Technology has become an important part of our daily life. Every field is being imprinted by the fingerprints of innovations that researchers and developers are working hard to achieve. Over the last couple of years, various technological developments have made a lot of changes shaping the future of the medical world.
Whether you take into account artificial intelligence, robotics, or nanotechnology, healthcare most certainly has exciting times ahead thanks to tech!
The Concept of Telemedicine and Remote Monitoring
Who would have thought that you won’t need to visit your doctor’s office in order to seek treatment whenever you fall sick? Well, technology has most certainly made this possible.
Doctors can now tend to their patients who are situated halfway across the globe using electronic devices. A piece of research conducted by the National Center for Biotechnology Information highlighted how more patients were actually in favor of virtual services as opposed to physical check-ups.
This makes sense as patients don’t have to stand in queues or wait for hours at a stretch anticipating their appointment. With the help of technology, they can see their online doctor at a short time’s notice by scheduling an appointment in advance.
Basically, what happens here is that your doctor will try to diagnose you by talking to you via your computer or tab. In fact, there are different types of tele-medication services available as well. Online doctors and physicians offer treatment for urgent care, behavioral care, preventative care, and chronic care.
Behavioral care, for example, refers to the treatment where the doctor will aim to improve your medical health by digitally offering you emotional support and advice. On the other hand, treatment for chronic care involves the doctor helping you manage your chronic conditions by reducing symptoms and making your day to day functioning as easy as possible.
The Invention of Instruments that Have Made Checkups More Efficient
Recently, there are many high-tech pieces of equipment that several doctors have started making a part of their medical practice. In fact, with the advent of these instruments in the medical field, the traditional items have become obsolete. Not only do these newer pieces of equipment increase efficiency, but they are also more accurate.
Let’s discuss some of these medical tools that may seem arbitrary at first but have proved their worth below.
Sphygmomanometer
While the name may sound very complicated and unheard of, this is actually a common instrument used by doctors. The main purpose of a sphygmomanometer is to check your blood pressure.
Checking your blood pressure is the very first thing that your doctor will do. It’s an important key to help them determine your current state of health using at which they can treat you.
Stethoscope
Commonly hailed as one of the most flexible instruments of a doctor, the stethoscope has ancient relevance. This instrument was developed nearly 100 years ago and still remains an important piece of equipment in a doctor’s office.
Using a stethoscope, the doctor can check your heart, lungs, and stomach. At the moment, however, technology has made modifications to the traditional stethoscope giving us an electronic stethoscope.
Electronic stethoscopes can amplify your body sounds by converting acoustic sound waves and hence, overcoming low sound levels. This, in turn, leads to a better assessment of your health conditions and wellbeing.
Stopwatch/Watch
Not many would count a watch as an important tool as it is normally viewed as a fashion accessory. But, in reality, stopwatches and watches have tremendous importance in the daily functioning of a doctor.
Medical professionals and doctors rely on watches when it comes to an accurate assessment of the state of their patients. Using their watches, they determine whether the heartbeat of the patient is slow, fast, or irregular.
Health Apps to Properly Regulate Your Health
There is an app for nearly everything in these days and times. Whether you want to place orders for takeout, buy groceries, or do online shopping, digital technology has made available a lot of things at the tip of your fingers. Healthcare is no different.
There are applications to monitor your personal health, track your sleeping patterns and menstruation dates, count your calories, and monitor your heart health. You can also store your medical records, billing statements, prescription lists, and lab test results organized meticulously in these mobile applications. This way, your medical records could be with you at all times.
Even from the perspective of a doctor or physician, health apps have proved to be extremely useful. Doctors can enlist themselves on sites to attract more patients, get access to the latest medical developments, calculate dosage, and store their patient’s health records.
Hence, you can say that these health apps have proved to be mutually beneficial for the patient as well as his or her doctor. Another plus point of this is the fact that the applications are mostly free for download. We are not saying that all these apps won’t charge you, but when it comes to basic health regulation and storage, several apps don’t require any subscription fees.
Data Consumption Facility
Data has an important role in the medical sector. There is so much information that needs to be stored ranging from diagnosis reports to patients’ medical history, and so on. In fact, physicians have started using computers to recommend treatments and make diagnoses as accurately as possible.
With reports of robots performing elaborate surgeries soon enough, technology is revolutionizing the way medical history traditionally worked. Until that happens, we can say that computers have become a crucial component to ensure the smooth functioning of the healthcare business.
Even when we talk about mobile applications, data storage and consumption is something that even the patients do. In their absence, the entire doctor and patient relationship can come to a standstill. As such, this is yet another advancement that has become possible due to the advent of digital technology.
