All experts agree: the digitization of medicine, or eHealth, is an upward trend. After all, it brings clear advantages for both patients and healthcare professionals. Are you aware of all its challenges and opportunities?
Digitizing medicine means implementing ICT in the healthcare sector to increase the efficiency of its management and diagnostics. It is an unstoppable phenomenon that has gained significant strength since the coronavirus crisis. Understanding it in depth has become essential when equipping healthcare centers with the best technological systems.
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Benefits of the digitization of medicine for the patient
Optimizes doctor–patient communication
With telemedicine, both patients and healthcare professionals can access medical data in real time. This accessibility makes it possible to share medical records across different centers or request clinical information before a consultation to analyze it in detail.
Enhances diagnostic personalization
The more medicine advances digitally, the fewer human errors appear in diagnostics. AI algorithms are key for providing more data and better patient insights to healthcare professionals. As a result, diagnoses become more accurate, and treatments are more successful.
Improves accessibility
One of the main benefits of telemedicine is that it makes receiving medical care much easier for patients. This is especially beneficial for people with reduced mobility. Receiving timely healthcare thus becomes much faster and simpler, helping prevent diseases through early detection.
How digitalization is transforming the healthcare sector
Digitalization is already present in many areas of our lives, and healthcare is one of the sectors that has undergone the greatest transformations. In particular, its evolution is driving the following changes:
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Optimization of medical care: Enabled by remote medical assistance, remote monitoring devices, and the ability to perform more precise analyses thanks to new technologies.
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Patient empowerment: The digitalization of their medical records and the use of health apps allow patients to access essential information for self-care.
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Optimized resource allocation: The operational efficiency of the healthcare sector improves with advances such as big data management, process automation, and virtualization.
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Advances in research and treatments: Healthcare innovation owes much to the digitalization of medicine. For example, 3D and 4D printing is enabling major advancements in the manufacturing of surgical prostheses.
Impact of digitalization on the doctor–patient relationship
One of the areas where the transformations brought by the digitalization of medicine have been most evident is the doctor–patient relationship. As mentioned earlier, digitalization has enabled more fluid and efficient communication, which improves the quality of healthcare from start to finish.
Both patients and healthcare professionals now have better access to clinical data thanks to telemedicine. In addition, eHealth opens fast and clear communication channels, overcoming the limitations of in-person care. Medication reminders and the remote monitoring of rehabilitation processes are some of its main benefits.
