During a healthcare focused gathering of the Global Investment Leaders Club, many of the investment leaders turned their attention to the current world events. As the healthcare sector experienced transition as a result of COVID-19, this shift will last for years to come. Despite industry obstacles, the pandemic has led to a growing acceptance of new technology among patients, providers, and healthcare practitioners. These technologies lessen workplace stress and improve patient care.
But there is still hope for change. Many leading medical schools now include the use of technology in their curriculum; the new generation of medical practitioners has a distinct relationship with technology. They will be much more receptive to creative and technologically driven ideas as a result of their relationship.
The global healthcare sector is anticipated to get stronger in 2022, thanks to modern breakthroughs and developments. After all, investing in digital technology in the healthcare sector will increase revenue and productivity.
Most of the major alterations and recent trends are still in the process! The overall emphasis is on improving the accessibility and the financial side of healthcare services as well as diagnosing and treating illnesses earlier rather than later.
Top Healthcare Tech-Trends for 2022
The US healthcare industry is expanding quickly; by 2026, it is predicted that healthcare products might reach USD 6 trillion globally. Patients are now realizing the importance of actively monitoring their fitness and health objectives, and this rising demand pushes businesses to keep developing updated and financially visible medical technology.
But it is not too late to somehow get equipped for the available healthcare possibilities. For instance, Greg Moon, a veteran investor member of the Softbank Investment Advisers, and the former president of SoftBank Ventures Korea stated that “Predictive Health Is the Future of Medicine”. So is this right? Listed below are some of the recent trends:
1. Artificial Intelligence
We all know how healthcare practitioners and healthcare facilities now make use of artificial intelligence (AI) in a variety of ways. The use of machine learning to analyze vast volumes of medical information will be the main AI development in healthcare in 2022. On the other hand, programmers may simulate human cognition and develop machines that think, understand, make choices, and act by designing algorithms that are specifically suited to the task at hand.
No, this would not imply that intelligent robots will suddenly start providing healthcare. Of course, that is not the case right now. It does, however, imply that doctors may get better recommendations for diagnosis, drugs, and treatment strategies.
Overall, healthcare administrators will be able to apply the findings to enhance patient outcomes, save costs, and increase staff job satisfaction by doing this deep and thorough analysis of healthcare data.
There’s no denying the fact AI is starting to change the global healthcare industry. Some medical disorders may now be diagnosed with greater accuracy than by humans. We may anticipate both increasing accuracy and a larger range of applications in the future because the volume of available global health data is increasing at a rate of about 36% each year.
2. Remote Care and Telehealth
We believe many of the improvements in the global healthcare industry are just here to stay. Perhaps telemedicine, remote care, and collaboration tools play an integral role in patient care, even though the pandemic may be reaching prevalent proportions.
The usage of virtual care has grown dramatically over the past year, and experts anticipate that this telehealth trend will continue through 2022 and beyond. The need for digital health seems to be greater than ever among patients.
As per the HIMSS Future of Healthcare, more than the majority of the individuals said they would be open to having telehealth sessions, and this preference was particularly strong among younger respondents.
Healthcare facilities and hospitals must, however, make sure they adhere to HIPAA regulations. Last but not least, these healthcare firms must carefully assess the applications they use.
3. Virtual Reality
By 2022, virtual reality is predicted to generate 4 billion dollars in revenue, and there is no reason why the healthcare industry can’t be involved. Of course, they will! There is something to be fascinated by from every aspect of virtual reality. By utilizing VR to assist patients to manage pain and provide them an immersive experience as they virtually visit a medical institution, perhaps virtual reality is a new savior.
Virtual reality is one of the technologies that improve patient care and using it wisely may be quite advantageous for any healthcare company. Think creatively and choose original content, then these hospitals and medical institutions can probably make a lot more of an impact.
VR is a fantastic technology that offers unmatched virtual care. Kevin Schimelfenig, a Managing Partner at McGeever Family Office, a member of the Global Investment Leaders Club gathering, said, “Certainly, we see healthcare as a whole is getting better, people living longer, and part of the reason is relative to the success of healthcare and convergence between what we call traditional medical devices and IT related tools. So as far as this is going, I just think that there’s a larger population, and there will be more useful for it. I think the IT-related aspect like getting more information to the patient or use of it near the patient is what is going to accelerate.”
4. Nanomedicine and Chatbots
You may be familiar with the concept of nanotechnology since it has been mentioned in science fiction and superhero films, but you may not be aware that nanotech is gradually becoming a reality. By the middle of 2021, scientists and researchers would have developed tiny xenobiotic—organic, self-replicating robots. In the area of nanomedicine, this marks the beginning of ground-breaking investigations.
Nanomedicine refers to the application of certain medical procedures and goals, such as diagnosis and therapy, to nanoscale objects and materials, such as biocompatible nanoelectronics, nanoparticles, and nanorobots.
The ability of these nanorobots to seek down cancerous cells and infections is one of their most intriguing potential uses. Consequently, it is anticipated that this technique will be employed to combat several hereditary, oncologic, and autoimmune diseases.
Daniel J.Arbess, Founder and CEO of Xerox Investments, a member of the Global Investment Leaders Club gathering, stated, “We all need a new approach to global healthcare where we think about not the symptoms of a disease, but the wellbeing of the host of a potential disease. And after visualizing what their wellness and longevity look like, we can start to reach toward those technologies that would make it happen. And I would also say that the pandemic has created a lot of investments opportunities that can accelerate trials with virtual enrollment, virtual participation, and decentralized trials.” Perhaps, nanomedicine has been one of those segments that is already accelerated.
On the other hand, smart algorithms tend to show their value in helping medical personnel separate patients with less serious diseases from those who might have been affected by COVID-19 during the epidemic. Such techniques have been used by organizations like the NHS and WHO to reduce the strain on healthcare systems that are already overworked.
However, a number of these tiny medical aids that have been in research for years are now on the market. These include the general symptom assessment programs and the mental health tracking program. Their practice is predicted to increase as a result of the pandemic, and additional chatbots will likely be created for more specialized medical issues.
5. Smart Devices and Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)
Patients may play a greater role in looking after their health – of course, thanks to wearable technologies in healthcare. Patients using wearable technology may monitor anything from their heart rates to their menstrual cycles. This information may be used by doctors to create personalized treatment strategies.
Additionally, the data gathered via smart wearables is more rigorous and precise in capturing all patient medical information and vital signs. Most importantly, bio patches, smart hearing aids, smart inhalers, sleep bands, and other products are available on the market in addition to smartwatches and fitness bands.
We can see that healthcare’s focus is changing to medical wearable devices for monitoring systems because even the new Apple watch is not a fitness watch; rather, it is a health monitoring gadget.
So what’s next? Ever heard of the Internet of things? The internet of medical things (IoMT) is a collection of software, applications, and other internet-connected medical equipment. We can easily send and store a lot of data when we link some medical gadgets to the internet. Most importantly, early diagnosis of chronic or urgent illnesses is possible with a lot of data.
There is also the potential for IoMT-like intelligent robot nurses, which Italian hospitals now employ to keep tabs on patients’ SpO2 levels and blood pressure during life-threatening situations. There are much more than 500,000 IoMT models available, according to Deloitte, some of the notable examples include:
- Adaptive beds
- Smart clothing
- Programmable temperature sensors
- Ingestible sensors or cameras found in smart pills
The Bottom Line
Amid several constraints and changing healthcare needs, technology has proven critical to maintaining the healthcare sector’s resilience. Parallel to this, as the globe adapted to “the new normal,” the broad acceptance of virtual care and the quick pace of vaccine development has given optimism to many healthcare professionals.
The global healthcare sector will soon be completely dominated by all of these new trendy developing technologies. The global healthcare sector must have developers and researchers who will create these crucial healthcare sector solutions and bring the future into the present.
