Digital health technology today has taken over medical healthcare in a big way, assisting healthcare professionals in providing quality healthcare to patients. Not just that, health-related technology has pervaded human existence today to an extent that almost everyone with a smartphone today is using digital health apps and other technology easily available to the common man such as smart watches, digital health instruments and monitors, etc.
In other words, digital health technology is a wide area and includes several categories ranging from wearable devices, telemedicine, telehealth, mobile health technology, health information technology (IT), etc. Digital technologies, apps and instruments are ruling the roost when it comes to technology used by individuals to stay healthy and fit. Digital health technologies, apps and platforms that have inundated the healthcare sector in India and globally indicate how important and indispensable technology has become for personal and professional healthcare. And, it’s only growing by the day as new and more complicated health conditions and crisis such as the Covid-19 infection emerge everyday challenging human intelligence and existence.
Health technology for all
The digital health technology world has something for everyone. There are mobile medical apps and software that support and assist healthcare professionals, doctors, nurses, paramedics, emergency medical care providers, first responders, etc., in making decisions during health crisis and medical emergencies. These platforms rely heavily on artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies and have been a boon to the industry, revolutionising healthcare in general.
In addition to that, there are tools using digital health technology that help in improving the ability of doctors and public health experts in ensuring medical care is provided on time; a medical condition is diagnosed in a timely and accurate fashion; a disease is treated accurately and overall quality of life is delivered and maintained.
On the other spectrum are digital health technologies that are improving health care by using information technology, sensor mechanisms, etc. The application of such technology is also wide and is mainly in use for maintaining general wellness of patients, keeping them fit and healthy, maintaining vital health statistics, etc.
Individuals of all age groups are now using digital health technology to maintain a healthy lifestyle, stay fit and healthy and as an aid in treating medical conditions both acute and chronic, health crisis and mental health issues. Human have evolved with technology too and when the Covid-19 pandemic engulfed the world, it was not just frontline workers and medical personnel but even the lay person who used technology to stay safe and healthy during the public health emergency.
Benefits of health technology
There are many benefits of digital tools that are supporting and aiding healthcare today. The most important being how efficiently and effectively digital health technology helps healthcare providers such as doctors, paramedics, etc. in offering opportunities to improve outcomes of medical situations and enhance accuracy and speed of diagnosis and treatment.
They say a wrong remedy is worse than a disease. So, if there is a wrong diagnosis of a medical condition that leads to wrong treatment, there is a high chance of the patient developing more complications, side effects even the risk of losing life. So, such technology goes a long way in ensuring correct diagnosis of the disease or underlying medical condition for the right treatment.
Also, when a healthcare professional has access to more information and data about a patient’s health, there are higher chances of a more accurate treatment and a holistic one. This also gives patients more control over their health and increases the chances of a swift and sustainable recovery.
Prevention is better than cure and health technologies have come a long way in empowering individuals to prevent medical conditions by providing them with knowledge, awareness and the right tools to monitor their health. This helps in prevention of many diseases, early diagnosis of those conditions that are congenital for example and better management of existing health conditions.
So, overall, digital health technology helps in improving access to healthcare, increasing the accuracy and speed of treatment, reducing inefficiencies and human generated error or discrepancies, reducing the cost of treatment and healthcare, improving the general well being and fitness of individuals, ensuring the best possible treatment and care, improving quality of life and life expectancy in general.
Tools to personalise healthcare
The biggest achievement of health technology is that it has personalised healthcare for patients and individuals. Today, at the click of a button one can find out his or her blood pressure, blood glucose levels, pulse rate and other indicators that are vital to a good health. So, an individual can track his health from the comfort of his home and at an extremely reduced cost of time and money.
The use of technologies, such as social media, smart phones, networking tools, internet applications, etc. is not onlychanging how humans are communicating with each other but also paving the way for newer and more creative ways to monitor health, ensure physical and mental well being, grant easier access to information for health management and personal care, etc.
There is a major confluence underway between the two sectors of information technology and healthcare management and their associated appendages. The improvements in technology are playing a big role in strengthening healthcare management. So much so that today doorstep healthcare services and tele services are being offered to individuals at extremely low costs.
Government initiatives boost healthcare
When the government of India launched the Digital India campaign in 2015, no one realised how far it would go in changing lives of the citizens. The healthcare sector started adopting the digital road to help tackle the ever-looming issues of quality healthcare, access to healthcare and affordability of treatments.
Through the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM), the government is striving to improve several aspects and tackle issues that have caused hindrance to providing healthcare to the citizens. So, for example, the government is working towards leveraging the existing digital infrastructure such as the frameworks related to Aadhar, UPI and the pan India coverage of internet-enabled smartphones to create a cohesive digital system that can be monitored and administered effectively and swiftly.
Telemedicine which is one of the original and primary components of digital health across nations and particularly of India’s National Health Policy has also become a priority for the government. This component has been adopted across platforms and all levels of healthcare in the country but some glitches exist that will have to be tackled sooner than later.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, telemedicine played a significant role in ensuring patients are not left without consultation or treatment. The practice showed a lot of potential and promise during the last two years. It is the need of the hour and processes must be initiated to formalise telemedicine and teleconsultations.
Another important domain is digital therapeutics and diagnostics that have changed the format of health products and services lately. Digital therapeutics and diagnostics include technology that helps in understanding how diseases occur and how they progress. These also include genetic engineering and nanotechnology, molecular medicine, etc.
Tools that track health parameters in real time also contribute in a big way in healthcare management today. Another set of tools that enhance and facilitate predictive analytics are widely used for making decisions regarding healthcare more reasoned and calculated. They also ensure doctor-patient interactions are more personal and care-oriented to improve healthcare in the long run.