Lately, in the healthcare industry, innovations have been taking huge steps forward. Even though some people might think that the way the healthcare sector is adopting technology is just a sign that we are headed toward an AI takeover, the sector just welcomes advanced technologies as a way to streamline processes and provide better patient care.
Nowadays, we can control our health and well-being online, we can use our phones as reminders to take our medications on time, we can use some apps to measure our cardiac activity and so on. And the great news is that many apps can actually bring the best doctors to us through video appointments –within minutes, instead of weeks or months.
Let’s see how Big Data and IoT are impacting the healthcare industry:
How Big Data is reshaping the healthcare industry
Big Data plays a vital role in all sectors but it is extremely significant for today’s transforming healthcare industry. Healthcare is multifaceted, which means that Big Data analytics will have an impact on many fields. Hospitals and insurers alike should use Big Data in a more efficient way to improve the experience of the patients while cutting out unnecessary business costs.
The opportunity for businesses and hospitals to minimize costs and build positive customer experience is directly related to the use of Big Data.
When we talk about large amounts of information we also talk about Big Data. A huge amount of data is generated by the healthcare industry and it is usually stored in physical media. However, with technical advancements, this information should be kept digitally. This is where Big Data comes in.
Doppler and MRI scans include X-ray images and ultrasound records along with conventional health files which are in the text format. Also, many medical professionals often tend to maintain records of their patients’ conversations.
All this information is often unstructured and it’s not set up in the form of neat graphs or tables, that’s why Big Data is a real help because it can solve any information storage issue. It helps to keep data structured and ensure the data is easily accessible. It makes a hospital’s work more effective.
Also, Big Data gathers information regarding the best treatment methods and cure practices, making it easier for healthcare practitioners to make informed choices about any treatment and to gain useful insights. Plus, when it comes to the point of gathering large quantities of information, Big Data can easily manage any task.
A very big advantage is that the implementation of Big Data technologies in the healthcare industry can bring new cost-effective solutions, which otherwise would be harder to get.
IoT – the next revolution in the healthcare industry?
Internet of things is the connection of physical objects to a network so that the signals and data can be transmitted to each other. IoT is having its roots in all industries across the world. From retail to smart homes, IoT is everywhere.
By using IoT in healthcare, doctors can minimize the cost of treatments and make many procedures more successful. From health and wellness management via smartwatches to after cancer care, IoT is impacting healthcare in many ways. Basically, with IoT, hospitals can function more effectively, thereby ensuring better treatments for their patients.
IoT makes monitoring and recording possible simultaneously: sensors capture and distribute health data, such as blood pressure, blood sugar and oxygen levels, pulse, etc. In other words, the data is stored in the cloud and can be accessed by a doctor or any other specialist in health care.
24/7 data availability helps medical professionals to respond rapidly to any changes in patients’ situations. Moreover, the alert function offers an on-time warning signaling that medical measures are required.
Besides, IoT apps can record and analyze data collected in real-time very easily. It helps the time spent on collection, assessment, and interpretation of data to be minimized.
Conclusion
IoT and Big Data analytics have the potential to transform the way healthcare operates today. This ability can be used by healthcare organizations and industry to gain insights from data repositories and make informed decisions, not assumptions.
Both Big Data and IoT handle information but process it differently. Incorporating this with mobile devices, our health can be easily monitored on a constant and proactive basis. In case any problem is detected, a health professional can be notified to take further action. In addition, there appears to be a tremendous opportunity for offering easy, reliable, affordable approaches to improve the working practices of healthcare professionals and the general public health level.
With the implementation of these advanced technologies, it is imperative to efficiently organize and process the ever-increasing quantity of data that is digitally collected and stored within healthcare organizations.