- Technology is uniquely positioned to facilitate equity, quality, and personal empowerment, all essential for the well-being of a future where health is balanced across different populations.
- Looking into the future, technology will continue to become much more deeply integrated not only into medical technology but also into the service delivery of healthcare related to patients and doctors.
Technology has levelled the playground regarding healthcare by directly giving patients the power to access information and resources.
Therapists and doctors are harnessing technology to revolutionise medical practices in our modern world. From wearable health trackers to telemedicine applications, these technological innovations are reshaping our approach to wellness and medical treatment.
As the core of the health-technology revolution is access and convenience, many promising developments have already taken place, with the prospect of significant progress in the future. Technology has given us a great deal of revolutionary change in healthcare, making healthcare more easily accessible than ever.
The tremendous development of telemedicine services allows patients to attend remote appointments online with healthcare professionals, thereby terminating the necessity of physical visits and long hours of waiting. In addition, this saves time and resources as it means individuals who need emergency medical attention are allowed to receive it at their location.
Apps make informed decisions
In addition, the further development of smartphone health apps has given people the power to control their well-being and health by themselves.
Data accumulated from research and monitored for various conditions, such as daily activity levels, dietary habits, and chronic conditions, is translated into these apps, providing the users with tips and hints to make informed decisions regarding their health.
Technology has levelled the playground regarding healthcare by directly giving patients the power to access information and resources.
Alongside implementing accessibility strategies, technology remains central to improving healthcare quality and efficiency. For instance, data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) called for integration into the clinical process are one clear example.
By investigating large patient data sets, the algorithms of AI systems can create patterns, predict disease progress, offer individual treatment plans, and perform many other tasks. Through the application of this data-driven method in medicine, diagnosis accuracy elevates, and healthcare providers are now more precise and targeted than ever in their care delivery.
The second thing that can be pointed out is that wearable devices have become a critical tool supporting a proactive approach to health care through real-time monitoring and management. Models include smart watches that measure heart rate and blood sugar monitors for people with diabetes.
These devices provide ample information about essential health metrics and their consequent changes.
Wearables are responsive tools
Wearables do more than just improve knowledge of health conditions; they also strive to become responsible tools for lifestyle change to prevent chronic conditions.
Nevertheless, there are many challenges and ethical questions that might arise with the popularisation of health technology.
Privacy issues, safe data storage, and anti-algorithm partiality are all critical questions that need to be considered to preserve the utilisation of technology in healthcare.
Care providers and technologists need to highly regard patient confidence and safety at all the implementation stages of technology.
In the face of the difficulties that technology can pose to healthcare, the adoption of a collaborative pooling of efforts is an initiative to be undertaken by healthcare professionals, technology experts, and policymakers to ensure that technology is harnessed responsibly to benefit patients.
Future of personalised medicine
By promoting interdisciplinary collaboration and holding open discussions, clinicians can tackle ethical questions and construct a regulatory system that fosters innovation and safeguards patients’ rights.
Looking into the future, technology will continue to become much more deeply integrated not only into medical technology but also into the service delivery of healthcare related to patients and doctors. That is why virtual reality has been employed to train surgeons.
On the other hand, the future of personalised medicine in state-of-the-art precision medicine has no limits. Technology is not a universal solution to various health problems, but it is highly appropriate and essential when used ethically, bringing a revolution to medicine and healthcare altogether.”
Lastly, the convergence of health and technology has signalled a seismic shift in how healthcare operations are carried out. Technology is uniquely positioned to facilitate equity, quality, and personal empowerment, all essential for the well-being of a future where health is balanced across different populations.
In this transcending ambience, it becomes critical that we be ethical healthcare providers and prioritise patient welfare first.
- Amit Saraswat is a Dubai-based health entrepreneur and physiotherapy expert from Physioveda.