Every big positive turn for human civilization was sparked by the advancement of technology. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the medical industry. As healthcare tech improves and evolves, new treatments are introduced that improve patient outcomes and save countless lives.
If you want a good view into what the future holds for people, taking a look at emerging healthcare technology trends is a very good start. With that in mind, here is a look at some of the big healthcare technology trends making an impact in 2017 that could change people’s lives forever.
Big Data
Big data has been making a big impact on the business world overall. However, it also has significant promise in the world of healthcare. While big data as a term may seem a bit fuzzy to many people, it’s actually quite easy to understand. Is the collection of large amounts of data so it can later be analyzed by powerful analytics software.
Big data is currently being used in the healthcare industry as a means to perform more accurate medical research by drawing from far more data points. If pharmaceutical companies, for example, can draw from decades of results from clinical trials transformed into a compact database, more effective drugs can be developed. Even more amazingly, big data analytics can predict epidemics with a 70 to 90 percent accuracy.
Remote Healthcare
Traditionally, healthcare required a patient visiting his or her doctor in a doctor’s office. However, thanks to the advancement of technology and the introduction of the “internet of things” IT trend, healthcare that is supplied remotely may be the wave of the future. For example, a device in the patient’s home could read the patient’s vital signs. That information could then be transmitted to a doctor in a completely different location. The visit would then take place as a kind of teleconference in the patient’s home.
This kind of “telehealth” technology will have far reaching implications for many different sectors of the healthcare industry. Certain patients who formally had to remain under 24 hour care in a nursing home may be able to stay in their own homes thanks to remote health monitoring of their conditions. Those who are at risk of catastrophic health events may be able to alert EMTs of heart attacks or strokes without having to call 9-1-1.
There are many possibilities. At risk patients may be able to live more independent lives thanks to this technology. It also has the possibility of helping those who live in far away remote locations to receive care from specialists that live in different parts of the world. According to Becker's Hospital Review, 15.2 million patients will be using remote health monitoring devices by the year 2020.
E-Cigarettes
Another big development that is changing the face of healthcare is the advent of the e-cigarette. E-cigarettes are a kind of tobacco harm reduction product. The e-cigarette is an electronic device that vaporizes a kind of flavored liquid known as e-liquid. This e-liquid often includes nicotine in addition to other substances providing a different alternative for those looking for a habit.
Often referred to as vaping, the e-cigarette industry has certainly skyrocketed in recent years. It has been predicted that vaping will become a $10 billion industry by the year 2020. This massive growth will not stop anytime soon. Many different vaping related products are seeing massive sales including e-liquid, vape pens, which act as the electronic cigarette, and vape mods. A vape mod can be thought as a larger and stronger version of a vape pen designed to release more of the e-liquid vapor to the user.
Overall, technology is always improving and evolving. As healthcare technology advances, people’s lives are sure to improve significantly. People will be able to live longer, live more independently and live with less pain than they were able to only years before.
About the Author:
Greg Dastrup is a world traveler and professional writer with a passion for learning new languages. He’s spent most of his career consulting for businesses in North America. You can follow Greg here.