Top 5 Ways to Leverage Technology in Healthcare

​The world is talking about CoronaVirus (COVID-19). The situation is very grave, and no one knows how long it will continue! Millions of people are isolated in their homes, with only technology to keep them updated and entertained. But, the biggest challenge in these times is to continue providing healthcare effectively; that is one of the prominent needs of the times.

Circumstances have forced everyone to realize that effective use of technology can help manage, if not avert, disasters, or natural calamities better. So, let’s see how technology can make healthcare more accessible across the world, and which trends in digital health we can highlight today.

1. Trackers & Sensors

Over the years, people have realized the need to take care of their health. A healthy body is less vulnerable to infections and diseases; and, it also helps recover quickly. So, let’s see how we can work for better health.

Wearables, trackers, and sensors are the best gifts that technology has given to the healthcare sector. Using these devices, you can track your health persistently and use the alarms in the reports to seek medical aid.

Some tracking and monitoring devices capture the information of the users and share it with their doctors. Doctors can alert the user when something is wrong and needs prompt action.

Quite recently, you would have read news about how the authorities across the world are trying to trace the contact channels of patients who tested positive for CoronaVirus. Now imagine how easily a location tracker app can do that. After tracking the locations, authorities can reach out to the people who came in contact with those infected.

Face recognition, along with AI/ML, can also help trace all the places an infected user has traveled by screening the CCTV footage in the connecting paths. Time will thus teach us more effective ways to use sensors and trackers in healthcare.

2. Virtual Assistants & Chatbots

It is time the world starts using chatbots and virtual assistants on a large scale. Authorities around the world are starting helplines for citizens to support them on their queries related to CoronaVirus. It is essential for making people aware, preventing the spread of the infection, and helping those who are confined to their homes.

But, it is not possible to deploy human resources for such helplines in large numbers. So, chatbots and virtual assistants can substitute for human resources in such circumstances.

Users seek help on a variety of topics. A structured chatbot can answer all the frequently asked questions such as how to approach healthcare services when one feels symptomatic. These bots can also guide on the precautions to be taken when you are home quarantined. These chatbots can also route the different queries to the relevant doctors and authorities.  

This is not all! Virtual assistants can also help in appointment management for hospitals. They can check available slots of doctors, assign the slots to the patients, and remind the patients so that they don’t miss the appointment.

The most significant advantage of using bots in helplines is that they are free of errors, unbiased, and consistent. So, why not think of more innovative ways of applying chatbots for supporting healthcare!

3. Robots

Robotics in surgeries and medical procedures are common practice now. Robots have made these processes more uniform, accurate, error-free, and timely. But, can’t we utilize the potential of robots in different areas of healthcare?

Robots can assist and replace humans in many more areas of healthcare. So let’s see the new applications of healthcare robotics in 2020.

Do you know that robots are used to serve patients of CoronaVirus? This has, by far, been the best application of robotics in healthcare. Robots are finally replacing humans in sensitive areas where healthcare professionals must be protected from infections. The routine tasks in hospitals such as cleaning the spaces, serving food or medicines to infected patients, and moving equipment to and from the infected patients can be easily managed by robots, without the threat of spreading the infection to other humans.

With time and experience, medical professionals will be able to use robots more and better. This will significantly solve the human resource problem in healthcare services, especially when the industry is already suffering from a resource crisis.

4. Telemedicine

CoronaVirus has disturbed the healthcare sector worldwide. Suddenly the demand for healthcare services has increased manifold. And, this kind of demand wasn’t anticipated, even by the developed countries.

In these times, while the doctors, nurses, and hospitals are busy attending the COVID-19 patients, it is difficult for people with other ailments to avail of medical facilities. Some of them could be struggling with serious illnesses but are either not able to get an appointment at the hospital, or are apprehensive of visiting the hospitals which are flooded with CoronaVirus patients. So, there has to be a way that these patients are also able to seek medical help.

We have realized the value of telemedicine like never before. Telemedicine facilitates treating the patients at their homes without needing them to go to the hospital. So, the technology-empowered healthcare system can manage the patients in high numbers if telemedicine is implemented well, and on a large scale.  

Nevertheless, telemedicine is the biggest achievement of technology in healthcare. It will help excellent healthcare accessibility across nations, and even to remote areas which are devoid of such facilities. And, it will go a long way in supporting this sector, especially in times of crisis!

5. Training

In these times of the CoronaVirus crisis, the world is struggling with a shortage of medical professionals to attend to the increasing numbers of patients. To meet the needs of unprecedented demand, the world must now plan and prepare for adding trained medical professionals to help manage the crisis well.

However, even medical practitioners are at risk of contracting the infection and succumbing to fatigue. It is important that the experienced doctors and nurses who have struggled with the situation for a long time now, share their experiences, and train those who are new to the problem. And this training must reach even the remotest parts of the world.

Training of medical professionals is possible with the use of apps. AR/VR-based apps are capable of giving simulation training and real-like experience to medical professionals. And, these apps are engaging for the users.

Awareness is the key in times of disaster! People across the world require training through technology to protect themselves from infection. 

Wrapping Up!

All of us are aware of the importance of a robust healthcare sector in the development of a country. But 2020, with the spread of CoronaVirus, has put healthcare at the forefront all over the world.

Technology can help manage this sector much better. Over the years, technology trends in healthcare have changed very rapidly. So, here are some technology applications that will dominate the healthcare sector in 2020.  

More than ever, the healthcare sector needs innovation, anything that can help the world cope with the CoronaVirus crisis effectively. So, do you have any such app or software for hospitals idea which can leverage the top technologies for the healthcare sector? Contact us now, and we will help you change your imagination to reality!    

About the Author: Jin Markov

Jin Markov is a Content Writer with GoodFirms, a research firm in the USA. He loves learning about the trends in application development while sipping his favorite cup of coffee.