Technology has a large impact on various industries each year– and healthcare is no exception. New healthcare technologies allow us to reach heights that had not been possible before. These new strides help patients obtain a greater level of care than they would have otherwise, allowing even better outcomes.  

What Types of Technology Promote Safe and Effective Patient Care?

Many strides are being made in improving patient care through technology, but AI is one of the greatest and most promising. While robots are not running the healthcare field, AI - artificial intelligence - is making its presence known.

‍

AI is being actively explored for healthcare applications in areas such as lifestyle management and monitoring, health information management, and virtual health assistance. This technology can help provide real-time patient data to healthcare providers and in turn, can inform treatment plans and care. This enables more personalized healthcare that, in the long run, will drive patient behavior changes and improve patient outcomes.

New AI technology is especially useful for automating administrative workflows in healthcare. It aids healthcare providers by prioritizing urgent tasks – which is a huge time saver for routine jobs. Technology such as voice-to-text transcriptions helps automate non-patient care activities – including ordering tests, prescribing medications, and writing chart notes.

‍

A partnership between the Cleveland Clinic and IBM is a strong example of how AI can be effective in healthcare management. IBM’s Watson mines big data and assists healthcare providers by offering a highly personalized and efficient treatment experience to their patients. In addition, providers can learn about varied treatment plans by using NLP (natural language processing) and analyze more information in a shorter amount of time. AI applications, such as this one, could feasibly lead to around $18 billion in savings for the healthcare industry.

‍

How Are New Technologies Changing Health Care?

‍
The role of technology in improving health outcomes has taken a new look since the onset of Covid. It has moved many in-house healthcare appointments to online telehealth appointments. That’s because of convenience, lower costs, and ease.

Patients and providers have responded positively to this shift and are in favor of technology playing a role in healthcare management. Modern medicine is making strides to improve the patient experience by incorporating technology into coordinated care plans.

‍

New Medical Technology 2023

• AI (Artificial Intelligence)- A new surge in simple ways for AI to be utilized is showing up more and more. Programmers have created machines with tailored algorithms that can mimic human thought processes. These AI apparatus can learn, make decisions and take appropriate actions without any human intervention.
  
  
  
• Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)- Due to legislative changes to Medicare since Covid-19, many RPM devices were approved for reimbursement, making them a prevalent method of health monitoring. The most common monitored processes are blood pressure, heart rate, weight, and blood sugar. The results can all be sent to the provider without going into a physical office or visiting a lab.
  
  
  
• Internet-Connected Medical Devices- These include more than 500,000 medical devices that are connected to the internet to provide real-time, accurate patient data. For example, asthma or COPD patients often have sudden attacks with little to no warning. Internet-connected inhalers can monitor the frequency of attacks and collect data from the environment to find out what triggered the attack. These devices can also alert patients when they leave their inhalers at home or when they use the inhaler improperly.
  
  
  
• Virtual Assistants - AI-powered virtual assistants are available 24/7 and can help answer patient questions quickly and effectively – leading to more patient engagement and better self-management skills. If patients are more engaged with their own care, this can help prevent severe conditions from worsening and perhaps avoid unnecessary medical visits.

‍

What are the benefits of modern technology in healthcare?‍

There are various other ways that science improves patient care through the latest technology in healthcare. Newer EHR platforms (electronic health records) make life a little easier for patients and medical staff alike.

‍

Patients can expect to see easier access to their medical records, improved patient education, and reduced medical errors. All with reduced costs.

‍

Examples of How Technology Improves Patient Safety

New healthcare technologies can be found in many areas. Electronic health records can be integrated with many popular wearables, devices, remote patient monitoring trackers, Bluetooth scales, and other smart tools– making it easy to monitor progress between visits.

‍

This technology is especially helpful with preventative care and long-term patient monitoring that can vastly improve health outcomes.

‍

Below is a list of a few ways science is improving patient care through technology:

• Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)- This system helps monitor a patient’s health statistics and relay them to a health professional. This system is especially effective for those living in remote areas.
  
  
• Wearable devices- These, along with the apps that read them, help track heart rates, exercise, sleep, respiration, and other important statistics.
  
  
• Electronic Health Records (EHR)- These are revolutionizing how health care providers control their health records and collect online payments.  
  
  
• Telehealth- Supports people with long-term conditions by helping them self-manage their condition, remain more independent, and reduce hospital visits. Patient information is transmitted to a clinical or non-clinical monitoring service– allowing the patient’s health to be assessed and addressed by the appropriate healthcare provider.

• Apps - Serves as a holistic way for healthcare providers and patients to manage healthcare with on-the-go communication, food logging, appointment scheduling, and more. By having instant access to this information – healthcare providers can monitor patients more closely and prevent illnesses.

• Self-Administered Lab Testing – Patients can monitor ongoing conditions with a mouth swab or pin-prick to allow for any changes in treatment.

Science is going to continue to innovate in health care and technology is going to continue to change the management of patient care. At Healthie, we are committed to transforming the future of healthcare through virtual-first experiences that enable providers to build long-term relationships with clients. Click here to sign up for a Free Starter Account and get started with Healthie today