We are now in the third year of the pandemic and by the looks of it, there’s no way it’s going to end any time soon. On top of that, the rise in chronic diseases, climate change, and skyrocketing healthcare costs will only increase difficulties if we don’t think where and how care should get delivered. In these last three years, the expectations of healthcare have completely changed for patients and consumers. According to recent stats, the US healthcare industry might cross $10 trillion this year.
In recent years, various healthcare-related applications and technologies came to light. The idea is to make medical services more accessible, scalable, and equitable. And to provide a smooth and secure healthcare experience, organizations are prioritizing healthcare software testing. But today, we will talk about the 5 biggest medical trends and opportunities that will make a huge impact in 2022:
Table of Contents
1. Wearable Devices and Internet of Things
Wearable devices have completely restructured the medical field. Oura, the creator of the Oura Ring fitness tracker, partnered with UCSF in the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic to detect the early signs of the virus.
Last year, Apple partnered with Johnson & Johnson to research on new heart study using iPhone and Apple Watch. Right now, there are over 100 million active Apple Watch users, which gave them access to a huge amount of medical data. The new heart study is focused on people over 65 years of age.
In short, IoT will be saving around $10 billion each year for the US healthcare system.
2. Digital Therapeutics
Many healthcare providers are implementing digital Therapeutics (DTx) to provide software-based medical care and therapeutic interventions directly to the patients. It helps physicians to provide the right solutions for their patient’s problems. The solution generates and tracks digital data continuously to prevent non-adherence in chronic diseases and improve the treatment process. Currently, Germany is the leading country in the digital health innovation segment. It has over 73 million German citizens that use digital healthcare services and 24 mobile apps approved for reimbursement. And now, countries like France and Belgium are also paving the way for DTx.
3. Virtual Healthcare
Virtual healthcare or telemedicine is now a $16.6 billion industry in the USA. It is still growing even further. According to a digital health consumer survey conducted by Accenture, 62% of consumers prefer virtual healthcare over traditional medical facilities. Over the last 5 years, the online searches for telehealth spiked up to 254%. If given a choice, 42% of healthcare consumers would probably prefer the virtual option over remote monitoring.
Telehealth is more efficient, hygienic, and provides improved treatment mode. Also, the remote patient monitoring programs are reducing hospital admissions, helping patients recover from severe injuries at home, and decreasing emergency room visits.
4. Digital Health Records and Prescriptions
Digital prescription is helping in transforming the landscape digitally, making it faster and more feasible. The digital version of paper prescription, e-Rx, was created by using digital software. It helps in generating digital records of patients’ health and reduces the chances of human error when prescribing medicines. e-Rx benefits both, doctors as well as patients. In 2022, we will witness a sudden rise in e-prescriptions. It will reduce the use of paper and would make it easy to store records.
5. AI Influencing Healthcare
Artificial intelligence is already transforming various industries, including healthcare. Your.MD mobile app is one of the examples of AI that allows people to self-diagnose. Your.MD was founded in 2012 and to date, it secluded $47.3 million in funding. Well, $30 million was secured in October 2022. The app uses machine learning to provide health info and allows consumers to check their health symptoms. Last year, the user growth of Your.MD was 350%.
Alivecor is another example of healthcare AI. It is a personal ECG device that utilizes AI technology to detect and predict heart problems. Overall, the global market of artificial intelligence medical solutions will rise to $9.61 billion by 2029.
Conclusion
As healthcare technology continues to transform, it leverages cloud computing, e-Rx, virtual healthcare, and artificial intelligence. But to provide a secure and smooth healthcare experience through mobile apps and software, companies need to implement a medical software testing process. With the integration of new-age technologies and software testing, you can redraw the healthcare landscape. QASource can help you implement customized healthcare software testing solutions to ensure you meet the quality, security, and reliability standards before releasing the product into the market.
