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Modern Healthcare Technology Trends of 2013



The year 2012 has seen some major break through in healthcare technology trends, fueled by economic necessities and change in lifestyle habits of an average human being in the society. Though there were countless number of innovative measures happened in healthcare IT, certain trends and strategies are all set to gain its popularity and momentum in 2013. Let's have a look at those trends now. 
Mobile Health or Telemedicine:



Mobile Health Segment promises to be one of the most attractive and trend setting segments of Modern Healthcare. Mobile Health enables physicians to consult clinical care with the help of telecommunication services to patients remotely from anywhere. Doctors and physicians are showing much interest in working with iPad or similar devices for some good reasons. 

 An increase of 35% usage in smartphone and tablet devices by healthcare professionals stand as a solid fact to ensure that point. Mobile Health or Telemedicine is becoming hugely popular nowadays, because it enable physicians to provide easy access for the people in rural areas  and for the ones under chronic conditions as well. Not just helpful to the patients, the tablet PCs and smartphones give the physicians access to drug reference materials, electronic health records of patients and other such valuable data of patients which was previously available only in offices and hospitals. This kind of access will definitely help improve the outcomes of the patient. 

Robotics:



Most of the surgeries require more than a dozen medical staffs in the room. As with all the technological advancements, robotic surgery eliminates the need for additional personnel other than the ones who majorly oversee the surgery. Taking a look into the future, a robotic surgery may require only one surgeon, one or two nurses and an anesthesiologist.


Personalized Health Records (PHR): 



Gone are the days, where the medical data related to an individual are entered by clinicians and can only be accessed by them for internal purposes. Now at the tip of finger tip, the patients can get and access all their health related data and information themselves with the help of Personalized Health Records. The intention of Personalized Health records is to provide an accurate summary of medical history of an individual, which can be accessed online. The PHR includes lab results, patient report outcome data and other such patient and health related information. Though PHRs are still in its nascent stage in India, it is bound to have a strong impact on Healthcare Technology Segment in 2013. 

Health Information Exchange (HIE): 



HIE enables sharing of health related information electronically among different organizations within a community or a region. The role of HIE is to improve health care safety and the quality. The HIE not just helps the individual or an organization, but also the public health authorities in assisting them with the analysis of the populations' health in a particular society.  

Cloud Computing: 




With just one feedback of having a lack of control over the data, Cloud computing has helped several businesses across different industries with a capability of storing vast amount of data and making it available for easy access anytime and anywhere. Though Cloud computing has not made a deep impact on health care segment in 2012, increase in usage of smart phones and the necessity of patients to access EHRs anywhere and anytime will enable the technology to penetrate the segment. 



As I said earlier, these trends are still in its nascent stage in India and the year 2013 will see these trends making a strong impact in the health care segment of our country. 


Image Source: Sxc.hu (Royalty Free)


Deepan 12:19 , , , , , , , , ,