With time, the healthcare sector has adopted various technologies for administration purposes and workflow control. The recent pandemic has further pushed this trend, revealing how crucial technology can be for governing healthcare in trying times. Without remote work and similar technologies, the healthcare system would have collapsed during the pandemic. So, applying technology is essential to handle the growing medical needs of the world’s population and potential disasters such as the recent pandemic. Thus, we must be aware of current trends in healthcare technology, and this article discusses four ways tech helps streamline healthcare workflow today.
Better education and administration through CME trackers
When it comes to healthcare professionals, education is essential even after stepping into your professional life. Therefore, enrolling in continuing medical education (CME) programs are required for most healthcare practitioners. Without doing so, one can lose their medical practice licenses and thus lose their jobs. CME helps healthcare professionals keep their medical skills and knowledge up to date to treat patients effectively and online referral also helps the patients a lot. However, the management of CME data can be challenging. Medical learners are often unaware of the credits they are earning or have earned in the past, which can lead to issues in the future. But CME trackers are the perfect solution.
A CME tracker, on the other hand, can also help you manage your CME credits with ease. It will automatically organize your credits from a particular provider and allow you to track them at all times. Therefore, you won’t risk losing your license and can stay up to date with new advancements in healthcare. Moreover, it can help automate administrative tasks to help you stay organized and efficient.
Improved data collection with digital health records
With the digitization of health records in recent years, healthcare facilities can upload patient data on the cloud or other digital storage services. As a result, data collection is now easier than ever before. Healthcare practitioners can ask patients to enter their data into online forms and automatically upload and organize it in an online database. Medical practitioners and facilities can save hours they would otherwise spend gathering and organizing data physically into records. It’s not surprising that 93% of healthcare facilities in 24 countries use digital health records.
Furthermore, clinical data platform also helps improve data access. Smart software and efficient computers allow users to access large amounts of data in minutes. Digital health records are also accessible from remote areas. Unlike physical records, digital ones do not require to be transported to different locations each time they are needed. With such convenience, healthcare professionals can work at any time from any place, improving efficiency and productivity.
Data analytics
Going through years of data to find trends or patterns can be challenging, even for the most experienced individuals. However, data analytic tools available today can complete such tasks in seconds. Whether a healthcare facility wants to improve patient outcomes, identify inefficiencies in tasks, or limit losses, computer software for analyzing data can do the job for you.
For instance, medical professionals typically use data analytics to analyze patient data to improve the accuracy of diagnoses and treatment plans. It helps reduce the workload for healthcare professionals and aids them in effectively improving patient outcomes. Furthermore, predictive analytics can allow healthcare facilities to make essential decisions regarding patients. As a result, they can help avoid potential issues that can harm patients or the facility’s reputation.
Telehealth
Telehealth is a term that describes different types of technologies that allow healthcare professionals to diagnose and treat patients remotely. In recent years, it has become one of the most influential technologies in the healthcare industry. Telehealth is popular because it helps patients receive healthcare conveniently from their homes and reduces the load on busy healthcare facilities by decreasing in-person visits. Virtual visits are often more comfortable for healthcare practitioners and patients than in-person appointments. As many as 60% of physicians have reported telehealth as easy to use.
More importantly, telehealth is an essential tool for medical practitioners to handle patients with highly contagious diseases. It allows professionals to conduct diagnoses and treatments safely. With new advancements in telehealth tech, it’s also possible for healthcare workers to remotely collect patient data. For example, healthcare professionals often use smartwatches to collect data such as heartbeat and blood oxygen levels. Thus, telehealth can speed up patient treatment while streamlining healthcare workflow through automation and remote work.
Conclusion
Technologies like data analytics, telehealth, and digital health records are some of the many technologies used in healthcare to streamline workflow. The healthcare industry as we know it today relies heavily on technology and will continue to be shaped by it in the future. So, to thrive in the transforming healthcare sector, keep yourself updated with new pieces of tech such as those mentioned above.
