What Is Next Generation Healthcare Technology?
By Megan Williams, contributing writer
Healthcare initiatives for 2015 are something we’ve covered before, but those are just about what’s starting to take hold. In this article, we’re looking even further into the future to see what technologies and trends you as a solutions provider should be keeping an eye on as clues to what the future of healthcare holds.
Here are four areas of innovation and development in the industry that you will find useful as you and your clients adapt and adjust to industry changes.
Building Information Modeling
The line between IT and the physical construction of healthcare facilities is becoming increasingly blurred.
Building Information Modeling is an intelligent, model-based building process that allows healthcare facilities to be constructed and grow in smart ways that are truly connected to the needs of a healthcare community. It incorporates technology that ranges from computer modeling to the information and medical technologies that are used by clinicians and healthcare support staff on a daily basis.
Healthcare Design Magazine recently highlighted the benefits of BIM in healthcare design, citing things like time and money savings, improved implementation of complex projects, decreased construction time, virtualization of design and construction stages, and integration of a building’s computerized maintenance management system to plan and track equipment layout.
Next Gen Infrastructure And Cloud
Dell has recently announced international efforts aimed at developing next generation cloud technologies in verticals that include healthcare.
The tech giant is collaborating with IIT Madras on an R&D program that, according to ItVoir, focuses on “Next Generation Infrastructure and Cloud” technologies. Dell is looking to leverage their Dell Networking Center as well as the talent pool in Chennai to push research around the cloud and tech infrastructure forward. The partnership will sponsor several different research projects and offer funds to scholars whose work aligns with Dell Research initiatives.
Value-Based Reimbursement
We already know that ACOs will play a big part in your world in the near future, but regardless of the direction that the U.S. healthcare market moves, the heart of the reason for their existence isn’t going anywhere.
As we move forward, healthcare will become increasingly about value, and value-based reimbursement (VBR) will only become more important. For vendors and solutions providers, this means the need for smarter use of clinical analytics and business intelligence to find true value in the healthcare process. Read more about VBR here.
Social And Gaming
Accenture, in their look into what’s driving the future of healthcare, identified three big trends in healthcare and two of them come from an unlikely place.
Gaming already has its roots in society, but is just starting to creep into the healthcare realm, specifically in the area of improving and maintaining cognitive skills and modifying behavior. The WiiFit is just one example, and the field has amazing amounts of room to grow.
Second to that is healthcare-specific social networks. According to their whitepaper, these networks will “help practitioners deliver services, but will also enable patients to play a more active role in their care — by sharing experiences with others with similar conditions, for example. The power of the crowd will boost resources for all and the benefits of scale will be automatic.”