5 Recent Healthcare Innovations That Changed the Industry

This year marks the rise of a markedly significant change in the way that healthcare is dispensed. This also includes the advent of much-needed improvements in patient access as well as reduced waiting times and lowered costs. With so many new positive changes in the healthcare industry, it’s no wonder that many people’s quality of life has vastly improved over the years.

Below are some of the most recent innovations that are changing the industry:

Artificial Intelligence

AI is still in the very early stages of development, but there are exciting new innovations being made in the field every day, especially in the health care industry. Artificial intelligence integrated into devices can be used to reduce scheduling conflicts, create appointments with healthcare providers based on biometrically collected data, monitor existing patient statuses and notify a specialist if immediate care is needed. Automatic data collection also makes it easier to map a patient’s progress from admission to discharge.

Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)

This refers to an always-connected network of devices and apps that are allowed to communicate with a variety of healthcare system technologies. Consider the modern smartwatch, for instance, that can track your activity and monitor your heart rate. This information can be then sent to your phone via a shared network, which can be forwarded to your physician who can provide on-demand feedback.

There are also apps that can keep track how many calories you’ve consumed in a day, monitor your blood sugar level, and the like. All this information can be sent remotely to your doctor so that care can be administered quickly and exactly should the occasion for treatment ever arise. Additionally, objective reporting from these devices minimizes the need for subjective patient reports which can be inexact and hard to diagnose.

Payer-Provider Analytics                               

Many international health insurance providers are now working more closely with healthcare organizations to ensure that clients are given the most appropriate care they needed based on a set of quantitative data, instead of relying on subjective reviews.

After the initial screening, when a patient is about to be referred to a specialist, the coordinator has full access to their network of referrals, provider affiliations, insurances, and information on the physicians or specialists the patient is to be transferred to. This results in minimized patient leakage and better collaboration between primary care and specialists.

Gene Therapy

In 2018, a number of gene therapy treatments developed for inherited retinal diseases is expected to receive the approval of the FDA. Currently there are no known treatments for these rare diseases, so the idea that genetic vision loss can now be curbed is very exciting. While it may not be able to cure blindness completely, these treatments are purported to preserve the quality of existing vision, preventing it any degradation by genetic factors.

Researchers are also putting in a lot of work looking into stem cell therapy and modifying cells in order to bring new hope to those who have lost their ability to see.

Non-Invasive Monitoring Of Diabetes

Over at Cupertino, Apple is said to be making new strides and developing a way to monitor blood sugar levels without the need to pierce the skin for a sample. As there are over 29 million Americans suffering from diabetes, having this with the existing Apple ecosystem and automated reporting can be a real game changer.

This type of technology will allow people to control their glucose much more effectively if they were able to receive alerts on something they use constantly, like a smart phone or a smart watch. This will lead to better decision making and overall improved diabetes management.

Technological advances in the field of healthcare have taken a surprising leap in recent years. With these kinds of devices and services improving everyone’s way of life, people will be able to live much longer and more comfortable lives.