5 Latest Healthcare Trends and Innovations in 2022

Technology is an integral part of the healthcare industry and is responsible for several
improvements and innovations. Some of these innovations involve how drugs are developed,
how illnesses are treated, and how people can live healthier and, consequently better lives.
The COVID-19 pandemic inspired many tech companies to solve problems caused by the
pandemic. Even non-traditional tech companies embraced the power of technology to improve
the quality and delivery of their products and services.

Latest Healthcare Trends and Innovations

With advancing technology comes new trends. Trends are documentation of innovations and
offer the opportunity to attempt something. The healthcare industry has recently seen the rise of
some trends thanks to digital innovations. And some of those trends will be discussed below:

1. Telemedicin

While it’s been around for some time, telemedicine gained significant popularity and importance
during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the coronavirus spreading like wildfire in a harmattan,
healthcare facilities were not only overwhelmed. Still, they had to take fewer consultations and
visitations to reduce the spread of the deadly virus.

Thankfully, telemedicine came in, and remote consultations became the norm of the day. With the virus is seemingly subdued, for now, many people are still happy with telemedicine and will continue remote consultations with their healthcare providers.

In fact, according to this dentist who does orthodontics in Upper East Side, the number of dentists who offer teledentistry in the last few years has increased.

Telemedicine is still developing, and some issues still need to be solved for potential mass adoption. But the future of telemedicine is bright and is one of the growing trends this year.

2. AI and Machine Learning

AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) are buzzwords that never seem to go
away. These two technologies have found applications in several industries and have now
made their way to the healthcare system.
The concept of AI is to create machines with human intelligence while machine learning is an AI
technique used to teach machines to perform tasks with minimal human intervention. In the
healthcare industry, AI and ML are used to analyze huge amounts of unstructured data such as
X-rays, MRI, and CT scans.

AI is also being used in the development of new pharmaceuticals as well as monitoring the
mental health of patients. Disease diagnosis is becoming more accurate and timely thanks to
the utilization of AI.

3. Physician Dispensing

Physician or doctor dispensing refers to providing prescription medications directly to patients
instead of writing a prescription to be filled at a pharmacy. This growing trend offers several
benefits to both doctors and patients. There is better drug adherence or compliance for the
patients as many fail to fill their prescriptions. But when drugs are directly delivered, they are
more likely to use them.

For doctors, physician dispensing offers an opportunity to earn extra income. It’s a win-win for
both parties. Regulations regarding physician dispensing vary between States and can change
frequently. So, health professionals will do well to be updated with the latest regulations.

4. Extended Reality

Extended reality is a blanket term that encompasses virtual reality, augmented reality, and
mixed reality. While this technology has applications in several industries, it’s particularly
powerful in healthcare.

Surgeons can have access to important information during procedure by wearing ER devices
such as mixed reality headsets. This way, surgeons are able to go hands-free while accessing
information. Other doctors and health professionals can also observe the procedure through a
head-mounted camera and offer advice.

And this has the potential to make healthcare both
collaborative and remote. Extended reality is also used to train doctors, which can help improve
the number of trained and qualified medical professionals in the country. Nurses are also using
this technology to find veins to draw blood from.

5. Wearables

Not long ago, it seemed that wearables were heading into the abyss. Fast forward to 2022 and
they are more popular than ever. The main benefit of wearable technologies is medical
professionals’ ability to monitor a patient’s health status remotely. Patients can also monitor their
health themselves; since many people own smartwatches, wearables are becoming invaluable
to individuals and health professionals.
From monitoring heart rate to blood oxygen saturation, blood volume and composition
variations, and so on to a high level of accuracy, wearables are set to become more prevalent in
the coming years.

Cloud Computing
With the increased popularity of telemedicine and remote care, it’s no surprise that cloud
computing is also on the rise. Cloud computing involves tools and applications like databases,
servers, networking, and software.

Sharing medical records or automating backend operations with cloud computing is easy.
Telehealth apps can also be created and maintained with this technology.