10 Emerging Technologies in Healthcare IT in 2023
It is no secret that healthcare lags behind other industries when it comes to technology and innovation, but the industry is starting to turn over a new leaf. With so many technologies, AI, wearables, analytics, and more out there, it can be hard to navigate and even be aware of your options. To help, we compiled a list of the top 10 healthcare IT technologies of 2023.
1. Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI is replacing conventional labor-intensive and time-consuming processes in healthcare with rapid, remotely accessible, and real-time solutions for diagnosis, treatment, and disease prevention. HealthTech startups develop software platforms, application programming interfaces (APIs), and other digital products to extend the benefits of AI. Some of the applications of artificial intelligence in healthcare include clinical workflow management, advanced surgery assistance, and medical diagnostics.
2. Internet of Medical Things
IoMT is instrumental in the development of products that need less or no human interaction to provide healthcare services. Connected medical devices, equipment, and infrastructure enable multiple applications like automatic disinfection, smart diagnosis, and remote patient management to name a few. Cognitive IoMT (CIoMT) is a recent sub-trend that integrates sensory information, automatic processing, and communication through networks for real-time diagnosis, monitoring, tracking, and disease control.
3. Telemedicine
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of telemedicine by many governments, healthcare systems, clinicians, and patients. To tackle the pandemic, governments issued telemedicine guidelines to decongest healthcare facilities. Telemedicine minimizes the load on facilities and reduces the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) as medical practitioners reach their patients via telecommunication. HealthTech startups are working on telehealth services that facilitate public health mitigation strategies by increasing social distancing. Telemedicine also aids to assist elderly people remotely, reduces bed space, and conserves clinical supplies.
4. Big Data & Analytics
Digitization is transforming medical data collection, storage, diagnostic techniques, treatment planning, surgical workflows, remote patient monitoring, and consultations. The volume of health and medical data is expected to increase exponentially in the coming years. MedTech startups leverage big data and analytics to analyze the unstructured and huge volumes of medical data. It improves patient-based services, detects diseases earlier, and generates new insights into disease mechanisms. Moreover, big data solutions monitor the quality of processes at healthcare institutions, as well as enable better treatment methods.
5. Immersive Technology
The use of immersive technologies, such as AR/VR and MR, is on the rise in the healthcare sector. Applications for VR in healthcare vary from rehabilitation therapy and exposure therapy anxiety disorders to aiding in cognitive and physical rehabilitation. AR/VR also plays an important role in medical education. Immersive technologies also find applications in surgery, for instance for the perioperative projection of patient information, holographic images, and scans.
6. Mobile Health (mHealth)
mHealth technologies provide access to personalized information using digital solutions and connected devices. Mobile devices enable visualization of health issues that prevent patient commitment. Unconstrained by geographical boundaries and using real-time data streams, smartphone-linked wearable sensors, point-of-need diagnostic devices, and medical-grade imaging make healthcare delivery more equitable and accessible. mHealth solutions played a critical role in controlling the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic by enabling contact tracing, surveillance, quarantine control and management, testing, and dissemination of relevant information, as well as immunization cycle tracking and notification.
7. 3D Printing
3D printing is gaining traction in the healthcare industry for multiple applications like printing lightweight prosthetics, bionics, and casts for fracture repair. The use of inexpensive, lightweight biomaterials and smart materials ensures improvement in care delivery and time of production while reducing costs. 3D printing technologies are advancing the development of patient-specific models of organs and surgical tools, using the patient’s own medical imaging. Another area of application includes personalized surgical instruments that increase a surgeon’s dexterity and support better surgery outcomes while facilitating faster and less traumatic procedures.
8. Blockchain
The security and traceability of blockchain make the technology suitable for multiple applications in the healthcare industry. Some of these include electronic medical records, remote patient monitoring, pharmaceutical supply chain, and health insurance claims. Blockchain technology supports the management of EHRs and FHIRChain (Fast Health Interoperability Records) for sharing clinical data. It also plays an important role in smart contracts, tackling drug counterfeiting, as well as storing, sharing, and retrieving remotely collected biomedical data.
9. Cloud Computing
Cloud computing allows clinicians to establish quality patient journeys supported by tech-enabled care delivery via telehealth and remote monitoring. It allows for greater storage capabilities and processing power for data analytics and eliminates the need for on-premise storage. Cloud platforms integrate network, security, billing, monitoring, and alerts, together with access and identity management. It also provides streamlined data access, data storage and management, data backup and recovery, smart data potential, and data interoperability, among others.
10. Genomics
There have been notable efforts in developing genomics tools for various applications in recent times. Integration of both genomic knowledge and genomic processes into existing clinical workflows would ensure physicians perform established communication and actionable recommendations that a genomic test can provide to patients. The new arena of personalized medicine is possible due to the advent of innovations in genomics. Gene therapy and gene-based therapy solutions have revolutionized clinical medicine and specialty care for several unmet clinical needs.
The healthcare industry trends outlined in this report only scratch the surface of trends that we identified during our in-depth research. Among others, robotics, 5G, and stem cell therapy will transform the sector as we know it today. Identifying new opportunities and emerging technologies to implement into your business early on goes a long way in gaining a competitive advantage. Dive deeper into the emerging technology startups that are trending in these areas. Get in touch to easily and exhaustively scout relevant technologies and startups that matter to you.