Digital Health Trends: Making Healthcare Accessible & Affordable

The preventive healthcare landscape is exponentially growing with the advent of digital healthcare services. Digital medical trends have greatly evolved with time. Video, text and voice options are innovative platforms that allow a patient to seek online medical help. Increasing usage of smartphones, wireless devices and wearables, especially among the urban and corporate community has further expedited the spurt in telemedicine and on­demand healthcare solutions.

Patients now have the flexibility to seek on­the­go diagnostic services and treatment for regular, seasonal and general diseases as well as common ailments at their convenience. They can even replenish their prescriptions online or over a call without the hassle of having to physically visit a doctor or a pharmacy.

Digital disruptions by major tech players like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Apple, etc. are further changing the face of more advanced global healthcare. Cloud­based services, increased utilization of AI and machine learning, healthcare analytics, electronic health records (EHRs), personal analytics devices (PADs), 3D technology, home monitoring devices are some of the new trends which are dovetailing what the future of healthcare infrastructure would look like.

These digital trends are providing a collaborative interface for referral doctors, clinicians and sub­specialist groups, while allowing doctors the freedom to securely and easily access patient data from remote locations using different devices like PC, laptop, tab, picture archiving and communication system (PACS), to name a few.

Online digital campaigns, social community forums, specialized online consultative care, etc. are further enabling patients to seek basic and non­emergency medical information, diagnosis and treatment from within the comfort of their homes and offices.

To quote Rahul Paith, Chief Operating Officer, DocOnline, "Digital health innovation should be an integral part of the strategic assets of healthcare organizations. Building of multiple digital ecosystems that support total healthcare, right from access to carefully curated health­related information to social community support to interacting with specialized healthcare providers will help make medical services cheaper and more accessible for patients. Over the years, we have seen a phenomenal escalation in the onsite diagnostic and treatment costs and a noticeable reduction in the quality of services associated with patients’ healthcare.

Intelligent connectivity solutions like online doctor app can aid doctors to make informed and timely decisions while improving patient treatment. Insights from predictive models can also play a critical role in improving the quality of online disease prevention initiatives in healthcare and wellness programs."

He further added, "Well­established digital healthcare delivery platforms which can assist patients to get easier and quicker access to medical interventions is the need of the hour. Hospitals and clinics have to partner closely with varied organizations like tech providers, pharma and life­sciences companies, research institutions, non­profit organizations as well as perform in conjunction with Government bodies to plan and build relevant, regulated digital healthcare frameworks to augment and transform overall patient care."

The ultimate aim of providing cheaper and qualitative digital healthcare services is to facilitate an informed, instantaneous and convenient choice for patients while keeping their health records secure and private.

As a cautionary note, it is important that a patient should be judicious in the usage of any digital medical information and services. They should be cognizant of the fact that these primary resources could be a little broad­based and have certain limitations in terms of their scope and application to an individual patient’s critical medical needs. In the case of prolonged and acute cases, a patient should consciously seek to further screen and validate the available online support systems with a regular in­person consultation with their doctor.

DocOnline is an online doctor consultation platform for non-Emergency healthcare. It facilitates users to consult with certified and experienced doctors from anywhere and at anytime.