| |November 20199can help in improving efficiency with easy availability of data and decision support with improved communication.Reuters published findings of an Orbis Research study predicting an expansion of the mHealth applications mar-ket. In 2017 mHealth captured $23 billion in revenues, with an estimated growth rate of 35% annually over the next several years. Goldman Sachs says the digital revolution could save healthcare providers $300 billion. According to the available data there are approximately 55000 estimated mobile apps across all platforms which have been down-loaded by 270+ million people worldwide. It's clear that smartphone technology and mobile apps are going to continue to reshape healthcare.Some interesting mHealth trends to watch out for in coming years are outlined below:1. Personalised mobile health solutions ­ the solu-tions enabling consumers to store their own data: treat-ment histories, health details, habits, lifestyle, follow ups, symptoms etc., this is the data being generated by the patients themselves.2. Geolocation enabled solutions ­ these shall help in finding out the hospitals, pharmacies in the vicinity, emergency ambulance calls, getting information on the outbreaks or health advisories in and around the area of residence or visit.3. Solutions enabling communication between consum-er and provider ­ this ranges from traditional phone calls to video chats, chatbots, facility for booking appointments, scheduling visits, ordering for home care services, placing emergency calls. The emerging trend of voice assistants can be applied for elderly care, support for chronic disease patients­ preventing unnecessary follow up visits, better connect with the clinician, easy appointment bookings, platform to engage with self-help groups, easily available information and diet recommendations.4. AI, machine learning and predictive analysis ­ new technology helping in monitoring treatment outcomes, sug-gesting changes in lifestyle, predicting risks to the patients. Mobile based drug delivery platforms are being developed that will automatically detect and log patients' medication use to improve adherence. With increasing focus of phar-maceutical companies, this area is expected to grow in the coming years.5. Telemedicine ­ in use from long, but it is to continue over coming years. This is one of the fastest growing seg-ment for exchange of health information. The volume of the global telemedicine market in 2018 was estimated at $ 25 billion, and by 2025, it is projected to reach $ 113 billion. The features actively being explored are:a. means of anonymization of personal data, b. development of DICOM-compatible image transfer services, c. simplification of the diagnostic process and automat-ing the formation of subsequent medical conclusion (based on the data obtained).6. Wearables and IoTs ­ Types of wearable devices in-clude various sensors allowing monitoring of physical ac-tivity and tracking health parameters and vitals like blood pressure, oxygen saturation, pulse rate and respiratory rate. Ex - breathing and chest movement sensors, three-axis ac-celerometers, heart rate sensors etc., to name of youWith these trends coming in, the size of health related data is going to increase manifold requiring tools to manage data confidentiality with seamless exchange of information between providers and consumers. The importance of cy-bersecurity, interoperability and standardisation of process-es and data cannot be overlooked. As the healthcare industry continues to realize the benefits of mobile medical devices, healthcare security becomes even more essential. Emails continue to be the most common route of security breach-es. There are several options available like next-generation firewalls, block-chain technology, healthcare cloud-based securities, secure direct messaging and health information exchange (HIE), and biometric security applications. The rapid shift to mobile and wireless devices has created an op-portunity for further biometric authentication applications in this new, emerging space. The stored biometric authenti-cation information provides an opportunity to eliminate the need for central databases ­ a favorite of hackers. As stated earlier we indeed are in interesting times witnessing the healthcare leveraging technology to solve actual problems and improve outcomes. The integration of healthcare and technology platforms has brought enor-mous value to the way we diagnose, manage our resourc-es, connect our consumers and providers, access healthcare anywhere and anytime and manage our processes there-by bringing in efficiencies. However, a lot more needs to be done, it depends on how the technology is integrated with people and processes to fully leverage its benefits in healthcare! We are in interesting times witnessing the healthcare leveraging technology to solve actual problems and improve outcomes
< Page 8 | Page 10 >