The introduction of technology has revolutionised the information management process and it has helped health professionals to collaborate amongst each other. Digital systems also help to eliminate paperwork that used to be manual and it reduces the errors.
This allows the patients to choose from an array of diverse international experts at their convenience, driving medical tourism as well as patient-centric care delivery.
AI-powered developments boost diagnostic precision, harmonise medication protocols, and shorten the period of clinical trials.
Telemedicine
Telemedicine technology has played a key role in linking patients and practitioners.This disease-controlling ap-proach of telemedicine has mainly been developed by exploiting telecom technology.The diagnosis and even treatment are done by transmitting whatever is needed through digital imaging, video consultations and remote medical diagnosis, etc from one party to another. The patients, who do not have time or are unable to travel, can communicate to physicians digitally via video conferencing by using mobile phones and PCs.
Telemedicine permits patients to gain more insight into their disease and plan of care, without the need to travel, and with less potential for duplication of testings that in turn can contributes to medication errors. Telemedicine saves providers money because they can see more patients without having to hire more personnel or expand their office, plus it hampers transmission of contagious diseases in crowded waiting rooms, and curbs the extra costs incurred from expanded office leasing contracts. Reimbursement policies need to reach a harmony so as to maximise adoption.
Electronic Health Records (EHRs)
EHRs store all our patient records in one single place. Because of its paperless process, EHRs help medical and office staff save an amount of time they should usually spend filling up paperwork every time a patient visited our clinic. With just a few key strokes, our records can be accessed instantly. Documenting clinical visits and transmitting information are made easier with the help of EHRs.
Indeed, some physicians say that EHRs save them up to 20 hours a week in documentation time – time that can be spent with patients. While physicians don’t relish writing out notes, the benefits of EHRs include access to lab results, x-rays and test reports that would normally slip through the cracks, helping to end a lot of the redundant testing that bloats our nation’s soaring healthcare bills. EHRs can also be accessed with multiple practices, hospitals or emergency response teams for care delivery across practices, hospitals or emergency response teams.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
There are many possible uses of AI in healthcare thanks to its propensity to automate some of the time-consuming parts of your job, thus leading to more output for less expense, while also preventing errors and improving patient outcomes.
Diagnosing patients; helping physicians find information faster; transcribing medical documents faster; monitoring the progression of disease; and transcribing medical documents faster. They’re all now being done more effectively with artificial intelligence (AI). Although the technology is not yet perfect, endless possibilities exist.
Nonetheless, it is important to remember that AI initiation or implementation in health care requires substantial attention to ethical details, as well as implementation science, given that crucial issues of privacy and data security will arise. Concerns to consider will be potential algorithmic bias, and possible overreliance on AI until human expertise is better explained and patients are educated about the roles of human doctors versus algorithm interpretations and reactions. [69] People’s own personal comfort with AI will also depend on the application within clinical medicine, as well as on personal factors.
Robotic-Assisted Technologies
Robotic surgery can enable a surgeon to operate in ways that were previously impossible, increasing her or his level of precision and enabling surgical procedures to be performed with minimal impact on surrounding tissues, resulting in less blood loss, less scarring and quicker patient recovery times.
Equipped with a console, surgeons operate the robotic arm while getting a magnified view of the surgical site through a camera. Their hand, wrist and finger movements are translated by a system into commands their robotic instruments follow.
Other than ICUs, medical robots are also making an entrance in other healthcare facilities as assistants for professionals: RoomieBot – a socially assistive healthcare robot – was designed for triaging COVID-19 patients, allowing people to take their symptoms to a set of automated diagnostic drones, instead of having to go near a doctor’s chamber and risk infection; therapeutic exoskeletons and exosuits are also assisting people recover from injuries or paralysis; and prosthetic hands and legs, like the one made by the German company Ottobock, are assisting people with lost limbs in regaining their mobility.
Wearable Devices
It is possible for physicians to utilise wearables for remote monitoring and data collection where such monitoring and data is of usefulness in enhancing administrative processing as well as patient outcomes.
Placing patient profiles on a digital platform allows researchers to aggregate a vast amount of medical data for research into diseases, care of the populations, and individualised treatment.
But on the other hand, technology should be used in moderation to strike a harmony between the curing force and personalised interactions so as not to tarnish the patient-physician relationship or harm the patient.
Furthermore, these tools should be accessible and available to patients of all socioeconomic backgrounds, and healthcare providers must cultivate a culture of openness while patients are provided with the tools they need to use them to the best of their ability. Similarly, users should receive greater context around data collection and interpretation to understand why they are collected in the first place.
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