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In the last couple of years, driven mainly by the pandemic, the healthcare industry has become digitized. Patient care experience and organization optimization have become the critical focus of healthcare industry data integration by improving efficiency and streamlining clinical operations.

It has been expressed that nearly 80% of health systems indicated that they have planned to raise investment levels over the next five years in digital health. In 2022 we will see continued growth in personalized medicine, wearables, genomics, telemedicine, and RPM. Integrating artificial intelligence, extender reality, the internet of medical things, and cloud computing will drive the development and delivery of services and new treatments.  

On-demand Healthcare: Telemedicine and Remote Patient Monitoring

Telemedicine uses technology to provide the patient with remote access to many different types of medical care. Telemedicine uses software that allows for the conduction of audio and video appointments on electronic devices (tablets, smartphones, and other internet-connected devices). The number of telemedicine patients has increased as it provides increased access to medical specialists providing convenient care.

 

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) technology is used for patients that have been discharged from a healthcare facility and still need to visit the healthcare facility for routine check-ups. Healthcare professionals can analyze and identify patient data collected from RPM devices such as blood pressure cuffs, sensors, and implantable.

 

RPM devices ensure that patients can access personal data (biometric, health history, lifestyle, and symptoms) through passive means.

Artificial Intelligence And Machine Learning

Artificial intelligence (AI) makes applicable sense of unstructured data. AI use in healthcare can be seen in medical image data (MRI scans, X-rays, CT scans), clinical trial data, genomic data, drug discovery, precision medicine, etc. AI can improve information processing, decision-making, precision, diagnosis speed, and efficacy. AI in healthcare has many benefits:
  • Improved efficiency
  • Health monitoring of patients
  • Significantly lower operational expenditure
  • Generation of health report documents automatically
  • High accuracy and fast diagnosis
  • Reduction of clinical errors
  • Generation of diagnostic reports automatically
AI would allow medical specialists to provide patients with better treatment and early therapy. Machine learning can be an incredible asset to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, helping to enhance medical research experiments, thus creating more effective medicines. In the department of pharmaceuticals, drug development cycles can be shortened significantly using machine learning algorithms.

Big Data

The healthcare industry has to deal with the variety, volume, and speed of data from EHR (electronic health records), medical diagnostics, wellness trackers, and nurse triages. Big data in healthcare can be used to help create a patient’s detailed personal history, be used to prevent and stop epidemics, reduce both patient and organization medical costs, and be used for predictive analysis. In the healthcare industry, big data can contribute to multiple essential benefits:
  • Increased accuracy in staffing- predictive analysis can facilitate the allocation of the correct medical professionals and staff to treat and care for patients. Hospitals and other healthcare facilities can use predictive analysis to estimate future admission rates, allowing for resources to be provided where needed.
  • Decreased rate of medication errors- any inconsistencies in any patient drug prescriptions or treatments can be flagged by software. This alerts healthcare professionals to possible medical errors.
Facilitate preventative care – Preventative plans can be created by big data’s predictive analysis for reoccurring emergency room patients.

Blockchain And Better EHRs

Protecting the integrity and availability of health information is critical. The implementation of blockchain technology in healthcare systems ensures that there is a secure (prevents data breaches), seamless access to patient health information records, and a reduction in costs.

 

Electronic health records (EHR) are digital versions of medical records and private information, including financial details and residence.

Digital Therapeutics

Evidence-based behavioral treatment that is delivered to patients through software is referred to as digital therapeutics (DTx). DTx has the ability to increase healthcare effectiveness and accessibility. Programs monitored by digital therapeutics to improve patient care include; blood sugar, medication, diet, exercise, and blood pressure.

 

DTx programs will be seen to promote behavioral changes by the use of simulation techniques, provide treatment guidance for common illnesses, and provide minimal professional assistance care for patients that have embedded medical trackers.  

 

The global therapeutics market is expected to be a great opportunity for investors in the next three years, as it is proposed to be a $56bn market.

Clinical Training And Treating Patients With Extended Reality

The implementation of virtual and augmented reality promises to enable healthcare professionals to virtually test new therapeutics and pharmaceuticals on ‘virtual patients,’ accelerating human clinical trials and reducing animal testing.

 

VR and AR can be used to train medical students, doctors, and surgeons through headsets without needing cadavers or possibly putting patients at risk. Extended reality can be used for cognitive behavioral therapy in the treatments of psychological traumas, wound care, phantom limb pain, phobias, and rehabilitation.

Robotic Process Automation

RPA (Robotic process automation) integration in the daily running of healthcare organizations provides faster and simpler functioning to handle patient care and load management. In 2022 RPA will be one of the top healthcare technology trends. 

 

RPA prioritizes repetitive and administration tasks to improve patient interactions and experiences, reduce errors, and the effective scheduling of new patient appointments. RPA solutions simplify and streamline the claims process by speeding up data processing.

Conclusion

Healthcare data integration can provide a more patient-centric healthcare system, with a more effective and efficient system for healthcare professionals to use. A digital foundation can be laid for healthcare organizations to build on as new technologies are designed and made available. New technologies can be integrated into healthcare systems by merging medical information that is present in-home care, social systems, traditional modalities of treatment, and financial resources.

The top healthcare technology trends for 2022 include advanced analytics of AI and big data, which significantly benefit the production of insights for caregivers and patients. 2022 also presents investors or healthcare stakeholders with plenty of opportunities to invest in technology trends and digital solutions that are predicted to see exponential growth and advancement. 

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