According to The Next Web, advancement in “several classes” of technology are making a breakthrough in the realm of healthcare. This is especially pertinent when it comes to AI, and the way it’s able to make healthcare providers’ jobs easier, keep patients happier, and help foster a positive relationship between the two.
The Next Web calls out three major groups of tech that are making big strides in healthcare:
Wearables
According to The Next Web, the wearables market is expected to be worth $14.41 billion by 2022. The healthcare industry has already been touched by wearables, including any sort of step-tracker seen on shelves today, or devices that can track users’ heart rate, such as Apple’s latest watch. But other wearables, including Google Glass, are giving healthcare professionals, like doctors, more options for their practices, including new ways to file patients’ information, reminders about appointments, sharing health care data with others, and more.
Blockchain
Potentially sparked by increasing security concerns, The Next Web says that upcoming healthcare apps and devices are expected to be more secure due to developments in blockchain. This solution will be particularly useful when it comes to the transmission, decentralization of and storage of health records. “More simply, blockchain in healthcare will make it fundamentally faster and more secure for all the ‘stakeholders’ engaged in a particular patient’s progress to collaborate securely on imaging projects, data analysis and other processes.” As a result, patients who are wary about their information being shared and stored have one less thing to worry about.
AI
According to The Next Web, AI is more prominent in the home healthcare space, including in underserved communities. This is includes areas where residents don’t have reliable access to doctors, patients who are bed-ridden, or those who can’t travel to a doctor’s office. In scenarios like these, AI can help – for example, AI can be used to encourage digital conversations between doctors and patients stranded at home, or AI can help make a diagnosis faster than a human doctor can. AI also plays a role in clinical trials, helping to determine which drugs or other treatment might help a patient in desperate need of medical solutions.
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