The healthcare industry benefits much from advanced technology. With the integration of digital technology, manual tasks can be automated, saving time and effort on the part of medical workers. Therefore, healthcare workers are now able to focus more on providing excellent patient care.
How are modern technological innovations transforming today’s medical landscape? Below are some tools and equipment that are improving healthcare for everyone.
- Medical Rolling Carts
A medical rolling cart or a mobile medical cart is a more modern version of traditional hospital carts. With the latest rolling medical cart technology, healthcare workers could have real-time access to patient information. This equipment could significantly improve medical staff efficiency and quality patient care.
There are different types of medical rolling carts. Some examples are bedside, medication, and IV carts (used in administering intravenous fluids and drugs). Other types include point-of-care carts (used for medical testing and diagnosis) and emergency crash carts.
Because of the benefits they bring, medical rolling carts are changing how hospital workers are attending to patients. Some of the best features of medical mobile rolling carts are as follows:
- Portability: Medical rolling carts have wheels and casters, providing multidirectional maneuverability. Hospital staff can move the medical rolling carts in narrow spaces for more efficient storage. This feature saves the time and effort of medical workers, so they could focus more on looking after the needs of their patients.
- Customizability: Healthcare facilities can also use custom medical carts, depending on their needs. For instance, hospitals could decide on adding computers on the mobile medical carts for immediate patient data access.
- Lightweight construction: Because mobile medical carts are made from lightweight materials, such as powder-coated stainless steel, they’re easy to clean and sterilize. Hence, this tool could prevent the spread of viruses and bacteria between areas of the healthcare facility.
- Telehealth Apps
Remote healthcare appears to be the latest trend, which is known as telemedicine or telehealth. This healthcare technology reached its peak in 2020 because of the restrictions enforced by governments due to the COVID-19 outbreak, paving the way for the development of telehealth apps.
Telehealth apps are presenting several advantages for medical professionals and patients alike. Some of these are the following:
- It’s easy to set a medical appointment. Instead of calling the doctor’s clinic to set an appointment, telehealth app users could check the doctor’s availability on the app and set a schedule easily and fast. Even dental patients could benefit from telehealth because dentists also offer telemedicine services.
- Assessment of patients could be done remotely: Doctors and patients could talk via video conferencing using telehealth apps or similar tools. With a visual inspection of the patient and a thorough questioning about their signs and symptoms, the doctor could provide an initial diagnosis. If further assessments are needed, the doctor could refer the patient to a local laboratory or diagnostic center.
- Prescriptions may be given online: Doctors could provide online prescriptions through telehealth apps. This applies to minor medical cases that wouldn’t need face-to-face interaction or clinic visitation.
- Data Analytics
According to a report, about 94% of Covid-19 mortality cases involved chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Before the pandemic happened, these diseases have already been a part of normal life, which people have to deal with on a daily basis. However, now, chronic diseases are being associated with a higher risk of severe illness from the deadly coronavirus.
Data analytics play a crucial role in determining incidences and cases that could drastically affect public health. In hospitals, clinicians rely on electronic health record (EHR) data to analyze trends and plan patient interventions. Data analytics could help medical researchers and scientists in evaluating patients’ progress and medication effectiveness.
- Vaccination Access Dataset
The COVID-19 Vaccination Access Data set is the latest application programming interface (API) tool integrated with Global Positioning System (GPS) mapping. This tool determines the travel time to vaccination sites, identifying difficult-to-reach areas. The data from a vaccination access dataset tool integrates with other organizational data such as those from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
- PPE Sensors
Employee safety in medical settings is a priority to ensure healthcare professionals could work at their optimum capabilities without compromising their own health. Some personal protective equipment (PPE) innovations include antimicrobial coating applications to kill bacteria and sensor attachments to detect if workers are wearing the PPE correctly. These trends in PPE are changing the medical landscape, promoting superior safety and health for the medical frontliners.
Conclusion
Many tools and equipment are transforming the medical landscape with the help of digital technology. Sensors help ensure accuracy, and digital technology promotes productivity. On the other hand, advanced tools and equipment, such as medical rolling carts, help promote greater efficiency, productivity, accuracy of data, and patient care.
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