Healthcare technology trends: how the medical industry is adapting to a new, better tomorrow

Demand for technical solutions has risen as technology and business models evolve. Thanks to COVID-19, digitalization has permeated the healthcare sector. Insurance agencies, hospitals and care centers, medical experts, and even stakeholders are looking to technology to improve business operations and solve existing problems, such as:

• Poor efficiency. According to some estimates, the U.S. healthcare system has nearly $765 billions of “excessive costs” due to inefficient functioning
• Lack of automation. Healthcare experts say that the most damage to their organizations is caused by the excessive reliance on manual processes.
• Billing problems. Urgent healthcare centers often face a problem of missed payments, which leads to big financial losses.
• Supply hoarding and wastage. Traditional healthcare supply chains don’t ensure the optimal relocation of the supplies.

The good news that each of these problems, and even more, can be solved with the help of the latest technological trends. Learn more about that below!

Healthcare Tech Trends and Their Impact on the Medical Industry

The latest digital trends are rapidly reshaping the healthcare industry. They take medical automation and efficiency to a new level, helping medical providers deliver better services to their patients. Here is how it works:

Telehealth

Telehealth, often known as telemedicine, allows your health care practitioner to offer care to you without requiring an in-person appointment scheduled. Telehealth is generally performed online using a computer, tablet, or smartphone with internet connectivity.

Telehealth care comes in a variety of forms. One can contact their doctor by phone or video chat. Telemedicine also involves using secure messaging, email, secure messaging, and secure file exchange to send and receive information from medical providers. Another elements of telehealth is remote monitoring, which means using a gadget to collect vital sings and keep doctors up to date on treatment progress.

Only 11% of people worldwide used telehealth prior to the COVID epidemic, according to a survey conducted by Mckinsey. That proportion has increased to almost 76 percent. Telehealth has been more widely accepted thanks to its numerous benefits, which include time and money savings, ease of access, less risk of contracting dangerous diseases, and a decrease in travel requirements. There has been a professional and popular call for government authorities to continue sponsoring telehealth in the future.

AI’s Role in Personalized Treatment and Advanced Diagnostics

Personalized Treatment Plans

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing personalized medicine by leveraging vast amounts of patient data, including genetic information, medical history, and lifestyle factors. This data-driven approach allows AI to design highly individualized treatment plans that are more effective and have fewer side effects compared to traditional methods.

Genomic Analysis: AI algorithms can analyze genetic data to identify mutations and variations that may influence a patient’s response to certain treatments. This enables healthcare providers to tailor therapies that are most likely to be effective for each individual.

Predictive Analytics: By integrating data from electronic health records, wearable devices, and other sources, AI can predict disease progression and treatment outcomes. This helps in making proactive decisions, such as adjusting medication dosages or recommending lifestyle changes to improve patient outcomes.

Continuous Learning: AI systems continuously learn from new data, improving their accuracy and predictive power over time. This dynamic learning process ensures that treatment plans remain up-to-date with the latest medical research and patient-specific information.

Advanced Diagnostics

AI is also making significant strides in the field of diagnostics, enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of disease detection and management.

Medical Imaging: Advanced AI algorithms, particularly deep learning models, are capable of analyzing medical images with remarkable precision. These systems can detect abnormalities such as tumors, fractures, and neurological conditions more accurately than human radiologists, leading to earlier and more accurate diagnoses.

Pathology: AI-powered tools can analyze tissue samples to identify cancerous cells and other pathological conditions. This not only speeds up the diagnostic process but also reduces the likelihood of human error.

Cardiology: In cardiology, AI can interpret electrocardiograms (ECGs) and other diagnostic tests to detect heart conditions at an early stage. This early detection is crucial for timely intervention and better patient outcomes.

Personalized Diagnostics: AI can tailor diagnostic processes based on individual risk factors. For example, AI can recommend more frequent screenings for high-risk patients while reducing unnecessary procedures for those at lower risk. This personalized approach optimizes healthcare resources and improves patient care.

Potential and Challenges of AI Integration in Healthcare Systems

Transformative Potential of AI in Healthcare

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionize healthcare by enhancing patient care, improving operational efficiencies, and addressing key challenges within the system.

1. Enhanced Patient Care: AI can significantly improve patient outcomes by enabling early disease detection, personalized treatment plans, and continuous monitoring. For instance, AI algorithms can analyze medical images to detect diseases like cancer at an early stage, leading to timely interventions.
2. Operational Efficiencies: AI can streamline administrative tasks, reduce healthcare costs, and optimize resource allocation. By automating routine tasks such as scheduling, billing, and data entry, AI allows healthcare professionals to focus more on patient care.
3. Predictive Analytics: AI-driven predictive analytics can forecast patient needs, identify high-risk patients, and recommend preventive measures. This proactive approach helps in reducing hospital readmissions and improving overall health outcomes.
4. Access to Care: AI can bridge gaps in healthcare access, especially in underserved communities. AI-powered telemedicine platforms and mobile health applications enable remote consultations and diagnostics, making healthcare more accessible.

Challenges of AI Integration in Healthcare

Despite its potential, integrating AI into healthcare systems comes with several challenges that need to be addressed to ensure successful implementation.

1. Data Privacy and Security: The use of AI in healthcare involves handling vast amounts of sensitive patient data. Ensuring data privacy and security is paramount to prevent breaches and maintain patient trust.
2. Regulatory Compliance: AI technologies must comply with stringent healthcare regulations and standards. Navigating the complex regulatory landscape can be challenging for healthcare providers and AI developers.
3. Bias and Fairness: AI algorithms can inherit biases from the data they are trained on, leading to disparities in treatment outcomes. Ensuring fairness and eliminating bias in AI systems is crucial to provide equitable healthcare.
4. Integration with Existing Systems: Integrating AI solutions with existing healthcare infrastructure can be complex and costly. Compatibility issues and the need for significant upgrades can hinder seamless integration.
5. Clinician Acceptance: Healthcare professionals may be resistant to adopting AI technologies due to concerns about job displacement, trust in AI decisions, and the need for additional training. Building trust and providing adequate training are essential for successful AI adoption.
6. Transparency and Explainability: AI systems often operate as “black boxes” making it difficult to understand how they arrive at certain decisions. Ensuring transparency and explainability of AI algorithms is important for gaining clinician and patient trust.

Medical chatbots

There are several causes that have led to the rise of chatbots and virtual assistants in healthcare, including an increase in distant treatment, a greater awareness among patients, and an urgent demand for customization. 35% of customers, according to Oracle, want to see businesses provide virtual assistants.

When it comes to routine and often stressful treatment processes, it’s no secret that most individuals prefer texting to phoning or meeting. As a result, chatbots aren’t simply a way to keep patients engaged but also a way to improve patient outcomes.

Mobile apps

In the post-pandemic world, digital healthcare is in the spotlight. Mobile solutions for healthcare help doctors, clinicians, and hospitals take better care of their patients. Today, more and more people want to get health care without leaving their homes. That’s why personal health apps are growing the most now. More and more people use apps to track their fitness, nutrition, and mental health.

As an example, let’s discuss an AI-based health tracking app that we created for our clients. This solution considers many factors, such as genetics, lifestyle, age as well as real-time health measurements from wearable devices in order to provide users with valuable recommendations and help them set realistic health-related goals.

Electronic data management

Electronic data management helps organizations to combine and analyze medical data to improve patient care, while safeguarding the data’s security and privacy. Here a few of most effective solutions for healthcare organizations:

1. EHR is an electronic version of a patient’s medical history that is maintained by the provider over time and may include all the key administrative clinical data relevant to that person’s care under a particular provider, such as: demographics, medical issues and medications, vital signs, past medical history, immunizations, laboratory data, radiology reports. The advantages of EHR include:

• Exchange of medical history and clinical data in real time, including diagnoses, treatment plans, medications, immunizations, allergies, radiological pictures, and test results.
• Access to evidence-based tools that enhance decision-making and streamline healthcare procedures.
• Patient participation in the therapy process leads to more tangible therapeutic outcomes.

2. An electronic medical record (EMR) is a computerized representation of a patient’s paper charts, which are kept at the doctor’s office. EMRs, like paper records, contain a patient’s medical and treatment history. However, EMR technologies provide a number of benefits to doctors, allowing them to:

• Monitor patient data throughout time.
• Keep an eye on vaccines, medical pictures, and test results.
• Get reminders for patients’ checks and screenings
• Keep track of the therapy procedure.

Blockchain

They say that blockchain is reviving the medical sector’s capabilities. In what ways? Let’s consider some of its applications in healthcare.

Blockchain is already used to rethink the medical supply chain. Thanks to its decentralized technology, it guarantees full transparency for the pharmaceutical management. With the help of blockchain, it’s easy to monitor and control drug shipping.

Blockchain also helps keep medical records secure and avoid data breaches. It can ensure that information is shared with only authorized parties. Besides, this decentralized technology allows to streamline healthcare processes and prevent mistakes caused by delays and miscommunication.

Cloud computing

The ability to securely access, store, and manage vast volumes of data is a significant benefit of cloud computing. As keeping and securing sensitive patient data is crucial, its introduction in the healthcare sector was inevitable. As a result, it is anticipated that the worldwide healthcare cloud computing industry would grow to $89.4 billion by 2027. From $39.4 billion in 2022, it indicates a CAGR of 17.8%.

Patients who have access to cloud-based healthcare apps may safely, easily, and from any location obtain, see, and preserve their data. As a result, to stay up to speed on therapies and real-time health information, physicians and patients may fully benefit from cloud-based apps. Additionally, these applications promote patient involvement, which is crucial for the best possible therapy success.

Additionally, cloud-based programs and services give medical institutions rapid, simple, and universal access to patient EMRs, insurance policies, financial records, and even research data.

Digital supply chains

Supply Chain Management (SCM) is crucial to the healthcare sector’s effort to create a self-sufficient healthcare environment. The healthcare supply chain creates a tremendous quantity of data. It is critical to use data appropriately in order to alter the supply chain. Integrating the greatest digital technology can assist to improve supply chain performance at all levels.

The incorporation of cutting-edge disruptive technologies into supply chain management systems, such as AI, Blockchain, data analytics, and IoT, promotes efficient operations, security, and rapid growth in the global healthcare sector. Markets & Markets predicts that the worldwide healthcare SCM market will grow to $3.3 billion in 2025.

Hyper-personalized medicine

The goal of personalized healthcare (PHC) is to tailor medical care to each patient’s unique requirements. Hyper-personalized medicine is a set of digital tools that help with genetic disorders that are passed down from parent to child. It means coming up with new drugs that can treat diseases that are fatal, rare, or hopeless. They are made to fit the people’s genes and include replacing, editing, and turning off genes.

But the idea of “hyper-personalized medicine” is about more than just using technology to make medicines. Basically, it turns biology into technology. The software can find the genomes of patients and fix their cells, which means fixing their DNAs. These steps include figuring out what the drug is made of and making a plan for how to take it, how much to take, and what to eat.

The Right Approach to Building Medical Software

Being a company with extensive 13-year experience in software development, we have helped many healthcare organizations by providing custom-designed software. When it comes to creating solutions for the medical field, every smallest detail plays a vital role since we deal with sensitive patient data and people’s physical well-being.

From choosing the right programming language to designing a functional user interface, everything must be approached in a highly professional manner. There’s no room for error on our mission. That’s why we know how to address even the most complicated challenges in the following aspects:

User-friendly interface

When developing a healthcare solution, we approach each of its elements in a highly professional manner, without missing any detail. That’s why we do our best to create an intuitive and well-designed user interface that easily connects patients with systems, ensuring great coordination and better outcomes. We know that the degree of patient happiness and employee productivity are both boosted thanks to top-notch UI.

Medical app design is full of challenges, but we know how to overcome them. For example, if there is a lack of references, it’s crucial to work closely with healthcare experts during the development process to ensure that the app meets all necessary clinical requirements. In case when it’s impossible to test user experience hypotheses, it makes sense to resort to a virtual testing environment.

User errors are another widespread problem when it comes to medical software. To eliminate this problem, the app interface must be intuitive. It should contain a sufficient number of confirmation dialogs and notifications to provide better user experience.

Programming language

Another crucial element of any software development process is choosing the right programming language. Our team works with .NET as it’s a strong technology offering several advantages over other options.

One major benefit is that.NET can integrate with existing systems and software, allowing organizations to make the most of their current investments. Second, it gives us the chance to include sophisticated features while maintaining a straightforward backend.

Additionally, .NET has thorough support for creating highly secure apps, which is crucial in the delicate area of medical data. The fact that.NET can be used to develop desktop and online apps gives us a lot of freedom in how we deliver our solutions.

By incorporating machine learning algorithms, software gets smarter over time. As a result of hlearning from existing data, the program can start increasing its own performance.

Minimum Viable Product

If you want to see how the final product will work and get some user feedback on it, you should start with creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). It’s not a finished solution but a quick and inexpensive test for customers, which allows them to check software design and get consumer input.

Once the final features and functions of the solution are tested and verified, it’s time to take the final step towards building and testing. This approach helps to confirm all assumptions about the product and its market. On top of that, an MVP prevents from spending a lot of time or money on the final product before it’s tested.

In Conclusion

The applications of high-end technology are sneaking their way into medical organizations, taking healthcare to the next level. Frankly speaking, developing medical software is a complicated task. But not for our team of dedicated professionals! Contact us to make sure that we can find the best solution for your business.