Revolutionizing Healthcare Industry: Early screening & risk assessment through breakthrough technologies

By Dr Banshi Saboo,

Over the last two or three decades, some inventions have changed the future of the healthcare industry. With the advancement in technologies such as application of robotics, 3D printing, artificial intelligence (AI) and nanotechnologies in the medical field we doctors can now identify the disease easily. With the early screening of the problem the severity of the disease can be predicted. All these advanced technologies have helped to save numerous lives. All the medical professionals are embracing the technologies which are revolutionizing the industry overall.

Internet of Things (IOT) and It’s Emergence

While the whole healthcare industry is going through technological changes, parallely with that other factors have also affected the process such as the internet of things (IoT). IoT helps in the improvement of data computing technologies and along with that also increases the storage capacity of every possible medium from a small data chip to a big data cloud. The seamless data computing and storing process has helped a lot in creating a network which is spread all over the world but connected with a unique identity. The network that connects the whole thing is referred to as the internet of things (IoT). With the help of this we doctors can easily find a patient’s previous medical history and the whole treatment procedure has also become easy with the help of data computing.

How Iot is Revolutionizing the Healthcare Industry

Like any other field, IoT has impacted the healthcare industry as well. All the devices that are used in a hospital or a nursing home will remain connected with each other with the help of this network. The data will be collected and then it will be stored. IoT is also capable of analysing the data to help us, the doctors in the treatment. IoT mainly does this by transmitting the obtained data in the form of vital body signs, medical images such as X-ray, MRI, CT Scan etcetera.

Several Types of Technologies that is Changing the Industry

The IoT sector is growing at a rapid pace and by 2022 it is expected to reach a total net worth of 158 billion USD. It may surprise you that the net worth of the sector was only 41 billion USD in the year 2017. All the medical institutions and doctors like us are adopting these technologies to help our patients so that they can get on the way to a speedy recovery.

The technological field and the IoT sector can be divided into five categories broadly. They are – Consumer healthcare, Inventory management, Hospital operations and workflow management, Patient monitoring, Telemedicine and remote consultation. Whenever a patient will come to the hospital or nursing home with any kind of health issues the treatment can be started instantly.

Consumer Healthcare: A patient can be monitored by a doctor with the help of real time data. These data will help to treat conditions and several diseases before causing any harm to the patient body. The information will reach the doctor who is in charge of the patient fast and without any kind of error. Mostly the patients who need constant monitoring like babies and elderly persons can be monitored 24×7 with the help of this. Most hospital’s first priority is consumer healthcare which can be ensured with these technologies. Patient engagement can also be increased by providing wearable devices to them which will help them to keep engaged with their health.

Inventory Management: Hospitals and all the medical staff associated with it will be highly benefited by using IoT to keep a track record of drugs and other medical supplies. In case a low storage is detected the medicine or other supplies can be ordered in advance.

Hospital Operations and Workflow Management: In a hospital where thousands of patients are admitted, the workflow of doctors and other medical staff needs to be managed in order to ensure that every said patient receives the most effective treatment possible.

Patient Monitoring: Sensors attached with the patient body will track the heart rate and the oxygen level in the patient body. In case of any kind of abnormality the nurses and doctors will be informed instantly. Modern devices such as Kribado which is a non-invasive screening device will give the doctor a risk score by assessing the patient’s health.

Telemedicine and remote consultation: A doctor can now suggest a patient’s medicine without having a face to face visit with the help of remote consultation.

Final Words

Technologies are changing the healthcare industry for good. We doctors are getting accustomed to the new technologies and equipment. All these technologies are made while keeping the thought of the patient’s wellbeing in mind. By using these technologies early assessment of a patient can be done and not only that health risks can also be managed. Many lives can be saved with these technologies so that we can move to a happy and healthy future.

(The author is a Diabetologist, General Physician and Internal Medicine from Ahmedabad. The article is for informational purposes only. Please consult health experts and medical professionals before starting any therapy or medication. Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of the Financial Express Online.)