Previously, home healthcare was considered a luxury that only a few could afford. However, with the growth and availability of technology, we are now witnessing the era of healthcare digitalization. Technology has become the prime reason for the evolution not just of workplace and home, as well as the healthcare sector. Technology integration has resulted in the creation of linked homecare devices that collect, store, analyze, and exchange users' healthcare data with other devices such as smart hubs, smartphones, and laptops over the Internet. Home healthcare providers are swamped with patients, and the need does not appear to be fading away anytime soon. So, how may the task be optimized in order to assist more people?
The solution is digital transformation: Home healthcare trends for 2021 suggest that it is a necessity these days. Agetech and healthtech are growing in popularity, and they have some significant benefits that can help. While coronavirus has had a substantial impact on the need for home care, the primary reason remains the same: the growing population of aged residents and persons suffering from chronic diseases.
Every fourth customer of a home care service is over the age of 85, and nearly half of patients have five or more chronic diseases. According to certain industry forecasts, the current scenario will result in a dramatic swing in government assistance for nursing care in the United States. Seniors have usually preferred to live at home rather than in assisted living facilities, despite the fact that medical care is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
They have even more reasons to select home care now that the pandemic is in full swing. They don't want to be in what some have termed a "nursing-home prison," since they're locked up, can't leave, and no one can visit them — it's as if they're in a jail. It is also expected that more care will be assigned to physician assistants, nurses, and other non-doctor medical personnel. This will aid in the decentralization of the industry and move the burden to primary and home care.
Homecare is a broad phrase that refers to professional medical services and social care that are offered in the comfort of your own home for a short or long period of time using technology such as ML and AI.
Forecasts for the home care market suggest a considerable demand for these services: the worldwide home care market is expected to reach $274.5 billion by 2028, from $181.4 billion in 2020. Rising healthcare expenses and the desire for more efficiency are driving the market. This is the foundation of home health care technology trends. Telemedicine, healthcare wearables, remote monitoring, and other technologies are beefing up to save the day. One of the emerging home health care developments is more specialized treatment. And technology is available to assist organizations in reducing the burden.
The power of technology is changing home health care services and solutions! Real-time technology can be used to determine the need for medications, equipment, and other healthcare requirements. The future of home healthcare is highly dependent on how quickly both the government and home care businesses can adopt new health technology. This is not an overestimation: with the market indicating rising demand and a severe global scarcity of healthcare staff, the industry must rely extensively on technology.
Increased use of virtual visits in telemedicine: Until this year, the path to telehealth services had been slow and cautious. The telemedicine revolution is quite well begun, with adoption rising from 9% in 2019 to 44% in 2020. With a live remote connectivity, more patients can receive care in a timely manner without violating quarantine or lockdown. Telehealth services are crucial in the current environment and are anticipated to grow in the future.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has widely accepted telemedicine as one of the most recent technical advances in home health care. The association emphasizes the need of these services for cancer and other vulnerable Medicare patients.
The Impact of Technology on the Home Healthcare System
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Visit Verification via Electronic Means
Electronic visit verification, is a system that aids in the verification of caregiver scheduling, appointments, and cancellation in order to reduce no-show home visits. As a result, the service of a home health care worker is electronically validated.
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Tools for Remote Patient Monitoring
The instruments or gadgets used to track a patient's well-being are known as home health monitoring devices. In today's society, we have health bands that keep a regular check of one's actions such as the number of steps walked, the amount of sleep and diet consumed, and so on. These revolutionary applications of wearable technology in healthcare provide individuals the security that someone is keeping an eye on them and monitoring their every move toward a healthier and more fulfilling living. There are numerous gadgets that may be used to assess blood pressure, glucose levels, heart rate, and other parameters.
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Virtual Reality
Virtual reality technology is beneficial to both doctors and patients. Virtual reality is currently being utilized to train health care workers in a more realistic and risk-free setting. It also aids in closing the age gap among young doctors and senior patients.
Virtual reality technology has the potential to be therapeutic in terms of both physical and mental health. It aids in the treatment and rehabilitation of anxiety disorders as well as acute pain.
Difficulties of Integrating Technology in Home Healthcare
On the one hand, technology has a good impact on home healthcare services, but it also brings some distinct difficulties.
- The Interoperability Challenge: Interoperability refers to a system's ability to integrate, exchange, and access data for a specific patient. This becomes difficult when a patient's data cannot be recorded using the appropriate EHRs.
- User-unfriendliness: While technology is continually improving healthcare, it is meaningless if it is difficult to use! Problems with the user interface, such as too much data and poor navigation, do not contribute to a positive user experience.
- Challenge of asset tracking: Medical professionals sometimes claim that keeping track of their patients' medical histories and health reports takes too much time and leads them to be late for work. Furthermore, it turns individuals into a "slave to EHRs."
Conclusion
Healthcare at home is now altering healthcare, but it can be leveraged if you employ the correct healthcare app development agency that specializes in both healthcare mobile app development and healthcare software development. This allows technology to be used more effectively. We must trust in the field of medical technology in order to put it to the greatest possible use for nurses, doctors, patients, and other healthcare providers!