The year 2020 did not only bring changes to our daily lives but mainly to the health department. It was the year of new beginnings and developments, new technologies were created, new thoughts were implemented, as well as innovative work methods that transformed the models of health care in many institutions.
As a result, professionals had to innovate and modify their old methodologies, and thanks to that, it becomes increasingly evident the need to learn about digital tools, since due to social distance, physical and in-person contact could not be possible.
The health technology sector, although it arrived to facilitate medical services, was not something so valued by investors, but all of this ended up taking a major turn with the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic. By understanding this change in routine, health trends in the year 2021 ended up focusing more on the technological world to help in this daily battle that we face.
So to know a little bit more, let’s try to understand the 3 best health trends for this year, as well as other news that is coming to this market – to learn even more about the upcoming health’s landscape, be sure to visit this site.
What Are The 3 Best Health Trends for This Year?
Telemedicine
Instead of having to go to your hospital when you are not feeling well, you can adopt the telemedicine model or teleconsultation. It is a trend created to avoid greater exposure to the virus when traveling to hospitals and/or consulting rooms, proving to be increasingly beneficial, since, in addition to saving time, it reduces the risks of being exposed to diseases.
It makes it possible through visits made virtually, remote monitoring of patients (RPM), and mobile health (mHealth), that patients don’t need to go to the hospital, since monitoring patients online is in real-time.
This project was already much discussed around the world even before the outbreak of the pandemic, and it was thanks to the new coronavirus that the choice for this model ended up becoming kind of a requirement.
Doctors and specialists say that they have seen a considerable increase in the use of medical devices in the homes of their patients or acquaintances, without the need for constant visits to hospitals, not to mention that today several specialties are managing to adapt to the use of telemedicine as a great alternative.
This does not mean that the face-to-face consultations will end completely, no way that will happen. This leads to one more detail, many doctors, offices, and hospitals have adopted a hybrid system, that is, the first consultations are in person since they need a diagnosis. However, return or follow-up appointments may be made by telemedicine.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Augmented Reality
We have already seen telemedicine acting as a major trend in the health field already, but another tool that is being widely used in several sectors is augmented reality. Being used in operating rooms and even in the treatment of chronic pain, or anxiety, ranging from physiotherapy treatments or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Although many professionals are concerned about the constant use of virtual reality in their work areas, this technology can dominate the field of medicine, managing to eliminate the need to use certain medications or even surgeries.
Besides, the growth in the amount of data collected on the state of our health, together with our interaction with health services, will mean that providers have an increasingly concrete image, and a very precise one, where and when exactly there should be an intervention in our procedure or our health.
The artificial intelligence (AI) tool is used for medical treatments and even for studies, for example, we can mention the use of robots for patients with mental illnesses, or even interactive virtual assistants, improving the patient experience and the flow of information, operational work of doctors and chatbots.
There is now some software that searches for diseases according to the symptoms presented by the patient through his history. Not to mention that its use will only increase in the coming years, with the market managing to exceed US$ 34 billion by the year 2025.
Health Monitoring Apps and Wearables
There is a forecast that by 2023 the wearable device market will be able to reach a market value of over US$ 27 million. We can see this value from the moment we see countless technology companies investing in monitoring our health status.
Showing a constant evolution, today there are devices such as smartwatches or applications for smartphones that can monitor our health data. Especially from patients with chronic diseases, such as diabetics, where they show blood sugar levels or even the amount of oxygen in the blood for people with respiratory diseases.
These devices can monitor in real-time what is happening constantly inside our body, being able to capture heart rates and even the number of calories lost.
Some Other Trends for The Health Market
With a year of many losses, many countries are adopting a national humanization policy, making ‘care and management’ practices better for the benefit of patients and their families. The importance of valuing and understanding what the patient is feeling has never been so serious, it will also be taken into consideration their wishes and beliefs.
We can also see the creation of some digital health centers, and as innovation is being the keyword of this year, one of the easiest ways is to adapt to the market, creating accessible places for both investors and partners.
Also, we were able to see greater collaboration between doctors and patients, thus making the consultation process more efficient, this characteristic is one of the main reasons why the use of data in the cloud has been considered one of the main health trends.
Get Innovative with Trends and Create New Ones
In 2021, many new things have already happened, the constant use of technology and the hurry to find a vaccine so that our lives may return to “normal” is one of them.
With the promise of evolution and overcoming inserted obstacles that impacted our lives in an absurd way, it’s not a surprise for anyone when we say that technologies would express a huge role in our lives, especially in the health area.