Many providers, thanks to social distancing measures implemented during the pandemic, have begun using virtual care technologies for routine outpatient visits. To solve current problems, medical institutions are increasingly turning to 5G telecommunications, cloud computing, interoperable data and analytics, and artificial intelligence.
Modern digital healthcare technology makes it possible to create digital models of care. Healthcare institutions can transfer copies of databases to cloud storage for backup recovery in the event of a disaster. Routine processes, such as testing an electronic medical record system, can be automated.
World medicine is making confident steps toward digitalization. Among the most successful recent achievements are:
- The transition from inpatient visits to remote digital management. By creating an integrated platform that combines digital dispatch and proactive AI capabilities to optimize the flow of patient data and improve the efficiency of care staff and resources, care can be delivered beyond physical boundaries.
- Moving contact centres to the cloud. Improves the process of interaction with customers and makes it easier to solve various problems. The healthcare facility receives a secure, multi-channel contact centre platform with conversational AI and automation, as well as an integrated ecosystem to improve the customer experience.
- Creation of information partnership systems. As a rule, no single healthcare information system has a complete set of digital transformation tools. Forming intra- and cross-industry partnerships helps provide access to information, data, capabilities, and expertise that an individual organization may lack. The concept of such a partnership saves resources and enhances key to clinical innovations to ensure public health.
- Well-Being Services. These are programs and applications that help you create a healthy lifestyle, monitor your mental health, and keep yourself in shape.
- Sensors and wearable devices. Digital solutions allow you to provide remote assistance to the user. For example, you can track glucose levels and heart rate. Doctors receive information about their health status in real-time, which allows them to more accurately establish a diagnosis and design a treatment program individually for each patient. Some sensors, for example for the treatment of chronic musculoskeletal diseases, use computer vision advanced technology in healthcare to track whether the patient is performing exercises correctly.
- Neural network. Allows you to increase the accuracy of searching and recognizing pathologies on X-ray and MRI/CT images.
- Digital twins. Experts rely on this technology in healthcare primarily in the field of cancer treatment. The digital model allows you to select drug therapy as accurately as possible, including individual therapy, depending on the characteristics of a particular patient’s body.
Drug delivery systems
The dimensions of other health tech innovations often do not exceed a few micrometers. Nanotechnology can become the “courier” that medicine is counting on. Researchers load nanoparticles—polymer, protein, or inorganic—with drug macromolecules for delivery to the site of the disease. In this case, the physical and chemical properties of the nanoparticles are changed so that they target the desired area.
One of the new products is a biomimetic drug delivery system (BDDS). The nanosystem imitates cells or their components. Such “doubles” not only deliver and release drugs better but also stay in the bloodstream longer, and can evade the immune system and interact with other cells.
Another new drug delivery system involves 3D printing. The future of healthcare technology is used in medicine to create complex drug combinations. Printed drugs are more personalized. Another advantage is the controlled release of the drug, either rapid or delayed.
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Telemedicine
Telemedicine uses telecommunications technologies to solve healthcare problems:
- patient education and consultation;
- remote monitoring;
- exchange of medical data and images.
In telemedicine, doctor-patient and doctor-doctor consultations are conducted by telephone, email, video conferencing, or mobile devices.
Both doctors and patients appreciated the convenience of this consultation format. In this case, you don’t need to leave your home—you can contact your doctor via computer or smartphone. The time that could have been spent travelling and waiting in line is saved.
By communicating with a doctor remotely, the patient does not risk becoming infected. Therefore, telehealth services have been frequently used during the COVID-19 pandemic. Telemedicine helped provide comprehensive care, including treatment and diagnosis, and remotely monitor the condition of patients
What is the main feature of healthcare digitalization?
A distinctive feature of the medical industry is conservatism. Which is associated with the most elevated likely level of accountability for people’s lives. The implementation of any innovation here requires long periods. In addition to scientific and financial aspects, it is necessary to take into account the legal side, involvement, and level of competence of employees. Therefore, staff training has been and remains one of the key parts of digital transformation.
