How Covid-19 is Impacting Healthcare Technology

By  //  July 22, 2020

We know that the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a considerable amount of disruption. With economic activity grinding to a halt and the fact that Florida has had a total of 327,000 confirmed cases, the effects of this health crisis will definitely continue for a very long time.

We know that the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a considerable amount of disruption. With economic activity grinding to a halt and the fact that Florida has had a total of 327,000 confirmed cases, the effects of this health crisis will definitely continue for a very long time.

But if we put it another way, Covid-19 has transformed the way we live, and it’s not necessarily for the worst.

We only need to look at the pandemic’s impact on healthcare technology to get a better understanding of its long-term implications.

As medical institutions fight to control the spread of the virus, engineer an effective vaccine and establish a better contact-tracing mechanism, this disruption will certainly leave ample space for developing new tools to combat future crises.

So, how exactly is Covid-19 improving healthcare technology? Let’s take a look at a few key pointers:

1. Big data in medical research

It is inevitable for the healthcare sector to address the demand for managing big data. As technology becomes even more sophisticated, research institutions, hospitals, and other organizations will need to adopt big data solutions for processing huge volumes of information.

And with the Covid-19 pandemic in perspective, the effective utilization of big data allows for accurate and real-time reporting of cases. Moreover, hospitals that already have the right big data infrastructure can easily provide for the needs of unique cases.

2. Streamline hospital operations

Another important innovation that will come out of the Covid-19 crisis is the widespread use of medical software. With the virus’s high transmission rate, hospitals are at risk of overflows, forcing them to thin out their workforce and resources.

Streamlining processes like medical coding can help ease bottlenecks and maximize the efficiency of hospital staff. 

And while most hospitals may not have the capacity to adopt the right tools to maximize efficiency, they can tap third-party service providers in order to close the gaps. Medical billing from Fortis, for instance, can fit most management practices, thereby allowing hospitals access to the skills and tools that align with their coding needs.

3. Remote diagnosis for Covid-19 patients

Extra precaution is imperative in dealing with active and suspected cases of Covid-19. Sadly, health workers represent a large bulk of positive cases, reaching an unprecedented figure of 90,000 cases last May. Considering such risks, healthcare institutions are searching for other means to gather samples, conduct tests, and analyze results on top of what is currently available. 

With such risks in mind, healthcare institutions can make full use of remote diagnostic methods and protective measures for health workers. Along these lines, advanced sensors can help doctors detect the onset of Covid-19 symptoms from a safe distance.

This technology proves efficient in helping doctors make the right decisions and accelerate the reporting of results as accurately as possible.

These sensors can also be made available as wearable devices that patients can wear. For sure, this will allow doctors to draw out real-time insights. 

Whether there is a crisis or not, technology will continue to evolve. It is only that Covid-19 has accelerated healthcare technology and changed the way we view the applicability of new tools used for a health crisis such as this.

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