No industry has been as intensely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic as healthcare. Hospitals around the world have been inundated with patients, and the sheer volume of infected people has highlighted healthcare’s outdated nature.
As a result, healthcare’s technological revolution has gone into overdrive, as healthcare embraces big data and other technologies with the hope of overcoming treatment obstacles during the pandemic and preventing another pandemic.
The use of artificial intelligence, data analytics, and healthcare data management is not new. However, there has been a reluctance to fully embrace data when it comes to treating diseases.
Hospitals need healthcare data management
Hospitals are now paying more attention to over-capacity, staff safety and fatigue, and the need to make faster life-and-death decisions. In emergency situations, data is everything. The COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, has exposed the importance of utilizing data effectively and efficiently.
To that end, healthcare facilities are relying more on technology designed to generate data, such as electronic health records (EHRs) as well as patient monitors, X-ray machines, and EKG machines.
Remote healthcare consultations
Social distancing has been a huge challenge for the healthcare industry during the pandemic. After all, the physical examination has long been the best way to make a diagnosis.
However, a new reliance on healthcare data management and telemedicine tools has changed this. The number of teleconsultations is up by 300% and 500% over the past year. Doctors now have easier and faster access to patient statistics than ever before and can identify potential high-risk cases at an earlier stage.
Having access to detailed data for every patient also leads to more efficient diagnosis and prescriptions, with doctors able to prescribe the specific medicine for each case, rather than relying on one medicine for every disease. By this measure, healthcare data management is helping to end the era of one-size-fits-all medicine, and with telemedicine tools, diagnosis and prescriptions can be completed using a phone or computer.
Electronic health records in real-time
Modern healthcare facilities now have access to an abundance of patient data. Electronic health records contain patients’ health history, covering everything from test results to allergies and everything in between. The COVID-19 virus has affected people on a minute-by-minute basis, so the time saved by having this data on hand is vital.
One key data analytics feature used in hospitals is real-time alerting software that analyzes medical data on the spot and recommends the best course of action. The real-time changes that show up in data allow medical professionals to monitor and evaluate the short-term impact of COVID-19 and get a head start on combating the virus.
Robotics saving lives
The spread of COVID-19 hasn’t just changed the way we visit hospitals; it has changed the way treatment happens inside facilities. With physical contact kept to an absolute minimum, hospitals have been prioritizing the use of artificial intelligence and robotics. Hospitals are using robots in a wide variety of ways to reduce the number of bodies in place at any time.
Whether it’s taking patients’ temperatures, drawing blood, performing lab tests, or decontaminating hospitals, robotics have never been more in-demand in healthcare. Robots provide contact-free medical alternatives but are also convincing the public of how important technology is in treating the pandemics of tomorrow.
Healthcare’s future is driven by data management
2020 taught the world plenty of lessons, but the importance of healthcare data management and artificial intelligence are at the top of the list. Healthcare is made up of smart, caring, professional human beings, but the industry needs the insights created by data analytics and AI to deliver the best possible care today and manage the pandemics of tomorrow.
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