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The world is currently facing the most significant healthcare challenge, which is the pandemic of COVID-19. It has caused millions of deaths worldwide and created chaos in the healthcare sector. The biggest challenge for the healthcare industry was to make people aware of how to maintain social distancing to keep themselves and their loved ones safe from this deadly coronavirus. Apart from the pandemic of COVID-19, there are other healthcare challenges that the healthcare industry needs to consider. 

Only healthcare organizations are not responsible for helping people in crises. People are also responsible for having the proper knowledge and awareness to take good care of themselves. You should adopt a healthy lifestyle to stay away from health issues. It will also ease off the burden from the healthcare institutes. Every day different health epidemics are affecting people all around the globe. From mental health issues to obesity, there are other root causes of public health issues. Let’s explore the most significant public health issues of 2021. 

COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic seems to go nowhere because the virus starts spreading again whenever the situation becomes stable. Just like in 2020, in 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic will be one of the most significant public health issues. This deadly and infamous virus has put the entire world in an emergency state – changing reality for all of us.

In such crises, healthcare experts with good knowledge and qualifications can deal with such situations efficiently.

Moreover, there are several innovative solutions that can help healthcare providers deal with such emergencies. One such solution is RightPatient – a touchless biometric patient identification platform that ensures patient safety, reduces infection control issues, and even prevents medical identity theft. Patients are identified easily without any physical contact – helping ensure both hygiene and accurate patient information usage.

If you are currently working in the healthcare sector, you should also seek high-level education to strengthen your academic profile. 

If it is difficult for you to pursue further education with a full-time job, you may opt for distance learning opportunities on the internet. In this case, you can go for a virtual program like a master’s in public health online to help you harness the required knowledge and skills. It will prepare you to deal with global health issues like the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare organizations guide wearing masks, maintaining social distancing, using sanitizers, and other measures. Many medical experts and nurses have come out of retirement to serve people in this pandemic.

Drugs Abuse

Substance abuse has always been one of the significant health concerns for the relevant authorities and organizations. Before the pandemic, drug abuse was one of the top public health issues. It has been reported that due to the pandemic, drugs usage has increased in homes by 18%. Drugs addicts mostly have poor immune systems, which make them vulnerable to getting infected by a coronavirus. So, you can see how public health issues are connected. 

Fortunately, there’s a ray of hope, as rehabilitation centers currently offer the best treatments for the addicted. Those dealing with substance abuse are admitted to rehabilitation centers for treatment, where they are kept in isolation and cannot access any substance. 

Mental Health Issues 

Mental health issues were already a significant concern worldwide for healthcare organizations. But COVID-19 has further increased mental health issues among people. The anxiety and stress of quarantine and remote work have affected people’s mental health from all age groups. Restrictions on family gatherings have also caused stress among people. The rate of depression increases continuously among people, which is an alarming sign for the healthcare industry. 

According to a statistical study, around 70% of teenagers are dealing with mental health issues worldwide. Another research revealed that 60% of youth are not getting the necessary health treatment they need. With the rise in mental health issues, the demand for mental health workers and public health will increase too.

Heart Diseases 

Health issues related to the heart are one of the leading causes of death all around the world. Cardiovascular diseases are growing exponentially, and the influence of COVID-19 will increase it more. It means that heart health is going to be the top concern of public health workers and physicians. There are different causes of heart diseases like stress, improper food, smoking, or it could be due to your genetics. 

HIV

Unfortunately, even now, HIV/AIDS causes millions of deaths each year. There is still no vaccine or medication that can help patients to recover from HIV. It remains a challenge for the healthcare sector and the most significant public health issue. People also lack basic knowledge of HIV that what they have to do to prevent this deadly disease. According to a study, over 70 million have HIV infection, and 33 million have died due to it. Another study showed that there are around 38 million currently living with HIV. These are alarming figures and still create a big challenge for the healthcare industry.

Healthcare organizations have to take sound measures to deal with the most significant public health issues this year. They have to harness the latest technology and guide people to protect themselves from diseases and viruses. Once people have the proper knowledge, they will take correct preventive measures to attain good health. With the advancement in healthcare, hopefully, these challenges will be resolved soon.

There’s no denying that technology plays a significant role across all industries. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation for many businesses – and health care facilities are no exception. 

Implementing new tech to improve patient care is nothing new – the health care industry has continuously improved its quality of care by using new tech for years. For example, augmented reality helps patients during treatment sessions. 

Whether it’s an older adult with a cancer diagnosis or a child with the common cold, medical providers consider the quality of care they deliver a top priority. Each patient deserves top-tier treatment no matter the physical or mental challenges they may be facing. 

While patient care is a top priority, digital health tech can also positively impact the rising health costs many people worldwide are facing. Depending on the country, the tech could drive 10%-15% savings in health care costs. 

Here are some specific examples of how technology is leveraged by physicians, nurses, surgeons, and other medical professionals to enhance patient care.

1. Reduced Medical Errors

Medical errors are defined as unintended acts that lead to failures to achieve an intended outcome. While professionals in the health care industry work tirelessly to deliver quality care, it’s challenging to eliminate all instances of medical error. 

For example, in July 2021, a patient at the University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center received a kidney transplant intended to be used for someone else. While the patient is recovering and the transplant has not caused harm, the significant error caused the caregivers responsible to be put on administrative leave. 

While the incorrect transplant is an extreme case, medication issues are also considered medical errors. 

Prescribing errors can harm the patient receiving care. Medical alerts, clinical flags, and medication reminders can assist medical professionals when choosing drugs, keeping patients safe in the future. 

Fortunately, solutions exist that reduce medical errors – RightPatient being one of the more effective ones. It is a touchless biometric patient identification platform trusted by several healthcare providers to identify patients accurately across the care continuum – preventing duplicate medical records, patient mix-ups, medical errors, and more. 

2. Enhanced Drug Safety

Doctors are fully responsible for ensuring their patients receive the correct drug and dosage and ensuring medicines won’t interact. Using electronic systems can enhance the safety of prescribing drugs, which naturally improves patient care. 

When patient information is stored in cloud-based solutions, it becomes much easier for prescribers to understand which medications will treat their conditions or disease. It minimizes the chances of miscommunication between prescribers, pharmacies, and patients. 

3. Remote Patient Monitoring

Remote patient monitoring can provide positive outcomes to help patients manage these chronic illnesses, such as heart failure, stroke, COPD, asthma, and hypertension. 

By implementing patient data management systems (PDMS), health care providers can remotely monitor a patient’s condition and interpret gathered data to decide on the correct medical approach needed for treatment.

PDMS technology helps physicians with decision-making and integrates with existing patient medical record systems. In other words, physicians spend more time providing patients with quality care rather than charting or completing paperwork. 

4. Accessibility to Virtual Care

When more people spent time indoors due to the pandemic, accessing traditional health care appointments became more challenging. Patients were forced to weigh the risks of exposure while booking appointments. 

As a result, telehealth apps became more prevalent, allowing patients to visit their doctors via teleconference or phone call. Patients could rest assured that they could receive medical care from home, a game-changer for the health care sector.

5. Improved Lines of Communication

Technology allows physicians to communicate more effectively with patients regarding their medical issues. Patient portals are increasing in popularity, and people can now check their medical records, contact their doctors, and book appointments digitally. 

Patient portals help improve engagement, which can determine the success of outcomes. The more engaged a patient is, the more likely they will receive quality care and take hold of whatever medical conditions they may be suffering from. 

6. Increased Collaboration Among Physicians

Patient care is improved when physicians work together. For example, virtual conferences come in handy if doctors are in different time zones. 

Relying on technology to bridge the gap between doctors is a crucial component of the health care industry. There’s evidence to suggest there’s a significant nurse shortage in the country, so increasing the number of collaboration tools within the health care sector can potentially make up for it.

The Future of Tech in Patient Care

These are only a few examples of how tech is being leveraged to provide quality patient care. More technologies must be used by the health care sector, as many people rely on a dependable facility to attend to their medical needs.

As Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) technologies continue to develop, it’s only a matter of time until new applications emerge in the health care sector. All medical professionals can use new tech to improve the care they deliver to patients across the board.

Having a senior loved one means going the extra mile in making sure they’re well taken care of all the time. As their family, you want to give them the best personal care possible. However, as your life responsibilities start to become just as demanding, you’ll reach a point where you’ll realize the best thing to do is to entrust their welfare in a nursing or elderly care facility. 

But before you do so, take some time to consider all your options first. Have you thought of live in care services for your aging family member before? It’s a long-term solution that might be a better choice for both you and your elderly loved one. 

How To Find The Best Live In Care Services For Your Elderly Loved Ones

Live in care has grown pretty popular lately compared to conventional care homes. This is because seniors prefer to spend their later years in their own homes instead of staying in a facility where they may not feel comfortable or at home at all. 

With live in care, patients don’t need to leave the confines of their own house. The care provider shall be the one to move in and live with the senior person so they can take care of them and help with their needs around the clock. 

Your elderly will still have the freedom to move around the house, but this time, there’ll be a professional caregiver to look after them. You no longer need to worry about how they’re doing or if they’ve taken their medicines already.  

Sounds great, right? But of course, you can’t just let some stranger live in your elder’s house. You need to carefully select the right live in care service that you can entrust your loved one to. Here are some tips you might find helpful: 

• Identify The Needs Of Your Elderly 

Before you start looking for the best live in care service, you need to know first if your loved one requires special care or a certain level of mobility. Knowing such information will help identify what to look for in a care service. Do they have any medical condition or were they involved in an accident in the past that led to their restricted mobility? 

It’s critical to have such knowledge because, for example, your elderly have dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. That means you’ll need to look for an at-home senior healthcare agency that can medically and professionally handle patients with the mentioned conditions. Be sure to mention their current condition to the carer or agency you’re speaking to so they can provide the right kind of service that your senior loved one requires. 

• Look Into Their Experience 

Most of the best live in care services have been in the industry for several years already, thus acquiring enough experience to handle the job. Once you start scouting for the best care provider for your aging family member, ask how long they’ve been providing such services. Although it’s not really a hard rule for someone to be around for quite a long time, it’s one factor to consider knowing that years of experience could translate to skills and expertise in the field. 

Ask for their proof of experience. If they have a website, you can check the reviews and recommendations from their previous and present patients. That way, you can have an idea of what kind of service they give to their clients. 

• Check Their Qualifications 

Care facilities may be required to present proof of their comprehensive training depending on where they’re from. Different local governments and regulatory agencies dealing with elderly health grant different certifications and the like to individuals and organizations to serve as proof that they meet set standards and guidelines in properly administering senior care. 

To ensure the safety of your elderly, you also need to perform a comprehensive background check. A healthcare worker is said to be required to pass such a test to be granted a license and work with patients, particularly those working to care for vulnerable adults and children. 

• Request For A Trial Shift 

Don’t get too excited to get someone without conducting a trial shift first. The trial shift is like getting a sample of a product or service that you’re about to buy. With a trial shift from your preferred elderly care professional, you’ll closely see how they work and how the interaction between them and your elderly will be. 

Listen to your gut and observe carefully how the nurse or caregiver will move around the house. You’ll know it in your heart if the person is compassionate and pleasant to be around. Ask your senior loved on how they feel about their new companion at home. Know if they’re comfortable being with them during most times of the day.  

Conclusion 

Finding the best live in care services for your senior family relative is no easy feat. It’s not something as simple as buying a new handbag that you can return if you didn’t like it, and there’ll be no harm done. In this case, your elderly family member’s well-being is at stake.  

So, don’t hurry. Take your time and pay close attention to the abovementioned factors you need to consider. It might also help to ask for your elderly’s input when making a decision.

In today’s world where technology has seeped into every field, how could the healthcare industry be untouched? Digitization of healthcare has taken the entire process by storm as the way the entire process works has absolutely transformed. You do not need to wait in queues to get an appointment or even visit the doctor’s clinic to get a consult. Hospitals also can ensure accurate patient identification – improving patient safety, preventing duplicate medical records, and enhancing healthcare outcomes in the process. Patients can schedule appointments, and more, all through a simple mobile app. In fact, accessing your medical record has never been easier with this technology.

Let us get into more details of how digitization has benefitted the healthcare industry.

1. Convenient Flow of Communication

As the line of communication opens up, more patients will reach out to get healthcare. These channels allow patients to connect with their doctors via the preferred mode of communication, such as email, text, phone, or video calls. The tool is such that it provides notifications, reminders and also streamlines the process of booking an appointment.

2. Prevention Before Treatment

This technology lets patients self-manage their health through regular tracking and monitoring of their symptoms. This helps with the early detection of significant disease progression before the condition can become untreatable. This also makes patients more cautious about their health; hence they are trying to stay healthy by eating a good diet and working out in reputed gyms like Gymnation to keep themselves fit.

3. Update Health Information from Any Location

Digital health systems actually enhance your experience as you do not need to collect your health data from different hospitals. All your medical data is digitally updated wherever you go; hence, it is all available next time your doctor needs to refer to your medical history.

4. Organized Information

The use of files to store medical records has been followed for ages. This way, lots of data gets lost, and it gets tough to organize so much data. Digital platform makes it absolutely easy. The data stored can be processed anytime in seconds without any errors. This method has revolutionized file management systems. This means doctors can quickly refer the patient records to access important information and give better treatment. The admin staff can spend more time on regular tasks rather than handling files.

5. Cloud-Based Systems

So any patient data is not stored in an internal hard disk but on the cloud, which can be globally accessed. The system is secure and not location-dependent. This means updates made in one location will automatically reflect everywhere. The idea of this is to make the tasks really easy for patients that reside around the world.

6. Digital Tools Give Patients Better Experience

Digital technology has pushed the limits further as digital health apps have been introduced that make engaging much easier for patients. This means patients are encouraged to enter data as it is easier; hence, the tool helps to provide a complete health status for the person. 

7. Create Patient Portal

Further, the patient portal is an interface designed to connect patients with providers quickly. There are different types of these portals, and all function more or less the same. Patients can schedule appointments, view the results of their recent tests, and get other health information through these portals. These portals also contain a chat box where the patient can digitally connect to the provider through video conferencing. This is being widely used now due to the pandemic situation. Many people can get treatment easily from their homes using this technology, hence reducing their contact with other people for prevention. 

8. Easier to Share Feedback

The digital healthcare system also makes it so much easier to provide two-way communication. This is the best way for patients to share their experience with the doctors, as it will help people make an informed decision about the doctor and whether they want to visit that doctor or not. 

9. Gateway to Communication

Many digital platforms allow you to find outpatients with similar conditions and give you a chance to connect with them. You can form a community of your own and deal with any illness with the support and encouragement of the group that is going through the same thing.

10. Expanding Healthcare Professionals Reach

Digital platforms aim to reduce the burden on healthcare professionals, as the administrative work is repetitive, which can be reduced using the platform. This actually expands their time to spend more time with the patient instead and gives them better care. This is especially important for patients and clinics located in rural areas where travel is difficult. With technology in their pocket, patients can provide their health information from any location to physicians at any time.

In Conclusion

Today is this era where artificial technology and virtual reality are being introduced in the healthcare sector. Digitization is the first step towards these revolutionary measures. Digital healthcare will ensure quality care with full transparency of all medical records and with a large network of people benefiting across the entire country. This, in turn, will make quality medical services accessible from any part of the world.

Over the past year, you’ve probably heard a fair amount about telehealth. Telehealth – the usage of technology to facilitate care when a patient and their doctor are not in the same place at the same time – has surged during the pandemic. It’s helped a lot of people get the care they need while allowing them to practice social distancing and reduce face-to-face contact with others. 

While many experts are worried that some problems faced during regular in-person hospital visits might bleed over to virtual visits, medical identity theft CAN be prevented. RightPatient, for instance, is used to identify patients accurately at hospitals, and can also be used to authenticate patients during appointment scheduling. Fraudsters, thus, are red-flagged when they try to impersonate registered patients, preventing medical identity theft in real-time during both virtual and in-person visits.

Coming back to the topic at hand, one type of telehealth that you may not have heard as much about but that is also rapidly growing in popularity is remote patient monitoring (RPM). Sometimes referred to as “RPM,” This program allows a physician to leverage technology to monitor a patient’s vital health information, such as blood pressure, weight, and heart, from outside the confines of a typical office visit. To accomplish this, patients are provided with a device that tracks health information the doctor needs. Covered by Medicare as well as other insurance plans, RPM is most often used to track the symptoms associated with a number of different chronic health conditions, including, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), hypertension, and heart failure, just to name a few. In all, the process is typically simple and straightforward and delivers significant benefits.

While the prospect of new technology can be daunting for some, many RPM devices are incredibly easy for patients to use. These devices transmit data to software utilized by the physician and their care team in one of three ways: via cellular data, Bluetooth, or the Internet, such as over Wi-Fi. Devices are typically plug-and-play, meaning there is little setup required on behalf of the patient. Some of the most common types of devices used in RPM include blood pressure monitors, glucose monitors, and weight scales. 

Most devices you will find in an RPM program require active participation from patients, although not a lot of work. A patient will need to step on the scale or properly put the device on their body to capture vitals data. Once the readings are taken by the patient, they are then sent directly to the doctor. This allows the physician and their team to use that information to make assessments about a patient’s immediate health, thus eliminating the need for frequent in-person visits and potentially avoiding exacerbations of a patient’s chronic health condition. 

How does RPM improve patient health?

RPM can help a healthcare team assess and treat concerning symptoms related to a wide variety of acute and chronic health conditions. The biggest benefit is that the data collected is sent in real-time, so the doctor can quickly identify concerning changes in a patient’s vital signs to make time-sensitive adjustments to treatment plans, thus avoiding potential health emergencies or helping a patient get the urgent care they need. 

Aside from reducing health emergencies, five other significant benefits are as follows:

Increased communication between the patient and their doctor

With more frequent communication between office visits, RPM allows a patient and their doctor to function as a team, actively working together towards improving patient health.

Increased personal accountability and awareness

Since RPM captures real-time information, patients are more aware of “triggers” that might exacerbate chronic disease symptoms. Patients also have increased motivation to make healthy lifestyle changes permanent as they witness the impact of those changes with the increased collection of health information.

Reduced need for traveling

Many chronic health conditions require close monitoring and frequent follow-up with a physician. Since RPM can be done from essentially anywhere, it can help significantly cut the number of time-consuming trips needed to a doctor’s office. By reducing the number of trips, also saves the money that would have been associated with those trips (e.g., gas, tolls, taxi, parking, babysitting, pet sitting) and eliminates the need to coordinate traveling for those office visits.

Better access and improved quality of care

Instead of regular trips to see a physician, RPM patients receive wraparound care services and 24-hour a day access to their healthcare team. Since health information is frequently sent directly to their doctor and care team, it’s easier to react quickly when health concerns arise, granting the patient precision-focused quality care.

Patients can take more control of their chronic disease

RPM helps a physician focus on their patient’s specific healthcare needs. This allows a doctor to provide better and more timely feedback, support, and education. Armed with this information, patients can take better control of their health through active adjustments to their lifestyle.

Big-Picture Benefits of Remote Patient Monitoring 

RPM is a great way to help keep patients healthier. It reduces the need for hospitalization, reduces hospital readmissions, can reduce the length of stay if a patient does not need to be admitted to the hospital, reduces healthcare costs, and permits older or disabled individuals to remain in their homes for longer. RPM is truly a win-win-win for patients, doctors, and our healthcare system.