Technology plays a significant role in the healthcare industry. Thanks to medical technological innovations, diagnosing patients, providing care, and treating diseases, are made easier and more convenient. This also helps in lightening the load of healthcare staff that are overworked and burned out.
Communication among healthcare providers and interpreting and collecting data are no longer as hard as they used to be. Even providing accessible treatment to patients even in far-flung areas is now possible. We can all agree that the healthcare industry is one field that benefits significantly from today’s technology.
Here are four ways medical technology is changing the healthcare industry as we know it.
Easy Access to Health Care
Different patients can have varying cases. Some live in the city, where they find it easy to get medical help as necessary. Others live in suburban areas and need to drive hours before reaching the nearest healthcare facility.
Technology makes it easier for patients to access medical care. Healthcare providers can also easily reach out to patients needing their help. This is especially crucial for people who need immediate care and have sensitive medical information.
Thankfully, different software makes it efficient for different affected agencies to work smarter in providing the necessary care to patients. Take telehealth as an example.
This is a strategy used to give patients easy access to health-related services. With the right platform, patients can use digital information and communication technologies to reach out to doctors remotely. They can set appointments, avail remote doctor-patient consultations, and even monitor their vital signs without having to travel to their doctor’s office.
Improved Care and Efficiency
In patient care, healthcare providers can easily work on a patient’s needs if they have easy access to the patient’s medical history and relevant information. Gone are the days when one simply relied on written medical history, thanks to the paperless system offered by many providers.
Take software as a service (SaaS) platforms, for instance. A SaaS platform makes integrated mental health care possible. Healthcare providers can easily communicate and share the history and personal details of patients with mental illness.
Everyone involved in the care of patients needs an accurate and efficient way to keep track of patient’s health and progress. Many platforms make it easy to access patient’s sensitive information safely. With timely access to patient information, healthcare providers can easily coordinate with the patient’s healthcare providers and provide the necessary care appropriate for the patient’s case.
Create Personalized Parts for Patients
Not many people would associate 3D printing with the healthcare industry. We often associate this with the industrial, automotive, fashion, and aerospace industries. But in reality, 3D printing is making waves in the healthcare industry.
3d printing technology is now used to create prosthetics for patients who lost their limbs. Automating the creation of prosthetics makes the process easy and cost-efficient. Patients get to enjoy limbs tailored to match their unaffected limbs.
Most 3D printed hands allow users to enjoy lifelike extremities. With the kind of technology we have today, experts can create prosthetics with object gripping capabilities. They may now feel the object itself and perform tasks like hold water bottles and twisting the cap off.
One of the most remarkable ways 3-D printing is used in the healthcare industry is to create printed organs. After 3-D printing an organ, experts will transfer the new organ into an incubation center. They will then wait for cells to grow before implanting the organ to the patient.
Aid Faster Recovery and Practice Upcoming Surgeries
Virtual reality is now used by doctors. They do this to allow patients to experience being at home or anywhere else without leaving their hospital beds. Studies show that some people recover faster at home. The familiar environment makes it easier for them to recuperate faster, thus reducing the time needed for treatment.
But since not all patients are safe to go home just get, some healthcare institutions now offer VR technology at the patient’s bedside. This gives the patient the freedom to look and feel their home and aid in their faster recovery.
Surgeons also make use of VR technology to practice upcoming surgeries. They do simulations, find problem areas they are likely to encounter during operation, and find the necessary solutions before starting the surgery. This has led to better surgical outcomes for up to 230%.
These are just some remarkable ways technology is helping reshape the field of health care. Sharing sensitive patient information, creating new parts, aiding faster recovery are now made possible. We can also attribute the increased surgery success rates to the different medical technological innovations. We can only expect more technologies to further improve the healthcare industry in the following years to come.
