Digital Transformation in Healthcare Industry
Technology plays a vital role in today’s medical field. In the past few years, the adoption of technology in the healthcare sector has increased by leaps and bounds. This has led to a major improvement in the diagnosis of patients and their treatment. According to experts, the healthcare IT market will be worth almost USD 400 billion by 2025, out of which USD 210 billion will be for digital transformation.
Significance of Digital Transformation in Healthcare
Digital transformation in healthcare helps in improving the health of people by enhancing the quality of care provided significantly. It ensures accurate information about patient health and improves awareness about health-related matters among the general public. Additionally, it enables better decision-making for healthcare professionals by improving their communication with patients.
Digital transformation aims to improve patient health, enhance the care experience, and lower per capita costs. It also improves patient safety by reducing medication errors, possible adverse drug reactions, and increasing compliance to medical guidelines.
Benefits of Digital Transformation
Digital transformation has enhanced healthcare worldwide by improving the care that patients receive from healthcare professionals. A few benefits accrued because of digital transformation in healthcare include:
- Error-free patient-centered care
- Reduced costs
- Accurate clinical documentation
- Improved medication safety
- Reduction in unnecessary tests and procedures
- Easier access for patients to their medical records
Digital Transformation Trends in Healthcare
Due to the global pandemic in 2020, the adoption of digital health technologies has increased across the world. Digital health investments in 2020 have grown almost 50 percent to USD 12 billion from USD 8.2 billion in 2018. Some of the major trends in digital transformation in healthcare include:
- Expansion of telehealth and remote care: Healthcare providers are adopting remotely managed care for patients who do not require hospitalization. This has been observed for patients with both chronic conditions and also those having COVID-19. A hybrid care model with both telehealth and in-person care as required is being increasingly adopted.
- AI and machine learning in healthcare: Though AI has been used in healthcare for a few years now, its adoption has increased greatly since the pandemic. AI and machine learning help in developing predictive models and tools to track the COVID-19 cases and estimating the risks for patients. This field is expected to evolve further and become even more integrated with healthcare in the future.
- Big data management: The pandemic has also increased the need for efficient, centralized, and secure data management. Medical centers and healthcare providers are adopting the cloud to store, coordinate and utilize the data securely. Global organizations like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft have clouds specifically dedicated to healthcare.
- Predictive analytics: The increase in digital transformation has led to the rise in the adoption of predictive analytics for efficient patient management. The use of predictive analytics helps to not only identify high risks and chances of mortality among patients but also manage patient care and keep them healthy.
- 5G Mobile technology: Wireless technology has greatly impacted the delivery of medicine. 5G, with speeds 100 times faster than the current cellular connection, enables instant streaming, uploading and downloading, and offers a much better user experience. By 2025 the 5G technology is expected to completely transform the healthcare landscape and lead to savings of up to USD 650 billion worldwide.
- Smartphones and Wearables devices: With people focused on prevention of health issues more than earlier, they are investing in smartphones and wearable technology devices which can continuously track and collect health related data. There are hundreds of health apps that monitor the health of patients and also assist healthcare providers in checking the test results and providing prescriptions for medicines.
Conclusion
Digital transformation has become indispensable to the healthcare industry in improving not only patient care but also the overall healthcare quality. The new advancements in information technology like AI and machine learning have led to a significant transformation in healthcare. As the adoption of digital transformation increases, it will continue to positively impact the way healthcare is delivered to patients globally.
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