A Look at Modern Healthcare IT

The healthcare industry has been attempting to transition to digital for over a decade. While many practices have been able to successfully implement electronic health record (EHR) technologies, a full digital transformation has eluded many others. Today, providers are searching for ways to get measurable results with these newer technology implementations. Below is a look at the healthcare industry’s IT as it stands in early 2019.

Optimizing EHR

Electronic health record technology has been a priority for healthcare providers for the better part of a decade, as noted above. By optimizing their EHR system, practices can solve many of the operational flaws they are typically falling for. They are able to enhance workflows, offer an upgraded quality of care, improve intelligence of the practice, see more patients, stay compliant with state and federal mandates, and see a significant increase in their ability to get reimbursed.

VR and AR

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are acquiring more commercial traction every day. In the medical industry, the transformations of these technologies hold an extremely imperative place in what will be the healthcare practice of the future. By being able to successfully simulate care delivery, they are critical platforms for training and comprehending the complex systems that make up the human body. By building software that provides visual representation of intricate systems, health providers will be able to train staff by emulating a procedure before they undertake it.

AI Growth

Many industries are looking for ways to utilize artificial intelligence more effectively, and healthcare is no exception. There are several ways in which doctors, administrators, and medical staff are leveraging the burgeoning technology. From systems that can help healthcare providers communicate with patients with severe neurological diseases or trauma, to monitoring growing antibiotic resistance in patients, to using data analysis to monitor and predict when a person is going to have medical problems, AI is on the brink of many significant breakthroughs in the medical sector.

Expansion of Virtual Care

Virtual care is the act of providing one-on-one health consultation via the Internet. This practice is growing quickly; 96 percent of health systems, or almost the entire market, plans to expand their virtual care systems in 2019. Virtual care, also known as telehealth, is the delivery of health-related services and information over the Internet or other communications platform. Virtual care has shown to dramatically improve patient health and understanding of the health services they undertake.

Virtual care expands a patient’s care from the doctor’s office to the home, providing many different manners in which to communicate, solutions to remotely monitor health, a cost decrease in care provision, and more. By offering outreach and virtual care services, a healthcare provider utilizes the strongest technology available to deliver healthcare services to people all over the world.

The healthcare industry is using IT more than ever to connect with their patients, vendors, and other industry professionals. If you would like more information about IT for healthcare, or how your practice could enhance its use of information technology, reach out to our Macro Systems IT at 703-359-9211.