It’s obvious there is a lot of promise in mixing technology and healthcare. Consequently, we can see some benefits to this shift to the Health 2.0 Era. First and foremost, using technology in healthcare can provide for a better diagnosis. This, in turn, will lead to more effective treatment. For example, IBM has been creating a supercomputer known as “Mr. Watson” that can potentially help doctors to keep track of patient history, stay up-to-date on medical research and analyze treatment options.
Next, this shift of technology into healthcare can help doctors communicate with patients. New ways to use technology such as Sherpaa, offering patients medical consultations online and over the phone by top medical specialists, can help save you a trip to the ER. Not only does technology help with communication between doctors and patients, it can help the communication between doctors as well. Social networking between doctors can help doctors collaborate online on difficult cases which help the patient get better treatment in the long run. That’s the premise behind Doximity, a social network exclusive to physicians.
Finally, we have recently seen a rise in apps to help users live a healthier life by encouraging us to stay active, eat healthier, and sleep better. There have been pedometer apps that help track our movement, calorie counter apps to help keep track of our diet, and sleep apps that help keep track of how much undisturbed sleep we are getting each night.
Though much is still in the early and experimental stages, the advances in technology could help save money in health care costs and improve patient treatment leaving us to live a healthier life. We are curious to see how technology will alter the medical industry in the near future. In the meantime, we will keep an eye out for you.
