In the digital healthcare space, Technological Advancements for Healthcare surrounding all the facilities and devices – starting from medicines, vaccines, procedures and systems are forged to simplify and enhance healthcare facilities like operations, cost reduction and quality enhancement. Emerging Technologies in Healthcare like AI (Artificial Intelligence), blockchain, voice search, chatbots and virtual reality (VR) forms the potential health technologies this year.

Previously, healthcare professionals were not satisfied due to a lack of technology. It prevented them from performing critical diagnoses, operations or providing optimum healthcare facilities. Now with the advancing medical technology, the technologies transforming healthcare today are:

1. Artificial Intelligence – It is an exciting technology at present and has the probability of rapid growth. Artificial engines have the ability to reduce medical risks through automation. Automation reminders can help patients in taking medicines at the right time. AI can also find the need for medical attention for people at grave risk. In addition, AI can observe a patient’s body chemistry and recommend medicine dosage.
2. Blockchain in Healthcare – One of the facts that hospitals still use papers and files for keeping medical records which can get destroyed. It is helping in maintaining the digital record by creating the ledger of transactions which are impossible to tamper.
3. Information Technology and Medicine – There has been a significant increase in the use of mobile technologies like tablets and smartphones through which physicians and patients both are able to witness the positive sides that new medical technologies are offering. Video conferences between patients and doctors have become common that is saving time and money spent on traveling from distant parts of the world.
4. Telehealth Surgeries – Minimally-Invasive surgeries, better monitoring systems and more comfortable scanning equipment have become part of the medical world. This has allowed medical practitioners to carryout telehealth surgeries. In some cases, surgeons are not required to be present in the operating room at the time of surgery. This has allowed patients to spend less time in recovery.
5. Wireless Brain Sensors – Scientists and doctors have been able to create bioresorbable electronic which has the potential to get placed in the brain and dissolve when not needed.
6. Smart Inhalers – As everyone knows that inhalers are the primary option treatment for asthma which taken correctly can be effective for more than countable patients. However, it is not the case as most of the people do not use inhalers properly. In order to help asthmatic patients, medical researchers and innovators have come up with Bluetooth enabled smart inhalers. It is a small device attached to the inhaler that records the date and time of each dose. The patients receive the data on smartphones and are able to keep track.
7. Big Data and Cloud – Big Data has created a buzz in the electronic medical world. It comes with benefits like Reducing healthcare costs, Predicting epidemics, Avoiding preventable deaths, Improving the quality of life, Reducing healthcare waste, Improving efficiency and quality of care and Developing new drugs and treatments. And cloud offers safe storage solutions, where medical practitioners and patients are able to use data from cloud sitting at any part in the world.

Disadvantages of Technology in Healthcare

1. Electronic Health Records’ networks do not work smoothly, where most networks are devoid of interconnectivity, leading to communication problems. This can lead to patients’ health in danger.
2. Security and data protection is a problem for the cloud in healthcare.
3. Mobile healthcare is vulnerable to hacking, malware and viruses. The devices can be stolen easily.

Though there are a few disadvantages of technologies in Healthcare, the advantages offered by it overtake the negative aspects.