The Hottest Healthcare Technology Trends for 2021 and onwards

May 6, 2021

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Stating the obvious— technology is an ever-growing reality,  becoming increasingly relevant in our personal lives and every business industry. Now, after a difficult 2020, the dependency on technology in the healthcare industry demands continuous innovation to deal with the new health dangers. Practitioners rely on healthcare tech innovation to improve their practice, from better diagnosis to improved patient care.

At ITJ, we are aware that the healthcare technology sector is rapidly adapting and looking for new ways to improve its performance. That’s why we are strengthening our commitment to investing in process improvements that will benefit and support the tech sector. We want to share with you some of the latest trends that are revolutionizing the world of healthcare and how we understand technology and health today and tomorrow.   

Telemedicine: In-person is so yesterday

The adoption of remote technologies in the healthcare sector has not only been revolutionary but has played a huge part in saving peoples’ lives, helping patients who have limited access to providers to gain easier access to specialists, and for patients to skip long wait times; increasing the quality of diagnosing and treatment. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of telemedicine has greatly accelerated, by April of 2020, 43.5% of Medicare primary care visits utilized telehealth methods rather than in-person visits. This trend will likely keep growing in the upcoming years, as most patients are comfortable with telehealth solutions—just in the United States, 71% of patients considered telemedicine at the beginning of the pandemic, and 50% had already utilized virtual appointments. As more and more patients prefer remote technologies over in-person medical visits, it is clear that the Telemedicine industry will have a strong and durable future in our world. 

A.I. as in Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence is no longer sci-fi; from facilitating decision-making and enhanced chatbots to drug development, A.I. is revolutionizing the healthcare industry. The use of artificial intelligence in healthcare has the potential to help the healthcare sector in many aspects of patient care and administrative processes. For example, A.I. facilitates decision-making, makes the diagnostic process faster and more accurate, and involves machine learning—which can be used for pairing data across different databases, but also to develop vaccines and medicines with the use of new algorithms. Although one of the greatest challenges to A.I. in healthcare is ensuring its adoption in daily clinical practice, its usefulness and immense potential are yet unchallenged.  

The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), much more than just gadgets 

Tech advances have given rise to a new phenomenon: the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT),  a connected infrastructure of medical devices, software applications, and health systems and services, that has an ever-growing critical role in tracking and preventing chronic illnesses for many patients and their doctors. The IoMT has also gained significant importance during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing providers to deliver quality care at a distance. By combining IoT development with telemedicine and telehealth technologies, a new Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) has emerged and it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 29.9% to reach $322.2 billion by 2025.

For more information about the IoMT, visit The Internet of Medical Things: the Health Revolution.

AR and VR are a reality  

As Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) become more and more popular these days, these new technologies have found their usefulness in the healthcare field. AR and VR applications are multiple, providing endless advantages to the healthcare sector; their application varies and goes from medical imaging and interventional radiology, smart contact lenses for low and impaired vision, to VR for chronic pain, making AR and VR a great ally to modern medicine. AR-VR applications in healthcare are likely to grow and evolve over the coming years, with a present need to continuously adapt and learn new technologies, to face current health challenges like COVID-19.

The future of Healthcare is near (literally across the border) 

The future of healthcare is indisputably entangled with technology and Tijuana is an ideal region for that merge to happen. According to Tecma, the well-known Mexican border town is home to a large number of operations that are linked to multinational conglomerates and is increasing as a result of the hatching of businesses across the border thanks to San Diego incubators. Furthermore, the city has strategically used its prime location to take advantage of investment opportunities and become a strategic partner of the U.S. and its tech industry. Lastly, Its proximity to California’s Silicon Valley offers companies a high level of skill with Mexican prices, which allows for more opportunities. 

At ITJuana, we strive to help the San Diego local communities and businesses adapt to rapid growth demands, creating meaningful opportunities by building the most highly qualified IT teams for the Cali Baja region. Our goal is to continue creating technology centers of excellence that help global businesses to seize the unique advantages that Tijuana has to offer—proximity to the US and availability of high-tech specialized engineering teams. 

Conclusion

It is imperative that the healthcare industry become adept with the latest healthcare technology trends to be able to take full advantage of all innovation available. For the medical field to thrive and to continuously improve patients’ lives, the healthcare sector must work hand-in-hand with health technology, and healthcare workers have to embrace emerging healthcare tech to stay relevant in the years to come.

About ITJ

ITJ is a trusted partner in building the finest software engineering teams in the Americas. For more information, visit www.itj.com.