The crisis might have forced many technologies on healthcare providers, but they surely feel confident enough around them today. In fact, 83% of physicians surveyed in an EY report say that they now feel more comfortable using digital health technologies than prior to COVID-19. What’s more, 67% of physicians say that they’ll use innovative technologies to provide better care and run their practices more efficiently.
That begs the question: How can we improve patient care through technology? Which technologies are critical? There are plenty of alternatives out there, but our work with healthcare providers shows us that the following 6 are among the most wanted.
1. Telehealth
Probably the most visible example of the country wise email marketing list increased tech adoption during the pandemic, telehealth is here to stay. It might have emerged as a way to keep social distance during the COVID-19 pandemic, but its convenience and practicality are the reasons we can safely say that telemedicine is here to stay.
That’s because a larger number of people have used telehealth when compared to the pre-pandemic use of telemedicine tools. That firsthand experience surely lets patients (and physicians) appreciate the benefits that come with telehealth when dealing with regular checkups or minor ailments.
2. Remote Patient Monitoring
You could argue that remote patient monitoring is a form of telehealth—and you’d be right. However, RPM is more than just a video call to check up on symptoms or do a routine follow-up session. That’s mainly because RPM involves a variety of devices (mainly wearables) to gather the patients’ health data to later send it to their physicians.
Thus, health providers can access the latest health data on their patients at all times. Wearables can help practitioners measure blood pressure, weight, blood glucose, temperature, sleep quality, and more. Coupled with artificial intelligence, these devices can provide highly beneficial insights that can help physicians provide more precise treatment for each patient.
3. Communication and Collaboration Platforms
Social distancing didn’t just affect patients who wanted to go to the doctor. It also affected physicians themselves, who were forced to use we will explore in more depth the me digital applications and platforms to keep in touch with colleagues and work together in remote treatments and assessments. It’s not surprising, then, that communication and collaboration platforms are taking center stage in the healthcare sector.
Communication and collaboration platforms allow doctors to deliver better care for different patients, especially for those patients that require a multidisciplinary approach for their treatments. Using a combination of cloud-based, desktop, and mobile tools, practitioners can quickly discuss patients’ outcomes with other doctors in real time without having to meet in person.
4. Patient Portals
Online platforms aren’t just for internal mobile list use. Healthcare providers can also develop cloud-based solutions to stay in close contact with their patients. In fact, many institutions are already embracing patient portals to better manage everything related to their patient’s care. While those portals vary from one institution to another (as they are usually custom healthcare platforms), most of them have features for managing prescriptions, viewing test results, making payments, and learning about their treatments in a more in-depth way.