Post-COVID Healthcare Technology Trends

Josefina Correa -

Post-COVID Healthcare Technology Trends:

Healthcare and technological advancements have always stayed hand in hand to make the world a healthier and happier place to live in.  The impact of digital health in our lives was proven earlier this year when the world got hit by the Coronavirus.

The World Health Organization reports massive consequences of this pandemic. More than 1 million people lost their lives due to the disease. The question remains, what saved many of us?

Technological healthcare as a Savior

Healthcare transformation during this pandemic was extraordinary. Scientists who had already been working on generating a vaccine to prevent humans from getting this disease did not miss a second to find other alternatives that could save us.

A game-changing event for the medical field was that many countries started to welcome investments in the healthcare sector as never before. Government integrated plans for testing, tracing, and tracking infected people became the first tasks in line. This was then supported by an extensive database to be formed by every country to check the number of patients currently infected, as the disease was claimed to be transmittable.

The following healthcare tech trends positively impacted our lives and made the crisis more manageable for all of us. Because of this, they are most likely here to stay:

  • Telemedicine: The reshaping of healthcare systems started with advancements in telemedicine. Digital forums have been created to monitor, guide, and assist people affected worldwide. Doctor consultations are now most likely via phone or video call in order to avoid crowds at hospitals. According to a recent study, America, Canada, and UAE were the top users of cybernetic platforms to stop the virus's potential spread. This ensured that early-stage patients could be managed with the appropriate care and diagnosis; although this doesn't guarantee good results, it’s better than the virus getting spread to others.
  • Artificial Intelligence: A wave of continuous incoming patients led to swift digital implementation that would help bring better results in terms of medical attention. Artificial Intelligence made its appearance in this scenario, and medical professionals accepted the changes to focus more on their work and their workforce's safety. For instance, let's give China credit for developing an AI-based cloud service that could detect COVID'19 patients in a matter of seconds. Research centers in most developed countries are vigorously working with digital assistance to solve all.
  • Medical protective gear: Technological support became continuous backup support for everyone in the health industry. Although not all countries and their respective organizations  relied only  on high-tech trends and decided instead to go with manual medical solutions to cease the spread. Social distancing calls, protective gear, including masks and gloves, came under strict healthcare regulations and manufacturing techniques had to be improved and scaled. Well-known companies such as Ford, Chevrolet joined up with healthcare organizations to deal with the pandemic and build up practical solutions to cope up with the continuous needs.
  • Data processing: Data collection, tracking apps, digital machines and robots, digital consultations, information statistics, and data analyzing are driving the healthcare centers to reach the optimum level of medical care.

Digital acceleration in healthcare and medicine is a trend that is here to stay, and we are thankful to the teams and companies that put so much work into it. Hopefully, COVID19 has a positive outcome in terms of healthcare advances, investments, and integration with technology so that we can avoid or at least minimize the impact of the current and future health crisis.