In the traditional healthcare model, the focus of the industry was on interventions to offer patients access to care and treatment. The focus has shifted and digital health is having a growing impact on the delivery of care.
It is enabling more preventative health care that focuses on keeping people healthy and not just intervening when they become ill. A focus on preventative health could save millions of dollars and, more importantly, it saves and improves lives.
The benefits of understanding and interpreting ‘big data’
There has always been plenty of data available in the healthcare industry but data is useless unless analysis offers insights and leads to improvements. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and deep learning have provided tools to understand and interpret ‘big data’ in medicine.
With the availability of data and the ability to generate insights, digital research can bring about many improvements, such as allowing physicians to better monitor general health and progression of diseases but also provide more personalized care. For example, they can diagnose patients more efficiently when they have access to quality data.
Nurses who study to become Nurse Practitioners are also able to diagnose patients and prescribe medication today. Nursing practitioner online programs offered by the University of Texas at Arlington College of Nursing and Health Innovation prepares registered nurses to become healthcare treatment providers for diverse groups of patients in a variety of clinical settings.
A paradigm shift empowers patients
The rise of digital health has brought about a paradigm shift by empowering patients. Many new digital health products allow patients to improve their outcomes through lifestyle and behavior changes.
People want to be healthy and by providing them with the information and tools they need to make healthy decisions, they have more control over their own health. Wearable sensors offer access to real-time data that helps individuals to understand their own health and can fuel behavior change.
Electronic health records (EHRs) have increased patient visibility and electronic wellness records (EWRs) track what patients do every day to support their health, such as their exercise and nutritional choices. Patient engagement platforms today cater to the whole patient health journey.
A model of care based on health and wellness
Healthcare delivery is going through a major transformation and health care professionals are starting to develop new models of care in response to patient needs. Patients want more transparency when it comes to cost, more personalized care, and access to their personal health records. Many digital health solutions and platforms now benefit physicians and patients.
Healthcare providers will soon be incentivized for the health outcomes of the people in their care rather than the number of procedures they perform. Shifting to a model based on true health and wellness will change how they measure success. The aim is a model in which care is more effective, accessible, and sustainable.
Applying health technology in communities
Technology can help to build healthy and safe community environments and weave disease prevention into daily life. When people receive preventive care, they have better health and lower healthcare costs.
While preventive services were traditionally delivered in clinical settings, they can now also be delivered in schools, homes, residential treatment centers or on worksites.
Preventative services may include diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol tests, and cancer screenings like mammograms. Preventative health services also consist of counseling on topics such as losing weight, eating healthily, giving up smoking, reducing alcohol use and treating depression. Community programs can promote the use of clinical preventive services and help patients to overcome any barriers that stand in the way of using them.
