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The technological revolution & growth in the healthcare industry has been astronomical, and it’s not hard to see why. IT is critical in managing health data, sharing vital medical information, and giving patients more control over their state of health. Information technology in healthcare also plays a major role in helping patients meet important health goals such as managing hypertension and blood sugar levels. It’s no wonder over 92% of healthcare professionals in the US use EHRs/EMRs (electronic health/medical records).
With 2022 just around the corner, here are the top 22 trends showing how tech will transform the Healthcare industry.
Over 75% of US citizens wished their healthcare services were more personalized. This is why it’s not surprising that healthcare providers will use micro-moments to personalize their services. This is where they provide medical services at the exact moment when a patient needs them.
Mental health conditions are more common than people care to admit, and statistics reveal that nearly 1 in every 5 US citizens struggles with a mental illness. While chatbots and mobile phones are transferring the healthcare industry, they only offer patients support and then transfer their data to healthcare providers. Smartphone-assisted therapy is built on this concept, only that it analyzes a patient’s speech patterns and their voice to determine if they’re displaying any symptoms of emotional or mental ability and use this information to administer behavioral therapy.
The popularity of smartphone-assisted therapy will continue riding on the waves of the already flourishing mobile technologies. The worldwide mHealth apps market is forecasted to grow at a compound annual rate of 17.7% from 2021 to 2028 to hit the $149.3 billion mark in 2028.
Big Data is the huge amount of information gained from medical technologies that manage hospital performance and collect medical records. Studies show that by 2022, the healthcare market will have $34.27 billion worth of big data. This Healthcare tech trend is revolutionary and is transforming how medical systems utilize devices to achieve high-quality medical services and monitor patient health.
The innovation can derive from:
With this solution, healthcare facilities can accurately evaluate and organize every piece of data for every patient, enhancing personalized patient care plans. Also, they can now process data and get actionable insights in real-time, leading to faster decision-making.
IoMT refers to the interconnected healthcare infrastructure, including services and systems that enhance medical services accessibility in rural and marginalized areas.
For example, it allows people that have no access to healthcare centers to receive treatment in their homes. The Internet of Medical Things should, however, not be confused with Remote Patient Monitoring.
They are 2 different concepts, and IOMT covers a broad spectrum of technologies. Research revealed that by 2027, the size of IoT in the healthcare market will be worth $260.75 Billion.
Remote Patient Monitoring is a trend that connects healthcare providers with their patients to enhance coordinated treatment and management of complex illnesses. Patients are provided with several wearables, sensors, and trackers to improve 24/7 monitoring. With these devices, healthcare providers can remotely determine a patient’s critical health data and remind them of their medication as prescribed. The result is high-quality, cost-saving, and time-saving healthcare services- no more patient-to-doctor infections.
Over 11% of the US population, or 30 million citizens, will be using remote patient monitoring tools by 2024. RPM is a healthcare tech trend that allows healthcare providers to manage complex medical conditions and remotely coordinate treatment with their patients. The clinicians equip their patients with house sets that measure their health data, send it to their healthcare providers and remind them to take medication.
Traditionally, it’s only during regular therapy sessions that patients get a chance to report new symptoms. Online symptom Tracking is eliminating this sluggish way of doing things.
This solution allows patients to report their symptoms digitally every day. Medical providers can assess any updates in real-time and nail down the best treatment.
Online symptom trackers are systems or applications that allow patients to input their symptoms to track the presence or absence of diseases. They allow healthcare professionals to track the outbreak and spread of diseases and were highly used when COVID-19 struck.
The CDC currently has an active tracking network that analyses more than 600 environmental measures that affect health and can be displayed as charts.
Wearable technology was first introduced in the healthcare industry as fitness bands, but their scope of use has rapidly evolved. Healthcare professionals now use these devices to monitor patient health data remotely. Research shows that wearable devices are the future of the healthcare industry, and currently, over 30% of US adults own one.
The Global VR market will be worth $69.60 by 2028. Medical interns are now leveraging the power of this technology to further their knowledge and enhance their skills. This eliminates the need for human cadavers when studying human anatomy..
Telehealth is also referred to as telemedicine, and it allows healthcare professionals to deliver medical services without the need for an in-person visit. This tech trend boomed during COVID-19 due to social distancing measures, and it’s not about to fade away soon. In fact, by the first quarter of 2021, over 80% of healthcare professionals were offering telehealth services.
The post-pandemic has witnessed telehealth gaining speed tremendously as healthcare organizations rush to restrict the spread of infections. Trends such as real-time virtual consultation, teleradiology, telePharmacy, and remote patient care are here to stay in 2022 and beyond. Relieable sources say that telehealth is expected to hit the $460 million mark by 2030.
Virtual nurse assistants are on the rise, and it’s not hard to see why.
They leverage AI technology to offer patients personalized services such as monitoring their health conditions, helping them track their systems, booking medical appointments, and many more.
A Global Newswire report highlights that by 2028 the virtual assistant market in the healthcare industry will be worth $2.8 billion.
Predictive analytics is a healthcare tech that draws on machine learning systems, statistical algorithms, and data to show future outcomes. It procures healthcare providers with insights that help them determine the best course of treatment for their patients. Research reveals that the global predictive analytics market will grow at a CAGR rate of 21.7% by 2026.
Predictive analytics is shaping the industry when it comes to predictive care for at-risk patients in their homes. It combines artificial intelligence, data mining, machine learning, statistics and other advanced data analytics to predict a patient’s future condition and pinpoint any deterioration in their health. The innovation allows doctors to prepare precise medicine and new therapies based on expected conditions. Healthcare predictive Analytics is forecasted to hit $28.77 billion by 2027.
The emphasis on cyber security has also led to increased use of blockchain technology in the industry. With this innovation, no hacker can make any modification to the data once it’s keyed in. That’s why healthcare companies are using it to seal the authorised members’s authenticity.
Blockchain has a wide scope of use in the healthcare industry. For instance, this ledger technology helps researchers unlock genetic code, manage the supply chain of medicine, and facilitate the safe and secure transfer of medical records. By 2025, the value of blockchain in the healthcare sector is expected to reach $1.6 billion.
VR technology in the healthcare sector is expected to reach $40.98 billion by 2026. Part of this industry growth will be caused by healthcare professionals using this technology to help people with ASD to improve their coping and social skills using virtual environments.
Shocking research revealed that there are over 4,000 surgical errors in the US every year. Well, VR technology can reduce the risks of this happening as surgeons can use virtual environments to improve their skills and practice complex procedures.
Health is on the rise, and studies show that by 2025, this industry will be worth a whopping $189 billion! These apps are used to increase medical efficiency, enhance communication in the medical sector and deliver healthcare services affordably. They also allow patients to monitor their medical conditions, including mental health, diabetes, and heart diseases.
By the end of July 2021, over 44.3 million healthcare records had been exposed. It’s a true indication of the increased rate of breaches in the healthcare sector. By 2022, more healthcare providers will adopt secure and reliable cybersecurity measures to protect patient data.
More than 93% of organizations in the sector have contended with a data breach over the past 3 years.
Data privacy and security are gaining importance as the digitalization of patient information soars higher.
The industry is increasingly embracing rock-solid firewalls and other AI-powered cyber security solutions to protect patients’ social security numbers, payment identification numbers, and bank account details.
NLP** technology has dramatically transformed the healthcare sector and has given rise to voice interfaces. As a result, more healthcare providers have adopted chatbots, and this trend will carry on to 2022. Currently, over 50% of patients use health chatbots to acquire their medical data. This technology also stores patient information to facilitate faster treatment, communication, and symptom tracking.
Automated workflows enhance operational efficiency in the healthcare sector, allowing medical professionals to focus on quality service provision. Practitioners often have to deal with repetitive tasks such as recording patent information and filing documents, which can be time-consuming. Automated workflows eliminate these tasks increasing their productivity. A report revealed that healthcare providers could save up to $16.3 billion by automating their workflows.
The potential savings opportunity is growing for the medical industry due to rising costs for most manual and partially electronic transactions, combined with falling costs for electronically-powered transactions, the report said.
In fact, the potential savings opportunity increased 35% from the year prior, up from $9.9 billion to $13.3 billion.
Across the board for medical plans, the adoption of fully automated workflows increased, except for claim submission and eligibility and benefit verification, which both remained stable. Prior authorization continues to be the area with the lowest adoption rate, with only 21% of medical plans having fully electronic transactions for this task.
The area with the greatest cost savings opportunity is through eligibility and benefit verification automation, which saved the medical industry $85.6 billion in 2019.
If the medical industry automated all of the processes tracked by the CAQH (Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare), it could save $43.39 on each patient encounter ($29.84 for providers and $13.55 for plans), according to the report.
There is no straight line connecting advancement of gaming technology and its growing role in healthcare. But as video games themselves have become mainstream and emerged from the dimly–lit arcade rooms of years past, gaming technology has found increasing application in medical training, pain management, rehab, and digital therapeutics.
In 2020 the FDA approved the marketing of a video game referred to as EndeavorTx as a treatment option for children with ADHD. This was the first of its kind, and the possibilities of video game treatment are limitless. Clinicians can even combine video games with educational programs or medication to treat mental health.
Unlike cloud computing, edge computing focuses on storing data closer to its source. It also extends the capabilities of cloud computing closer to hospitals and healthcare centers. The Global cloud computing market will grow astronomically, and by 2026, it will be worth $10.96 billion.
The pandemic has exposed the limitations of the medical research’s delivery system. While quality improvements are critical for better financial performance and patient outcomes, they’re time)intensive. Also, it can be challenging to efficiently implement new evidence against the backdrop of an ever-evolving healthcare practice.
A newly published research needs 17 years to be adopted and used widely. So expect the industry to usher in solutions designed to shorten the period between identifying clinical issues and implementing evidence-based clinical solutions.
COVID-19 exposed health disparities. In the US for example, states were not reporting mortality by ethnicity and race, despite the alarming ethnic and racial disparities in infections.
This greater awareness plus the latest federal reporting requirements will boost data collection in the long run. But in the short term, the industry should focus on unlocking 80% of current health data that is still unstructured. This way, stakeholders can gain a big-picture insight into the healthcare disparity issue and act accordingly.
Unstructured data consists of data that is hard to store, search, analyze and share. But thanks to machine learning tools like text mining and natural language processing, the future looks bright. These technologies can unearth crucial health equity insights hiding in the unstructured data, leading to best care everywhere.
Healthcare AI is ideally suited to improving coordination of care. It is possible, for example, to train an algorithm that can predict peak hours at an emergency department and support it with admission coordination.
What about software that can flag the most acute cases and prioritize these patients? AI-powered integration of care also offers great opportunities.
Based on the above trends, it’s clear that the technological revolution in the healthcare sector is growing rapidly. Most of these tech trends are geared toward quality service provision, operational efficiency, streamlined doctor-patient communication, and affordability. They’ll also enhance the accessibility of medical services to patients in remote areas and protect medical data.
The future of medical technology starts now, and even if some of these trends are only emerging, there’s a high chance that they’ll soon take over the healthcare sector. One thing is for sure, healthcare organizations ought to be Patient Centric more than ever before by leveraging the cutting edge technologies that B2P (Business-to-Patient) tech companies are developing to better the patient journey.
At BayBridgedigital, we enable healthcare organizations to become more Patient Centric with a reinvented Patient Journey. Together with Salesforce, we provide solutions that enable healthcare professionals to have a single view of every patient to enhance the patient experience.
We are using our know-how and expertise in an array of industries to bring a tailored solution to our health professional customers. As the prism in the medical field is shifting from being merely treatment-centric to patient-centric, we are helping our customers reinvent their relationship with their patients by establishing Patient Experience Management, where they will be able to put them at the center of their operations to deliver the best Patient Journey.
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