Digital Health Ecosystem: The Way Ahead
How do patients benefit from the digital health ecosystem?
In the healthcare ecosystem, there is a visible paradigm shift. The healthcare system must be more inclusive, providing patients with high-quality, cost-effective healthcare services.
The importance of an effective healthcare system is especially clear during the coronavirus pandemic season. The integration of various digital technologies into the healthcare ecosystem improves the efficiency of healthcare services.
With the current pandemic's restricted movement, establishing a robust digital health ecosystem has allowed healthcare professionals to provide faster and better care without sacrificing quality.
A brief on the Digital health ecosystem
The digital health ecosystem enables various digital platforms to offer consumer-focused services. It connects all stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem, including healthcare providers, payers, patients, and others.
This ecosystem's primary goal is to provide better healthcare services to patients. It also contributes to the creation of a more effective network among healthcare ecosystem participants in order to share real-time data and the patient's medical history, as well as interactive digital platforms with the patient. Where healthcare professionals provide patients with faster and more effective care.
COVID-19's impact on the health ecosystem
Telehealth and digital technology are largely to blame for the “new normal” in healthcare. By August of last year, more than one-third of consumers had used telehealth. While the increase in adoption was primarily due to stay-at-home orders and social distancing, telehealth is likely to remain popular in the future.
Furthermore, telehealth may be a solution to the looming provider shortage—the United States may face a shortage of 122,000 physicians by 2032 and 670,000 healthcare workers, including nurses, by 2025. Telehealth has also been shown to reduce medical costs and avoid unnecessary hospital visits. As a result, providers will almost certainly continue to offer telehealth services as a means of providing high-quality, remote care long after the pandemic has passed. Telehealth, in addition to benefiting healthcare providers, will become a popular option among consumers as adoption grows.
Benefits for the connected patient
The connected patient, with his or her mobile devices generating vast amounts of real-world health data, is at the heart of the digital healthcare ecosystem. This data is downloaded from the cloud or wirelessly transferred to PHRs or other clinician interfaces such as EHRs so that physicians can make better, faster diagnoses and more informed and personalized treatment decisions.
Furthermore, combining mHealth data with clinician monitoring, particularly for patients with chronic diseases, can improve care coordination and foster long-term relationships between patients and physicians. Real-time data and analytics can help to improve chronic condition management by informing clinicians when an intervention may be required and involving patients in their own care planning and disease prevention. A patient with heart disease, for example, could weigh himself or herself daily at home using a scale that sends data to a health center. If an unusual pattern emerges, a physician can be notified of the possibility of readmission.
A mobile app could notify the patient when it is time to track their symptoms and take medications. Diabetes patients may use an app that collects data from wearable insulin or glucose monitors, an activity tracker, and dietary information to predict when they will have high or low blood sugar levels. Continuous glucose monitoring can assist doctors in tracking a patient's blood glucose levels and taking appropriate action if an emergency arises. These technologies empower patients to take charge of their own health and have the potential to reduce the costs of chronic disease management.
Digital health ecosystem: future
Data, artificial intelligence, and digital telehealth services will shape the future of healthcare. Digital health enables patients, particularly those with chronic illnesses, to better manage their health. PatientMD is an AI-driven Digital Health Platform that offers patient engagement solutions. For more information about our services, text us at +18727048154.