Transforming healthcare with Technologies in 2017
It is time to clear the lenses and identify the latest healthcare technologies that will transform health in 2017 and beyond.
There many ways to transforming healthcare but the following three major areas of improvements would bring the most impact to our healthcare system.
First, the medical treatment methodology needs to be precision.
Medical treatment success starts with accurate and timely diagnosis. Today, we have many diagnosis methods including laboratory testing and imaging studies. To get the precise diagnosis, physicians usually need to order multiple lab tests to rule out or monitor disease conditions. New ways of imaging studies give doctors more accurate and closer looks of the medical condition in almost every parts of our body. What we need are the technologies that can enhance the laboratory testing routine, speed up the medical image reading and reporting process.
An effective medical treatment is a treatment that aims directly and precisely to the lesions without damage the surrounding healthy tissues. If we can have a very clear view of the lesion before, during and after the treatment, we can plan, execute and monitor more efficiently. We also need technologies helping the surgeon to reach and impairment the lesions precisely. We see a product using Augmented Reality and Radiology combine to create hologram for the physicians to plan and test out surgical approaches before an operation.
For chronic conditions, if we have a good monitoring system to evaluate the current state of condition, we can adjust the treatment plan accordingly to reach the optimized result.
Secondary, control and reduce medical cost
According to PwC’s Health Research Institute projection, the medical cost is expected to have 6.5% growth rate in 2017. There are ways we can use technology do reduce medical cost. One of the most needed areas is to shorten medical professional training time and enhance the education experience. Another high impact area is using technology to monitor and intervene population health. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality technology will be effective tools and vehicles to use in the training of medical professionals and the general public in public health issues. Over the years, we have collected a lot of data from many different data sources EMR, PACS, HIS, R&D, Personal Health, Wearable Device, Social Media and all. It is time to make those data meaningful by apply machine learning to analysis, interpret and act on those data for medical diagnosis and treatment.
Third, medical delivery and patient experience need to be improved.
Healthcare experience starts at home before, during and after the medical professional encounters or hospital stays. Today’s patients are actively seeking medical information online regarding their medical conditions and medical problems that they have concerns. Healthcare is now changing from physician-centric to patient-centric. Physicians and patients relationship is more than caregivers with care receivers relationship. They are now partners work together to improve the healthcare outcome. This new change puts patients in the driving seat for seeking medical treatments and advice. Healthcare consumers needed to screen out lots of information to before making the purchase decision. Healthcare consumers are turning to their most trusted partner physicians for advice. They are expecting advice from doctors not only about medication, treatment but also nutrition and lifestyle coaching. Although many healthcare systems are now equipping physicians with health education material to distribute to patient related to health conditions of the patient, while paper instruction and passive monitoring are helpful to the patients, multimedia teaching material with active feedback will be more efficient in continue of care and medical treatment compliance.
Healthcare consumer is different than other consumers. Medical conditions and diseases bring pain, discomfort and life threatening to each one of us. The majority of the medical treatment experience is not only painful but stressful. Study shows reduce the stress during of treatment process will bring better treatment result. Anything that can help to improve patient experience is not only kind to the patient, but also helpful to improve the treatment outcome. Blood drawing is one of the painful experience each one of us has experienced and it especially painful for those has smaller veins and challenging for those under stress conditions. If we can reduce the numbers of needle encounters while getting the same diagnosis and treatment results, it is the blessing to all patients.
As the technology enable and policy allowance, we can bring medical care and advice anytime anywhere. Medical drone, the medical flying tool boxes equipped with remote medicine, is the answer for bringing medical service to the rural area and any emergency situations. It also opens up a brand new way of healthcare delivery process and opportunities.
As we see more and more new technologies come to the market, we should not lose signs of what will bring the most impacts. As the healthcare technology matchmaker and healthcare transformer, our goal to identify those destructive technologies and products, connect them with the business partners to speed up the time to market and bring impact to the healthcare system. In the upcoming posting, I will discuss and introduce those products and service to you.
Have a productive and innovated year of 2017!
