Significant Advancements in Healthcare Technology

There is no doubt that the pandemic has sped up the digitization of the healthcare sector. Over the next five years, 80% of healthcare services intend to increase their investment in technology and digital solutions, according to the HIMSS Future of Healthcare Report. With companies utilizing artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, extender reality (XR), and the internet of things (IoT), we will continue to see growth in industries like telemedicine, customized medicine, genomics, and wearables. 

The following are the top three trends that will influence the healthcare sector over the upcoming years: 

• Telemedicine and remote healthcare. 

Health care practitioners may reliably track vital signs in real-time thanks to new generation wearable devices that are fitted with heart rate, stress, and blood oxygen detectors. The pandemic has even led to the creation of “virtual hospital wards,” where centralized communication infrastructure is utilized to monitor the care of many patients, all of whom are receiving treatment at home. The Internet of Things (IoT) and robots are key components of this trend, and machine learning-based smart technology will notify experts when sensors indicate that an intervention is required or when cameras identify an old person who has fallen in their home. Given that half of the world’s population lacks access to basic services, telemedicine has the potential to increase healthcare access.

• Simulations and digital twins 

The practice of building models based on actual data that can be used to recreate any system or process is known as “digital twins,” and it is swiftly gaining popularity across a wide range of sectors. To shorten the time, it takes to transition new medicines from the design stage to widespread use, this movement in healthcare embraces the concept of the “virtual patient”—digital representations of actual individuals who are used to test medications and therapies. This may initially be limited to models or simulations of specific organs or systems. However, development of practical models that simulate complete bodies is progressing. 

The possibility of digital twins of human organs and systems is getting closer, and they will allow medical professionals to study various illnesses and try out new treatments without endangering specific individuals and without the expense of costly human or animal experiments. Digital twin technology is seen as one of the most significant tech developments in healthcare for 2022 due to its ability to assist the healthcare industry in developing therapies more swiftly and affordably. 

• AI and machine learning for medical data interpretation 

Similar to other industries, healthcare has a high-level use case for AI in that it can help make sense of the vast amounts of messy, unstructured data that are accessible for collection and analysis. When it comes to healthcare, this can take the form of genomic data from living cells, handwritten doctor’s notes, information on the development of communicable diseases like COVID, data from vaccine distribution, and medical image data from X-rays, CT, and MRI scans, among many other sources. 

Current advancements in the application of AI in the medical industry frequently entail the augmentation and upskilling of human professionals. Automating initial patient contact and triage to free up clinicians’ time for more beneficial work is another important use case. Preventative medicine is another area of healthcare that will be significantly impacted by AI in the upcoming years. Preventative medicine seeks to foresee where and when sickness will arise and implement remedies before it even occurs, as opposed to responding to illness by treating it after the fact. With the help of AI, systems can be developed that can identify patterns across enormous datasets much more quickly than traditional analytics techniques, resulting in more precise predictions and eventually better patient outcomes. 

The Future of Healthcare 

Health care will no longer exist as we know it by 2040. A profound change will occur from “health care” to “health.” Even while we will never be able to entirely eradicate disease, science, data, and technology will allow us to detect it sooner, take proactive measures, and comprehend its course, which will allow us to support customers more successfully and actively maintain their well-being. The future will be centered on wellness and run by businesses that take on new responsibilities to add value to the altered health ecosystem. 

Ten archetypes are anticipated to develop and will replace and reinvent the traditional life sciences and health care jobs of today to fuel the future of health. These archetypes will be driven by increased data connectivity, interoperable and open, secure platforms, and rising consumer participation. 

The 10 archetypes will be divided into three separate but related categories: 

• The fundamental infrastructure that will serve as the framework for the future health ecosystem is data and platforms. They will produce the insights needed for making decisions. The tools and data that support consumer-driven health will serve as the foundation for everything else. 

• Wellness and care delivery: These archetypes, which are made up of care facilities and health communities (both virtual and physical), will be the most health-focused of the three categories and will offer consumer-centric delivery of goods, care, wellness, and well-being. 

• Care enablement: These archetypes will act as the regulators, financiers, and connectors that keep the sector’s “engine” running smoothly. For the future of health to become a reality, all three elements must be operational and integrated. 

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With the onset of the pandemic, it has become even more abundantly clear that managing chronic disease is the need of the hour – over 90% of COVID mortalities are linked to pre-existing medical conditions, many of which are chronic. During the peak of the pandemic last year, the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimated that people with underlying health conditions were six times more likely to require hospitalization and 12 times more likely to die from Covid-19. 

With lockdowns forcing people into isolation, management of chronic disease has become more difficult than ever, as people lose access to screenings and prescriptions, and their lifestyle choices take a turn for the worse due to anxiety and depression. Faced with the possibility of a future in which virulent and contagious diseases might become the norm, containing and controlling chronic diseases becomes a pertinent societal obligation. And when controlling medical, behavioral, and socioeconomic factors becomes difficult for traditional models of healthcare delivery, it is important to examine ways in which we can boldly rethink Chronic Disease Management (CDM) using digital technology.  

 Digital Technology Enabling Healthcare  

Can anything replace a clinicians trained judgement of a patient’s condition? Probably not.  But emerging technology in healthcare is making it increasingly possible to deliver the right care at the right time – to a degree of accuracy impossible for human fallibility. Sensor Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning have begun to unlock the vast potential of patient data, providing actionable insights that can guide clinical decisions.  

Some of the popular digital technologies that have already made their mark in healthcare, as listed by the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (a department of Health & Human Services, Govt of the USA), are enumerated here: 

• Clinical decision support (CDS) systems  
• Health information exchanges (HIE)  
• Disease registries 
• Patient portals, personal health records (PHRs), and integrated voice response (IVR) systems  
• Electronic health records (EHRs)  
• Telehealth applications, wearables and related applications 

The benefits of using digital healthcare technologies to enrich CDM functions are many – it improves the accuracy and precision of care, it significantly reduces administrative work for healthcare staff and empowers patients by giving them day-to-day control of their disease-control measures through the data generated by wearables.  

There are certain key innovations that help tackle chronic illnesses more than others – for instance, Predictive Analytics can help identify patient care gaps, including identifying patients who at high-risk for developing a chronic disease but haven’t sought medical assistance yet. Technology can bridge the communication gap between patients, care providers and other third-party stakeholders, enabling them to better coordinate the care of the patient and provide more empathetic care. Digital therapeutics can address the problem of insufficient personalization in healthcare by using evidence-based behavioral interventions, delivered mainly through software.  

And perhaps the most applauded digital-enabled addition to healthcare today – telemedicine acts as a literal savior in these times when people don’t have the option to safely step out of their homes. Audio and video consultations ensure that patients receive timely and quality care, from the convenience of their homes. 

Implementation of Digital Healthcare Solutions: Customize or COTS?  

When healthcare providers make the decision to invest in digital health systems, one of the first questions that arise is the debate between building a custom solution or buying a commercial off-the-shelf solution. Considering the nuances and complexities of controlling a chronic disease, and considering the sizeable investment that goes into implementing either of these decisions, it is often a wiser choice to opt for a custom solution. 

There are very few COTS solutions in the market that cater specifically to CDM functions – this in itself makes building a custom solution a better, more long-term choice.  Even if you find a COTS software that seems like it might fit the bill, you will inevitably end up modifying the system to support your CDM requirements.  

In a study by AHRQ, it was found that of all digital healthcare solutions used by CDM projects they funded, Clinical Decision Support Systems required the highest level of customization. When making the decision between custom and COTS is being evaluated, carefully consider the expertise and resources needed to implement a CDS system, so human resource time is most effectively utilized.  

COTS system vendors need not stick to delivery schedules or stick by the promises made in terms of system functionality. When you choose a COTS solution, a significant amount of time is lost testing and revising the system before it is implemented, because it wasn’t perfectly suited to your organization’s specific needs. If you intended to pick a COTS vendor, balance the vendor’s claims with the experiences of other customers, and build penalty clauses into vendor contracts. 

While working in healthcare, every second counts. When technology becomes a part of this life and death scenario, technical support needs to be available 24/7, and this is often not afforded to those who choose the COTS route. It is imperative to research the availability and cost of technical support, no matter what the organization decides to invest in. It might even be wise to invest in training their own staff rather than relying solely on vendor support.  

In short, custom solutions are built to suit specific requirements, gives the organization complete control of their IP rights, requires less or no dependency on the vendor once the solution is rolled out and any software changes required can be made relatively easily.  

A detailed look at the pros and cons of this decision can be found here. 

Change management while adopting Digital Technology in Healthcare  

While shifting to digital health systems, it is important to earn the trust of the stakeholders involved and make the transition to these new processes as smooth and efficient as possible – the systems need to be implemented and adopted enthusiastically to derive maximum value.  

In order for successful change management to occur, it is important to engage clinicians directly involved in patient care in the development of the digital solution. Their on-the-ground knowledge, the empathy they have cultivated over years of practice and their expertise are irreplaceable when it comes to understanding the needs of the patient, and the needs of the practitioners – both of whom can end up being end-users. Standardized templates and UIs tend to be inadequate to secure buy-in and adoption of healthcare practitioners.  

Including an inordinate number of features to a solution does not always result in better care. In fact, applications such as patient portals and Integrated Voice Response can get very complex and discourage adoption, if not thought through thoroughly from a user standpoint.  It is important to keep user interfaces as simple as possible to get the best outcome and adoption rate.  

In Conclusion 

Without embracing innovation and improved forms of intervention, the burden of chronic diseases on human lives and society will continue to grow. As of today, in the US alone, batting chronic diseases accounts for 86% of the healthcare system’s annual expenditure.  

As technology opens new avenues for improved infrastructure and more data-driven care, healthcare now has the power to improve both the quality and quantity of people’s lives. The pandemic has pointed out the flaws in every country’s healthcare system – it has exposed the weak links and pointed straight at the various inefficiencies – Digital Technologies could be the answer to many of these problems. It would be in the best interest of governments and people alike, if healthcare organizations around the world accelerate the adoption of digital health systems.  

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Data security: The nemesis? 

The client information ensconced in telehealth databases are some of the most concise, wide-spectrum and relevant clusters of personal data, one of the most valuable on the black market. The consequences of a mishap, spanning from privacy contraventions and insurance claim threats to bioterrorism of cataclysmic potential, imperils the future of telehealth. At the personal level, looming fears of information leak among clients lead to non-disclosure of information deemed private, leading to incomplete diagnoses and ineffective treatment. In a not-so-distant future, where even medicine administration would be carried out through intelligent intravenous systems, ironclad security systems are imperative to effectuate any quantum leaps in telehealth.  

For telehealth solutions to be secure, service providers must embrace the basic tenets of data security, keeping in mind that every mechanism is only as strong as its weakest link. The telehealth software must be robust, with means of secured channels between the client and the service provider.  

Healthcare organizations need to secure their endpoints, maintain compliance with standards such as HIPAA, look for high-performance options while choosing software, establish policies and conduct training for relevant practitioners to ensure there is no theft or misuse of information and most importantly, identify a reliable technology provider to leverage their industry expertise to their advantage. 

However, the measures taken by the telehealth providers are futile unless consumers also partake in security; the clients must be trained in safe practices, like the use of tough passwords and VPN, not merely for telehealth but all applications on their device(s). Customers must also be vigilant of fraudulent service providers – identifying services with standards such as HIPAA compliance would be a good start. 

Low adoption rates  

Another major obstacle in the telehealth industry is the slow adoption rate among the elderly, who constitute 56% of all health expenditures in the US. This is because of the disengagement of the sense of touch, which, according to experts, is the most reassuring in the doctor-patient relationship. A generation that does not feel up to speed in the tech-savvy world, the elderly are made to feel ill-at-ease, left at the bidding of apathetic robots, and thus always feeling the need for human touch. 

It is problematic getting to the root of this issue, as it is humanistic and dynamic to each individual. However, telehealth companies can certainly benefit from making their services more intelligible; user-friendly wireframes and self-explanatory UI can go a long way. The most successful telehealth companies of today succeed in bringing about a sense of human touch, through the application of psychologically compatible virtual guidance systems, which would assist the patients through their routine tasks such as exercise and medicine administration. 

It is pivotal to focus on identifying and resolving social constraints through IT, an approach that has been formulated over years of experience.  One of our projects with a major telehealth service based in the USA comes to mind, where the use of simple UIs was decisive in doing away with clients’ dependence on bystanders, hitherto a necessity in managing the patient’s day-to-day activities. A good example of this is an intuitive solution we built for patients with neurodegenerative disease – you can find the full story here. 

Telemedicine and Scalability 

A look into the issues of telehealth would reveal, at a mere casual glance, how its various problems are inscrutably interrelated, with one issue seemingly originating from another. It is within this labyrinthine system that the problem of scalability lurks, the antiparticle of the challenges mentioned earlier. The solution which would be the key to the future of telemedicine, is also the most tedious, as the solutions must be sought from the perspectives of technology, economics, and culture; the data security hurdles challenge the information storage potential, while the low rate of adoption makes it difficult to scale the infrastructure of the services. 

The mindset of potential clients can also be a tough nut; the consultation rates are frowned upon by traditionalists who dismiss teleconsultations as mere gimmicks employed by hospitals to extort money from immobilized and immunocompromised individuals, and therefore, opt for home consultations. Even now, these are the alternative to consultations at hospitals, while teleconsultation remains the last resort, employed mostly in counseling services and minor health concerns.  

The construction of intelligent and robust solutions capable of handling large volumes of data is key here. Another one of our projects handled this particular challenge rather impressively, allowing radiologists to diagnose and process over 600 reports a day.  

As we strive to mitigate the numerous other hindrances in scaling telehealth, we adhere to the rudiments of product engineering and envision molding the future of healthcare through digital healthcare solutions, where its accessibility will only be exceeded by its economic value, catapulting us to a new level of health and well-being. 

If you are looking for a reliable IT partner who understands the landscape of digital health and has a diverse portfolio of healthcare projects under their belt, we might just be the right pick for you. If you would like us to accelerate your vision for digital transformation in your organization, drop a mail to sales@experionglobal.com. 

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