The recent technological developments in the healthcare sector have saved numerous lives and have even improved the living standard. The technology has not only made the lives of patients simpler but has put a huge impact on the medical processes.
The advancements in technology on healthcare have helped in improving the quality of life, economy and have created job opportunities. Apart from this, there has been a reduction in the number of death cases and even the treatment and recovery time is reduced.
With the improving technology, it has impacted the medical procedures and processes through which medical care is delivered. Services like patient registration and data monitoring, everything is just a click away. For example, patients can now book doctor online and even the doctors can save medical records for their ease.
The technological innovations in the healthcare industry have contributed to services in such a way that they are not restricted to the hospital walls and integrating them with user-friendly devices.
In this write-up, let’s explore the technological advancements and benefits they bring to both patients and health practitioners.
1. Electronic health record
The Electronic Health Record (EHR) can improve the ability to diagnose a disease and even avoid medical errors. This technique has tremendously helped many healthcare professionals by making well-informed decisions quickly. It contains the patient’s medical history, diagnosis and test results. All medical assistants and health information technicians can use this technique for inputting the patient’s data such as vital signs, weight and results.
The EHR enables the providers to help in improving the care of the patients and reduce safety risks, by:
- Providing accurate data and complete information about patients.
- Improving communication between patients and providers.
- Cost reduction through decreased paperwork that assures safety and reduces the chances of duplication.
- Helps the providers in improving their work performance.
2. Introduction of mHealth
The healthcare and medical information when supported by mobile technology is called mobile health. Today nearly 80% of doctors use smartphones and medical apps, out of which 25% of them use this technique to provide patient care.
The main advantage of using mobile equipment is that it allows the doctors to complete their tasks even in remote areas. A doctor can easily access a patient’s EHR, send follow-ups and even provide prescriptions. This can help the medical billers by allowing them to send message alerts about payment and pending bills. It also reduces the use of paper and snail mails.
With the mobile apps, it is now easier for the patients to book doctor online for an appointment.
3. Security and privacy
The improvement in the healthcare sector allows the patient to avail services from any place. Now patients need not take out time from their busy schedules and visit the doctor. Patients can consult the doctors through teleconference and data that is easily stored on clouds. EHR helps in enabling patients in accessing their health records through the internet. Remote patient monitoring is becoming popular as specialized sensors are placed inside the homes. These technologies improve the quality of healthcare by make it personalized and causing fewer chances of medical error.
Patients can easily ask a doctor about their medical condition without any glitches. Likewise, even doctors can easily diagnose a patient’s condition without even touching him or her.
4. Ease of workflow
Medical billers and coders have been highly benefited by EHR’s as the number of medical codes has been reduced to 13,600 to 69,000. EHR has definitely made the life easier. Entering data in a computer takes less time than relying on the paperwork. It also reduces the risk of errors in the data and financial details. This overall increases the productivity of the billers.
5. Telemedicine
Telemedicine service is the emerging component of the healthcare industry. It can change the paradigm of care and allow for improved access and health outcomes. Services like video-conferencing are considered to be cost-effective for those living in rural areas and are in need of medical specialists for medical care. Mostly medical practitioners, health workers and nurses provide face-to-face services during the teleconsultation ensuring that the procedures are carried out properly.
The use of tele-health services has reduced hospitalizations and reduced the number of emergency room visits.
6. More job opportunities
In recent years, there has been a substantial rise in the field of healthcare that has not only helped in innovation but has created a high number of jobs. There are ample career options like ECG technologists and MRI technologists who earn a handsome salary.
Bioengineering job openings are also on the rise. Even in the IT industry, we can find examples of the evolving relationship between technology and healthcare.
7. Easier communication
Patients can now talk to their doctors with a single touch on a smartphone. Doctors are also able to communicate with other doctors living in any part of the world through emails and texts. This service allows the doctors to treat their patient without moving them to another location.
8. Better medical research
The medical technology has helped the researchers in discovering new ways to study medical trends and illnesses. It has helped in discovering new ways to fight with the viruses or diseases with vaccines like Tetanus and Swine Flu.
9. Access of information and big data
The availability of data and the means to store the information is the trademark of technology. The internet of things and intranet systems has the ability for the medical professionals to share the data. The ‘big data’ in the healthcare enables the entire field to get assistance from different research studies. This facility allows medical practitioners to stay aware of all the trends related to healthcare and technologies as well. It also enables in identifying the risk factors and recommends the right treatment by comparing patient data from other patients.
There is a huge advancement in the medical technology that is transforming the healthcare methods. With improved diagnosis and improved patient experience, internet is opening doors for new healthcare models that will reduce the costs and create better options for the people.