COVID-19’s imprint is still felt worldwide, even though the year 2021 has passed. Healthcare, of all the businesses that the worldwide pandemic’s effects have eternally transformed, has probably changed the most. The healthcare business has changed in unique ways to continue to give the same great level of service, thanks to substantial developments in technology and processes required to meet the increased demand for healthcare access and expanding digitalization of protected health information. As we move forward, it’s vital to keep an eye on the trends that will shape healthcare systems in 2022. While legacy software & infrastructure are essential to the operation of contemporary hospitals and care centers, it’s also necessary to think about how old systems may merge with newer technology or be replaced with more dependable systems in the future. Performance, creativity, efficiency, and security should be prioritized without losing dependability or accessibility and are one of the top technology trends in 2022.
Healthcare Business Breakthrough
Transformational findings and developments are prospective for augmenting the healthcare industry in 2022. Most of the significant modifications are still in the works! Let’s look at the most technical aspects that can alter your business if you’re ready to learn more about the tech advancements propelling the health sector toward digital transformation this year. This article will look at the significant medical technology developments and revolutions likely to occur shortly. The focus is on improving the quality and cost of healthcare services and anticipating and preventing diseases rather than treating them once they have progressed. Let’s look at the digitalization that will influence the healthcare industry’s future and add further to Action Medical Technologies.
5 Healthcare Technology Trends For 2022
The health sector has proven critical in maintaining the healthcare industry’s resilience in the face of the epidemic. The widespread use of digital healthcare delivery services and the rapid manufacture and distribution of vaccinations have demonstrated that we can adapt to the new specific community, which has been evolving. So, what can we expect in terms of healthcare technology developments in 2022? Digital healthcare trends drive healthcare providers and providers to provide improved access to treatment and improve patient care for every patient as we approach the New Year while still during the epidemic. Here are the top five ideas for 2022 that will enhance the future of healthcare for everyone.
(1) Taking Telehealth To The Edge
Telehealth has long been on the outside of healthcare, but the epidemic has made it the standard means of patient-provider communication. Despite the reintroduction of the in visits, telemedicine use has surged 38 times since the pandemic, as patients and clinicians alike appreciate the convenience of virtual sessions.
Telehealth produces enormous amounts of data. Connected technology, including sensors and Network of Medical Things (IoMT) devices, is responsible for most. In need for telehealth to continue to grow and deliver value, institutions must invest in edge computing, which allows for real-time processing and analysis of the large amounts of decentralized data created by telehealth.
Edge computing minimizes the amount of bandwidth needed for telehealth systems to analyze and store large volumes of data. It also reduces latency, allowing for quicker decision-making and communication between physicians and patients, which is crucial in instances where every second matters.
(a) Democratize Healthcare At The Edge
Telehealth opens new possibilities for people who reside in “care deserts,” or areas where proper treatment is 30 miles or more distant. Eighty percent of counties in the United States are due to lack of access to essential care, yet telehealth allows patients to get these treatments regardless of their location. Telemedicine can safely and efficiently manage approximately 75% of all doctor, emergency treatment, and ER visits; therefore, accessibility to telehealth in remote places might help narrow a long-standing health gap.
Without edge computing, telehealth initiatives, such as remote monitoring, may be implemented. Telehealth data must be delivered to a centralized place, such as a provider’s data center or a prominent cloud provider, without investing in edge computing. Unfortunately, analyzing telehealth data in a centralized place takes longer and consumes more bandwidth. Edge computing decreases the amount of data & time needed to support a smart telehealth endeavor by processing data close to the point of generation.
(b) The Initiation To Edge
Edge computing also facilitates the adoption of technology like remote patient monitoring. Monitoring devices connected to the Internet of Things (IoT) can offer information about patients and where they are, whether at the institution or home. Edge computing benefits clinicians and patients in telehealth settings since it allows for real-time data access. A doctor, for example, can video conference a patient while also collecting health data, enabling them to examine the patient’s concerns better and create an informed treatment plan.
Remote monitoring technologies also improve patient outcomes by allowing people to take charge of their health. They may use these devices to track their vital signs, adjust their prescription regimen to fit their schedule, and communicate information to their doctors. Connection’s Telemedicine Systems can help you push the boundaries of telemedicine, giving you and your patients more convenient, secure, and collaborative healthcare resources.
(2) Smart Data Dispensation With AI/ML
Aside from telemedicine, an edge investment improves the performance of AI/ML systems and considerable data efforts. Running AI/ML efforts near the site of data production allows a provider to see trends in real-time and simplify training models for quicker processing and better accuracy. You can also check the groundbreaking healthcare technologies at Ever Medical Technologies.
There are various ways AI and machine learning may help the healthcare business progress. AI helped 86% of healthcare workers whose firms had used it make data useful, and 79% claimed it helped them avoid provider fatigue by automating back-office duties. However, significant developing areas where enterprises are harnessing the benefits of the technology include research and innovation, population health management, and revenue cycle management.
(a) Accelerate Research
By analyzing samples & identifying abnormal regions faster and more precisely than humans, AI can enhance cancer detection. For example, Children’s Health of Orange County is constructing an edge architecture to accommodate an AI project that will assist physicians in providing faster and much more accurate diagnoses. Want to discover more regarding the future of healthcare technology? Don’t worry as we have you covered. Do click to read our blog Healthcare And Blockchain – The Beginning Of Transformation.
(b) Analyze & Automate
Any provider’s payment and claims administration is a hassle. AI/ML efforts that are well-designed can help to alleviate this strain. Artificial intelligence (AI) can automate procedures previously handled individually on a case-by-case basis. Prior authorizations, for example, are one of the most time-consuming and transaction-heavy portions of the financial statements, requiring personnel to do a series of repeated procedures. By automating these activities and predicting changes in future authorizations, AI can relieve the pressure on providers.
Similarly, claims departments are adopting machine learning. This enables the algorithm to forecast which requests will be refused and approved. The average denial rate for health claims is 9%. Learning why claims are refused, applying intelligence during claim assessment, flagging missing information, and prompting human intervention are examples of how machine learning may be employed.
(3) Boost Accuracy for Population Health Management
Only 21% of healthcare institutions used analytics to improve population health on a large scale in 2019. However, the tendency is accelerating with smart information processing at the edge. Edge computing enables quick analysis & integration of health data with the other socio-economic and environmental data, revealing if a patient is in danger, is likely to be readmitted, or has noncompliance issues. Providers can make more educated treatment decisions and the best overall care plans using this information. This is one trend you need to keep an eye on as the impending trends in healthcare in 2022 for its simplicity.
(a) A Wider Playing Field For Robotics
Robotic surgery has been there since the 1980s when robotic arms were initially used to help surgeons in the operating theater. Surgical aid capabilities in robots have grown to allow treatments to be performed with the least invasiveness possible, lowering recovery time and infection risk. Robotics-assisted healthcare treatments may now be performed in a broader range of locations because of improved network optimization, faster processing (with the edge or 5G as the latest digital health technology trends), and greater security.
(b) Adjust Labor Shortages
Healthcare robots have extended from the operating room to other business areas, helping to alleviate labor shortages by doing time-consuming but straightforward activities, allowing personnel to focus on patient care. AI will assist this growing focus on robotics by enabling human-supervised robots to behave more autonomously, conducting operations, and roaming freely around the hospital to do jobs like linen transportation, cleaning, and even patient engagement.
(c) Facilitate Processes Management
Robotics assist with logistics, stock control, and supply management. Today, these seem to be robots operating hospital elevators and floors to transfer medication and supplies across the institution. On the other hand, robots are expected to play a more significant role in the supply chain in the future, allowing for initiatives such as perpetual inventory and strategic sourcing.
(d) Improve Workplace Infection Control
During the pandemic, healthcare robots played an important role in monitoring patients for fever, cleaning hospital rooms, and providing medicine and meals. In addition, robots are becoming more prevalent inpatient care. Patients can engage with robots equipped with displays and specialized sensors without putting physicians or other patients in danger of infection.
(4) Improving Surgical Outcomes Via AR/VR
In the surgery arena and post-op rehabilitation, AR (Augmented Reality) & VR (Virtual Reality) is rising, and it is presently being employed in state-of-the-art institutions. AR uses picture overlays & location-specific information to enhance what is viewed, whereas VR builds a new digital experience that replaces the existing real world. Although AR and VR have different uses in healthcare, they are being utilized to enhance surgery and post-operative care.
(a) Reduce Invasive Processes
When doing surgery, a surgeon often employs an anatomical roadmap derived from image acquisition, such as scans and x-rays. This is excellent guidance when doing an open operation with the patient’s anatomy exposed. However, many procedures are now being performed utilizing less invasive methods to reduce recuperation durations and infection risk.
AR can be utilized to give surgeons vital images during minimally invasive surgeries. AR allows surgeons significantly more information during an operation by developing a 3D model of a patient’s anatomy and trying to impose it on their live video feed. Smart glasses, for example, integrate medical video processing with 3D augmented reality visuals. By projecting three-dimensional reconstructions of the patient’s interior anatomy onto the surgeon’s restricted range of vision, an Orthopedic surgeon may execute minimally invasive treatments more correctly.
(b) Allow Better Practice & Education Opportunities
Surgeons can also utilize these 3D models to rehearse their procedures before they do them. Medici’s, for example, combines a mix of AR and AI imagery to provide surgeons with a 3D holographic picture of a patient’s anatomy, allowing them to prepare ahead of time and even rehearse surgeries. Virtual reality is quickly becoming an important teaching tool for the next generations of surgeons. Participants can be guided on a 3D journey of the human body, whereas an instructor narrates using goggles and headphones.
During surgery, a physician can use AR technology to provide expert colleagues, residents, or students virtual access to see and hear what they’re seeing and hearing and provide input. Furthermore, virtual reality (VR) may educate and calm patients by showing them exactly what’s going on inside their bodies and how a procedure will be carried out. It’s also suitable for patient rounds.
(c) Improve Methods For Pain Management
Another area where virtual reality is gaining traction as a possible solution is pain treatment. In this scenario, VR serves as an engaging distraction, encouraging patients to control their breathing or concentrate on what’s in front of people rather than the pain. During COVID, over 200 inpatients at Hoag Hospital were treated using virtual reality technology and asked to rate their pain during a 15–30-minute session. Patients reported lower pain levels and showed down-regulation on Mri data of pain-processing regions of the brain, which was positive. Together with a growing body of evidence, this study suggests that virtual reality is a potential, risk-free pain treatment option that might even reduce the need for opioids.
(5) Deprived of Security There Is Only Instability
During the pandemic, healthcare systems were a popular target for cybercriminals. They were exposed to cybersecurity threats because of hasty technological adoption and organizational changes. These assaults are harmful, not just in terms of compliance. Still, they may also entirely interfere by compelling a hospital or a healthcare system to take its means of network and rely on paper and a pen, putting patients in danger.
There have been 706 big healthcare data breaches in the last year (above 500 records), exposing the health information of more than 44 million people. At the same time, technology, and techniques like robots, IoT, and advanced data processing provide exciting new possibilities in the field of healthcare but also present prospective ransomware assault targets.
Organizations must develop more robust centralized networks, strengthen infrastructure, assure device security, and operate in leading cloud configurations to prevent cyber security assaults. A connection can assist you with protecting your data, managing your mobile phones and network, and migrating to the cloud with ease.
The Forthcoming – Looking Forward To A More Equitable 2022
The healthcare trends forecasted for 2022 depict a world where patients and healthcare providers benefit from usable and intelligent data. It will also allow people to operate on flexible hours, take diverse methods to study, research, and partnerships, and provide equal access to healthcare delivery services. For health and health systems, automating health technologies will improve service delivery outcomes. The use of technology in healthcare has improved the delivery of patient care, allowing for uniform treatment levels on a broad scale. The pandemic functioned as a stimulus for a competent evaluation, adoption, and administration of developing healthcare technologies, and digitization in healthcare had a good influence. Connect with the development experts at Clustox to gain a better understanding of the technologies you can add to upgrade your healthcare sector. We have built a lot of software that is being used in some of the most renowned countries across the globe. Let’s meet and discuss your project or send us the details in an email to set up a short call.
