There are a number of emerging trends in the healthcare sector and it is expected to be overhauled in the upcoming years. The year 2018 has already witnessed many of these technological advancement that will contribute to the uplift of the healthcare industry with higher transparency and more accurate service delivery. Artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, IoT, disaster preparedness, use of robotics, the real-world patient experience are a few of the prime trends.
Digital mobile engagement
Digital engagement through mobiles among patients, health care professional and providers is expected to increase almost 50% in 2019, thereby, contributing to the improvement of clinical trial treatment and medical adherence. This helps in reducing communication gaps and enables information pathways.
Real world evidence
By 2019, almost 50% of healthcare companies will get dedicated resources to assist and manage the right to access, share and analyze real world data for their organization. The growing real world data enables the healthcare industries to better evaluate their existing and emerging treatments and medications.
Asset tracking and management through IoT
The propagation of IoT to track assets and to manage inventories will almost increase twice the current rate by 2020. It will not only increase the operational efficiency of hospitals, patient safety and the satisfaction of staff, but also support decision making. The platforms enabled by IoT aggregate and integrate data to gain insight into operations, assets, tracking and human resources management.
Patient generated data
The growth in passive biometric tools, digital tracking technologies, improved data analysis techniques, and related innovations make patient data a high-value resource. By 2025, 25 percent of medical data will be handled, shared and collected for healthcare systems by patients themselves, allowing for a personalized relationship with clinicians for continued treatment.
Blockchain health ecosystem
With hospital managers, payers and others looking for or deploying blockchain solutions, innovators recognize that this technology has great healthcare potential. Blockchain usage cases are diversified into anti-counterfeiting, health data markets and other areas for patient identity and operational management. In the upcoming years, there will be a lot more about the role of blockchain in health-oriented artificial intelligence applications, precision medicine and genomics.
Use of Robotics
Advances in robotics technology facilitate the deployment of robots to handle time-consuming tasks, reduce labor, prevent patient safety errors and maintain business. They are used more and more in supply chains, surgical procedures, clinical applications and cases.
Cognitive and AI adoption
Nearly 20 to 40% of healthcare organisations, through cognitive and AI adoption, will achieve productivity gains. The introduction of embedded cognitive / AI technology applications has increased in the adoption of IT.