Healthcare Technology Trends to Watch for in 2018

Technology budgets are on the rise across all industries on a global level. Healthcare providers continue to seek new technologies to improve safety, satisfaction, and workflow while also lowering costs.

Artificial Intelligence Makes Direct Impact

Artificial intelligence (AI) delivers value to every industry, enabling new business models. It does so by supporting key initiatives such as customer engagement, digital production, smart cities, self-driving cars, risk management, and computer vision and speech recognition. In the healthcare industry, AI is quickly becoming a technology that professionals can utilize to directly impact how patient care is delivered. AI is based on big data. Although many companies are already using AI to streamline administrative tasks, inroads are being made to use AI for diagnostics, customized treatment plans, and medication management systems. Utilizing the power of AI will increase the time spent on personalized care and bring the “human touch” back to healthcare practices.

Mobile Technology Leads the “Internet of Things”

Mobile health (mHealth) has made a huge impact on healthcare delivery around the world. Telehealth and telemedicine began flourishing in the U.S. a few years ago, and it won’t slow down in 2018. Healthcare practitioners will increase video consults exponentially this year. In 2018, they will continue to streamline patient communications via mobile apps which not only provide appointment requests/reminders but will allow patients to access medical records online, in real-time, via mobile apps.mHealth is not only being utilized to communicate with patients; physicians are now taking advantage of the efficiencies provided by medical apps to communicate with buyer groups as well.

Automated Marketing Software

Marketing automation software is a healthcare administrator's most valued asset. These tools provide effective healthcare management by automating everyday processes, from data integration to patient monitoring and outreach. Marketing automation software gathers data from various sources and combines it all in one place. This allows healthcare professionals to distribute targeted communications to patients.Marketing automation also provides healthcare professionals with real-time analytics about patients. Medical administrators can use this information to make important decisions and solve problems quickly. According to cmo.com, marketing automation drives a 14.5 percent increase in sales productivity and a 12.2% reduction in marketing overhead. This coupled with their findings that 49 percent of businesses already use marketing automation tools, we can expect more hospitals and healthcare facilities to adopt this software in the future.

Cybersecurity Evolution

A recent survey published by Mimecast and conducted by HIMSS Analytics finds that among provider organizations, preventing malware and ransomware is a top initiative for building a cyber resilience strategy over the course of the next year. Nearly 80 percent of respondents say they’ve dealt with ransomware, malware, or both in the last 12 months. Healthcare professionals will add several key components to their cybersecurity strategies in order to stay on top of emerging threats, including following and creating industry best practices, staying current on vendor updates, and looking to other industries (e.g., insurance, banking) to improve their cybersecurity strategies. However, as cyber threats evolve, organizations will need to continually assess their needs to adjust their approach to cybersecurity.