The healthcare industry has faced many challenges, especially over the last few years, with epidemics and the backlog they're trying to catch up with. Now more than ever, there's a need for money saving, creating more time for patient care, and providing front-line workers with easier and less time-consuming strategies to help them categorize, save and find information.
The introduction of wearable devices such as Fitbits and smartwatches was designed to collect data on a person's health and exercise. They started as a device to get consumers wanting to improve their health, get them motivated to exercise, and get into a healthier lifestyle, and they took off. With these types of devices and the new wearable medical devices such as wearable ECG monitors and Blood pressure monitors being implemented, the possibilities of what they can do and achieve are endless. They will be able to send a patient's vitals to a doctor in real-time, minimizing the need for patients to visit their doctors for check-ups.
The importance of accessible digital data in the modern world
We're so much more 'on the go' with our busy lives and schedules, and we're all so mobile now that it's only natural for patients and doctors to want access to their medical data and receive on-demand care the same way. However, the healthcare systems are so isolated that access is challenging. This is where the Healthcare industry needs to enter the era of digital innovation.
The challenges of healthcare professionals
Organization problems: Poor organizational structures in the healthcare industry can lead to frustration among the staff of hospitals, doctors, surgeries, pharmacies, etc. This could be due to security issues, disruptive technology, and general workflow inefficiencies. Having several systems and applications to contact medical suppliers and other medical staff causes fatigue, frustration, and stress on top of the daily grind of handling challenging circumstances in healthcare. The large amounts of sensitive data give rise to concerns about data security.
Adapting to new technology: For various reasons, the healthcare sector has been slow to adapt to innovative technologies. Where there's innovation, there must be regulations. The amount of data the healthcare sectors store, and the GDPR and compliance policies and regulations that go with that, have slowed down the process of advancing with the much-needed technology that could help them become more efficient.
Lack of resources: Within the healthcare sector, there's a significant lack of resources, both in people and money. The Covid-19 outbreak resulted in many medical staff working endlessly, around the clock, to help provide medical care. This led to significant burnout with little relief in terms of new medical staff taking some of the weight off their shoulders. With the lack of money for medical staff and equipment and the growth of the digital healthcare transformation, the improvements to help relieve the sector of some of the processes and workflows currently in a bottleneck situation are going slower.
