Due to recent world events, it’s probably safe to assume that everybody has now realised just how important healthcare is and how hard healthcare practitioners, doctors, nurses, surgeons, GPs, and many more besides work to provide healthcare to the general public.

 

If there’s one thing the Coronavirus pandemic has highlighted in the healthcare industry, it’s the fact that technology plays such a crucial role in so many different aspects of healthcare and modern medicine in general. However, the main downside of modern technology is that modern technology can quickly become outdated technology.

Staying up-to-date with the ever-evolving world of technology is tricky at the best of times, but when it could literally be a matter of life and death, it becomes monumentally tougher. Thankfully, we have invested a great deal of time, effort, and money into the technology used in the healthcare industry and as a result, 2021 looks to be a big year for tech in healthcare.

Here’s a look at five emerging trends for technology in healthcare.

 

Telemedicine

The first trend on our list today isn’t actually emerging, but one that has already emerged, and that is telemedicine.

Telemedicine may sound a little complex, but it is basically a generalised term used to cover the application of numerous electronic communication techniques utilised to provide healthcare remotely.

Basically, if you have an online consultation with a doctor using software such as Zoom or Skype, this is a form of telemedicine as it allows your doctor to communicate with you, and vice versa, and see you, rather than simply just speaking via the telephone.

 

Telemedicine is useful as it can help your doctor diagnose and see any physical symptoms, like rashes, cuts, burns, open wounds etc., and to provide follow-up checks to see how/if you’re healing or if physical symptoms are getting worse.

With more people staying home and avoiding GP surgeries and hospitals, 2021 looks to be a big year for telemedicine.

 

Smart Hospitals

No, this isn’t a game of Sims or Theme Hospital; it’s a real-life tech innovation that sounds a great deal more complex and scientific than it is.

More and more hospitals and medical facilities utilise Smart technology to provide patients with the best possible care and treatment. Thus far, it is proving to be very effective.

Smart Hospitals will utilise 5G technology to transmit data in real-time while performing operations remotely.

In some of the world’s most advanced hospitals and medical facilities, staff already utilise augmented reality. Robots are already used to perform specific processes that even the steadiest of hand and most competent surgeons would struggle with.

 

Self-diagnosis technology

As you probably know, Googling any illness symptoms is generally not advisable from a mental health perspective, though self-diagnosis can be useful in some instances as well.

More and more digital solutions such as self-diagnosis apps are being rolled out to provide accurate self-diagnosis for a whole host of ailments.

Having the patient use this tech to self-diagnose helps give doctors a more accurate idea of what the issue could be before even seeing the patient in person.

 

Virtual Care

If you were able to stay at home and rest and recover from an illness or injury and still receive the same level of care you would receive on a crowded and uncomfortable hospital ward, would you do so? Well, with virtual care, hopefully, shortly, you will be able to.

Virtual care isn’t just for physical illnesses and ailments either; it is also designed with mental health in mind. Virtual care is ideal because it will allow doctors, nurses, therapists, and experts, in general, to check in on patients virtually via devices such as computers, phones, and tablets, rather than have the patients physically see them in person, or vice versa.

Virtual care is ideal as it is convenient, plus it also minimises the risk of the spread of infection.

 

VR

Finally, we have VR, or Virtual Reality, as it is also known.

Virtual reality may be popular in the gaming and entertainment industries, but it is also proving to be increasingly popular in the world of modern medicine.

VR is proving especially popular amongst medical students and surgeons, as it enables them to train themselves and to safely practice complex, life-threatening surgeries and procedures on virtual patients.

 

If you are a healthcare professional seeking new and exciting opportunities-contact us today.