Healthcare has always been an industry where innovative technologies transform the way services are delivered and received. It’s also one of those sectors that can be affected by slow movement in innovation, due to the complication of its formalities, tasks, processes and regulations.
The good news is that the industry’s innovative side has finally taken off in the last few years, and software is playing a major role in reshaping the healthcare sector.
What does that mean for you, the medical professional: dentist, doctor, ER practitioner, risk manager, nurse, etc? It means that both your practice and your patients’ experiences will improve over the course of the next decade with the help of some amazing new technology.
In terms of software, the following four healthcare software trends are most likely to impact the healthcare industry in the next few years:
1. Multi-Speciality & Niche Specialty EHR Software
A multi-specialty EHR for software has several benefits for specialty practices spanning to multiple domains. It ensures improved compatibility and prevents a patchwork approach to integrating a separate EHR system for every specialty. This can help bring down the added time and expense of interconnecting different groups of specialists. Healthcare organizations can find the investment costs, financial health and reputation of different EHR software on software evaluation sites, and make a sound IT software decision based on their needs.
2. Patient Portals & Self-Service Software
With patients rapidly becoming active players in their own healthcare treatment, portal software is on its way to becoming mainstream. It enables patients and physicians to interact online and access their medical records. In addition, portal software can be an extraordinary ally for the patients who use it, helping them catch errors and becoming an active participant in ongoing treatments.
Patient Kiosk software is another interesting development. It can help patients with checking identification, registering with clinics, paying copays and signing official paperwork. However, institutions have to be careful when using it to ensure that human-to-human communication isn’t entirely eliminated.
3. Blockchain Solutions
Healthcare professionals and technologists across the globe see blockchain tech as a means to streamline and secure the sharing of medical records, giving patients greater control over their information and protecting sensitive details from hackers. In order to achieve these goals, custom-built healthcare blockchains are needed. Startups like Patientory, Burst IQ, Hashed Health, doc.ai and others are gearing up to introduce blockchain tech to the EHR software industry, providing a way to store health records. When required, professionals can request to see their patients’ data from the blockchain.
4. Consumer-Grade UX in Enterprise Software
For almost a decade, physicians at the front line of enterprise healthcare delivery struggled with software that’s difficult to use, confusing and downright frustrating. The biggest culprit of poor UX is linked to the purchasing process of the enterprise. Oftentimes, vendors create software for buyers who aren’t end users. If the buyers and end users have the same personas, healthcare software vendors can deliver the same user experience as seen in other B2B industries.
Regardless, in 2018, expect more consumer-grade user experiences and buyer-value products. Additionally, enterprise healthcare management will bank on analytics and machine learning to improve visibility into healthcare efficiency for personnel and employers. This will reveal usage patterns and reduce inappropriate and unnecessary care.
From detecting fraud to slashing healthcare spending, advanced healthcare software could very well be the silver bullet that eliminates all kinds of healthcare inefficiencies.
