Tech mistake |A wide variety of innovations in today’s digital world are revolutionizing the healthcare industry. Technology in the medical field is here to stay. It is no longer a secret that technology has impacted our day-to-day life in one way or the other. Until recently, the healthcare industry has mostly been unaffected by the advancements in technology which are characterized by the digital age. However, the wave of digital transformation is slowly making inroads into the medical field. Technology has carved out a society where patients can have better treatment, better recovery, and improved lives. From secure delivery by expectant mothers and effective cancer treatment to dealing with cardiac conditions, doctors can now save millions of lives globally.
Doctors will be able to tackle health problems better and in a cost-effective manner as biomedical research continues to improve. The following are the technological advances that are making a significant change in medicine.
Medical equipment technology
The integration of innovations in the healthcare industry has led to the benefit of an improved quality of life for patients. Medical technology has led to the development of equipment that can perform non-invasive surgeries reducing the time required by the patient to heal. More comfortable scanning devices and systems that enhance better diagnosis and monitoring have also been developed thanks to technology. The integration of telemedicine and medical equipment technology has enabled surgeries to be done by robots remotely. These means that in some situations, the doctors are not required to be in the operating room with the patient during the surgery. Instead, patients can have the operations done in healthcare facilities near their homes as doctors operate the robots remotely from the comfort of their offices. At times, the patient and the doctor who is performing the surgery do not have to meet physically which eliminates the constraints that come with traveling and time.
Medical research
Doctors and research experts are conducting research regularly, inventing and testing new ways that can diagnose, cure or even prevent diseases. Medical research aided by technology has played a pivotal role in the development of new medicines that can treat diseases or lessen the symptoms of life-threatening conditions. The researcher is now able to do disease examination on a cellular level and manufacture antibodies for treatment through the use of technology in medical research. The development of these vaccines to prevent diseases such as polio, measles, malaria, and tuberculosis have prevented the disease from spreading. The vaccines have also saved millions of lives around the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that vaccines are saving over 3 million lives annually around the globe.
Digital records and certification
Technology has made great strides when it comes to medical coding and billing. In the last century, medical coding and billing was a paper-based system. However, 21st-century technology has transformed that into an electronic format. Under the laws of HIPAA, clinicians have to send out electronic bills to patients by developing new software that enables the digital transfer of the statements. Physicians can now easily access a patient’s medical history with the click of a button. Through this, doctors can figure out possible ailments that a patient may be having. Digital databases have allowed the storage of a whole population’s medical data and reduced the time required by medical practitioners to access them. Along with the digitalization of medical coding and billing, medical professionals and others can get their certification online. They can do their first aid training, bls renewal, ACLS certification, and much more online from the comfort of their home or office. This has made it much easier for those who need these certifications and renewals to get them in the moment they need it. Technology is making everything in the medical field easier and faster.
The use of ICD-10
ICD refers to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases. The ICD-10 is the latest version of this tool used in diagnostics. ICD-10 allows illnesses, visible symptoms, causes and unusual findings to be coded. The classification diagnostic tool comprises of 14,400 different codes including other additional sub-classifications. This tool enables health experts to trace different diagnostics and track the rate of morbidity in a country.
These are just a few of the technological advances that have transformed the medical field. There are still many more to come, but if just these few have made the medical field more efficient and have made it possible to save even more lives, just imagine what the future holds.
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