Technology is at the core of every improvement in health care. It is the driving force that allows health facilities and practitioners to provide better medical services. When you look at the differences in medical technology from centuries ago up to this point, it will be hard to argue this observation. Whether it’s in medical equipment, data collection and gathering, or research and treatments, technology has gone a long way in impacting the most important industry in the world.
Better and More Modern Equipment
It is no secret that technology improved medical services, but just how much? Before the CT scan machine was invented, there was no way for doctors to see abnormalities in a patient’s soft tissues, blood vessels, and bones. A CAT scan service will give doctors a more accurate depiction of what is happening in the patient’s body. This will help medical practitioners come up with better management and treatment. Better medical equipment extended the lives of people. It allows them to spend more quality time with their families. There is nothing more important than that.
Faster Results
At the height of the coronavirus outbreak last year, many developing nations do not have the machines to test the swab samples taken from suspected carriers of the virus. This resulted in the further spread of the virus as people are going about their lives, meeting friends and family, while they wait for the results of their swab tests. It took weeks to get the results back, fueling the transmission of the virus at a time when even the World Health Organization (WHO) hasn’t realized what it can do.
Today, the results of a swab test can be had in a day or less than a day. Improvements in technology also paved the way for alternative tests that can tell whether a person is COVID positive or not. The same thing happened in the diagnosis of many diseases. Doctors don’t have to wait now for days or weeks to properly manage a patient. They can receive the results of a blood test, MRI scan, and others in hours.
Patient-centric Mobile Medical Devices
Wearable gadgets and applications such as a pulse oximeter, blood glucose monitoring device, fitness apps, heart rate monitors, among others are allowing patients to monitor their symptoms and illnesses. Diabetics, for example, can use the blood glucose device to test their glucose levels. There are now devices that will administer a shot of insulin, too. Physically disabled people can now go around, thanks to robotics and voice-activated technologies. There is no shortage of mobile medical gadgets that improve the quality of life of patients nowadays.
Social Media Presence
Social media isn’t only for celebrities and influencers. It’s a venue for government and medical services, too. Hospitals, care facilities, doctors, and dentists create their own pages on social media to reach out to a larger market. This allows their past patients to leave feedback on their services, empowering future patients to choose the right health care for them. The presence of these facilities on social media humanizes health practitioners. Patients can reach out to doctors through social media. It can also be a venue for telemedicine, which has helped curb other outbreaks during the pandemic.
Cloud-based Electronic Health Record (EHR)
The health care industry is now using the cloud to store patients’ medical records. This can only be accessible by authorized medical practitioners and the patients themselves. The easy access to medical records, collected from across networks, capacitates the doctors to make timely and efficient management decisions. It is a simplified and centralized system that cuts costs and logistical needs. Healthcare facilities make huge investments in cloud-based (EHR) for the delivery of more efficient services.
Outbreak Predictions
The use of technology enables the medical sector to predict future outbreaks. This is why they can unequivocally say that there will be another pandemic akin to the coronavirus in less than a hundred years. A good example of how technology prevents outbreaks is during the flu season. Since people search online for answers once they experience flu-like symptoms, a database is created to show the rise in cases in certain areas. This is an important step in preparing for future outbreaks and predicting what diseases spread faster than others.
From a patient’s perspective, the advances in medical technology are wonderful to witness. The diagnosis and treatment of patients are becoming more accurate and efficient. More changes and improvements will come in the next months, years, and decades. Technology changed the landscape of medical science, and it will continue to evolve in the many years to come.
