The convergence of healthcare and technology has given birth to an era of unprecedented innovation- HealthTech, a realm where medical expertise intertwines with technological prowess to shape the future of healthcare. Central to this revolution is healthcare product engineering, a dynamic discipline that amalgamates medical knowledge with engineering ingenuity. HealthTech product development is a dynamic and collaborative process that capitalizes on the diverse expertise of professionals from various fields. These experts, including medical practitioners, engineers, designers, and data scientists, unite their strengths to create innovative solutions that address the complex challenges within the healthcare industry. For instance, wearable devices equipped with health monitoring features have become ubiquitous, encouraging individuals to proactively manage their health. This collaborative approach serves as the backbone of revolutionizing healthcare through product engineering. 

Digital Health Solutions, Biomedical Engineering, and IoT Connectivity in Healthcare 

Digital Health Solutions, such as telemedicine apps and AI-driven diagnostics, bridge geographical gaps, ensuring patients can receive medical attention regardless of location. For instance, a patient in a remote village can now consult with a specialist located thousands of miles away, receiving expert guidance in real time through a telemedicine platform. 

Biomedical Product Engineering stands as the driving force behind revolutionary medical devices. Consider the strides in prosthetics—engineers have crafted robotic limbs responsive to neural signals, mirroring natural movement. An amputee can now control their prosthetic hand with the same neural pathways that once directed their original hand, offering a sense of restoration and empowerment. 

IoT Connectivity, a linchpin of modern healthcare, weaves a seamless tapestry of real-time data exchange. IoT-enabled insulin pumps exemplify this, monitoring glucose levels and administering precise insulin doses. This technology not only ensures optimal glycemic control but also empowers diabetic patients to lead more flexible and fulfilling lives. 

Together, this convergence is a game-changer. A patient in a remote area can use a wearable health monitor to track vital signs, which are then transmitted via IoT to their healthcare provider. The provider, equipped with AI-enhanced diagnostics, interprets the data remotely and prescribes necessary treatment adjustments. This integrated approach improves patient outcomes, even in areas with limited access to medical facilities. 

In essence, the interplay of Digital Health Solutions, Biomedical Product Engineering, and IoT Connectivity is redefining healthcare into a dynamic, patient-centric landscape. As we navigate this transformative journey, we envision a future where healthcare transcends physical barriers, devices evolve to empower lives, and connectivity fosters a comprehensive ecosystem of care. 

Ethical Considerations and Regulatory Compliance 

As healthcare product engineering propels us into the future, it also brings forth ethical dilemmas and regulatory challenges. Safeguarding patient privacy, ensuring data security, and adhering to stringent healthcare regulations are critical aspects that require careful navigation. Regulations such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) guidelines, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the United States, among others, dictate the safety, efficacy, and privacy considerations of healthcare products and services. Adhering to these standards is paramount to gain the trust of both patients and healthcare professionals. 

In summation, healthcare product engineering stands as the cornerstone of the healthcare revolution we are witnessing. It’s not just about devices and solutions; it’s about rewriting the narrative of healthcare itself. From wearable health trackers to AI-driven diagnostics, the collaboration of healthcare and engineering is opening up new avenues for prevention, treatment, and care. The journey is ongoing, promising a future where innovation through healthcare product engineering stands as a beacon of hope, delivering transformative solutions that enhance the well-being of individuals worldwide. 

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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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During the pandemic, some of the following digital health trends gained traction and are expected to influence the future of medicine.  

1. Telehealth  

Telehealth delivers healthcare services through digital communication technology such as computers, mobile phones, and tablets. Healthcare providers had to shift rapidly when social distancing diminished in-person visits. By April 2020, telehealth services would account for almost 43% of primary care visits. Telehealth appears to be here to stay, even as the COVID-19 vaccines roll out over the world.  Fortune Business Insights says the telehealth business will be worth more than $185 billion by 2026.  

Telehealth can refer to a variety of different medical services. Teleradiology refers to the practice of a radiologist interpreting medical images while not physically present in the location where the images are generated. Hospitals, mobile imaging companies, urgent care facilities, and even some private practices utilize teleradiology. Tele-pharmacy delivers pharmaceutical care to patients in regions where they may not directly access a pharmacist via telecommunications. It’s an example of the broader telemedicine phenomena in action in the field of pharmacy. Tele-ICU has an off-site command center –  a critical care team (intensivists and critical care nurses) is connected with patients in the distance intensive care units (ICUs) through real-time audio, visual and electronic means, and health information is exchanged. Telerehabilitation refers to information and communication technologies to provide rehabilitation services to people remotely in their homes or other environments. This usually has a vital visual element with video conferences and webcams commonly used to communicate symptoms and clinical progress. Tele-neuropsychology is a type of telemedicine that includes neuropsychological consultation and assessment over the phone with patients who have or are suspected of having a cognitive disorder.  

Telenursing refers to the utilization of communicative technologies to provide remote nursing services.  

In the future, people will demand a smooth digital experience to make appointments, buy medication, and get important health information and advice. Instead of being a transitory fad, telehealth is predicted to become an integral part of a complete healthcare strategy that enhances the patient experience. Clinicians might handle approximately 40% of primary care sessions remotely, and clinicians that offer telehealth services are more likely to see more patients. According to the American Hospital Association, hospitals lost $161.4 billion between March and June 2020 – telehealth services may assist hospitals in recouping some of their losses. According to McKinsey, $250 billion of total US healthcare spending might go virtual in the years following the pandemic.  

Rather than treating digital health trends as a testbed, the industry must fully embrace innovation to improve provider agility and efficiency in the future.  

2. IoT and Medicine  

Medical IoT is a fast-expanding industry in which wearable gadgets, monitoring, and integrated applications are used to meet healthcare demands. Medical IoT can offer better versions of classic medical devices, such as the smart inhaler, which syncs patient usage with a mobile app, thanks to AI and machine learning technology.  

Patients now have more control over their diseases and health demands thanks to the emergence of 5G and smart technology in healthcare. Smart insulin pens and glucose monitoring devices, for example, make it easier for people to maintain track of their health needs with minimal disruption to their daily life. Many IoT devices will become more affordable as technology advances, bringing us closer to health fairness. Hospitals can perform predictive maintenance and avoid costly downtime of complex medical equipment with IoT devices that monitor machinery and warn technicians about concerns. In addition, they can employ sensors to track supply inventory, allowing them to manage gas, chemical, and disposable goods like masks, gloves, and syringe usage and costs.  

Data storage and security are critical in the healthcare industry. Additionally,  IoT devices must be dependable in terms of connections, performance, and real-time data delivery. For example, healthcare workers may overlook important details about a patient’s health if there are any pauses or outages. Healthcare has a lot to gain from the cloud era, but trust in data security and IoT capabilities are still developing. With this in mind, we may anticipate increased investment and funding in IoT technology in the following years.  

3. Behavioral and mental health apps  

As the brutal reality of lockdown life set in, people worldwide faced untold mental health issues in 2020. Mindfulness applications like Headspace, Liberate, and Calm were no longer solely for the fringe meditation crowd, as general usage boosted the wellness app market’s download figures. According to The New York Times, Calm gained 10 million new members, and venture investors pooled their funds.  

Employers increasingly recognize the value of wellness apps for their workers. For decades, corporate wellness trips, office yoga, and team-building events have all been around, but the employer-provided wellness app is a newer notion. According to research by SHRM, 48% of US employees say they would be more confident in digital health tools if their workplace provided them. Furthermore, 26% claimed they would be more likely to stay with their current employer if such apps were available.  

According to projections from 2018, health apps might save the US healthcare system $7 billion every year. In addition, employers should see a decline in employee “sick days” as the mobile age continues to entice more people to health apps, which would enhance productivity. Limeade, which helps firms foster a culture of well-being and inclusion, and Vantage Fit, which lets employers develop simple wellness programs and challenges to help their staff stay fit and healthy, are two examples of apps aimed at the corporate workplace.  

Wellness is expected to be one of the most important digital health trends in the next 20 years, according to Deloitte’s Future of Health report. We may anticipate a significant shift away from treatment-focused medicine by 2040, with 60% of the investment going toward promoting health and well-being.  

4. Virtual and Augmented Reality  

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology have many practical applications beyond gaming and entertainment – VR aids surgical planning and training in the medical field, making treatments more comfortable for doctors and patients. There have also been numerous publications on the effectiveness of virtual reality in the treatment of chronic pain and mental health.  

In a study on the expected growth of AR and VR in healthcare, Markets predicted a 30.7 percent annual growth rate between 2017 and 2025. Health experts are already using the benefits of VR and AR to treat several ailments, including anxiety, phobias, and post-traumatic stress disorder. For example, providers can utilize virtual reality and augmented reality to construct simulations of real-life settings in which patients are psychologically challenged, such as dealing with eating disorders, fear of heights, or social anxiety. Although people are aware that the world they are in, whether wearing a VR headset or using an augmented reality application, is artificial, the simulation allows them to face challenges and overcome their fears through practice. According to Oxford VR, this type of immersive therapy can lessen fears and phobias by 68 percent after only two hours of treatment. 

On the provider side, VR aids in the development of medical professionals’ skill sets. According to a study on the influence of virtual reality training in healthcare, students who received VR instruction completed medical operations 20 percent faster than those who received only traditional training. In addition, the VR-trained group correctly completed 38 percent more steps.  

According to a recent estimate from Verified Market Research, the value of AR/VR in healthcare will climb to $34 billion by 2027.  Virtual reality is still a young technology. However, its powers will usher in exciting new advances in preventive healthcare, rehabilitation, and cancer treatment as it develops.  

Conclusion  

Telemedicine, IoT devices, and healthcare apps aren’t new technologies; they’ve been around for a long time. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, was instrumental in propelling healthcare forward and encourage health institutions, clinicians, and patients to embrace digital health trends and new technologies. Thanks to remote services, IoT devices, and rapid research and development methods, providers and patients now recognize the advantages of digital health services.  

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AR focuses on integrating digital information and physical reality, VR focuses on replacing the real world with a much more virtual computer-generated environment. 

VR and AR are essential tools used to create visual and interactive experiences for all types of industries. COVID-19 has increased the use of digital technologies such as AR and VR for better experiences for both employees working from home and customers. As a result, augmented reality and virtual reality are gaining popularity since it helps customers sit at home and feel the products and services much more effectively and efficiently. According to research by Gartner, 30% of individuals prefer companies integrating AR and VR for a better customer experience. 

Companies that focus on research such as Statista have stated that AR and VR markets will continue to grow. Augmented reality and virtual reality are proliferating and are being implemented by different industries in various ways. IDC researchers claim that by 2024 the market size will grow to $72.8 billion.   

The different types of industries that are unlocking the capabilities of the two most potent tools AR and VR

AR and VR are snowballing due to their feature of letting people experience different types of services anywhere in a more creative, comfortable, and exciting manner. 

Education – Virtual reality and augmented various schools, universities are implementing AR & VR and online platforms to make teaching more fun, exciting and realistic. It helps focus on a more practical approach rather than just theory-based. It increases customization and more hands-on learning, which increases curiosity. Research shows that it helps improve skills and knowledge for both students and their mentors. 

Health and Wellness – VR and AR are being used for various meditation programs. Using technologies such as VR and AR will have a significant impact on the GDP, according to PwC. It is stated that it will boost the GDP by £316 billion in 2030. VR and AR have been used for training purposes to perform different complex surgeries. Other than training, AR can reduce anxiety, phobias, and psychological disorders since patients interact with virtual objects in real-time. 

Retail – Using AR and VR for effective and efficient performance by better displays of products, body scanning technologies, perfect fit outfits, and better interactive store layout versions. PwC states that by 2030, using AR and VR will boost the GDP by £184.2 billion. VR and AR are being used in the different stages of the retail industry, such as planning, research, modifications, and design. 

Real estate – Using AR and VR to give virtual tours of properties is much more effective, innovative, interactive, and time-saving. It is much more beneficial because of 3D walk-throughs rather than visiting different properties. It allows clients to understand the entire construction project by virtual tours and going through the whole project. It even eliminates the time-consuming process of inspection since it will help in collecting real-time data. 

Automotive – AR and VR are being used by companies for better performance and training for workers and step-by-step learning processes for complicated fixing. Many companies use VR technology for effective implementation, training, efficient results, reduced time and costs, and better design. In addition, 60% of consumers in the automotive industry prefer companies that use AR and VR to help understand the product and features.

Construction – Using virtual reality as a tool to train employees in a safer environment. With the help of AR and VR, companies can avoid many work hazards. It helps the workers and owners to keep an eye on the site without being there in person. AR and VR help in the whole design process since architects and planners can virtually be in the construction site and feel the place. Focusing on a more AR and VR approach increases accuracy and outcome. It even helps in saving time, reducing costs and errors. 

Banking – Making use of AR and VR can enhance customer experience and engagement. Using AR and VR has its benefits, such as a much more personalized experience for customers. It even can help with better assistance and understanding of various banking procedures. In addition, it can help reduce physical visits to different bank branches, and it is much safer due to safety authentication procedures. 

Oil and Gas industry – Using AR and VR helps increase outcomes for training programs, understanding different structures for better mining, reduced errors, and drilling malfunctions. Focusing on an AR approach helps guide workers regarding additional steps and the tools needed to complete a task. In addition, it helps reduce the time-wasting procedures of visiting the site. 

Tourism – Using AR and VR helps in better planning management, increased customer experience due to virtual tours, and real-time experience and navigation. It opens the tourism industry to a much more exciting and personalized experience. Many companies use virtual reality trips, which include various tickets for top tourist spots and destinations. In addition, agencies use 360 videos to showcase beautiful tourist sports and top hotels and landmarks.

Logistics – Better training for employees, effective and efficient, time is being saved by 25%. Using AR and VR helps in reducing object pickup time in warehouses. Planning is easier with the help of AR. Focusing on VR in logistics can help plan load and the best routes for faster delivery. It helps in speeding up orders and avoiding errors. Better results and outcomes since such technologies help keep an eye on all locations without being there physically. It can even help in understanding important information such as cargo weight and traffic routes. Drivers who use AR glasses can work more effectively since it helps in understanding the best routes to take and leads to reduced errors and mishaps.  

Benefits of focusing on a more AR and VR approach for smoother and effective results 

A picture is worth a thousand words, and it helps us remember things better and faster; AR and VR are great ways to interact and visualize different data around us. 

AR and VR are the two leading digital tools to create value for the business by being the product itself for customers and smoothening the value chain model from better product development to manufacturing, training, logistics, marketing, sales, after-sales, and much more. 82% of companies have stated that using AR and VR has proved to be beneficial and effective. Focusing on AR and VR can benefit companies and consumers in many ways since it reduces costs, increases productivity, a better understanding of consumer behavior, increases revenue, and better training measures. In addition, focusing on a more AR and VR approach helps redefine the customer experience. Using technologies such as AR and VR has various benefits such as better work environment safety, product safety, product development, and increased effectiveness and collaboration. 

AR and VR will increase GDP, income, and job opportunities by 2030. According to McKinsey, they are making use of AR and VR even while promoting advertisements and websites. As a result, it is seen that the engagement rate and conversion rate are much higher. 

AR and VR even boost the online experience, efficiency, and effectiveness and benefit critical skill training. 

In conclusion

Integrating technology with the vision of any industry is a great way to increase success and outcome. Making use of AR and VR will increase effectiveness, efficiency, and better performance and help companies simplify, streamline, and improve processes to deliver a better and personalized experience. 

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An unprecedented time that saw many non-emergency clinics shutting down around the world, millions of people who relied on these facilities (de-addiction centers, autoimmune disease therapy, and dentistry to name but a few) were in distress. While our science fiction compels us to dream of fusing our consciousness with machines and turn into immortal cyborgs, the cold hard truth is that we continue to be vulnerable to our environment, and are simply too mortal. 

This drubbing we suffered at the hands of mother nature was a rude awakening for the world of healthcare, no different for the IT world. However, this has been a phase of renaissance for health IT and the mHealth domain; adoption rates have skyrocketed since the beginning of lockdowns in the US. Studies conducted in Asia bolsters the faith, with all respondents in Malaysia claiming that they use one health/wellness app or the other, with 78.6% saying they are currently using COVID-19 related applications. Malaysia unveiled its flagship TraceTogether app in its fight against the pandemic, the first of its kind across the world as early as March 2020.  

It is therefore important at this juncture, to understand mHealth at a rarefied level. In understanding its role we must probe its 3 main functions today: 

· to connect citizens with the health system and provide superlative technological innovation 

· to support teaching, training, and related health activities in an exemplary manner 

· this point is specific to the pandemic; to control the rampant spread of COVID-19 and provide mHealth solutions for the same 

Virtual care             

It is necessary to make a distinction between telemedicine and virtual care. While telemedicine refers to the remote treatment of a certain health condition, virtual care is a bracket term for all remote interactions by healthcare professions to engage with their patients. It could include even the act of maintaining feedback from a patient over mail. Recent times have witnessed a jump in the proliferation of apps with this function; they may include risk calculators, fitness trackers, remote patient-monitoring, pharmaceutical e-commerce, and many more. While their payoff is monumental, data security continues to be the elephant in the room. People must realize that while they do indicate primary diagnosis, it is important not to make clinical decisions and adopt treatment based on these diagnoses; the apps themselves must take steps to alert the users on the same to prevent misdiagnosis and other mishaps.  

Digital therapeutics 

Presumably the most exciting area in virtual care, the phrase evokes futuristic archetypes in the mind, which unfortunately is no coincidence; experts predict that It may take another decade to develop technology that can provide measurable and not to mention, the sustainable outcome in patient health. Though today, we are offered nothing more than a cracker to quench our thirst, it is still exciting to see the quantum leaps we have made. While we are struggling to integrate technology into the treatment and therapeutic methods of most diseases, researchers have made enterprising inroads in treating mental disorders through DTx.  

Look no further than be award-winning gameChange app, with its ambitious goal to treat psychosis patients through VR. The addictive and engaging nature of digital media can act as an antidote for people suffering from mood disorders, manic depression, and the early stages of many neurotic disorders. It may even be argued that remote counseling is an ideal option for people with psychological disturbances, as they can be engaged within the comfort of their dwellings. 

Implementation 

It is important to remember that while a healthy person demands a million things, the sick man desires the fulfillment of a lone wish; empathy for the patients is what most companies give little thought for. mHealth apps must be built with minimal ads and distractions that can sway the interest of clients, and must constantly reinvent and update themselves for a seamless patient experience.   

While we embrace the future for what it’s worth, our efforts must augur with the collective patient psyche; they should feel tangible and personal, even to the Luddite, and personified by the client, and maintain a physical and psychological relevance that can materialize into observable therapeutic progress. 

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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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From Industry 1.0 to Industry 4.0, intending to reduce cost and to improve efficiency, organizations have always tried to automate business processes with whatever technology or machinery is available to them. With the widespread adoption of digital technologies, automation has evolved quickly during the last few years. Though traditional automation has been around for quite some time, the introduction & adoption of Robotic process automation (RPA) has taken the automation industry by storm. RPA streamlines & automates business processes that are repetitive and manual-labor intensive – it has transformed human lives, the business ecosystem, and the global economy in an unprecedented way. 

What is Intelligent Automation? 

With advancements in digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, a smarter version of RPA that analyzes the vast amount of data generated, then decodes and learns the business process itself with context, rather than perform a series of rule-based tasks, has paved the way for Intelligent Automation. 

IA combines artificial intelligence and automation to create smart business solutions that can analyze, learn, and adapt to improve the efficiency and productivity of any organization. It leverages natural language processing, computer vision, machine learning, and machine vision to understand and solve complex business challenges.  Intelligent Automation automates any business processes that leads to reduced operational costs, improved efficiency, and enhanced customer experience. 

Let’s explore how Intelligent Automation Solutions are disrupting different industries. 

Healthcare   

 With the implementation of Intelligent Automation solutions, healthcare providers can devote more human resources towards patient care as the mundane & time-consuming tasks are taken care of by IA. The Healthcare industry struggled with the processing of unstructured data involving text, videos, and images – intelligent solutions took over the unstructured data processing and automated tasks such as collecting and interpreting diagnostic results, pharmacy & laboratory operations, etc., in a short time frame with increased efficiency.  Digitization of health records, inventory management, automating unstructured data processing, automating contact center operations, patient journey management, etc., are some of the ways automation has made an impact in healthcare. 

With virtual caregivers, patient management robots powered with speech & facial recognition, and AR/VR technologies, the healthcare industry can offer personalized patient care, ensuring superior patient and employee satisfaction. 

Retail 

Artificial intelligence infused into Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has enabled retailers to offer personalized offers to each customer. Intelligent Automation solutions analyze the massive amount of data generated via various customer touchpoints to create a seamless and error-free shopping experience for their customers. Assistive body measurement solutions by leveraging cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence & computer vision technologies to automate and fast-track body measurement and apparel-size recommendations for their customers accurately and efficiently is one of the applications of IA in retail industry.  

Pricing analytics, a sub-discipline of Intelligent Automation, helps retailers adjust prices based on customer’s intent and real-time market conditions. It can also gather customer sentiments from various social media platforms and allows retailers to make informed decisions. IA significantly improves the retailer’s operational efficiency, reduces costs, and ensures superior customer experience. 

FinTech 

FinTech organizations embraced Intelligent Automation solutions to automate almost every aspect of their business process. Combining technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Computer Vision, etc., Intelligent Automation enables FinTech providers to offer cognitive agents such as virtual assistants and chatbots. These cognitive agents are capable of learning complex structured and unstructured data to make logical decisions and have disrupted the way customers engage with financial institutions. 

Intelligent Automation solutions help wealth management organizations analyze the vast amount of available data to understand stocks’ historical performance, make more accurate predictions in the future, and help gauge market movements in near real-time. These solutions can also help FinTech providers to meet regulatory compliances and standards as they reduce the risk of human errors significantly.  

Transportation & Logistics 

In recent times, automation in transportation industry has made significant advancements. Intelligent Automation solutions enabled the highly fragmented and complex Transportation & Logistics industry to become more efficient and transparent with fewer resources – autonomous trucks, driverless cars, and drone taxis are some of the most exciting intelligent automation applications within the transportation & logistics industry. 

With the widespread adoption of digitization, the customer’s logistics & transportation expectations have changed enormously. Intelligent Automation solution providers help organizations streamline & optimize their business processes such as transportation planning, route planning, warehouse network management, and inventory management to meet the rising and fluctuating market demands. Driven by insights and predictions, IA solutions help organizations be more efficient, meet customer demands, and make better faster decisions.  

In Conclusion 

Intelligent Automation solutions are designed to address complex business problems, simplify business processes, reduce costs and improve efficiency. With increased market demand and dynamic customer expectations, if businesses don’t automate everything they can, they may not survive.

At Black Rock IT Solutions, we understand the intelligent automation ecosystem and can help build customized solutions for organizations across industries. To know more about Experion’s automation capabilities and how we can support your journey towards automation, contact us at sales@blackrockdxb.com   

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Simply put, edge computing brings computation and data storage closer to the devices which collect the data, rather than relying on a centralized location or on the cloud, both of which risk latency issues. 

Edge Computing was developed to cater to the needs of the exponential growth of IOT devices. And the trend is only going upwards, especially in the healthcare sector. Research shows that IOT in the healthcare market will be worth $534 billion in the next four years alone. 

With the advantages it brings to the table including faster processing time for data, non-reliance on bandwidth availability, and network reliability – all of which can save a life in this field where every second of response time counts, edge computing has proven to have the power to completely transform the way the healthcare industry functions.  

What is driving adoption in the Healthcare Industry? 

Real-time data monitoring to control chronic diseases has proven to be highly effective – combinations of remote monitoring, mobile platforms, and analytics have cut the rate of readmissions of patients suffering from congestive heart failure, diabetes, and blood pressure significantly. This success is propelling the usage of IoT devices and networks in healthcare institutions.  

One of the key benefits of edge computing is that data can be analyzed and collected with the same speed as while on the cloud, but without the latency issues. This decreases the costs, increases the efficiency and makes for a far better patient experience – bringing healthcare closer to autonomous care, as opposed to automated care, which is what the industry has been aiming for until now.  

Other attractive benefits that are driving the industry to invest in edge computing include the ease of burden to health practitioners, who can stop manually collecting and managing patient data; make healthcare affordable and accessible to people who live in rural areas and act as a catalyst for technological advancement in healthcare by making data more accessible than ever before. 

Use cases for edge computing in Healthcare  

1. Uplifting the Rural Healthcare Sector 

While telemedicine has often been seen as the savior of rural areas where healthcare is often inaccessible, poor connectivity usually makes it just as difficult for patients in these areas to receive the care they need. With the right combination of IOT devices and edge computing, this can be overcome. 

Edge computing companies have developed portable IOT healthcare equipment with the ability to gather, store, generate, and analyze critical patient data without needing to be in constant contact with the internet. Thus, patients with wearable IOT devices can be diagnosed quickly, and the data can be fed into the systems at a later point, when connectivity is re-established. 

2. Critical Care  

Wearable IOT devices and edge computing will enhance the level of care available for patients with diabetes or congestive heart failure, as they will allow for them to be monitored constantly in real-time. 

Intensive Care Unit sensors detect changes in a person’s condition that must be acted upon immediately, such as closed-loop systems that maintain physiologic homeostasis – the data generated from these systems requires instant analysis and action, with no time for the data to be transferred to the cloud. 

When handling emergencies too, this instantaneous relay of information becomes crucial and edge computing can help transfer information from the ambulance to the hospital in real-time, saving time and providing healthcare workers with the information they need to save lives. 

3. Supply Chain Management 

Every hospital is a complex web of hardware and software working together to keep people healthy – from the parts of the robots used to perform surgeries to the needles used in immunizing babies, every piece of medical equipment comes down a complicated supply chain, and a disruption in that system would be catastrophic, causing disruption to medical outcomes.  

Sensor-equipped IoT edge devices have the potential to completely change the way this system works to ensure zero errors or glitches. These devices can gather data on usage patterns and use predictive analysis to help determine when the hardware of a certain system might fail, or when stock of a certain crucial medication might run low. Inventory management can become smart RFID tag-based, eliminating time-consuming paperwork and manual ordering. Another example would be the ability to track fleet vehicles equipped with GPS and other sensors so the location of critical shipments can be inferred in real-time.   

4. Cost-Savings for Healthcare Organizations 

The widespread adoption of IoT devices will enable healthcare facilities to significantly cut their costs in several ways. “Applications like Office Security/Video Surveillance, Smart Building Controls and Financial and Healthcare Analytics can help businesses cut costs by 25% to 35% depending on individual use cases and help organizations to derive greater business value from their data assets,” says Laura Didio, Strategy Analytics Director of Enterprise Research and Consulting. 

Challenges to implementation & the way forward  

Some of the key barriers to the implementation of edge computing include the lack of a proper 5G wireless network system, the interoperability of devices with EHRs, the vast amounts of data that need to be stored at the edge and acceptance by healthcare practitioners. One of the hardest problems to address is selecting the appropriate edge computing tools for different healthcare scenarios – thanks to privacy concerns, it is difficult to deploy open-source software directly into healthcare systems. 

Healthcare professionals need to be informed and encouraged to embrace innovation. Organizations need to bring all their stakeholders to the table to work with experts and make sure the systems can actually play out in real life, based on their specific needs and requirements. 

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From governments closing the borders and enforcing lockdowns to businesses struggling to meet the supply and demand, the novel coronavirus is changing the way businesses operate, collaborate and compete. Traditional business models are on the verge of being wiped out by their digital counterparts. Digital Transformation is something that has been predicted by leading analyst firms as the way forward for years now, and certain organizations have already implemented it, with a fast-tracked future now becoming a reality.  In this current scenario, the first movers will have the upper hand in the long journey ahead, and unfortunately, the laggards will struggle to tackle the situation. 

This article takes a predictive look at how various industries will flourish post COVID-19.

Healthcare

Unlike any other industry, COVID-19 has affected the healthcare industry the most. The current situation is an opportunity for healthcare stakeholders to utilize the available tools, software, and technologies such as AI, ML, IoT, Data Analytics, etc to offer better solutions.

Mobile healthcare, IoT, Virtual Assistants, and Robotics are some of the leading areas that healthcare providers can look into. Mobile apps to get in touch with doctors at your convenience, sensors/IoT devices to monitor real-time patient data, virtual assistants to guide healthcare professionals with complex procedures remotely, machine-learned robots to assist doctors in patient examination, etc. are some of the areas where digital transformation is going to make its mark.

Ultimately, new business models will emerge, as all healthcare providers need to rethink their current business strategies and pave the way for the vast opportunities that will come along with this pandemic. 

Retail 

With people staying inside their homes and practicing social distancing, the impact of COVID-19 on retailers will be severe. Leading retailers have started adopting omnichannel digital transformation strategies rapidly to win the customer pie. Most traditional retail customers, who once swore by the in-store experience, have now been forced to experience the convenience of digital purchasing, and are likely to continue with the trend even once this phase of being locked in is over.  

Brick and mortar stores have noted reduced footfall during this situation.  In order to stay afloat, they must now look into newer and more innovative ways to do business – be it through online platforms or even just becoming available on social media platforms to take orders. We are yet to see how the retail industry will evolve post-pandemic but surely, COVID-19 has dramatically accelerated the digital transformation in the retail industry too. 

InsurTech

The insurance industry thrives on predictability and the uncertainty that COVID-19 has caused is unprecedented. Most of their customers will be devastated with the fear of losing their jobs, their businesses and even their lives and they will rely on the insurance industry to be a ray of hope. 

Collaboration with various governments and other industry players to collect data from all possible sources should be the priority. Be it in the form of sensors, IoT devices, weather reports, and drones, they must generate meaningful insights in real-time to offer pro-active and personalized solutions. Coupled with advanced data analysis, they can come up with data models that predict possible future outcomes like this. 

InsurTech players must lead the digital transformation journey in terms of leveraging the latest technologies, optimizing the processes, personalizing the solutions, and bringing in automation to reduce costs and improve efficiency and effectiveness. All the players in the ecosystem must embrace digital transformation at the heart of their strategy to be the front-runners in the new insurance era. 

FinTech

With people being asked to remain indoors and governments and central banks announcing economic relief packages, everyone is looking at FinTech to help implement their ideas.  The current situation brings a new sense of urgency to the need to examine ‘going digital’ by accelerating the rush to digitization. Digital payments have become an integral part of everyday life across the globe, opening up new avenues of innovation and business opportunities in the coming future. 

Digital onboarding, omnichannel retailing and eWallets will likely grow to new heights. Financial institutions must utilize these opportunities and go digital in their offerings. Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and big-data analytics will play a crucial role in formulating FinTech strategies in the digital-only era. 

EduTech

The global learning population has been keenly impacted by the spread of the C0VID-19 virus. Though the infrastructure in terms of internet access, data costs, etc are yet to catch up with the rising requirements, the time is ripe for EduTech companies to make their mark. This will be the point of transition in the adoption of the online medium against the traditional educational model. 

Instead of focusing on replacing mundane administrative and managerial roles, which unfortunately most providers are doing right now, they must embrace and accelerate the digital transformation of education itself. EduTech companies need to collaborate with traditional universities and schools and offer an online-offline system. They must leverage the latest technologies such as online video-based learning, artificial intelligence, machine learning, advanced analytics to personalize the learning experience and ensure a more engaging and valuable offering to the user.

The change here must come from the educational institutes as well, as they need to take the step towards embracing this change – but the current pandemic has only proven that it is high time they understand that this is the future of education. 

Transportation & Logistics

Transportation and logistics players globally are trying to fix things with whatever resources they have because they are the lifelines that make sure the logistics of essentials stay in place. With limited manpower and severe restrictions, they must leverage technologies to overcome this hurdle. 

This is an opportunity for them to rethink their business practices. Instead of working and relying on outdated legacy software systems, they should embrace digitization and automation to stay competitive within the industry. They must accelerate their digital transformation process and partner with technology companies to develop tech-driven solutions to offer streamlined and personalized end-to-end services. They must harness the power of “digital” to handle any unforeseen events in the future. 

The challenges that COVID-19 poses cannot be generalized as it varies from industry to industry. Post epidemic, organizations should revisit and reinvent their business strategies with more focus and weightage on innovation, research and development. Inevitably across industries, digitization shall be embraced with an urgency more than ever before. 

Survival and recovery of core operations should be what organizations focus on post COVID-19. Collaborating with digital technology consultants like Black Rock IT Solutions can help you get the kick-start you need to successfully restart your businesses.

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