DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION’S IMPACT ON HEALTHCARE

The industry has seen a shift in response to the COVID-19 crisis. In a convergence between regulatory requirements and changing care methods, data security threats, and evolving patient expectations, health care professionals have focused their attention on digital transformation.

Digitalization is a necessity. We must identify the best practices to transfer data from raw data into actionable insights. Many organizations have had to make changes in their I.T. Priorities and strategies. What is digital healthcare transformation and how will it be achieved? According to a Stoltenburg/CHIME survey of 2021, top of the list for Digital Transformation priorities by CIOs are:

• Improve patient engagement by using digital health
• To facilitate data flow, EHRs should be modernized or updated.
• Strengthening cyber security
• Improvement of data analytics

Health care System

Health care is inherently data-driven. “Data drives nearly every aspect in our health care industry. It helps identify long-term treatment trends, socioeconomic risk, missed payment opportunities, and more. 

Hospitals and health systems hold and store large amounts of patient records and other health data. These numbers are increasing by 48% each year. If you want to improve your care while lowering costs, data collected during admissions and treatment, discharge, and patient-provider communications can be a valuable resource. These “big data” are unparalleled in terms of their ability to lead to organizational improvements. However, how many health care organizations have created future-ready systems in order to efficiently move beyond just the storage, exchange, and distribution of data to gain all of the value of the data in the form of actionable insights.

In the past organizations created reporting capabilities (operational and regulatory, quality, finance) that were not compatible with data processing. Although the collection and treatment of data among the health care providers have improved, the pandemic has pushed them to adopt new technology rapidly and to throw light on their company. Cloud-enabled supply channel tracking and patient scheduling highlighted the value of the technology to improve workflow efficiency, management, and administration.

Digital Healthcare Transformation and Software Development

It is good to know that both payers and health care providers have easy access to many solutions for data sharing, managing, mining, and integrating. Digital healthcare transformation solutions can be used to aid and improve operational and clinical decision-making. Digital transformation in Health care will accelerate in 2021. Data lakes, which allow machine learning and Artificial Intelligence, will increase the value that organizations get from their large amounts of data.

Telehealth and mobile application interaction are data-heavy trends. These will push the need to improve technology and data flow. As health care organizations progress along the digitalization path, there are a variety of priorities and needs we will continue to see in 2021. These include:

• Increasing digital transformation initiatives with an emphasis upon flexibility and future-ready
• Greater investment in digital technology that is transformative
• Security and compliance have been given more attention
• Strategy identification to optimize multi-cloud management
• Application modernization for patient engagement and increased productivity
• Revisiting business continuity plans post-pandemic
• Telehealth continues to increase in popularity
• Interest in leveraging Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (ML), continues
• Technology initiatives are facing increased resources
• Want to work with experts partners and not generic service providers?

2nd Watch is an AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure partner. We are a trusted cloud advisor. We can help you achieve your digital transformative goals in health care and drive performance improvement while reducing cloud complexity. Our data scientists can help you whether you’re new to cloud data, looking to improve compliance and security, as well as seeking out advanced analytics.

Top Digital Healthcare Transformation Trends You Should Be Looking For In The New Normal

Digital healthcare transformation will change the way we communicate with healthcare professionals, share our medical data, and make decisions regarding treatment and outcomes. There are many examples of digitalization in health care today. These include Artificial Intelligence-powered medical gadgets, telemedicine, Blockchain, remote-patient monitoring, electronic health records, and telemedicine.

Health care innovation has the main purpose of streamlining health care professionals’ work, optimizing medical software systems to reduce human errors, improving patient outcomes, and lowering costs through the integrated web- and mobile experiences.

Let’s take an in-depth look at Health care Digitalization in 2021.

1. It will be a boom in on-demand healthcare

More patients are on-demand because of an outbreak of COVID-19, which prevented many individuals from receiving healthcare in remote areas. It is handy since patients can get advice at their convenience from their selected provider and can do so whenever and wherever necessary.

• 77% off for booking medical appointments
• 47% when searching for information on doctors and healthcare professionals
• 38% to search information about hospitals/medical facilities

However, healthcare on-demand is growing due to the rise of the gig economy. These freelancers are professionals who work in a variety of industries and hire out their services per job or “gig” instead of being tied to one company.

2. Big Data Can Be Used To Improve Healthcare Management

Big data is information gathered from multiple sources, including eCommerce, social media transactions, and financial transactions. It helps to identify patterns and trends for future uses.

Read more: 5 ways big data is changing healthcare

Big data is a boon for healthcare.

• Fewer medication errors. Patient record analysis allows healthcare software to detect any discrepancies in a patient’s prescriptions and their health. This alerts healthcare professionals and patients to any potential danger of medication errors.
• Preventive care simplified: These “frequent travelers” are patients who visit emergency rooms frequently. They account for 28% to 28% of total visits. Big data analysis helps to identify these recurring patients and develop preventive plans to stop them from coming back.
• Improved staffing. Hospitals and clinics can predict future admission rates using big data predictive analysis. This allows these facilities to determine the best staffing levels to take care of patients. This saves money and reduces wait time in an emergency room, especially if it is understaffed.

Big data analytics and visualization can enhance healthcare operations management and transform patients’ experiences.

3. Virtual Reality Will Transform Medical Training and Care Delivery Models

Virtual reality is a Healthcare Digitalization trend that will transform how patients are diagnosed and doctors train their staff.

Medical diagnosis and treatment VR: Virtual reality is increasingly being used in healthcare settings such as patient education, robot surgery, and physical and psychological therapy. Doctors can use VR to create 360-degree videos that explain how the surgery will benefit the patient and future results. Virtual reality has been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of anxiety, stroke, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other conditions.

• VR training for doctors: Medical residents also use VR to practice their skills, plan complicated surgery and learn in near-real environments. VR headsets are also used after surgery to encourage patients to exercise and to follow physiotherapies. The technology also makes it possible for autistic children and adults to navigate the world.
• Virtual reality in healthcare: All pharma companies and startups recognize the value of VR. Experts project that by 2025 there will be $5.1 Billion in global virtual and augmented reality in healthcare. A VR investment is an option for healthcare companies looking to enhance their digital marketing strategy.

4. Wearable medical devices will have a greater market

Another important Healthcare Digitalization trend is for companies to collect their health data via medical devices like wearables. The majority of people used to visit their doctor only when something was wrong. Technology is changing all that. Today’s people are keen to know their health status and place a lot of emphasis on preventive maintenance. A lot of healthcare companies now invest in wearable tech devices that enable patients and their families to keep track of their health status and to seek medical attention when required. Wearable medical equipment allows for up-to-date monitoring and assessment of high-risk individuals to determine the likelihood that they are at risk.

Experts believe that the global market for wearable medical devices could exceed USD 27,200 by 2023.

Some of the most commonly used wearable devices are listed below.

• Exercise trackers (Google Fit, Fit-bit, etc.)
• Heart rate sensors (Samsung Heart Rate Sensor, Pulse Sensor, etc.)
• Sweat meters: To monitor the blood sugar levels for diabetics
• Oximeters: These devices measure the oxygen content of the blood.

Wearable devices in healthcare can provide the following advantages:

• Personalized healthcare experience Medical gadgets help patients improve and manage their personal health.
• Insurance pricing Wearables provide insurance companies with insights that help them rate patients’ risk of illness.
• Insurance incentives 
  Wearable devices enable patients to take preventive actions to improve their overall health. These patients are more likely to get lower insurance premiums.
• Gamification Fitness watches may help users create goals that they can reach through diet, nutrition, and exercise.

5. Increased Investment in Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

By 2025, the global market for healthcare AI-enabled instruments is expected to exceed 34 million dollars. This is a sign that healthcare AI investments may peak as Artificial intelligence transforms various medical segments.

AI-powered chatbots, or virtual health assistants, can serve a variety of roles in healthcare, including customer service representatives and diagnostic tools. AI in healthcare is growing in popularity as markets report estimates that the global healthcare bots market will exceed $314.3 million by 2023.

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