Innovation in Healthcare
Almost every fifty-years, there are disruptive innovative changes that the healthcare industry faces leading to a healthcare revolution. In the 1870s, the germ theory of disease, antiseptic techniques, and advances in anesthesia, made life-saving surgeries possible and drove remarkable and enduring advances in general well being of the public. With the discovery of penicillin in 1928, the use of medication as a treatment for diseases was drastically increased, thereby defining health care as we know it today.
And now, the next revolution in the healthcare industry is upon us. After decades of lagging behind in the technological aspects, the healthcare industry is finally entering the digital age. The authorizing technology for this transformation fell into place over the past two decades with the emergence of enormous, omnipresent, and increasingly cheap processing power, and more recently, the widespread adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHRs). These trends along with advanced analytical software, sensors, mobile technologies, and genomic sequencing have made it possible to store and analyze vast amounts of user data.
The Future is Here
The top five innovations described below have the potential to be the disruptive innovation the healthcare industry has been looking for. Early adopters of these innovations are likely to be those who are already toying with a change in their business models as a result of recent market advances like value-based care (VBC), consumerism, and the proliferation of new data sources. VBC creates an opportunity for users and patients to be incentivized for their personal and preventive care management that could help improve health outcomes and reduce spending.
Incorporating these top innovations into business models will require changing how healthcare organizations currently prevent, diagnose, monitor, and treat disease. Along with a change in the business models, businesses will also have to start investing in multiple data storage servers and data management tools to keep the user data secure and unfragmented.
The top healthcare innovations right now are
- Next-generation sequencing
According to the National Human GenomeResearch Institute, sequencing DNA means determining the order of the four chemical building blocks — called “bases” — that make up the DNA molecule. The sequence tells scientists the kind of genetic information that is carried in a particular DNA segment. Genetic sequencing is one of the biggest innovations in the industry these days. It is being used to identify at-risk populations or to identify any diseases caused by your genomes.
2. 3D-printed devices
The flexibility in 3D printing allows designers to make changes with ease and at a lower cost. It also allows them to build medical devices in resemblance to the human anatomy. This precision is essential in developing artificial limbs and similar support devices.
3. Artificial intelligence
AI recommendations analyze user data being input via different fitness and health apps to provide accurate diagnosis and treatments. Advanced algorithms analyze the different data sources to provide a holistic overview of an individual’s health; something that is very crucial in order to provide continuous care.
4. Point-of-care diagnostics:
Allow for convenient and timely testing at the point of care (e.g., physician office, ambulance, home, or hospital), resulting in faster and personalized patient care. Providing test results when patients are receiving care speeds up the diagnoses, increases treatment efficiencies and, decreases costs associated with delayed treatment.
5. Biosensors and trackers
Technology-enabled activity trackers, monitors, and sensors incorporated into clothing, accessories, and devices that allow consumers and clinicians to easily monitor health. Increased biosensing has the potential to improve patient engagement, adherence to medication, continuous disease monitoring and, ultimately, health outcomes.
All of the above innovations are a part of what is becoming the Data-driven Healthcare System. A closer look at each of these will reveal that all of them are heavily dependent on user data. Considering all this data falls under Personally Identified Information (PII), it is of utmost importance to keep this data secure and free of the data breach. This can be achieved using the blockchain technology.
A blockchain is defined as a digitized, decentralized, public ledger of all cryptocurrency transactions. Currently, the technology is primarily used to verify transactions, within digital currencies though it is possible to digitize, code and insert practically any document into the blockchain. Blockchain technology will revolutionize the health and wellness industry by promoting interoperability, security, and cost-effectiveness. In 2017, blockchain technology started receiving a lot of attention, as many businesses started focusing on it to solve some of the structural challenges ailing their industries.
NHCT — NanoHealth is one such company that has become an early adopter of the blockchain technology. We have created a blockchain-powered ecosystem of total health to provide coordinated and continuous care to users by eliminating the systemic challenges like data security, data fragmentation, and high costs.
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