Healthcare is changing, thanks both to the pandemic, and a wide variety of new technologies that make old processes faster and more efficient. There are also problems that need to be addressed. Staffing shortages, vaccine hesitancy, long wait times, and spotty access to care in certain parts of the country.
What does all of this mean for the healthcare industry of tomorrow? In this article, we try to answer that question.
Table of Contents
Robotics
Robots have slowly found their way into surgery rooms across the planet. Technological adoption is admittedly slow. For one thing, doctors need to be specially trained to know how to use it — something that not all hospitals have the budget or interest in pursuing.
The hardware itself is also very expensive, costing deep into the six or even seven-figure range per unit. This may dimmish slightly as the tech proliferates and the benefits become more apparent, but for now, there are prohibitive obstacles that have kept robotic surgical adoption in check.
But why use robots at all when humans can do the job just fine? Robotic-driven surgical procedures are valued for their high degree of precision. They make smaller, steadier cuts than humans are capable of. The result is shorter recovery times and a significantly reduced risk of infection.
For patients, the benefit is obvious. Hospitals benefit enormously as well. More accurate procedures result in a significantly lower liability risk. Smooth procedures mean fewer lawsuits, which can very easily result in robotic hardware paying for itself in the long run.
Data
Data technology is going to have a big impact on every industry in the next decade or so. In healthcare, it allows doctors to make highly personalized medical recommendations. Previously, patients were given general advice based on their demographic. A five foot ten sedentary male, twenty-eight years old, weighing 180 pounds may be told to exercise more.
Derek, who fits this description, but also has a robust range of data generated by his wearable healthcare device — a Fitbit, say — is instead told that he should run for thirty minutes, and cut back on the caffeine. His heart rate registers as abnormally high in the early hours of the morning.
On the macro level, data can help healthcare systems understand how to best serve their communities as a whole. For example, during the height of Covid, it could be used to help anticipate infectious surges and direct their resources accordingly.
Covid surges have tamed significantly but data is still helping healthcare systems all across the country plan their moves.
For example, a short-staffed hospital can use its data to disperse employees where they are most needed, thus maximizing the effect of limited resources. Data at its core is all about recognizing patterns and gaining actionable insights from that information. For hospitals, this ability gives them an important edge that could have lifesaving implications.
Rethinking Nursing
Contrary to popular belief, Covid-19 did not cause the nursing shortage that we are now experiencing. It’s been a long time coming. The result of more nurses leaving the profession than entering it. And it makes sense why that is.
Nursing is hard work. You’re on your feet for twelve hours at a time. Sometimes you work evenings, which means you don’t see friends and family members during the day because you’re sleeping. Sometimes very sad things happen at work, which makes you stressed, and perhaps depressed.
You feel an enormous amount of pressure because you know that if you make even a small mistake, more sad things might happen. And to top it all off, your compensation is…meh. A bit higher than average, perhaps, but as you’re applying a catheter to a reluctant patient at 3 AM a thought creeps through your head. There has to be an easier way to make a living.
Certainly, Covid expedited a process that was already in motion. Throw in the risk of contracting a dangerous virus at work, and people who were considering leaving the profession got out as quickly as they could.
The healthcare system, and society in general, is now learning the hard way not to take nurses for granted. What this looks like in practice remains to be seen. It could mean better compensation, more reasonable hours (eight-hour shifts, instead of twelve), and more resources in place for mental health and wellness.
Telehealth
Telehealth technology allows patients to reach out to their doctors remotely for small complaints. Quick questions no longer require a trip to the hospital where they wait for a long time, and get seen for several minutes at best. In fact, according to the best dentist in Denison, the number of dentists who offer teledentistry has increased in the past years.
With telehealth technology, they can instead fire off a question from a phone app and hear back within the same day.
For patients, the convenience benefit is obvious. Telehealth technology is also a big boon for hospitals as well, allowing them to get more mileage out of their existing resources.
Community Outreach
The healthcare industry may also focus more keenly on public outreach going forward. Covid-19 was a serious lesson on the impact that bad information can have on public health and wellness. Inaccurate reporting on vaccine efficacy and the general way that viruses spread left many people poorly equipped to keep themselves and those in their community safe.
Through better community outreach, healthcare systems can keep the people they treat better informed, protecting both individuals and the public at large.
Ambulatory sugery centers
Ambulatory surgery centers are independently owned outfits operated with the purpose of expediting wait times to better serve the community. They reduce wait times which can often be extravagantly long — averaging as high as an hour for ERs in many parts of the country, and 24 days for first-time doctor appointments.
For a healthcare system often seen as sluggish and slow, ambulatory surgery centers offer a quicker alternative.
