Seven Exceptional Healthcare Technology Advancements of the Last Decade

Medical advancements provide hope to humanity, now, more than ever. In the times where we are cloaking ourselves from deadly, invisible, and vicious enemy, Covid-19, medicinal science is being looked upon as the savior of the human race.

60% of healthcare organizations have started introducing IoT into their facilities.

The future of the healthcare industry changes dramatically with technological advancements. Fortunately, these advancements in medical technology have allowed faster and more accurate diagnoses and medical treatments. A study published in Nature Medicine unveiled artificial intelligence was even more accurate than doctors when diagnosing pediatric ailments. 

Top healthcare technology advancements

In the last decade, the world has seen many technological advancements, and in this article today, we will be talking about some of the most important ones. So without taking up much time, let’s take a look at the healthcare technology advances of the last decade.

1. Wearable technology and mHealth

As the estimates of the growth of mHealth go, as per the prediction for 2027, it will reach USD 311.98 Billion, indicating the tremendous future of this new technology in healthcare.

Another one of the medical technology examples is the increasing use of wearable devices and fitness trackers. Doctors use these wearable devices for remotely monitoring the vitals of the patients and recording them.

Using the readings from these devices, doctors diagnose various conditions and suggest treatments using AI too.

mHealth is being viewed as the next step in making healthcare more efficient and convenient. There are many new types of technology in healthcare. This allows the patients to access all their medical information and data, heart rate, blood pressure, etc., on their smartphone devices.

No more cobwebs of instrument wires or cords, and freedom to get a health check-up done on-the-go.

mHealth allows patients to become an active stimulus in their treatment by connecting communication with biometrics. Imagine this

• Wireless weighing machine
• Blood pressure mount
• EKG

And to top it all, you can upload the data in your smartphone and transfer it to your doctor, wirelessly!

2. Telehealth or Telemedicine

Telehealth services have shown their promise, especially in the rural areas where there is a shortage of resources compared to metropolitan areas.

Patients in an ICU equipped with telehealth services recorded a 20% quicker discharge rate and a 26% lower mortality rate than those in the regular ICU.

Although this is not a new technology in healthcare, it is growing, and the scope is futuristic. It is also a cost-effective healthcare technology. Take an instance of the Indianapolis-based health insurer WellPoint. They rolled out a video consultation program in February 2013 and provided a full assessment to the patients through a video chat with a physician.

With automated claims and reduction of the fees, the telemedicine clinics are the answer to reducing the time out of office costs for employees and employers. In a way, this is the direct answer for the medical industry to stay safer in this pandemic and still serve the patients without risking anyone’s life!

3. Remote monitoring tools

By the end of the year 2012, 2.8 million patients were using a home monitoring system. 

In addition to reducing hospital costs, it also saved patients a lot of time spent on visits to the physician’s office. Just take an example of the cardiac cast with a pacemaker that automatically keeps transmitting data to a remote center. So when it comes to the patients suffering from a severe and chronic illness.

Let’s take another example of technology in healthcare. Essentia health installed a home monitoring system for heart disease patients at Duluth. The national average rate of readmissions for patients with heart disease is 25 percent. Essentia Health saw a decrease in the readmission rate for their heart disease patients to a mere two percent. Also, with the penalty system on hospitals for readmissions, home monitoring systems are the best way to avoid unnecessary costing.

4. Genome sequencing

Each year in the U.S., over 12 million adults who seek outpatient medical care receive a misdiagnosis.

Pharmacogenomics/ genome sequencing is key to reducing the excessive cost patients have to pay on healthcare spendings because of adverse drug reactions, readmissions, and misdiagnoses.

By taking a more personalized approach towards prescribing a treatment plan for individuals and anticipating the onset of the disease is important for better healthcare efficiency and achieving diagnostic accuracy.

However, before taking a complete plunge into the full-fledged genome sequencing system, the healthcare industry must have a powerful tool that can aggregate the big data and analyze it for producing digital health information.

5. Virtual reality for surgeons

The global VR in the healthcare market is projected to reach $30.40 billion by 2026, exhibiting a CAGR of 42.4% during 2019-2026. - NASDAQ

Virtual reality is still some technological innovation associated with video gaming for the common public. The VR technology has already moved into marketing and advertisement and is expanding its horizon into the healthcare industry. Surgeons are using VR technology for practicing complex and delicate procedures.

Using a VR system, surgeons interact with the entire surgical procedure before they do an actual surgery. With this immersive technology, the healthcare industry can be sure to increase the success rates of these critical surgical procedures and make surgeons confident in performing them.

6. Internet of medical things

Estimates show that the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) will save the healthcare industry $300 billion.

The network of connected smart medical devices via the internet has been coined the internet of medical things (IoMT).

The medical industry has seen a rise in the usage of smart healthcare technologies where crucial patient information can be instantly shared between devices. With these benefits, doctors are easily managing and monitoring their patients remotely that too, in real-time. This way, both time and money are being saved for both the medical provider and the patients.

7. The world’s first artificial pancreas

Out of 3.7 million people living with diabetes, DiabetesUK estimates that 10% have Type 1. That translates to about 400,000 people.

As you all know, type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. That means patients suffering from this disease are not able to produce insulin inside their body naturally. Insulin is important for absorbing and processing glucose.

In September 2016, an American medical device company Medtronic developed the first hybrid closed loop system, and artificial pancreas, MiniMed 670G. The device monitored the patient’s blood sugar levels automatically and supplied insulin accordingly.

Big Data, AI, ML, and IoT will drive the future advancements

If you are in the healthcare industry, the lives of every human being on this planet are in your hand. Apart from having the moral inclination of saving lives, being a profitable unit is also important for carrying out the medical service for those who need it.

In this article, we talked about various miracles that technology brought to mankind. These healthcare technology advances have helped reduce the mortality rate by not blowing a hole in the budget of medical institutes. As much as these healthcare technologies are fascinating, the work that goes into developing them is costly and complicated.

Rapidops, as a digital partner, has helped various healthcare organizations develop cutting-edge medical products that are helping various individuals today. We have been providing custom web development services to the healthcare industries and are honored to contribute to the society using technology innovations indirectly.

If you are interested in how you can revolutionize your healthcare business, do get in touch with us.