Important Healthcare Technology Trends You Can’t Ignore

The field of healthcare has historically been one of the last ones to adapt to any changes, but it is now incorporating technological advancements at an unprecedented pace.

The advent of technology in healthcare is proving to be of tremendous benefit to patients, healthcare software developers as well as healthcare providers.

While the introduction to many of these healthcare technology trends began a long time back, the actual implementation of the same is taking place now.

Healthcare IT is a promising premise that has the potential to drive healthcare forward, make it more accessible, improve interoperability, enhance patient experience through patient engagement solutions, and reduce the overall cost of healthcare delivery in the long run by making it more efficient and data-driven.

Here’s what we can expect as the emerging healthcare technology trends and the future applications of these technologies in the months to come.

  1. Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
  2. Cloud Computing
  3. VR and AR in Healthcare
  4. Big Data and Predictive Analysis
  5. Internet of Medical Things 
  6. Nanomedicine
  7. Metaverse
  8. Blockchain
  9. Wearable Devices
  10. Machine Learning and NLP
  11. Robotics

#1 Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

The most popular healthcare technology trend is Artificial Intelligence or AI. Artificial Intelligence techniques are constantly being used by AI consultants in order to unlock clinically relevant information from underneath heaps of healthcare data which is of paramount importance to clinical decision-making.

These fall broadly into two categories, machine learning and natural language processing. In 2020, AI is all set to significantly transform how healthcare systems operate, connect with patients, and provide care by increasing the overall efficiency of patient management.

While we look at the future applications of AI, read our detailed guide on Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare.  

healthcare ai

Future Applications

1. Voice Assistants: The use of Siri or Alexa for the completion of routine tasks in our homes has become a habit for us. AI would make a similar transition in the healthcare industry as well with the formation of healthcare-based virtual assistants.

These AI-based assistants would help clinicians prioritize their tasks and automate non-core routine processes.

2. Medical imaging: Automation of analysis of medical images by the use of machine learning has the potential to be one of the biggest applications of healthcare AI.

Aggregation and analysis of the image data, cross-referenced against the existing data sets can be used to provide the predictive diagnosis to the patients.

It can also be utilized on a large scale for predictive analysis of a certain condition by statistical analysis of the disease prevalence across populations.

This can be of great use in case of unavailability of trained personnel or in regions where access to medical facilities is difficult.

Significant research is already being done across various institutions in this segment and is surely going to continue in 2021.

3. AI-driven patient health monitoring tools: With the use of NLP and ML, the patient health monitoring tools can range from personalized voice assistants that help patient with management of drug regimens and chronic medical conditions to chat-bots that interact with the patients, collect medical information, track symptoms and offer possible recommendations.

4. Medical research: AI can be used to effectively process data that isn’t humanely possible to compute in a very short time and thus aid in research.

The data so processed can be used to identify population trends, match the ideal patients with clinical trials and research studies and to come up with novel drug combinations to further pharmacological research.

AI can sift through research data at an unprecedented rate and discover hidden patterns in a more accurate manner.

#2 Cloud Computing

Data collection and record keeping are an integral part of healthcare, and historically, management of this data has always been a challenge for healthcare providers.

Cloud computing in healthcare has become the go-to option for the management of electronic medical records.

This healthcare technology is advantageous for both patients as well as physicians as it makes the consultation process more seamless and saves valuable time. Storing data on the cloud makes gives it remote accessibility and facilitates better collaboration.

cloud computing in healthcare

Future applications

1. Hybrid clouds: Data security concerns are the biggest obstacle to the adoption of storage of data on the cloud. Public clouds are not secure enough and setting up and maintaining a private cloud environment is very expensive.

The solution to this is the hybrid cloud, which is a combination of the private and public cloud technology and thus facilitates a more secure cloud computing environment.

2. Real-time data processing: Integration of medical devices with the cloud storage environment and use of EHR and EMR would result in the availability of real-time data to the healthcare practitioners and would result in far better patient outcomes.

3. Clarity regarding regulations and better data security: A lot of efforts are being put to establish clarity regarding the storage of patient data on the cloud.

According to Black book research, 93 percent of hospital CIOs are actively working towards acquiring the technical staff needed to configure, manage and support a HIPAA-compliant cloud infrastructure.

Rapid work is also being done on techniques such permission-based data availability, encryption of data, creating backups and exploring recovery options.

4. Ease of interoperability in the healthcare sector: Cloud storage also makes it possible to access the data remotely thus giving access to specialists who can then take better and more informed decisions about patient care.

It is going to bring down the geographical barriers in patient care, provide better healthcare facilities to people living in remote areas which aren’t easily accessible and ease the process of delivery of healthcare services by integration of patient data across common platforms.

#3 VR and AR in Healthcare

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are one of the most discussed healthcare technology trends after its immense display in movies. This healthcare technology is no longer the stuff of science fiction and it is actually finding widespread application in the healthcare industry.

Right from the education of medical students to diagnosis, treatment planning, and patient management, this technology has managed to become an integral part of every sphere of healthcare and it still has a lot of unbridled potential.

Future applications

1. Surgical Training: Up until very recently, the only tools available to medical students to hone their surgical skills were practicing on cadavers before they could actually progress to performing procedures on the patients.

VR and AR technology can now be used for visualizing surgical scenarios and planning the operation. It acts as a tool to plan and optimize the sequence of events during the surgery and also prepare the possible course of action for any circumstances that arise.

Work is already being done in this direction in form of Microsoft’s Hololens which helps surgeons to visualize the internal organs and rehearse the actual procedure before actually performing the surgery.

It is sure to improve multi-fold and incorporate more advances in the year to come.

2. Improved visualization and body mapping: There are AR applications already available which aid in locating the vein like Accuvein and Veinseek pro, which help in visualizing the veins before starting with IV infusions.

This technology is likely to see further progress in the field of body mapping in the coming year.

With the use of multiple sensors and visualization techniques, a full recreation of the patient’s body would be possible in the future which would greatly influence the management of complicated cases and can even be applied in advanced diagnostics and risk assessment without the need of invasive tests and penetrative surgeries.

3. Stress reduction and enhanced hospital experience: In case management of chronic diseases and debilitated patients, use of VR goggles have been documented to have a proven soothing effect on the patients. It helps in chronic pain management by lessening the use of pain relief medications.

VR and AR have application in reduction of stress that is typically associated with a stay in the hospital premises and in 2021, we would see progression of this technology to such a stage that it can provide even more immersive experiences and enhance the hospital stay by providing psychological relief.

4. Physical therapy and management of phantom limb pain: Phantom limb pain is when the amputees feel that they are unable to relax their missing limbs and hence feel a constant pain.

Use of this healthcare technology to make the patient make use of their missing limbs for doing simple tasks virtually, by using myoelectric sensors connected to the stump has shown proven pain relief.

The next year is going to see much progress and refinement in the technique as well as mass incorporation of the same for physical therapy.

5. Mass medical learning: Startup Medical Realities hosted the first worldwide virtual reality live stream of a surgery earlier this year, which was attended by over 50,000 people.

While the surgery involved use of a camera mounted on a nearby table, we could see further applications of this technology in which streaming is done directly from the surgeon’s headgear.

It would provide numerous medical practitioners with a unique learning opportunity where they can watch the surgery at close proximity.

#4 Big Data and Predictive Analytics

big data in healthcare

Compilation and collation of healthcare data which is very widespread is a challenge in itself.

Convergence of powerful computing, advanced database technologies and cutting-edge analytics software has led to big data finding its much-needed application in the field of healthcare.

A huge amount of medical data is being produced at both organizational as well as individual level ranging from medical diagnosis and imaging data in medicine to monitoring fitness data.

The big data analytics tools and repositories generate reliable and calculative insights out of these volumes of data within a very short duration.

The amalgamation of these data-sets from various sources including hospital, pharmacy, insurance and even individuals and their subsequent analysis to get meaningful results would result in better healthcare outcomes at a lowered cost.

Future applications

1. Incorporation of medical devices data: The data collected from various fitness and wearable devices would be used to provide customized care by acting as a diagnostic toolbox and also perform predictive analysis regarding the predilection and pattern of diseases across various population demographics.

2. Precision medicine and research: Big data will give a boost to research in precision medicine resulting in patient-specific care and change in medical attitude from focusing on the masses to individuals instead.

It would result in better patient profiling and formation of efficient predictive models for individual patients.

3. Lowering of costs and workflow optimization: use of predictive analysis on patient population cohorts can help in risk estimation and thus result in an accurate determination of the treatment plan to be followed.

4. Real-time control of infections: Google launched flu trends back in 2008. While it was a great concept, it failed due to discrepancies in the data collected.

With the advances in big data over the last decade, healthcare organizations can now utilize the patient data collected in an effective manner to predict the high-risk zones for infections and epidemics.

Collection of data about common indicators of infection, such as sepsis can not only help to identify the cases at high risk of infection, but it can also help make hospitals a safer place for the patients and help improve patient outcomes.

#5 Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)

The next healthcare technology trend to lookout for is the Internet of Medical Things. From smart phones to smart homes, the network of connected devices keeps growing with each passing day. Internet of things, commonly known as IoT is already commonplace in our everyday lives and is paving the way for IoMT.

There already are a number of devices for the end consumers which are meant to track and record the fitness and health data to regularly monitor the health status of the individuals.

Their numbers, functionalities embedded within them, and their adoption rates are only going to increase in the future.

The medical devices have numerous applications and possess inbuilt sensors like ECG and EKG monitors, temperature, blood pressure and glucose estimators to track and record user data.

The data compiled by these devices is then utilized by the healthcare based mobile applications to check the health status of the individual on a day to day basis and detecting any abnormalities the moment they occur.

Future applications

IoMT is not going to be limited to just wearable devices, here are the ways in which the technology will transform and adapt in the year to come.

1. Drug delivery and supply chain management:  The clinical devices by use of RFID chips would start being used for supply chain maintenance.

FDA has recently set down guidelines for radio frequency identification (RFID) which includes tagging and packaging of medicines so as to ensure maintenance of supply chain quality by the manufacturers and making the system more transparent and efficient. This is likely to lead to better inventory management resulting in less wastage.

2. Management of chronic diseases: IoMT is bound to completely transform the way chronic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes and chronic organ failures are managed.

Devices with high precision sensors which the patient wears all the time would constantly track medical data and issue immediate alerts on detection of any anomaly.

Centralized collection of the specific data-sets regarding these chronic conditions would play an important role in research. Tracking of the disease-specific trends across various populations would aid in predicting disease progression.

3. Remote patient monitoring as an adjunct to telemedicine: Data collated by the IoMT devices would prove to be of great value to the clinicians. Instead of relying on the patient for subjective symptoms report, the healthcare providers would be able to remotely monitor the patient and access the relevant patient data thus resulting in accurate diagnosis and personalized treatment planning resulting in better outcomes.

4. Elderly and debilitated patient care: With increasing life expectancy, the healthcare issues the elderly population face is bound to rise. IoMT would prove important not just for tracking vitals but also ensuring better patient compliance by ensuring that the prescribed medication is taken on time.

Mobility is yet another challenge for the elderly and debilitated patients and advent of portable diagnostic devices in the days to come would not only reduce the number of visits to doctor’s office but would also reduce the ever-rising healthcare costs.

IoMT is thus set to transform the healthcare industry by empowering the medical practitioners as well as individuals who own devices for making data-driven decisions, thus resulting in better patient compliance and positive treatment outcomes.

#6 Nanomedicine

Movies like ‘Iron Man’ have made nanomedicine one of the key emerging trends in healthcare. It is a combination of medicine and nanotechnology, and it is gaining popularity in healthcare organizations. With the innovation of Xenobots (tiny organic robots), the nanomedicine industry offers enormous potential.

Future Applications

1. Diagnostic Applications: Nanomaterials of varied shapes, types, and sizes are applied to biosensors to augment their accuracy and sensitivity in detecting diseases. For example, a graphene-based (NFG) nanosensor with silver nanoparticles can be used for the early detection of breast cancer.

2. Surgical Procedures: Nanomedicine technology can be used for minimally invasive surgical procedures. Nanorobots are trained to perform numerous micro-operations and they can reduce tissue damage during surgeries.

3. Oncology Therapy: Conventional chemotherapy comes with a few loopholes such as poor tissue targeting, poor water solubility, and severe systemic toxic effects. Nanomedicine fills up these loopholes and improves drug utilization within the target area.

#7 Metaverse

Metaverse is sometimes referred to as a “parallel reality” or “visual reality,” but it is not AR, VR, or MR. Instead, it is a combination of these technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI).

This is the newest and top healthcare technology trends that will require another decade of development before it can be used in games, stores, travel, or healthcare industry. At present, medical facilities use VR and MR for the assembly of medical equipment or for the design of surgical rooms and procedures.

Future Applications

1. Surgical Operations: Virtual reality technologies are restricted to specific clinical settings and offer pocket size immersions. Metaverse intervention can help to overcome these challenges by providing space and realistic interaction between patient and doctor, including objects.

2. Mental Health: Metaverse in mental health can be used to treat PTSD, brain phobias, hallucinations, anxiety disorders, delusions, and much more. Metaverse technology has changed the way mental health patients seek support from their family, friends, and therapists. Patients can easily connect with their loved ones in a virtual space and feel better about themselves.

3. Medical Education and Training: Metaverse helps to view the anatomy of a human being in a lab setting, thus opening lucrative opportunities in the medical educational field. Medical students can communicate with each other and they can share their knowledge.

#8 Blockchain

According to statista, 55 percent of healthcare applications would have adopted blockchain for commercial deployment by 2025. Blockchain has the potential to improve digital health by facilitating secure, patient-friendly data sharing across highly siloed healthcare systems.

Future Applications

1. Supply Chain Transparency: One of the many challenges in the healthcare industry is assuring the provenance of medical products to ascertain their authenticity. Blockchain technology tracks items right from the manufacturing stage and ensures that users have full transparency of the products they’re buying.

2. Patient-Centric EHR: Healthcare systems are struggling with the issue of data siloes. Blockchain system for EHR can act as a single view of health records. The patient data won’t go into the blockchain, thus keeping it safe.

3. Credential Verification: Blockchain in healthcare can be used to track experience of healthcare professionals. Medical institutions and organizations can log in the credentials of their staff, only to streamline the recruiting process.

#9 Wearable Devices

Wearables have long since been a crucial aspect of healthcare technology and are one of the fastest-growing healthcare technology trends. This is so because they are a type of device that utilizes biosensors in order to collect various data from the user, including their heart rate and blood pressure. Additionally, they can be used to monitor sleep patterns and activity levels, provide medication reminders, and store health information.

This type of device has seen a surge in popularity in recent years due to the development of sensor technology, as well as the ability to reduce the size of sensors and batteries. Wearable medical technology is utilized for a variety of purposes, such as monitoring fitness, monitoring heart rate, monitoring overall wellness, and managing disease.

Future Applications

1. Remote Patient Monitoring: Wearable devices can track vital signs like heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen levels, allowing healthcare providers to remotely monitor patients with chronic conditions. This helps in early detection of health issues and reduces the need for frequent in-person check-ups.

2. Fitness and Wellness Tracking: Wearables like fitness trackers and smartwatches monitor physical activity, sleep patterns, and nutrition, promoting healthy lifestyles. Users can set fitness goals and receive real-time feedback on their progress.

3. Medication Adherence: Wearables can remind patients to take their medications at the right times, improving medication adherence. They can also record medication usage, providing data for healthcare professionals to assess compliance.

4. Fall Detection and Safety: Some wearables are equipped with sensors that can detect falls, especially in the elderly. In case of a fall, these devices can alert caregivers or emergency services, ensuring a swift response.

5. Stress and Mental Health Management: Wearables are increasingly incorporating features to monitor stress levels through metrics like heart rate variability and skin conductance. This information can help individuals manage stress and improve their mental well-being.

#10 Machine Learning and NLP

Machine learning (ML) is revolutionizing health care by leveraging advanced algorithms to analyze vast amounts of data, improving diagnostics, patient care, and administrative processes. ML models can detect subtle patterns and anomalies in medical imaging, aiding in the early diagnosis of diseases like cancer.

Natural Language Processing (NLP) is a transformative force in health care, as it enables the extraction and analysis of valuable insights from vast amounts of unstructured clinical data.

Future Applications

1. Drug Discovery and Development: ML plays a crucial role in drug discovery by analyzing vast datasets to identify potential drug candidates and predict their efficacy. This accelerates the research and development process, helping to bring new medications to market more quickly and cost-effectively.

2. Clinical Documentation and Note Transcription: NLP is used to convert spoken or handwritten clinical notes into a structured format. This significantly reduces the administrative burden on healthcare professionals, allowing them to spend more time with patients and less time on paperwork.

3. Medical Coding and Billing: NLP can assist in medical coding by automatically extracting diagnostic and procedural codes from physician notes and patient records. This reduces coding errors, ensures accurate billing, and streamlines the revenue cycle for healthcare providers.

#11 Robotics

The global medical robots market is expected to reach $12.7 billion by 2025, and hospitals hold the largest market share. Robots have come a long way in supporting medical tasks and procedures. Robots in healthcare ensure efficient and precise care, for example, they play a vital role in surgeries, prosthetics, and administrative tasks.

Future Applications

1. Surgeries: Robots are capable of performing surgeries such as coronary artery bypass, cancer tissue removal, gallbladder removal, cystectomy, hip replacement, hernia repair, tumor removal, and much more. Robots contribute to minimally invasive surgeries. Small incisions are made to insert robot-based tools for minimizing risks and infections.

2. Disease Treatment: Healthcare providers make use of microbots for disease treatment. Patients swallow tiny camera that takes pictures of the internal organs like digestive tract and aid physicians in identifying diseases and other conditions.

Wrapping up

Technology in healthcare is still relatively new and though it is witnessing adoption at a phenomenal rate, the advances that have taken place till now are just the tip of the iceberg.

Healthcare industry is going to revolutionize and reinvent itself in the days to come and is currently a field of exciting opportunities.

If you are looking to start your own journey into the field of healthcare technology or looking for a custom healthcare software development company, feel free to contact us for a quote. We specialize in providing custom healthcare and medical software development services.