Prashant Warier
Healthcare and tech: What lies ahead for 2022
January 18, 2022
By Prashant Warier
In the history of healthcare, there is no way around the fact that the last 24 months have been among the most challenging periods ever. From producing effective COVID-19 vaccines to delivering care under extreme COVID-related restrictions, the healthcare industry has done a remarkable job of navigating this incredibly hectic – and dangerous – period. Unfortunately, with both the Delta and Omicron variants breathing new life into the pandemic, 2022 looks like it will be just as busy as the previous two years.
Compounding this is the fact that the healthcare world hasn’t just ceased operations and focused on COVID-19 related efforts. The world is still spinning and healthcare organizations are striving to keep up. Which is why technology has become so indispensable in healthcare and will continue to be so in the year ahead.
With that said, here are a few ways in which healthcare will continue to be a huge ally in the healthcare world as the global community pushes for a “return to normal.”
Telemedicine expansion
Ahead of the rollout of vaccines, there was belief in some quarters that a reduction in telehealth visits would follow suit as individuals felt more comfortable heading back for in-office visits. However, as people have become more accustomed to telehealth around the world, and the spread of the Omicron variant has once again given pause, telehealth will likely not be going away anytime soon. Keeping that in mind, expect healthcare organizations to redouble telehealth efforts in hopes of providing a better experience for their patients. Additionally, look for healthcare organizations to begin investing more in IoT and AI as a way to provide more personalized and effective “distance healthcare” to their patients.
Enhanced real-time collaboration
As healthcare has become more decentralized and hospital networks have grown, the demands on IT departments to enable easy information sharing and collaboration have reached a fever pitch. However, due to fears of privacy and the highly regulated nature of healthcare, IT professionals have had a difficult time addressing requirements using the traditional data centers and infrastructure at their disposal. So, IT departments have begun to push for a greater embrace of the cloud en masse. Therefore, as 2022 unfolds, expect more and more healthcare providers to complete their shifts to the cloud as a way to power more robust AI tools and enable the real-time data analysis healthcare providers need to ensure patients are receiving the highest quality care.
Reducing provider strain and burnout
To say that the healthcare industry has been put under a tremendous amount of stress over the last two years would be a dramatic understatement. This stress has also resulted in record levels of burnout among healthcare professionals. Fifty-five percent of frontline healthcare workers reported feelings of burnout in Q1 2021. As the pandemic has continued, the number has likely increased since. This simply isn’t sustainable under the best conditions, let alone when the world is trying to rein in a public health crisis. Fortunately, healthcare organizations have begun to take steps towards alleviating some of this strain and stress by leveraging technology – including AI and other sophisticated data science – to help streamline processes and eliminate some of the manual legwork that has been bogging down its workforce. Simply put, healthcare organizations need to lean into technology as much as possible in order to relieve their workforces, otherwise we could see a mass exodus of professionals leaving this space just when we need them the most.
Renewed focus on prevention
If the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us one thing, it is the importance of preventative medicine and early detection. For decades, healthcare professionals have preached the benefits of a proactive and collaborative global approach to public healthcare. However, without the proper tools available, building these partnerships have proven to be fragmented at best. However, with the growth of AI, IoT and other sophisticated tools, there is no longer any excuse for why global health collaboration is not feasible. With these tools, it is now possible to track real-time developments around case numbers, run simulations and forecasts and more. This has raised the level of what is achievable immensely, so look for countries to continue striking new public health partnerships, information sharing agreements and response plans as 2022 unfolds.
The last two years have been an incredibly challenging period for the healthcare industry and for public health as a whole. However, if healthcare organizations can successfully continue their digital transformation efforts and uncover new areas of innovation, 2022 might finally be the year where tangible optimism returns to the healthcare space.
About the author: Prashant Warier is the CEO and co-founder of Qure.ai
In the history of healthcare, there is no way around the fact that the last 24 months have been among the most challenging periods ever. From producing effective COVID-19 vaccines to delivering care under extreme COVID-related restrictions, the healthcare industry has done a remarkable job of navigating this incredibly hectic – and dangerous – period. Unfortunately, with both the Delta and Omicron variants breathing new life into the pandemic, 2022 looks like it will be just as busy as the previous two years.
Compounding this is the fact that the healthcare world hasn’t just ceased operations and focused on COVID-19 related efforts. The world is still spinning and healthcare organizations are striving to keep up. Which is why technology has become so indispensable in healthcare and will continue to be so in the year ahead.
With that said, here are a few ways in which healthcare will continue to be a huge ally in the healthcare world as the global community pushes for a “return to normal.”
Telemedicine expansion
Ahead of the rollout of vaccines, there was belief in some quarters that a reduction in telehealth visits would follow suit as individuals felt more comfortable heading back for in-office visits. However, as people have become more accustomed to telehealth around the world, and the spread of the Omicron variant has once again given pause, telehealth will likely not be going away anytime soon. Keeping that in mind, expect healthcare organizations to redouble telehealth efforts in hopes of providing a better experience for their patients. Additionally, look for healthcare organizations to begin investing more in IoT and AI as a way to provide more personalized and effective “distance healthcare” to their patients.
Enhanced real-time collaboration
As healthcare has become more decentralized and hospital networks have grown, the demands on IT departments to enable easy information sharing and collaboration have reached a fever pitch. However, due to fears of privacy and the highly regulated nature of healthcare, IT professionals have had a difficult time addressing requirements using the traditional data centers and infrastructure at their disposal. So, IT departments have begun to push for a greater embrace of the cloud en masse. Therefore, as 2022 unfolds, expect more and more healthcare providers to complete their shifts to the cloud as a way to power more robust AI tools and enable the real-time data analysis healthcare providers need to ensure patients are receiving the highest quality care.
Reducing provider strain and burnout
To say that the healthcare industry has been put under a tremendous amount of stress over the last two years would be a dramatic understatement. This stress has also resulted in record levels of burnout among healthcare professionals. Fifty-five percent of frontline healthcare workers reported feelings of burnout in Q1 2021. As the pandemic has continued, the number has likely increased since. This simply isn’t sustainable under the best conditions, let alone when the world is trying to rein in a public health crisis. Fortunately, healthcare organizations have begun to take steps towards alleviating some of this strain and stress by leveraging technology – including AI and other sophisticated data science – to help streamline processes and eliminate some of the manual legwork that has been bogging down its workforce. Simply put, healthcare organizations need to lean into technology as much as possible in order to relieve their workforces, otherwise we could see a mass exodus of professionals leaving this space just when we need them the most.
Renewed focus on prevention
If the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us one thing, it is the importance of preventative medicine and early detection. For decades, healthcare professionals have preached the benefits of a proactive and collaborative global approach to public healthcare. However, without the proper tools available, building these partnerships have proven to be fragmented at best. However, with the growth of AI, IoT and other sophisticated tools, there is no longer any excuse for why global health collaboration is not feasible. With these tools, it is now possible to track real-time developments around case numbers, run simulations and forecasts and more. This has raised the level of what is achievable immensely, so look for countries to continue striking new public health partnerships, information sharing agreements and response plans as 2022 unfolds.
The last two years have been an incredibly challenging period for the healthcare industry and for public health as a whole. However, if healthcare organizations can successfully continue their digital transformation efforts and uncover new areas of innovation, 2022 might finally be the year where tangible optimism returns to the healthcare space.
About the author: Prashant Warier is the CEO and co-founder of Qure.ai