I have been in the healthcare field for almost 17 years, always following and interested by the ongoing innovations around the world, and the amazing developments in information technology and Artificial Intelligence, which are leading to wide-scale innovations in healthcare, bring new excitement and challenges..
We are currently working in the mobile cloud era. No one would build an application or service today without making it mobile-ready.
Several factors make digital transformations different today. In the past, companies dealt with one major technology revolution at a time and changes took place over the course of years; now, it happens within weeks, or days. Change is coming in a way that no one can ignore.
Today companies must navigate five major tech trends simultaneously:
· Integrate mobile application
· Cloud
· Internet of things (IOT)
· Big data analytics intelligence learning computing systems, frequently called cognitive computing.
· Blockchain
These technologies have allowed startups as well as established companies to enter new markets and disrupt the status quo. This disruption affects every industry and businesses of all sizes.
Established industrial giants are gearing up for IOT, adopt a smart survival strategy – transform while the business is in good shape- Change is inevitable, Transform Or Die…
This new computing era assumes that organizations will build an integrated strategy that combines the benefits of mobile, cloud, IoT, big data , analytics and blockchain. Companies are deploying these technologies today but as discrete silos. Soon, hundreds of billions of devices will be infused with intelligence. AI will revolutionize every industry.
Today I would like to walk you through the potential of these discrete Healthtech companies, If combined, these healthcare technologies can deliver the right information, to the right person, at the right time. Healthtech has the potential to significantly change the global landscape of healthcare and challenge the existing, by its unique end-to-end platform.
Promising Potential of Healthcare Innovation
Recent healthcare innovation, symbolized by the word "HealthTech," has huge potential to change the structure of Healthcare.
First, HealthTech can "globalize" Healthcare. Smartphones are now spreading rapidly in developing and emerging economies and rural areas were Healthcare services are not yet widespread. These new devices could substantially promote "Healthcare Inclusion," by enabling people in those countries to access healthcare such as mobile Telemedcine/Telehealth. Not only in the developing and emerging countries in Asia and Africa but as well in rural areas in the EU and the USA. They are keenly interested in HealthTech and mobile Telemedcine/Healthtech.
Second, HealthTech can "personalize" Healthcare services. Smartphones are designed as "personalized" tools because they were originally portable phones. By using these devices as new access points for Healthcare services as well as advanced big data analytics, it is becoming easier to provide customized and personalized services to each user.
Third, HealthTech can "virtualize" Healthcare services. With innovations in information technology, Healthcare services providers can use the Internet, smartphones, cloud computing, and AI as new tools for their activities.
New Issues Stemming from Healthcare Innovation
Although there are many upsides of Healthcare innovation, it also raises new issues and challenges.
New IT have made sophisticated cyber-attacks possible. Moreover, with the widespread use of the Internet and smartphones for accessing Healthcare services, Healthcare networks are becoming increasingly "open". It is becoming much more important to take effective measures against cyber-attacks and maintain information security.
Blockchain technology can be a solution to facilitate the transfer, identification and verification of the data. Some companies are pushing research firms and blockchain startups to continue to seek for alternative methods of integrating the technology.
How does HealthTech improve healthcare access in communities?
HealthTech will drive volume, increases quality of care and reduces costs by reducing unnecessary visits. It allows small rural hospitals to continue providing quality care at low costs. Also, rural patients receiving care via telehealth can avoid driving long distances to access specialty care.
Using telehealth services is more feasible for rural healthcare facilities than staffing the facilities with specialist providers. Telehealth allows specialists to visit rural patients virtually. Specialties provided to rural communities via telehealth for many types of care
Audiology
Behavioral healthcare
Cardiology
Chronic care management interventions
Dentistry
Dermatology
Emergency care
Gastroenterology
Hepatology
Home monitoring
Intensive care units
Long-term care
Obstetrics
Ophthalmology
Pharmacy
Other ways that telehealth can be used to improve healthcare include:
Tele pharmacy
Monitoring systems
Electronic communications
Healthcare providers' use of mobile devices, such as tablet computers and smartphones can improve communication to their patients as well as to other providers.
Even though new technologies bring new challenges, it may not be wise to try to stop technological innovation. I believe that policymakers should try to maximize the benefits and minimize the negative sides of technological innovation.
Technological innovation reflects the basic human nature of "intellectual adventure”. I do not think it is easy to suppress such human characteristics. I believe the reason why smartphones have instantly become popular worldwide is that they were originally designed to be "tools for communication,"….satisfying a basic human desire.
Moreover, if new information technologies are truly advanced ones, we should be able to utilize them also for enhancing information security and maintaining people's trust in transferring data. To ensure that people support healthcare innovation and HealthTech, it is also important to improve cryptography technologies and start adopting the blockchain technology.
I read it several times that AI will replace Humans, I think it is very unlikely that healthcare innovation will take over the roles of humans. Healthcare is a sophisticated bundle of information processing: it creates linkages between various entities such as Physicians and Patients. I believe it will enables Physicians to allocate their limited resources to projects with higher productivity and growth potential.
If HealthTech enables people in developing countries to access Healthcare services, it would also help those people to use e-commerce and e-learning. This would increase opportunities for people wanting to raise their living standard and receive education. Moreover, if new information technology and HealtTech help channel support to new ideas, it will help new businesses incorporating new ideas to develop. Through such activities, Healthcare innovation and HealthTech will eventually contribute to economic growth.
Stay tuned my next article will show you in details the potential of these Healthtech companies.