Tag Archive for: healthcare technology

There’s an App for That…Or There Should Be: Utilizing Technology for Better Health Outcomes

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Health literacy has always been a passion project of mine ever since I was diagnosed with cancer. I stand by the notion that plain language and clear communication leads to better health outcomes. However, communicating with our care team isn’t always easy. How many of us have gone into an appointment only to leave the office 10 minutes later, wondering what happened and what our copay went to? Were all of our issues and questions addressed? 

This is where we have to come in as advocates for our own health, and below are a few ways to do this: 

  • Try and focus on one ailment per appointment 
  • Write down a list of questions you want addressed prior to the appointment 
  • Ask questions during the appointment – you are the expert of your body and health 
  • If something doesn’t make sense, ask for the information to be explained in another way. Patients are found to be more compliant if they know: 
    • How to take their medications properly 
    • Why specific blood tests and imaging are ordered (i.e. if they’re necessary) 

How do we keep track of all of this information, though? There are patient portals that keep track of our appointments and records, but those can often be hard to navigate, and they lack the capability of being able to enter our own information (i.e. about how we’re feeling). Additionally, different health systems have different portals, leading not only to lost passwords, but a missed opportunity for integrated healthcare. This is essentially senseless for cancer patients who have to keep track of multiple appointments and medications, all while trying to keep afloat in a system that wasn’t built for patients and their caregivers. 

However, there’s a role technology can play here. I’ve heard of patients carrying around large binders of their records from appointment to appointment, but if we’re being honest, I don’t believe a physician or other member of a patient’s care team is going to take the time to go through it. Instead, utilizing the power of the device that we’re constantly carrying around and looking at may be the way to go (in addition to a smaller folder or journal for those that are comfortable with paper). 

If we think about it, there’s an app for everything, and having an app to keep track of our cancer journey should be no different. What should this app be able to do? Here are a few things that I think are especially important: 

  • Keep track of: 
    • Medications (dosage, picture of what it looks like, how to take it and what to do if you accidentally miss a dose or take more than what is prescribed, ability to refill) 
    • Blood work (results and what they mean [featuring a scale of what’s low vs. normal vs. high], what to ask your doctor about in terms of next steps) 
    • Imaging (results and what they mean, what to ask your doctor in terms of next steps) 
  • Ability to connect with all members of your care team (primary care doctor, oncologist, nurse navigator even if they work in different health systems) 
  • Ability to connect with caregivers and share information with them 
  • A diary to describe daily thoughts, symptoms, and side effects, flagging specific keywords that can alert a member of your care team 
  • A calendar with appointments (date/time, office location, directions) 
  • Tips to assist with mental health (i.e. offering local or national support groups [both virtual and in-person], counseling that accepts insurance and/or is offered on a sliding scale) 
  • Exercise routines featuring different forms of exercise (yoga, pilates, HIIT, weightlifting, playing a sport, walking and running, etc.) based on you’re feeling side effect- and energy-wise 
  • Information about nutrition through the different phases of a cancer journey (pre-treatment vs. in-treatment vs. post-treatment) that includes recipes 
  • Most importantly, all of this information should be in plain language that’s easy to understand in whatever language the patient is most comfortable reading 

Having an app that features all of these capabilities, I believe, would push the needle forward in patient care, not only creating better health outcomes, but a more satisfied patient. What would you add to the list? 

How Has Cancer Research Evolved in Light of the COVID-19 Pandemic?

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How Has Cancer Research Evolved in Light of the COVID-19 Pandemic? from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo. 

What have been some benefits for cancer research during the COVID-19 pandemic? Expert. Dr. Shaji Kumar describes some of the clinical trial changes that have been born from the pandemic to improve access to care and to decrease the risk of infection for cancer patients.

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Transcript:

Mary Leer:

Are there any noticeable trends born out of the pandemic that will be or could be a benefit to the future of cancer care or research?

Dr. Shaji Kumar:

That’s a very important question, and I think we always learn from adversity, and I think this is going to be no different. I think, especially when the pandemic hit back in the spring of last year, we all had to think fast on our feet to figure out how best to continue to tell about the best care for the cancer patients without compromising the care in any way. And we knew that bringing the patients back into the clinic at the same rate we did before the pandemic would expose them to significant risk for infection, so how do we continue with treatment? There have been very different things people have tried…one of them is to try and get the medications to patients at home. If they are on IV medications, they can be changed to something that’s comparable that can be given by mouth. We already did that for some patients. For some patients who used to come to the clinic very often, so we figure out is there a way for them to get some of those testing done in a clinic much closer to home, so they can avoid the travel, they can avoid being in a bigger city, they can avoid being in a bigger institution, again, reducing the risk of exposure, and then you look at those numbers and then decide on the next course of treatment. We converted many of the clinic visits to video visits. Nothing is as good as having the patient right in front of you, but this is the best we could do under the circumstances.

And I think that helped. So I think the clinical trials was a big problem because in many of those trials were done in a very rigid fashion with very little variability allowed within the protocols. And everybody loosened from the clinical trial sponsors, the pharmaceutical companies, the institutional review board, the investigators to try and build flexibility into those clinical trial structures to allow patients to continue to be on those trials, So what does that mean for the future? I think the video visits are here to stay, I think we will continue to utilize that and bring patients back to the clinic only when it’s absolutely needed. I think the clinical trials will have in-built flexibility so that patients can enroll on clinical trials remotely, they can potentially be given some of those medications at home, maybe it would be something where we would check into the patients on a regular basis to make sure things are proceeding in the right way. I think there are increasingly technologies that will allow the patients to communicate in real time with the care team and also provide many of the data that we need through iPads or iPhones, Apple watches, whatever we end up using.

So that is that I think that technology will rapidly take off in the next few years. So I think a lot of the care of the patients with cancer in general, and particularly cancer patients, is going to look very different five years from now, because of all these things that we have always thought of and we thought, “Yeah it will take time to implement, it’s difficult.” Now we figure it out in a year. We can do a lot of those things.

Jeff Bushnell:

What’s the final takeaway for the average cancer patient and caregiver, how to get through this? What’s your bottom line for us all?

Dr. Shaji Kumar:

Your cancer treatment comes first, let’s not compromise on it, let us do it as safe as we can by observing all the instructions in terms of social distancing, masking, avoiding gatherings, getting vaccinated, and make sure you keep connected with your care team. You don’t have to be in the clinic to do that. There’s a variety of different tools, I think every hospital has options to either through their medical records to message their care team, or set up video visits and so forth.

So we want to be in a state where it was before the pandemic in terms of your communications, but use the technology, so we can decrease the risk of exposure without compromising the quality of care.

How Will the Medical Industry Change in the Coming Years?

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Under the influence of technology, healthcare is becoming a more complex system. By introducing features such as: 3D-printing, Nanotechnology, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and VR/AR, it is critical to acquaint yourself with the latest healthcare developments to understand and control digital healthcare technologies. 

There are a lot of factors at play in the modifications of healthcare. Having a profound understanding of this growing intricacy will facilitate comprehension of what’s to come. With the help of USMLE prep, the medical community keeps growing with the addition of new students and ideas.

Which Factors Contribute to Change in the Medical Industry

According to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), justification of the development of healthcare is implicated by several factors such as:

  • Health insurance coverage: While insurance coverage is an assurance of more medical services, modern trends of insurers and employers place a fiscal obligation on patients in the form of deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance, which brings about slow growth rates
  • Healthcare product and service prices: It is evident that the increase in pricing of medical products and services has impacted healthcare spending growth
  • Demographics and patient idiosyncrasies: Variations in the health status and age of the population significantly affects how much is spent on healthcare
  • Market capacity: Healthcare providers are known for consolidating at a rapid rate. Incorporating others gives a more significant market power over insurers
  • Technology: This is one factor that has the most critical effect on healthcare change, according to MedPAC

 How Technology Will Better Healthcare

In the medical world, digital technology will result in extraordinary achievements. It could help revamp unsustainable healthcare systems into more sustainable ones. Technology is shaping healthcare in the following ways:

Robotics

This is one of the rapidly growing healthcare fields. Its developments vary from robot companions through surgical robots until pharmabotics, exoskeletons, and disinfectant robots. In 2019 Europe saw its first exoskeleton-aided surgery that enabled a tetraplegic man to control an exoskeleton with his brain. These sci-fi suits have many more applications that help both the patient and the caregiver.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial intelligence has the absolute potential to completely redesign healthcare. AI algorithms can design treatment plans, mine medical records, and develop drugs faster than any medical professional on the healthcare palette.

3D-Printing

3D-printing is capacitated to give rise to miracles in all facets of healthcare. We can print: artificial limbs, bio tissues, blood vessels, pills, amongst other things, with its help.

Healthcare Trackers, Wearables, and Sensors

This equipment is excellent for getting to understand ourselves better and reestablish control over our individual lives. These devices help you manage your: stress levels, weight, cognitive capabilities, and overall fit and energetic level. The real advantage of these tech-fueled appliances is that it centralizes the patient’s care.

Augmented Reality

Users of augmented reality do not lose touch with reality, and it ingrains information into the eyesight as fast as possible. These unique aspects allow AR to become a driving force in therapy for the receivers and providers of healthcare.

Medical Tricorder

As far as instant solutions are concerned, this gadget is considered every medic dream for an almighty and omnipotent device. It is a handheld device that enables you to diagnose and analyze every disease by scanning a patient.

Nanotechnology

We are on the brink of a nanomedicine era. Soon, nanodevices and nanoparticles will be critical; tiny surgeries, drug delivery systems, or cancer treatment.

Revolutionizing Drug Development

The procedure of formulating new drugs is long and expensive. There are techniques to enhance drug development with designs ranging from silico trials to artificial intelligence. New strategies and technologies are already dominating the pharmaceutical landscape and will continue to do so in years to come.

Virtual Reality

Virtual reality is altering the lives of patients and also physicians. It is possible that in the future, we will watch surgeries as if you wielded the scalpel, or you could travel home or to any other part of the world from your hospital bed.

Something to Think About

Technology is becoming more and more rooted in medicine, and it is essential to have an idea of the future methods of implementing healthcare with digital health on the rise.

5 Technologies Shaping the Future of Healthcare

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From implants to self-diagnosis, innovation is growing in the medical industry, and can soon transform healthcare all together. Although technology has already evolved since the development of the microscope back in the 17th century, the health industry is still welcoming more advances to medical and surgical tools, as well as new ways to make effective medicines and vaccines.

In this article, we’ll take a look at the five ways that technology is pushing the medical industry to another level, and shaping the future of healthcare.

1. 3D-Printed Prosthetics

“Prosthetics are one of the most requested products in the medical industry, especially with amputee patients,” says Michael Keener, a business writer at Boom Essays and Academized. “And with 3D printing, it’s now easier to create prosthetic limbs, and make these products more accessible to people worldwide. Ever since the success of the 3D-printed mini heart, now 3D printers are a must-have.” 

2. Biosensing Contact Lens

Recently introduced by UNIST’s team of researchers, biosensing contact lens will be able to detect glucose levels in diabetic patients, whenever there are tears in the eye. Having built-in transparent electronics, the lens, fortunately, won’t bother people who wear them. Sounds amazing, right?

And although the lenses aren’t in the market yet, UNIST is hopeful that they’ll soon be available in the near future. 

3. Virtual Reality (VR)

VR is no longer reserved for video games. In fact, both patients and doctors can use VR to see what’s going on – whether surgeons are using it for noninvasive procedures, or patients want a virtual escape while they’re recovering from surgery in a hospital bed. 

In addition, VR software like Osso VR and ImmersiveTouch help future surgeons train for the real deal, and lets experienced surgeons and physicians perfect their operations and methods. According to a recent study from Harvard Business Review, VR-trained surgeons did around 230% better in their overall performance – faster and more accurate in performing surgeries – than traditionally-trained surgeons.

VR also makes surgery and post-operation less painful for patients. With VR being as noninvasive as possible, patients suffering from things like gastrointestinal, cardiac, and neurological problems find them less painful when using VR to visualize soothing images and scenarios to distract them from what’s going on. Even women in labor can use VR to distract them from labor pains. With VR, the hospital experience is less stressful for patients.

4. Wearable Trackers And Sensors

With wearable trackers like Fitbit, it has never been easier for people to track their steps and heart rate. But pretty soon, these types of trackers and sensors will be able to detect one’s health status, so that people can take better control of their lives. Whether you’re looking to manage your weight, have lower stress levels, check on your body cognitively, or find a good level to be fit and active, wearable trackers and sensors will soon be able to do those things.

Here are some of the technological advances to date:

  • Fitbit Ionic – Lets you monitor your sleep, and even tracks your workout.
  • Polar H10 – Helps you find the best exercises for you, and fine-tune your current practices. (Wear this with the Fitbit Ionic, if you desire.)
  • The Muse Headband – Helps you focus on the major things that make your meditation session successful.

Now more than ever, it’s easier for people to track their health, and get a better hold of what they would need to do to stay healthy and active. 

5. Nanotech

“Nanomedicine will soon be a reality, if not now,” says Hollie Kelly, a project manager at Bestbritishessays and Academ advisor. “People are already seeing nanoparticles and nanodevices as our drug delivery systems, tiny surgeons, and cancer treatment tools.”

For example, there is already talk about smart pills like the PillCam, which is a noninvasive, electronic pill that can relay diagnostic information about the patient and or release necessary medication via smartphone. The medical industry is hoping that these smart pills can take biopsy samples for further analysis, or take the place of traditional, invasive surgeries.

Conclusion

With technology already changing our world at a rapid pace, healthcare will surely benefit from innovations from technological advances. Although these technological advances may not show up overnight, you can rest assured that doctors, physicians, surgeons, and developers are working towards these solutions, and promising a brighter future in healthcare.

Molly Crockett writes for Ukservicesreviews.com and Big Assignments. She also writes articles about writing and editing on Best Coursework Services. As a marketing writer, she shares her unique lifestyle tips and personal development advice with her audience.