Importance of technology in Healthcare
Presently, technologies have exceptionally rapid development, and the observed potential is increasing with time. Technology is not only changing the way we lead our personal and professional lives but also has extremely widespread use in every industry in the market. And what more established industry could benefit more than ever from innovation in technology other than healthcare?
The healthcare and pharmaceutical industries have been on the surge for evolving technologies to improve care and patient outcomes. Moreover, healthcare providers use technology to help them with healthcare compliance issues. Technology has a crucial role in creating a more efficient, safer, and cost-effective way for healthcare organizations to deliver better healthcare.
Technologies drive Healthcare Digitalization
How is healthcare affected by technology? Let’s explore some innovative solutions that already have a great impact on the healthcare sector and are currently highly adopted in healthcare at a rapid pace:
- 5G and 3D Printing
5G and its added network performance benefit telehealth significantly and improve teleconferencing capabilities. Moreover, they enable doctors with greater location flexibility to perform remote surgery but also transfer medical files and real-time monitoring of patients.
Advances in bioprinting (or 3D printing) are the most anticipated area of innovation in healthcare. It will enable genomics further to create human cells and tissues for use in regenerative medicine.
- Blockchain Technology
Implementation of blockchain improves data security and enables secure accessibility. Blockchain technology is set to replace the conventional pharma supply chain management system and thus solve long-detected issues with counterfeit products, by verifying drug authenticity and traceability.
Being able to build a more resilient healthcare system inevitably starts with deploying state-of-the-art technologies such as blockchain technology.
- Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
The possibilities for AI/Machine Learning to benefit healthcare are practically endless. AI has already been proven integral in facilitating scientific research, managing the capacities of hospital beds, and aiding administrative duties with the help of AI-powered digital workers. AI-powered solutions help improve patient outcomes, reduce unnecessary costs, and increase efficiency and productivity.
- Big Data and Predictive Analytics
Big data and predictive analytics aids predict the spread of various diseases, curing chronic diseases, and improving patient outcomes.
- Virtual and Augmented Reality
Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies already have numerous applications in healthcare services. VR/AR enhance patient-physician interaction, improving adequate diagnosis and personalized treatment planning.
VR and AR technology is an invaluable tool for medical education, more specifically surgical training of medical residents. VR and AR tools show promise in improving visualization when conducting surgeries and gaining access to practically concealed anatomical objects.
- Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)
Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) is a system of connected devices and applications that collects patient health and fitness data.
As the utilization of those devices grows and the precision of sensors improves, an increasing number of chronic conditions will be able to be effectively detected earlier and managed using IoMT. IoMT facilitates remote patient monitoring to improve the accuracy and effectiveness of telehealth solutions. Moreover, it promotes patient engagement and a focus on better health.
Emerging Practices in Healthcare Software that enable better compliance
So how can you use technology to address the compliance risk in healthcare? In this article, we will go over 5 ways that directly contribute to improving healthcare compliance.
- Cloud Adoption facilitates Compliance and Telehealth
Cloud technologies are continuously adopted throughout the healthcare industry. Formerly, Cloud adoption was very slow, due to concerns regarding regulatory requirements and data security, such as HIPAA and HITECH. Nowadays, it is exactly that regulatory compliance that is accelerating the adoption curve. Healthcare organizations fully embrace the benefits of cloud-based infrastructure, to support remote consultations, assist in collaboration, improve security and provide the scalability required for their extensive data storage. Cloud computing helps to store, handle, and process sensitive medical information. Cloud storage is convenient for healthcare experts and medical institutions to store a massive amount of data securely. With EMR (Electronic Medical Records) medical companies have embraced cloud-based solutions to store and secure their patient records.
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- Automation, Continuous Integration, and Continuous Delivery for Improved Patient Satisfaction
CI/CD is a set of practices that DevOps teams use to deliver changes and code updates faster, and more securely. You’ll often find the implementation referred to as the CI/CD pipeline. It is a DevOps methodology that leverages automation and continuous delivery by integrating that code directly into the software product. This means these important improvements and updates are released to the end users faster.
Healthcare organizations and healthcare software providers use CI/CD pipelines to deliver better and more resilient features and solutions. CI/CD brings benefits such as better customer experience, cost savings, and faster releases. For example, features such as self-check-in systems (that allow faster processing of patients) and electronic prescription filling (enabling patients to get medicine even if they aren’t at the premises) improve patient satisfaction.
Thus directly addressing patients’ need for convenient and quality healthcare. Medical practitioners also set up automatic appointments to improve operational efficiency without compromising the quality of service.
- DevSecOps and Infrastructure as Code Provide Medical Data Security and Regulatory Compliance
One of DevOps’ core principles-Infrastructure as code (IaC) allows healthcare providers to insert security inside the application module itself. This approach to software, where security is injected from design to release is called DevSecOps.
Using DevSecOps, vulnerability analysis, and testing are performed along with pipeline implementations. Thus all potential vulnerabilities are addressed. In addition, with limited access and logging manual errors are close to zero.
DevOps toolchains enable healthcare providers to handle data such as lab reports, pharmacies, medical device reports, EHRs (Electronic Health Records), wearables, and insurance claims and leverage them for final analysis.
Our conclusion: Technology is a key enabler of healthcare software compliance and informatics and patient safety
In the future, we expect to see many more technology-powered solutions being implemented within the healthcare sector. With the rapid and adequate technological advancements, we will see a move to a personalized medicine model, steering away from the traditional “one size fits all” approach.
Tools will enable physicians to select the appropriate treatment strategy for their patients, based on the analysis of unique information that may include biometrics, such as genetic data.
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