A very common approach to technology is to “break things and move fast”. However as far as healthcare is concerned, where the level of precision has to be at a 99% level of significance, your innovation has to be something obviously unique.
You actually have to break things without doing no harm, you have to be a diffferent innovator that can create exceptional realities for the betterment of human health.
Though digital health trends have been with us for quite some time now, however, the pandemic ridden 2020 seemed to have unleashed the innovative energy on the healthcare ecosystem.
Last year has indeed proven that given the required speed, safety and innovative approaches, government agencies, healthcare organizations and innovators can execute impossibilities in the healthcare industry.
Here are the key digital health trends that have come to stay for 2021:
Telehealth
Telehealth also known as telemedicine has turned health care into being more patient-oriented.
This trend has opened up a wide range of health access options to patients.
Using telehealth, patients can quite easily converse with a doctor via video most especially.
Initially, at the launch of telehealth, the technology was welcomed with skepticism as its full use was hampered due to government regulations and privacy concerns.
However, when the pandemic struck and there was less of an incoming patient visit, the technology had to be fully integrated into the healthcare sector.
This digital health trend is now widely accepted as medical centers across the globe have encouraged its use. Patients can now book appointments and get consultation right from their phones.
Even if the regular physical in-patient visit continues, some individuals would still prefer the convenience of therapy and consultation via video.
Except for extreme cases that require physical treatment, it is even more cost-friendly to get basic healthcare online than physical visitation.
Some e-health startups on the African continent have made their mark on this digital health trend.
They include: Helium and Ubenwa (Nigeria), Udok (Kenya), mPedigree (Ghana) and Zipline (Rwanda)
Virtual Reality
Telehealth may be relatively new but Virtual Reality (VR) has been quite long on the block.
This digital trend has been seen as a technology tool for recreation because it has offered users an immersive experience as they use the VR headset.
But beyond that experience, this digital tool is gradually making a shift into the medical world.
Surgeons are now testing procedures to prepare for very delicate surgeries while some doctors are already finding VR useful in performing new practices.
As of today, models of 3D printing technology are now also available to support VR.
With these digital health trends there is a limit to the possibility that the healthcare sector can benefit from.
Cloud Infrastructure
This digital health trend helps to open access between essentially different systems, health organizations are now embracing the cloud and this trend will continue in 2021.
With this transition, healthcare organizations have a big advantage of having their data stored digitally as a large quantity of data gets generated on a daily basis in the health space.
Cloud storage appears to be a better alternative to keep up with an ever expanding storage of data.
This digital health trend affords an easy sharing of medical information. Big tech companies like Microsoft, Google and AWS are now engaged with healthcare system globally
Finally, every tec -driven platform aims to make the world a better place with exceptional innovation, however, in the healthcare ecosystem, things are different.
It is obviously a challenging task, however, if you can jump on it, modern digital health trends definitely come with it own rewards.
Don’t miss important articles during the week. Subscribe to techbuild.africa weekly digest for updates.
