Healthcare improves rapidly every day, thanks to the development of technology. Life expectancy stands as the main parameter for tracing human health through history.
We can see how technological improvements in healthcare have increased life expectancy by double within the last 100 years. Thanks to technological achievements in healthcare, we have been able to find cures for almost every disease, detect various health problems and provide reasonable solutions.
Today, technology innovations in healthcare allow the fast exchange of essential healthcare information and quick access to them, and smart devices are a big part of it. All of that is in favor of faster and better treatment of the patients. For instance, if you need urgent dental care, you can consider dental solutions with the emergency dentist turlock.
Let’s talk about some hidden ways technology improves the healthcare of today!
Quick access to patient’s medical data
Implementation of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) of the patients has brought an evolution in healthcare. EHR provides doctors with quick online access to all the patient’s medical data. EHR helps physicians see patients’ medical history fast and get a better understanding of a patient’s present healthcare problem.
This modern practice is also helpful for quick data transfers among hospitals and prevents loss of physical documents. If a patient has to be hospitalized in a different city due to an emergency, having an electronic health record can help save their life, especially if they are suffering from chronic or autoimmune diseases.
Disease control software
High-risk patients need to have the best healthcare possible. Disease control software allows patients to input information and trace the stage of their disease. Disease control software notifies a patient when it’s time to take medicine or visit the doctor.
The software can also warn a patient about possible threats (for example, the software can alert you when the UV radiation is harmful to your health or to take special care if the outside air pollution is higher than acceptable).
Disease control software also helps patients’ physician to trace your activities and to communicate with patients.
On the other hand, hospitals and clinics use disease control software for real-time updating of patients’ EMRs, and as a medium that collects data from supporting devices and other electronic medical equipment. The software then analyzes collected data and instantly informs medical personnel about the patients’ conditions.
Implementation of Artificial Intelligence-powered Chatbot
Artificial intelligence is becoming more and more used every year in all industries. One of the ways to implement Artificial intelligence – AI in healthcare is through AI-powered Healthcare Chatbots. The chatbot can be used for a wide range of purposes, and patients can access it through the internet.
A chatbot provides 24/7 online healthcare support and has the ability to answer healthcare questions that patients have. Chatbots can eliminate waiting time because they can provide a quick response to the inquiry. Patients can book an appointment without calling the clinic with the help of a chatbot.
The chatbot can deliver superior healthcare to patients by providing recommendations for the products and quickly redirecting patients to the appropriate care practitioner.
Smart(phone) health
In the past few years, smartphones have significantly impacted our daily lives. They are designed to contain most of the options we have on the computer, with one huge advantage. We can have these options anywhere and at any time!
When it comes to healthcare, this is notably important because smartphones make communication easier. They help solve emergency situations, and there are even apps that can be used to store our health records.
Wearable gadgets that are able to track users’ heart rate, number of footsteps, and spent calories can connect with users’ smartphones. Communication between smartphones and wearables can result in providing metrics of users’ health. Users then have access to these data, which can be very useful and allows users to take an active role in their health.
Similarly to the EMR practice, there are apps that patients can use every day for recording their medication intake, symptoms, and overall progress. These options are very useful but still underrated tools for healthcare.
However, with the development of technology and data syncing, they will definitely become parts of our daily lives and make healthcare even more efficient and successful.
Social Media in the Service of Healthcare
Social media and healthcare can be a powerful combination if properly used. As you may notice, social media has become an important health resource.
Doctors are using social media more than ever. Social media allow them to improve communication with patients. Now, Doctors have an easy online connection line with the patients, which can be very helpful in critical moments.
Doctors can also connect between themselves on social media platforms and there exchange opinions, knowledge and information. That can only lead to improving treatments of the patients.
Clinics and hospitals are striving to enhance their social media platforms presence too. That contributed to them in a way that the bigger audience can now reach out for information from them.
Clinics and hospitals have the opportunity to share advices, their services and expertise, specific information or recommendation related to their field of work. They can provide value, affect and educate social media users and community members about healthcare.
Social media platforms have enabled patients to leave feedback or a review of the received service. One of the future improvements can be to track public health by following what users search online regarding health. For example, if the people from one area during a short period of time search more often about the flu symptoms, it can show that something strange is possibly happening there.
In the past year, during COVID 19 crisis we were able to see how social media raised awareness and promoted activities that would stop the spreading of the infection. With more than 18 million posts on Instagram with hashtag #stayathome, people were able to accommodate to the new normal more easily, understand each other as well as that they are not alone in a difficult period.
Social media also helps spread information on how to behave during certain healthcare crises and how to detect possible symptoms of the disease. It also allows for fast communication and transfer of important information. Unfortunately, with the rise of social media, many people intend to draw attention to their posts and blogs, sometimes using unjustifiable means.
Therefore, there are often cases of spreading conspiracy theories that lead to extreme panic among people, followed by bad decision-making in the sense of one’s health concerns. Some malicious social media users have an opportunity to spread misinformation about medical matters, which can cause severe problems.
More and more people search about health issues online, and it is crucial to stop the spread of disinformation, or at least inform readers that it is always best to ask for help from a professional healthcare worker.
On the other hand, relevant healthcare institutions have an opportunity to stop that by educating internet users and by providing the right information.
Conclusion
Technology plays one of the most important roles in healthcare evolution. In this article, we have covered some of the hidden ways of how technology helps improve healthcare. It’s exciting to observe these advancements and changes in our tech culture that are helping us stay healthy and educated on medical issues and solutions. There is a strong possibility that many medical processes will be automated, cheaper and more available to everyone in the near future thanks to technology. With the internet and social media rising, healthcare education has become present in our every-day lives, and that trend will undoubtedly keep growing in the future.