The healthcare industry has always pioneered the adoption of new technology, scientific innovation, and digital services. The COVID-19 pandemic only strengthened this phenomenon, and now the digital healthcare market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15.1% from 2022 to 2028.
We have arrived at a more technology-driven healthcare sector thanks to the changing needs and expectations of healthcare professionals, patients, and businesses. Patients prefer convenience. Hospitals want to provide them with value-based care. Moreover, healthcare institutions want cost-effective service models, and all healthcare professionals want to protect confidential healthcare data from data breaches.
Let us now look at the top three digital health trends that have emerged as a result of the changing face of the healthcare industry.
#1 Remote Care: Increased Convenience and Accessibility
The nationwide lockdowns made us realise the need for remote access to essential services, such as education, banking, and healthcare. This paved the way for remote care and telemedicine, which are still growing strong a year after the pandemic ended.
The primary reason why the healthcare industry’s services quickly went remote was the unexpected scarcity of resources. Hospitals, research Centre’s, and other healthcare institutions were overwhelmed with COVID patients, had to maintain safe occupancy levels, and were forced to cut down on non-emergency patient visits. This meant that remote care was the only viable option. While telehealth adoption rates were just 11% before the pandemic, they had increased to 36% by August 2020.
Remote care aims to remotely deliver essential services such as:
- Remote appointment management
- Telemedicine
- Teleconsultation
- Digital health tracking
- Live health monitoring
- Digital prescriptions
- Online ordering of medicine, equipment, and other healthcare products
Remote care is made possible by a combination of healthcare technologies. Doctors and patients use communication channels like video conferencing, screen sharing, file transfer, and audio calls. Most of these services come bundled in neat mobile apps, and they are extremely popular among patients who want to access them on the go. So, it comes as no surprise that in 2020, the total number of downloads for mobile healthcare apps crossed 3.2 billion.
#2 AI: Increasing Efficiency In The Healthcare Industry
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has penetrated all nooks and crannies of the healthcare sector and changed them for the better. For years, AI has been making the healthcare industry work more efficiently, deliver better services, and discover new opportunities in research and innovation.
And after the pandemic, the role of AI has become even more prominent. And with consistent digitization of medical records, extensive recording of patient data, and the vast volume of health data, AI algorithms can be trained better.
AI in the healthcare industry can be used for the following:
- Research and analytics
- Virtual assistants, voice bots, and chatbots
- Patient record management
- Preventive diagnostics
- Medical imaging and processing
- Marketing and advertising
- Accelerated drug development
#3 The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT): IoT In The Healthcare Industry
Post-pandemic, people have become motivated to take care of their health, monitor their parameters activity, and check for symptoms. Thus, wearable health-tracking devices integrated with IoT networks have become commonplace. These devices include smartwatches, Fitbits, activity trackers, bio patches, hearing aids, wearable monitors, etc.
This trend has been dubbed the ‘Internet of Medical Things’ or IoMT. The global IoMT market is projected to reach 94.2 billion USD by 2026.
Wearable medical devices provide valuable data that can help monitor a person’s health. For example, a smartwatch can measure your heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, and even blood vitals, thanks to photoplethysmography (PPG). This information can be extremely useful for preventing diagnosis and daily health monitoring and can even help healthcare professionals save your life in some situations.
In Conclusion: Digital Health Trends, Data Privacy, And The Road Ahead
Remote care, AI, and IoMT all rely on collecting, processing, and monitoring healthcare data. And today, data privacy, confidentiality, and security are critical for all stakeholders in the healthcare industry. To avoid data breaches and leaks, ensure that you are HIPAA compliant and adhere to the regulations of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The same rule applies to any third-party devices, frameworks, or software you use. Since technology is deeply enmeshed in the healthcare industry, following through with a robust data security policy is the best way to become future-ready and ensure smooth sailing.