Technology as a whole continues to evolve rapidly and the healthcare arena is certainly no exception. In this blog we look at selected areas of advancements with commentary by Derive’s VP of Business Development, Bill Rochford, and what the future may hold.
Telemedicine Platforms
Recent advances in telemedicine have made quality medical care more accessible and affordable than ever before, and mobile health (mHealth) platforms are extending healthcare capabilities and information beyond traditional settings such as hospitals, ERs, and clinics, and into homes, business offices, rural areas, and more. Many people now have the option of consulting with their healthcare providers remotely, enabling immediate intervention and avoiding unnecessary hospital visits.
Bill Rochford says, “Telemedicine is here to stay due to its convenience and cost-effectiveness. With lessons we learned during the pandemic era, Derive is concentrating on providing holistic technology solutions that significantly improve patient engagement and better health outcomes for healthcare organizations. We achieve this by combining collaboration tools, video conferencing solutions, and secure communication platforms that improve the sense of connection between patients and caregivers. We also provide fundamental planning and implementation support for building out the infrastructure that supports telehealth initiatives, including network and connectivity solutions.”
Electronic Health Records (EHRs)
With crude versions of EHRs dating back to the 60s, only recently have EHR systems evolved to incorporate increasingly advanced IT functionalities, becoming indispensable tools for physicians, nursing staff, and a host of other professional roles associated with end-to-end patient care. EHRs are digital versions of patients' medical histories, enabling access to critical medical history and patient care information across different healthcare settings.
Derive Technologies works with leading hospitals and healthcare organizations to implement these complex and critical software systems (and the on-premise and cloud computing infrastructure that supports them) that underpin virtually all of today’s medical recordkeeping and patient care tracking.
Recent EHR system enhancements focus on interoperability, facilitating the seamless sharing of data across different EHR systems and diverse user roles within a healthcare organization or hospital. These advancements greatly reduce the challenge of spanning tightly held information silos, enhancing collaboration among medical professionals and improving patient outcomes.
Cloud Computing
EHRs generate an urgent need for secure storage of—and access to—vast amounts of patient data. Today’s hybrid multi-cloud technologies enable easy access to EHR data, medical imaging, and other crucial patient information, enhancing collaboration among healthcare professionals and improving care outcomes. Moreover, cloud technology plays a key role in supporting other health IT technologies like telemedicine and IoMT by providing scalable, cost-effective data storage solutions. Rochford notes that every healthcare organization is either actively researching or implementing this technology to address the explosion in data storage and retrieval demands. “With our years of experience in designing multi-cloud architectures, we make sure our clients’ storage and performance needs are properly addressed while at the same time adherence to strict compliance requirements like HIPPA is maintained.”
Point-of-Care Diagnostics
Rochford notes that over the last five years the advent of point-of-care (POC) diagnostic tests has been a game-changer, with the future potential of further reducing healthcare costs and improving patient outcomes. “POC diagnostic tests have enabled rapid and accurate disease detection at the patient's bedside, circumventing the need for time-consuming laboratory processes. Among this class of devices, we’ve witnessed rapid commercial acceptance of miniaturized PCR devices for rapid infectious disease testing—along with portable handheld ultrasonic imaging units. They allow for timely diagnosis and immediate initiation of treatment, critical in acute care settings and resource-limited environments.”
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) represent a hotbed of application development activity and are already enabling better patient care. Derive Technologies advises healthcare clientele on AI-powered applications that assist in areas such as medical image analysis (e.g., mammograms, CAT and MRI imaging, and ultrasound scanning), predictive analytics and analysis, plus data-driven clinical decision-support tools—the accuracy and efficacy of which, according to Rochford, continues to improve rapidly.
“Specific examples of this technology,” Rochford says, “include the adoption of AI-based predictive models to forecast patient health risks, improve the speed and accuracy of disease detection, enhance preventive care, and ultimately help lower the longer-term cost-of-care to patients.”
AI-driven predictive analytics help healthcare providers anticipate disease outbreaks, identify high-risk patients, and tailor personalized treatment plans. For example, Google's DeepMind AI can predict acute kidney injury in some cases up to 48 hours before it occurs.
In another example, AI-powered chatbots can provide basic healthcare information, answering patients' questions and freeing up medical staff for other tasks.
“ML algorithms,” says Rochford, “are being put to work analyzing incoming data streams from wearable devices, providing real-time insights into individual patient’s health statuses, and assisting medical professionals with tailoring customized treatment plans.”
“Moving forward,” he says, “the challenge will be in better leveraging the powerful ability of AI and ML algorithms to analyze and manipulate huge amounts of medical data, and thereby improve medical diagnoses and treatment regimens, and assist scientists in the fields of genomics and the synthesis of new drugs and vaccines.”
Smart Wearable Devices
As mentioned previously…what are smart wearable devices used for? Most—attached to a person’s arm—measure familiar health indicators like heart rate, blood pressure, and sleep patterns. But the most recent advancements have taken these devices to a new level of functionality. For example, remote cardiac monitoring devices now allow for continuous, real-time monitoring of heart patients, alerting medical professionals when anomalous events occur. Similarly, smart insulin pens, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices, and autonomous insulin pumps have revolutionized diabetes care, enabling better blood sugar control and personalized treatment. Derive Technologies advises healthcare professionals on selecting the most appropriate and cost-effective of these device options for their patients.
Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)
The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) refers to an interconnected system of medical devices, healthcare IT software, and health systems and services. IoMT devices span wearable fitness trackers, remote patient monitoring tools, and smart implants, all of which can collect, analyze, and transmit health data. The real-time data generated and analyzed through IoMT can assist in preventive care, enable remote diagnoses, and provide personalized healthcare based on individual data.
Derive Technologies, with its 20-year-plus background in healthcare IT, is at the forefront of designing IoMT systems, which encompass a wide range of software and hardware technologies such as data analytics and other software described previously; network architecture design spanning Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and 5G technologies; and physical device rollouts and end-user training.
Virtual and Augmented Reality
“Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are beginning to emerge as powerful tools for both patient treatment and medical training,” comments Rochford. VR can be used in pain management, mental health therapy, and rehabilitation, offering immersive, controlled environments for therapy. Alternatively, increasingly sophisticated AR applications are allowing medical professionals to visualize, learn, and diagnose complex medical conditions, facilitating better understanding and planning of patient treatment. “The next five years will see an explosion in the use of this class of software application, and we will be there every step of the way with our customers to guide them in effectively implementing VR and AR.”
3D Bioprinting
Looking further into the future, within 10 years 3D bioprinting is likely to enter the clinical arena, opening up totally novel opportunities in patient point-of-care. This technology has the potential to create patient-specific organs and tissues, offering personalized treatment options and reducing the need for organ donors. While still in the early stages of R&D and clinical application, the ability to create patient-specific 3D printed grafts for wound healing has already shown promising results. “When the technology matures,” Rochford asserts, “Derive will be ready to serve our clients with solutions.”
