Medical advances in recent years have had as a common factor the intensive use of technology, accelerating the development of solutions in eHealth or telemedicine.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines telemedicine as the provision of services by health professionals, combining information and communication technologies (ICT) and where distance is a critical factor (PAHO-WHO, 2016, p. 12).
These services include the “ exchange of valid information for the diagnosis, Portugal Email List treatment and prevention of diseases and injuries, research and evaluation, and for the continuous training of health professionals, all in order to advance the health of individuals. and their communities
Telemedicine and eHealth: accelerating medical advances associated with healthcare
Telemedicine as a medical advance has transformed the industry.
Virtualization of health care
The massive acceleration in the use of telehealth has improved access to online healthcare . This translates into greater interaction between patients, healthcare personnel, and healthcare providers.
Not surprisingly, reports from McKinsey & Co indicate a 50 to 175-fold increase in the volume of telehealth patients, just since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Remote patient care using the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The remote monitoring of patients is enhanced by the use of medical devices and technologies for everyday use. Using biometric sensors, useful data are collected for real-time monitoring of health indicators
Medical technology continues to bring innovations against Alzheimer’s. Among the medical advances this year stands out the development of a blood test that identifies distinctive signs of this disease.
Artificial intelligence applied to cancer diagnostics s.
Decentralization of health services thanks to eHealth, digital transformation and mobile technologies.
Medicine tailored to the patient and precision medicine , supported by big data , biosensors and artificial intelligence.
Expectations for 2021 and for the coming years
Medical advances in 2021 show trends to accelerate and consolidate the digital transformation of the health sector (Mitroff, 2021):
Clinical records on secure interconnected platforms with optimized visualization for mobile devices. This facilitates collaboration in health services, even in different countries.
Data analytics techniques applied to the processing of large volumes of healthcare and medical data. In this way, data is consolidated, transforming it into useful information and indicators for decision-making.
Growth in the development of products and services associated with digital health . This includes:
Medical technology for remote monitoring that already benefits patients with epileptic seizures and heart conditions.
. The application of eHealth is expanding mobile lead rapidly due to the current health situation, with definitive changes in care approaches.