they can be mass produced. Technology can also help optimise the chemical combinations of drugs so that they are more effective.
4.     Reduced errors – The healthcare industries are using a variety of tech tools to diagnose diseases. By integrating technology in pathology and genetics, it has been easier to detect diseases faster than usual, in the early stages and with more accuracy.

Benefits of Technology in Healthcare

The industry of healthcare has benefited a lot from the use of technology. Listed below are the main benefits of healthcare technology –

•       Electronic Health Records (EHR) – The availability of Electronic Health Records (EHR) in the health care system has brought an immense amount of change and progression in the healthcare industry.

Using these EHRs, doctors and hospitals are able to predict a person’s risk of developing symptoms of chronic disease later in their life, thus helping clinical experts to start treatments much earlier and potentially reduce the chances of fatal consequences.

•       Improve patient experience – Technology can be used to measure and maintain data effortlessly. This helps other organisations get a better view of how they have been performing. It also helps them review results continuously, fix the issues that are required to be fixed and also enhance the experience.
•       Flexibility for patients – It can become very difficult for patients to communicate with doctors, especially during the time of COVID-19. With the use of technology, they can easily make appointments and chat with professionals.

Is Technology in Healthcare the Future?

Technology will advance more rapidly in the next 10 years than it ever did in the past 100 years. This will help shape every industry possible, especially the healthcare industry. The healthcare industry is incorporating digital technologies like Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Remote Diagnosis, Digital Therapeutics and nanotechnology to build a better future and help millions of people.

The main technologies that have helped in the advancement of this industry are –

1.     Virtual Reality (VR) – This tech is changing the lives of doctors and clients. VR is being used to better train surgeons and doctors to practice operations. A recent study by Harvard Business Review shows that VR trained surgeons have a 230% boost in their overall performance compared to the others.
2.     Artificial Intelligence – There is a strong belief that AI can totally change the shape of the healthcare industry. AI can be used to design treatments, maintain records or help in developing drugs. They can all be done in reduced time and with less manpower. This, overall, will also reduce the cost of treatments as well as drugs and prove to be better for the patients.
3.     Augmented Reality – Augmented reality is similar and different from VR. It does help in training doctors, but with AR, they do not lose touch with reality and it puts information as fast as possible in front of your eyesight. This feature can help AR become a driving force in the advancement of the medical industry.
4.     Nanotechnology – This is just the beginning of nanotech. This technology is going to grow very soon. Soon the surgeons and doctors will start using nanoparticles and nanodevices for surgeries and medical treatment. This is going to be a patient-friendly technology. Excluding the traditional method, smart pills will come into being that will help examine the patient and cure them too!

Conclusion

We are living in a revolutionary time because of the advanced science and technology that has been made in the field of healthcare. It is predictable that soon, every country will have these technologies to assist them in curing their patients.

As far as technology is concerned, it will keep growing till the end of time, the world will see far better advancements than it has ever seen before. Patient care will improve after healthcare organisations start implementing these technologies as soon as possible. The future of healthcare looks good!

Also Read: How Tech-Giants Are Using Technology to Fight COVID-19?