Not everyone has great interest when it comes to the latest healthcare news. But ever since the pandemic, many had a change of heart. This is since anyone is now at risk of getting the virus, and we all fear testing positive. Health experts think this is a good thing. After all, your health is your greatest wealth, especially during these unprecedented times.
Experts work relentlessly to complete numerous healthcare market researches. This enables us to enjoy many healthcare products and services. Don’t forget about the healthcare professionals and patients who participate in these studies.
There are many predictions surrounding healthcare in 2021. Here are some to watch out for.
Patient-Centric Healthcare
Healthcare practitioners are starting to realize that patients should drive healthcare, not the doctors. Patients are also customers that demand a personalized and customer experience. Since the patient’s health is the main concern, patients should be the key decision-makers when it comes to their health.
For instance, Millennials have a growing dissatisfaction with the healthcare industry. They want faster, more convenient healthcare transactions and a personalized patient experience. Unlike the older generations, they want to stay in charge of their health and have many options when getting medical help.
For millennials, they are used to online research, seamless payment transactions, and transparency. They want doctors to provide them with many options when booking appointments. They want to be able to check lab results online. Millennials want to know how much they need to pay and how they can pay for their healthcare bills. But then, most healthcare providers fail to make healthcare about their patients. This makes younger consumers turn to alternative and complementary medicine instead.
Virtual Care and Remote Medical Practice
Virtual visits already existed even before the COVID-19 crisis. But after the pandemic broke, more people want the availability of virtual visits. They want to receive high-quality virtual care for routine and minor appointments.
Experts predict that this trend will only continue. But aside from virtual care, we can also expect the demand for a remote medical practice to surge. This is since people are still sheltering in place and more workers now telecommuting.
Remote medicine makes it possible for patients to get diagnostic and management advice remotely. One can now book appointments with their doctors and receive medical advice via telehealth. If they only require constant communication with doctors, virtual care will suffice.
Digitization of Patient Experience
Healthcare organizations and small practices used to take their online presence for granted. They believe they can keep clients and get referrals with old marketing tactics. But then, the pandemic changed all that.
More people would rather stay at home and choose virtual care than drive to the clinic or hospital. This made healthcare organizations and providers boost their online marketing effort. Now, hospitals and individual practices each have their own websites.
Aside from a working website, many are also investing in telehealth communication, online scheduling, and even an online patient portal. They understand how important a patient’s digital experience is. They are using this as a way to reach out to the patients, increase patients’ confidence and continuously care for their needs.
Now, many healthcare providers and organizations work hard to provide patients with a flawless digital experience. They consider their website as their digital front door. They are starting to recognize the need to never take a patient’s online experience for granted or else they can easily lose a patient or two.
Electronic Health Records Advances
EHRs allow doctors to improve patient diagnosis and treatment. This helps save time in checking a patient’s healthcare records. This is also a better way to save, record, and reduce errors when writing patient’s health records.
EHRs also allow quick data transfer and sharing among the right healthcare professionals. In November 2020, search engine giant, Google launched a healthcare interoperability readiness program. This aims to help healthcare providers, providers and patients learn how to stay compliant with the new interoperability rules. This is in accordance with the advancements in HER interoperability.
The need for faster and more efficient patient record sharing became more prominent thanks to the pandemic. More healthcare practitioners and organizations move patient records to the cloud. With the new and improve interoperability features of EHRs, patients can now have better control of their patient data via apps.
We can no longer deny how useful today’s healthcare innovations are when receiving and rendering healthcare. Now, we can easily access our health records online, enjoy patient-centered healthcare, and access healthcare without leaving our house. Staying on top of these trends will make it easier for us to understand how the latest healthcare innovations can influence our lives as consumers, healthcare professionals, or both.