Healthcare is a basic human need in the civilized world and hence its importance cannot be emphasized enough. Technology has disrupted the healthcare industry like never before. The digital world has exploded in the face of new tools and devices that can monitor, guide, and even diagnose human health like never before.

Digitization is empowering and liberating due to its ability to automate procedures and the very operations in healthcare. Whether it is from gathering information to processing the same and making powerful inferences, the entire healthcare journey is poised for a tech overhaul.

With the advent of cloud computing, IoT, wearable devices, smartphones, apps, and the like, both the patient and the doctor have a world of new possibilities. The patient can get access to experts, test results and other related information at any time. E-reports can store records that can be shared over the digital medium. The doctor can diagnose and guide patients remotely, yet in almost real-time.

Wearable devices like the fitness bands, health watches, etc. leverage the power of IoT to record and monitor a person’s fitness levels as well as medical conditions. These can even transmit the data in real-time to backend apps that can consume huge amounts of data and make predictions.

At the helm of it all are advances in AI. In fact, a new avatar, called the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) promulgates the coming together of mobile and wearables for a preventive healthcare system for an individual. The data is the new king. Big Data is the technology that helps to collate massive volumes of data, powered by smart analytics and information services.

It is no wonder then, that the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this year witnessed a YoY increase of 25% for health-related products on display. The digital healthcare industry is touted to be a trillion-dollar industry.

The revolution of voice-enabled assistants and Natural Language Processing (NLP) is resulting in virtual healthcare assistants for elderly care. These ‘caregivers’ even use engaging augmented reality (AR), conversational speech, visual interfaces, backed by AI, to deliver social companionship as well as manage facets like medicine management, appointment scheduling, tracking to healthcare plans, and even real-time reporting to remote cloud-backed systems. Even relatives can check on their elderly via remote login.

The fact that the consumers are feeling empowered by the digital boom is doing wonders to boost the investments in the healthcare sector. At the same time, users are setting higher expectations and demanding better experiences at an unprecedented scale. This is fuelling the thinktanks to bring higher efficiency systems. The wheels of innovation are rolling at a maddening frenzy in this domain. Users are expecting to get more for less, increasing accessibility to a wider range of choices for control of clinical information with reduced complexity in administration.

The possibilities are endless!

All the major technology players have forayed into specialized healthcare products, realizing that this industry needs special focus. Apple has targeted a basic problem area. It has made significant attempts to bring health data accessible to patients. With multitudes of platforms and services, interoperability is a basic need to enable a seamless world for a smooth healthcare information exchange. Techbehemoths such as Amazon, Google, Oracle, Salesforce, and IBM have pledged to work towards healthcare related interoperability.

Microsoft has partnered with Walgreens for digital services in healthcare. Amazon is targeting to use Alexa as a nerve centre for patient care with features such as detecting if someone is sick via a conversation. Google AI is working on building machine learning algorithms to Assist EHR’s to make predictions. The Apple Watch 4 even has a built-in app for electrocardiogram.

With such focus on healthcare from big tech giants, the companies in healthcare can leverage new ways to proactively offer customer relationships, service management, and top-notch products with cost-effective, simpler and quick adoption.

These tech tools and products can change the scope and ways of doing healthcare business. For the complete gamut of options offered by a plethora of technologies to match specific needs, Techminds can assist companies in the healthcare space create the right solutions. We are agnostic to all major technology players and have partnered with each of them for end-to-end customizations, including hybrid ones.