Healthcare Technology Trends and Digital innovation in 2022
Healthcare technology has evolved and improved, making headlines in the industry. The rapid expansion of medical technology in terms of design and implementation is creating new paths for healthcare technology trends to ensure improved patient care.
In the last two years, many tech companies have shifted their focus on using their skills to overcome the challenges that have been caused by the pandemic (COVID-19). However, many healthcare organizations that wouldn’t be considered “tech companies” have also shown a massive interest in technology as well as its ability to revolutionize how their services and products are delivered.
The Biggest Healthcare Tech Trends In 2022
The healthcare industry’s digitization has increased due to the pandemic::
According to the HIMSS Future of Healthcare Report, at least 80 percent of healthcare professionals aim to expand their investment in digital solutions and technology during the coming five years. Organizations will continue to use Extended Reality (XR), Cloud Computing, the Internet of Things (IoT), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to develop and provide novel treatments and services in telemedicine, genomics, personalized medicine, and wearables.
Here are a few predictions for the most important developments that will affect the healthcare industry in the coming year:
Telemedicine and Remote Healthcare
The percentage of healthcare consultations conducted remotely has increased from 0.1% to 43.5% during the first months of the pandemic.
The reason for this rise is evident – however, even if contagious diseases are not a factor, there are lots of solid reasons to build capabilities for remotely examining, diagnosing, and treating patients. This trend also can save lives drastically by expanding access to medical treatment in rural areas as well as nations where doctors are in limited supply such as India and China.
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Healthcare practitioners may track vital signs in real-time; thanks to the latest wearable devices that are equipped with stress, blood oxygen, and heart rate detectors. Even the creation of “virtual hospital wards” where a centralized communication structure is utilized to supervise the patient’s treatment (all of whom are in their homes), has been attributed to the pandemic. The “Virtual ER” pilot being developed at the Pennsylvania Center for Emergency Medicine illustrates an advanced version of this concept.
Likely, the techniques evolved during the pandemic to manage patients remotely and safely will be applied to other facets of healthcare in 2022 – this includes mental health as well as the provision of continuous follow-up care for patients who are recuperating from major operations and illnesses. This trend is heavily influenced by robots, and the Internet of Things – machine learning will notify experts when sensors indicate that an action is required or when cameras identify an elderly person who has fallen in their house.
According to WHO, half the population lacks access to basic services and telemedicine has the potential to increase access to healthcare. However, gaining the public’s trust is necessary for this; when implementing services, providers must consider the fact that many people still believe in in-person interaction with healthcare experts.Using Virtual Reality to Extend Clinical Training and Care
Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) are together referred to as “Extended Reality” (XR) (MR). They involve headsets or lenses that change our experience of the outside world, either by immersing us in virtual environments (virtual reality/VR) or by covering virtual features on live images of our surroundings (AR/MR). They could all have profound effects on the healthcare industry.
With the help of VR headsets, medical professionals can train without risking patients’ lives or using loads of cadavers, which allows them to gain a deep understanding of how the human body functions.
VR is employed in therapy as well. It is used for teaching autistic children social and coping skills as part of therapy. It is also used to help support Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) – which aims to help people with anxiety, chronic pain, and schizophrenia.
In 2022, there will be an increase in the number of applications for AR in the medical field.
There are also Augmented Reality health applications for non-medical users, like the AED4EU geo layer, which gives real-time directions to the closest publicly accessible automatic defibrillator unit.
Simulations and Digital Twins
This approach in healthcare embraces the concept of the “virtual patient.” – digital simulations of individuals used to test medications and treatments to speed up the process of bringing new products from the design stage to the market.
First, this may be limited to simulations or models of specific organs or systems – though useful models that simulate entire bodies are getting closer.
We will continue to make progress toward this aim during 2022, although current research indicates that it is still some time away from becoming a feasible option.
The possibility of digital twins of human organs and systems is getting closer, and they will allow medical professionals to study various illnesses and try out new treatments without endangering anyone’s life as well as the expense of costly human or animal experiments.
Digital twin technology is seen as one of the most significant tech developments in healthcare for 2022 due to its ability to assist the healthcare industry in developing treatments more swiftly and affordably.
Making Sense of Medical Data with AI and Machine Learning
Like other sectors, healthcare has a high use case for AI that can assist in making sense of the vast amounts of messy, unstructured data that are accessible for collection and analysis. When it comes to healthcare, this can convert into genomic data, handwritten doctor’s notes, information on the development of communicable diseases like covid, data from vaccine distribution, medical image data from X-rays, CT, and MRI scans, among many other sources.
Current advancements in the application of AI in the medical industry frequently entail the augmentation and upskilling of human professionals.
Preventative Medicine
Preventative medicine is another area of healthcare that AI will have a significant impact on in the future. Preventative medicine seeks to foresee where and when sickness will arise and put measures in place before it even occurs, rather than responding to illness by treating it after the fact. This also includes predicting where disease outbreaks are, hospital readmission rates, and lifestyle factors like nutrition, exercise, and environment.
Personalized Genomics and Medicine
The treatments and medicines have been traditionally developed on a “one-size-fits-all” approach, with clinical trials planned to maximize the drug’s efficacy with the highest number of patients with the minimum possibility of side effects. Modern technology, such as genomics, digital twins, and artificial intelligence, enables a far more individualized approach, leading to treatments that can be personalized right down to the individual level.
Personalized medicine benefits from genomics – which is the study of genes as well as the use of technology to map genomes (the DNA structure of an organism, such as a person). This is leading to treatments for major illnesses like arthritis, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease. In the subfield of genomics known as nutrigenomics, which involves creating individualized food regimens with an emphasis on health based on various genetic characteristics, we may likewise anticipate major investment and advancement in 2022.
Concluding Thoughts:
Although COVID-19 had a big impact on our life, it also put us on the right track to be proactive and prepared in the event of future illnesses of a similar nature. We thus design our tools and technologies to be adaptable and compatible in order to handle such problems. Innovative technologies like AI and IoT are aiding in the fight against the pandemic, just as COVID is having an impact on technology.