Top 10 Productive Healthcare Technology Trends in 2019

Gone are the days when getting a health checkup done used to be a complex task. Patients had to wait a couple of hours, even after having their appointment scheduled in advance. More than that, if the doctor suggests any test, you need to wait days or even a week or couple to the result back. However, things have changed over the years, and we are heading to a digital era. Digital technology revolution has changed the face of many industries and healthcare is one of them.

Driven by better customer experience, the healthcare industry is taking a huge shift and exploring the potentials of digital technology. In fact, technology is transforming the healthcare sector, and it is moving towards solutions from products and services. However, most parts of the healthcare sector are yet to adopt the technology. But, being optimistic about the digital trend, they are considering to integrate it into the process as soon as possible. Technology is the future of healthcare and 2019 - 20 onwards going to be crucial years to mark the digital revolutions.

"Healthcare sector is projected to reach $10.059 trillion by 2022" - Source: Deloitte

In coming years, we are going to witness a digitally revolutionized healthcare where everything will be on clients/patients' fingertip. We, on the other hand, have started an initiative to help readers explore the prospects of healthcare technology in advance. So, we have worked and selected the top 10 healthcare technologies which will rule the roost throughout the year/s. In simple term, the post lists out the best trending technologies in 2019. However, we have covered more than just a list. Yes, you need to learn many things before you know the list of technology.

Healthcare technology sector is expected to reach USD $280 billion by 2021

Why IT Technology is Very Crucial in Healthcare

Technology is evolving by leaps and bounds. Every industry is looking to use its potentials. However, healthcare will be the top beneficiaries of technology. It helps patients get the best treatment solutions, and doctors can utilize all their skills to provide faster and better treatment service. Most importantly, we are witnessing the digital revolution which is going to offer faster, better and cheaper health solutions. Doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical sectors are going to grab the best out of the healthcare IT solutions.

The Challenges of Modern Healthcare

The modern healthcare industry is struggling with many challenges before. Providing cost-effective treatment is one of the most rising concerns before the healthcare industry. Besides, plenty of other hinders the sectors to grow and provide desirable and cheaper healthcare solutions to people. The challenges include;

1. Data & analytics

2. Total consumer health

3. Population health services

4. Value-based payments

5. The digital healthcare organization

6. Rising pharmacy costs

7. External marketing disruption

8. Operational effectiveness

9. Opioid management

10. Cybersecurity

Source: HCEG

Technology can prove to be boon for the medical sectors. More than that, the evolution of trending technologies like AI, Blockchain and IoT are to make treatment and healthcare management including security significantly cheaper, smooth and robust.

Top Trending Technologies That Rule Healthcare Sector

Healthcare tech is continually evolving, and you can find plenty of digital tools, frameworks, and technologies based on healthcare. However only a counted number of technologies got industry recognition, and they seem to remain the best in 2019 and ahead.

Artificial intelligence

When people go for a test, they have to wait around for a week for the report. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has improved body scan by 150 times faster than the traditional method or human radiologists. AI is an effective and robust system that can detect acute neurological events in just 1.2 seconds. In simple term, patients don't need to wait for one day, two days or a week -results will be available on-the-spot. Apart from that, It also helps medical sectors in many ways such as saving operational costs, provide robust patients' data security, enhances business processes and much more.

AI machines provide decision making data and help doctors to get diagnosis resources the same way as a human does. AI has been officially approved, and currently, hospitals are using the technology for eye diseases. In fact, 87% of eye cases have been correctly identified by the AI machines.

Blockchain

Blockchain helps to manage patients' data in a better way. For instance, if a patient changes doctors or visits a specialist, he/she needs to carry a file which can be most frustrating to prepare the report. Blockchain solved it as it preserves patients’ medical history forever. The allowed doctors can easily access the file and get the patient's medical history in no time. Apart from that, blockchain helps healthcare in changing data collections, fixing digital display advertising, and ownership and security of digital assets.

Apart from saving data, Blockchain has some other significant potential for healthcare. For example;

1. Innovating Healthcare

The distributed ledger technology -Blockchain establishes a collective approach to the large healthcare industry and keeps the complex team-based hospital connected, ensuring robust security while sharing data among parties. Safe access to public and private data, proof of work and keeping teams organized enhances the integrity of the healthcare industry. Meanwhile, blockchain technology also helps healthcare to track on drug supplied to patients from the manufacturer.

2. Help Healthcare Keeping Data Secure

When healthcare data is shared between two entities, security and trust are the two main concerns. The reason is information can be entered from anywhere, and the same vendor can have different versions of patients' data which can be tampered and stolen while blockchain using cryptographic technology provides robust authentication using a digital signature.

3. Scaling Blockchain for Healthcare

Blockchain, as we have already mentioned, can serve many purposes, whether it is to keep patients' data safe, or to keep your healthcare process smooth and flawless. It has sorted out many obstacles that the industry has been struggling to get victory over -security and data sharing between parties.

Voice search

Voice searches are going to the next big breakthrough in the healthcare industry. More than 18% of searches are done through voice, and people prefer voice tool to search for locations, nearby, hotel, restaurants, hospitals, doctors and much more. Therefore, optimizing your marketing campaigns and landing pages for voice search will help you reach your clients quickly and better way. Many tech companies including Apple, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are coming up with the suited healthcare voice search technologies.

Note: Voice search technology must be HIPAA-compliant.

Chatbots in healthcare

Bots are everywhere, and healthcare is the biggest beneficiaries of chatbots. It can do plenty of things for the industry. Top tech giants like Apple, Amazon, and Google have worked and coming up with robust voice-enabled technology such as chatbots which will function as guided.

• Chatbot will help to deal with routine queries
• AI backed messaging, and voice system can help industry save some serious bucks
• Help patients take precautions and remind them to take medicine
• Help doctors or practitioners deal with patients
• Test Lab can get maximum benefits of chatbots

Integrating AI in Chatbot Solutions, helps healthcare to provide solution-based machinery which makes evidence-based responses to FAQs and help doctors get process more straightforward and secure manner. Chatbots can provide endless services to healthcare industry whether its customer service, inventory management or potential diagnosis of mild conditions.

Telemedicine

Remote diagnosis is transforming the healthcare industry. Doctors use telecommunications technology to evaluate, diagnose and treat patients from a distance or remotely. It is very important for the area where access to healthcare is limited. Besides, in urban areas, people use this method to save time.

Statista says that the number of telehealth patients grew to around seven million by 2018 and the number is rapidly increasing. Look at the image below.

Telehealth is a growing means for data exchange and with the Smartphone revolutions; video chat has become very integral to the healthcare industry. Hospitals are getting immense benefits as they reduce readmission rates by providing real-time monitoring to patients from outside office.

So, you can provide many solutions, if you are giving telehealth to your customer, you can help them anytime from anywhere. This way, you can satisfy your patients, and also your industry will grow larger.

Cloud computing in healthcare

Cloud computing is one of the growing need for healthcare sectors for record-keeping requirements. Patient’s records are vital for both patients and doctors. Having past health records, doctors can provide better treatment to patients. Access to records while providing consolations to patients become very easy through cloud computing.

Cloud computing can be very beneficial in telehealth or telemedicine as well. Integrating the WAN connection is essential as it will help the practitioner to provide live consolations. However, HIPAA compliance has become one of the significant issues that preventing industries from embracing technology fully.

More than that, Cloud computing has many other potentials for healthcare which we'll understand through the points given below;

• Healthcare, using Software as a Service (SaaS) can provide on-demand hosted service
• Help healthcare in data protection
• Disaster recovery to help the industry provide seamless service
• Cloud computing such as (IaaS) provides large storage and on-demand cloud computing

So, these are some of the most critical help that you get from cloud computing. In short, cloud computing means helping healthcare process functions smoothly without caring for the server, storage, and data security.

AR/VR in healthcare

AR and VR are the most preferred technology which is going to change the way doctors treat patients. AR helps doctors learn some of the most complicated and dangerous procedures such as heart surgery and other treatment process that too without involving any human being. Traditionally, doctors learn this procedure, applying to a human being. AR and VR, on the other hand, can help Alzheimer's and dementia patients get back the lost memories and help them get back the time they seem to forget.

AR and VR will make imagination into reality and help people get their smile back. That's a significant development we experience using trending technologies like AR and VR (Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality). So, in simple term, AR/VR can help healthcare in the following ways.

• Educating patients regarding medicines
• Educate patients on how to use medicines
• Demonstrate patients how things function
• Aid doctor in treatment
• Educate doctors before surgery
• And, aiding sales

Data Science and predictive analytics

Data is something that can help people finds the root cause problem of an issue. In the healthcare sector, data science and predictive analytics help practitioners save patients from getting affected by chronic diseases or from ancestral issues. Doctors can be gleaned through data from ancestry and family medical history. It clearly shows that data science and predictive analysis help to organize and store data in the right manner.

Doctors can utilize the resources to access files and family and ancestral data and can be analyzed to find an effective cure to diagnose chronic diseases. There are thousands of people who are struggling or are suffering from dangerous diseases which happened due to the family diseases history.

Wearable in Healthcare

People, today, are a health concern and they look for every possible step to remain healthy and robust. Wearable is one of the growing trends for people and even for the healthcare industry to keep a track on their health. Wearable, enabled with the Internet of Things, can help doctors gather the data and research. Wearable has been in the market place for a long time, and people are using it since its existence. But, the thing which is more interesting about wearable is the advancement in technology. These wearable help people keep track of their health and also help doctors to provide effective solutions.

Well, let's understand the benefits of wearable’s and how it will help the individual and the healthcare industry.

• Wearable helps detect vital signs at an early stage
• Smart watches are very much in trend. People get plenty of benefits using the device. such as;
• Wearable helps them stay fit
• Provide real-time health conditions
• Heart-rate checkup
• Inform them how calorie they spent or needed to spend

Medical Wearable with Artificial Intelligence provides extreme value to healthcare and help them give better and redefined service and treatment. For example;

• Help physician provide personalized treatment
• Early diagnosis is made possible through the wearable
• Early detection of symptoms can make things treatment easy
• Help doctor monitor patients remotely
• Help both hospitals and patients save cost

IoT in Healthcare

IoT is very much useful in healthcare, and coming days, the Internet of Things will help patients get remote treatment with the support of IoT devices. Hospitals can get the best support of IoT. For example;

• Using IoT Solutions, helps hospital track medical equipment such as wheelchairs, defibrillators, nebulizers, oxygen pumps, etc.
• Help hospitals in managing asset such as pharmacy inventory control, keeping track on the environment, checking the temperature of A/C, refrigerator and others.
• IoT can connect the physical world to the internet and in medical; there is the immense possibility of the Internet of Things.

Conclusion

When it comes to technology trend, innovations can't be denied. We have done put these technologies in the trending list due to many reasons. For example, in the coming days, we are going to see a massive revolution in the AI sector and every technology which is enabled by AI can be trending. Apart from that, wearable devices such as a smartwatch, fitness tracker, etc. are the most favored technology today and they will continue to grow.