With technology advancing, industries directly connected such as healthcare also advance. Because many industries move forward so quickly, we’re left having to keep up with the unreasonable pace by looking toward the future.
While we can’t always predict future technologies, we know for certain 2019 will bring expansions on new technologies and ideas we currently have. New programs such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and telemedicine will continue to service the world while growing larger and smarter as a result. The goal is to reach as many people as possible quickly, affordably and effectively. In 2019, we will grow ever closer to completing this very goal.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence, or AI, are computer programs which learn from us and each other. The more the program learns, the more accurate it is. While complicated, AI is all about finding patterns and predicting future sequences. So even though a human can diagnose a disease, AI and other computer software can do the same thing, perhaps even earlier with more accuracy.
Furthermore, AI doesn’t stop at diagnosing illnesses. Differenet programs can comprehend, sense, learn and act like humans to make people more comfortable when they’re being attended to. This stretches over into chatbots or other online platforms where the person doesn’t speak to the machine in a face-to-face setting. Tricking the person to believe they’re talking to another person or even to prefer the machine over humans is a hallmark of all AI creators’ dreams.
Big Data
The Internet of Things, or IoT, is a large pool of information found in the cloud. This information, or data, helps companies make money by predicting the wants and needs of their consumer base. This big data is most useful in a company’s multi-cloud strategy, which is when a company has more than one public and/or private cloud servers. Using a multi-cloud structure can provide extra security and more storage for crucial information.
Cloud services don’t stop with just collecting data. This information has to get used. These days, a lot of companies are turning to a SaaS format to better implement their data and help regulate the cloud like never before. SaaS means software-as-a-service, usually subscription-based, allowing users to buy services rather than products.
Coming into 2019, people are going to see a lot more SaaS types of sales for everything from media software to programming. This will be the same if not more effective for the healthcare industry. Allowing the products to get sold on a subscription-base helps developers keep everything up-to-date and keep out old data or misinformation from entering the mainstream so easily.
Telemedicine
While the thought of telemedicine may sound impersonal or impractical to some, speaking to a doctor over a video call is better than not speaking to a doctor at all. Kings View Behavioral Health System found the cost and time spent traveling to their California location led eighty to ninety percent of patients to discontinue mental health services. This technology helps cover the gap between patients and doctors with a distance between them.
Telemedicine continuously gets better with the adoption of augmented and virtual reality or AR and VR technology. The AR/VR healthcare industry is set up to become a $5.1 billion market by 2025, so investing more in the technology now can only help with future practices. Doctors using AR/VR tech can have better, more descriptive conversations with their patients over long distances, explaining exactly what’s going on with their bodies along with medicines or procedures.
AR/VR isn’t the end of telemedicine. While practical for those who have the technology to access what they’re seeing, voice software may be better depending on location. This is, again, where chatbots and AI come into play except with user input, such as from a doctor. Voice technology changes how doctors interact with patients and how hospitals market their services to the world, making access easier and better for all.
Predicting Trends
No one knows for sure what will happen tomorrow. What we can do is make educated guesses and predictions based on preexisting data, not unlike the AI machines we’re currently developing to be more like us. The best way to predict the future is to know where we are now, where we want to go and how likely we are to get there.
Perfected AI might be a little ways off, even with Google and Amazon fighting for dominance. Telemedicine, however, is already here. With big data, we can make telemedicine bigger than ever before by offering a cheaper, easier solution to patients. As for new technology waiting just around the corner, we might have to wait for those.
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About the Author
Kayla Matthews is a tech-loving blogger who writes and edits ProductivityBytes.com. Follow her on Twitter @productibytes to read all of her latest posts!
