During the COVID-19 pandemic, remote virtual health services have become a necessity for a huge number of people. Personal visits to doctors were restricted due to the global quarantine measures introduced in order to slow down the spread of the virus.
That’s why many consumers were fast to adapt to the modern virtual medical services. Thus, according to statistics, 62% of consumers would use virtual medical recommendations, and 57% are fully prepared for remote monitoring of health problems using home devices.
In this regard, many software developers have focused their interests on the creation of health tech solutions. If you also want to build a similar project, you will definitely be interested in the main healthcare technology trends for 2021.
Major Healthcare Technology Trends This Year
For the past few years, the digital industry has been driven by several major trends. These include artificial intelligence, robotics, augmented and virtual reality, big data and the Internet of Things. All of these concepts together allow for the creation of advanced solutions not only in the healthcare sector but also in many other industries - for both business and non-profit organizations.
As for healthcare, robotics in this area helps to solve the problems of operating on previously inoperable tumors. Artificial intelligence and machine learning can help diagnose complex diseases in the early stages - for instance, minor retinal detachment in diabetes mellitus, or some types of cancer that cannot be detected by alternative methods at the stages when drug treatment is available.
Based on the Internet of Things and Big Data tech concepts, developers can create large-scale life support systems, life monitoring systems, as well as create remote solutions to support critically ill patients.
Lastly, virtual and augmented reality are helping to replicate educational solutions for medical students, offering safer and more reliable alternatives to traditional medical models and experimental animals like rats, frogs, etc.
Let’s highlight all these trends in more detail, discuss specific cases of their application, and help you determine the leading trend for your own project.
7 Key Digital Trends in Healthcare for 2021
Let’s take a look at the now-relevant and future healthcare trends technologies and innovations.
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence can be safely deemed the future of healthcare technology. It is thanks to this digital technology that innovative methods of diagnosing diseases appear in the world, advanced treatment plans are being developed, outbreaks of epidemics are predicted, new drugs are being discovered, and more in-depth medical research is being carried out.
There are also systems of assisted artificial intelligence that classify images, thereby helping doctors carry out high-quality diagnostics that doesn’t take much time.
Using artificial intelligence, doctors can also more quickly identify and treat patients with an increased risk of morbidity.
Virtual reality
Another major healthcare technology trend 2020-2021 is virtual reality, which is well suited for training future surgeons as well as continuing education for medical practitioners. A study by Harvard Business Review found that surgeons trained in virtual reality increased their productivity by 230% compared to peers who received standard training.
On top of that, virtual reality technology has proven effective in relieving pain. Patients were provided with virtual reality headsets and shown calming landscapes to distract them from painful irritants.
Augmented reality
When using solutions based on the concept of augmented reality, the user doesn’t lose touch with reality and sees all the necessary information in front of them using special devices. Augmented reality can also help doctors better prepare for real surgeries.
Moreover, thanks to AR, medical students have the opportunity to study human anatomy in detail without using real bodies.
The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)
We can confidently say that future health trends will be closely associated with IoMT. Every day more and more wearable and mobile devices appear, such as heart rate trackers, bracelets that record data for ECG, automated inhalers, etc.
All of these devices allow doctors to focus on efficient disease prevention. Patients can receive information about their health directly on their mobile device instead of undergoing a full examination by a doctor.
Medical services on demand
Nowadays, consumers want to receive services at a convenient time, anywhere. On-demand medical services are becoming increasingly popular due to the tight schedule of potential patients. People are increasingly using mobile devices, so they are eager to be diagnosed and treated online without leaving their homes.
Big Data
Big data-based software efficiently helps to identify inconsistencies between a patient's health status and prescriptions by analyzing medical history.
End-to-end big data analytics support prophylactic treatment for people who often end up in emergency rooms. The big data algorithm will help identify these patients and prevent them from being readmitted to the hospital. Big data forecasting also helps medical institutions to correctly assess hospitalization rates and correctly assign staff to work with patients.
Robotics
Another leading trend in digital transformation of health and safety is the production of next-generation robotics. In particular, advanced robots are no longer just industrial devices that perform a number of primitive tasks. These are full-fledged intelligent machines capable of fully repeating the activities of the most complex professions, including surgeons.
The world-famous machine called da Vinci, created in 2000, is capable of performing surgical manipulations with a patient under the guidance of a real surgeon. This device works well with difficult to operate patients who have been diagnosed with malignant formations in critical locations of the body, which are practically impossible to reach manually.
Conclusion
These are the key digital trends in the field of transformation of health and care in the digital single market that help create not just competitive but revolutionary solutions for the mass consumer.
If you are interested in creating a project based on one of the above trends or any other technological solutions, feel free to contact us.
