8 Health Tech And Research Trends To Watch Out For

Research and technology are reshaping the health sector today by driving innovations, improving patient outcomes, and revolutionizing this industry altogether. Whether you are a recently-graduated greenhorn or a seasoned professional, staying informed about the latest trends transforming the health industry in 2023 is important. It’ll help you stay relevant in your field and gain a competitive advantage over others.

This blog sheds some light on the recent technology and research trends affecting healthcare. Hence, these trends can take many forms, from groundbreaking advancements in artificial intelligence to cutting-edge research in personalized medicine. Watch out for the following health tech trends and research vogues:

Predictive analysis

The inclusion of AI and “big data” in healthcare has made doctors more effective at identifying certain diseases and improving patient outcomes. Predictive analysis extracts relevant insights about patients’ well-being from their medical histories to make more accurate and precise diagnoses.

Healthcare practitioners can provide patients with personalized treatment plans by implementing AI-powered analytical tools. Moreover, AI tools predict which patients would require readmission to the hospital. That’s how the health sector can offer cost-effective treatment to people.

Genetic engineering

The genetic engineering sector’s market size is estimated to exceed $19 billion by 2030. Soon, genetic therapies will enable healthcare professionals to cure inherited disorders more effectively, and many incurable diseases will become more easily treatable. Bioinformatics allows us to understand as well as evaluate biological data. Experts use different tools, such as a codon chart, to read genetic code and compare biological data sets. Let’s see what codon tables are and why they’re important.

Codon charts define how DNA/RNA nucleotide sequences are translated into amino acid sequences. A codon table lists all 64 possible combinations of codons (nucleotide triplets). It determines exactly how these codons correspond to the amino acids for which they’re coded. We can better understand and decipher the information enclosed within DNA/RNA sequences via these genotype charts.

Remote patient monitoring

The market size of remote patient monitoring (RPM) is expected to reach $25 billion by 2028. This service allows healthcare practitioners to monitor their patients’ well-being outside of traditional clinical settings. That’s how our doctors and nurses can reduce medical errors while improving patient outcomes significantly. RPM has been made possible by introducing the IoT in medical settings, i.e., the Internet of Medical Things. 

Different devices collaborate to make RPM monitoring. For instance, healthcare facilities leverage weight scales, pulse oximeters, and blood pressure monitors to keep an eye on their patients remotely. Remote patient monitoring leads to fewer ER visits and lets doctors better understand the chronically-ill patients they’re treating. If you want to know more about this topic, you can find a guide to remote patient monitoring.

Robotic process automation

Automation takes over repetitive tasks from human laborers to increase the efficiency of these boring, exhausting procedures. In healthcare, robotic process automation (RPA) automates manual tasks, such as monitoring a patient’s vital after a set number of minutes. When routine procedures are automated in a hospital, the medical staff can focus on more pressing problems that require creative thinking.

As the world will need 13 million additional health workers by 2035, RPA can fill the gaps left by a lack of skilled medical practitioners. For instance, instant online clinical scheduling is a task hospitals today can automate. This sort of automation, therefore, is a rising trend in health tech in the 21^st century.

Wearable devices

Due to wearable technology, several complex medical devices are now available as accessories that people carry on their bodies. Some wearable devices are as simple as pedometers or smart watches, which people wear to monitor their vitals constantly. However, other more complex wearable gadgets today can be incorporated into your garments or tattooed on your skin. These gadgets empower patients to control their well-being and get real-time information regarding the following vitals:

• Weight
• Heart rate
• Blood sugar
• Blood oxygen

These gadgets have enhanced modern-day healthcare standards by making caregiving more accurate. That’s why more people are now investing in wearable gadgets and using these devices.

3D-printed organs

The global market cap of 3D printing medical gadgets stood at $2.7 billion last year and is expected to exceed $7 billion after 2028. This health tech sector will grow at a CAGR of 17.1% from 2022 to 2028! Soon, patients with organ failure won’t have to wait for a live donor as 3D-printed organs will work just like the real thing. Recently, scientists have 3D-printed mini-livers and mini-kidneys. All these laboratory-created fair organs are about to revolutionize transplantation in the upcoming days.

As 3D printing becomes more mainstream, these organs will be readily available to deserving patients at cheaper rates; good news, indeed, for all amputees out there!

Data privacy concerns

More data privacy concerns are emerging as technology infiltrates the health sector. Introducing services such as electronic health records (EHRs) has made cybersecurity a priority for healthcare administrators. What is an EHR and what can they do? Electronic health records are often cloud-based data hubs that contain patients’ medical histories; these easy-to-access records make a doctor’s job easier though do render a patient’s private information more vulnerable to cybercriminals. The health sector will, as such, have to invest more money into data protection software solutions to curb data breaches.

The threat from cybercriminals isn’t theoretical; data shows that, in 2021, 45 million people became victims of healthcare cyberattacks when patients’ protected health information (PHI) was exposed to these hackers. That’s why cybersecurity tools are necessary to protect a patient’s data.

Telehealth and telemedicine

The pandemic popularized the already-existing trends of telehealth and telemedicine. Now, these trends will continue to transform the health sector. The concept behind telehealth is simple, i.e., a patient can access a doctor without the need to travel, thereby saving money and staying socially distanced. It’s a great facility for the world’s marginalized communities.

Health inequity remains a prevalent problem in the global health sector, particularly in the United States. Underprivileged communities have poor access to quality health services. But remote-health services, however, are bringing more patients into the care circle of health workers.

Conclusion

This blog covers some of the most popular healthcare research and technology trends. You must get familiar with these trends to excel in the healthcare industry. These amazing trends in healthcare include wearable devices, 3D-printed organs, predictive analysis, and telehealth.Also, RPM and RPA have revolutionized the health tech sector in the 2020s. In genetic engineering, we’ve made great strides in de novo gene synthesis to unlock the mysteries of human DNA and other things.