Authored by Col (Dr) Rajendra P Vennam, CEO and CTO, Drucare
Healthcare is changing with technology growth at a very fast speed. A major element of this evolution is the provision of care that is focused on the needs, desires and the overall experience of the patient – centric approach. Mediated by technological advances, the paradigm shift in healthcare is also changing the ways patients engage healthcare systems, optimizing results and providing better care.
Making a Shift Toward Patients Centered Care
In the past, health care provision was based on a care-side approach where systems and providers took the lead in providing care. This, however, is not the suggestion of patient centered health care, which advocates for making the patient an active and a very well-informed stakeholder in all options regarding any treatment regarding them. This approach is meant to treat diseases but also to enhance the satisfaction of the patient by addressing all patients needing unique interventions. Technology has been critical in this movement as it provides the means for patients to be empowered and for the treatments to be more convenient and individualized.
Telemedicine and Monitoring Services: Features of telehealth technology
Telemedicine is a major driver of patient-centric care. Such telehealth services enable patients to conduct a medical appointment over a video call eliminating the lengthy travel or stay in clinics waiting for a turn. This is particularly helpful to people staying in areas far more heavily, or those bedridden and enhances the reach of healthcare services. Remote patient monitoring (RPM) makes care delivery more patient-centered since it allows patients to use mobile tracking gadgets such as smartwatches or fitness trackers to track some health parameters such as the heart rate or glucose levels. As a result, healthcare providers are able to keep up with the patients’ conditions in real time leading to accurate procedures and customized treatment.
Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics
Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing patient care by uncovering the hidden trends in the enormous volume of data available and anticipating diseases. This helps in carrying out interventions at an early stage and providing interventions that match the health conditions of each patient. Artificial intelligence diagnosing tools also improve the diagnosis. For example, AI can process the images of patients to look for something that doctors miss. That level of accuracy leads to proper management of any illness breakthroughs since diagnosis and treatment are done on time. Another tool that AI provides to the healthcare system and that has been found useful is wellness predictive AI powered analytics. For example, it can help healthcare officials figure out the patients who are likely to be readmitted in the hospital after surgery and institute measures to improve the patients’ recovery chances.
Planned Approach to the Patients
The standard treatment of all for everyone is becoming the passé ever since the era of technology took its course. Genetic testing for example allows practitioners to create specialized medical strategies based on what cannot be seen thus known as personalized medicine. As a result, this approach means that more efficacious treatments with limited collateral damage are realized especially in the treatment of cancer and related diseases. Based on the history of the patient and their desires, desktop software implementing EHRs with embedded algorithms can create options for patient treatment. As a result, all patients get treatment appropriate and suited for their conditions, and the results of treatment are encouraging not only for the medical institute but also the patients themselves.
Giving Patients the Exact Tools to Help Them in Their Health Management
Mobile health applications, patient portals and the use of wearable devices have made it easy for the patients to take charge of their health. Such apps for instance allow patients to monitor their state of health by checking their health records, appointment schedules, and prescription reminders among other things. These features engage patients and encourage them to take charge of their health care. The healthcare professionals can also utilize these computers in order to let the patients know useful things which they need to understand if they want to effectively deal with their treatment.
We can see now that as a result of technology, healthcare is no longer dominated by providers but rather, patients themselves. Patients are active participants in their care as IT advances such as telehealth, AI technologies, and individualized treatment strategies become available. This change is positively affecting health status, increasing accessibility, and increasing patient satisfaction as a whole. There is a clear ratio of endless possibilities that technology enfolds each person, and it is the same for the health sector deriving from such progress proceeding to focus on technology-oriented patient care.
