HEALTHCARE TRENDS TO WATCH AFTER COVID 19
History has taught the human race a lot of interesting lessons. Most importantly, that it was impossible for anyone to predict what happens around us. In 2020, no one anticipated that the COVID 19 pandemic would shake the entire world and even affect economic activities. But, it did and even so much more. Of course, it came with so many surprises that devastated relationships and activities. But, in all, it prepared the healthcare sector on how to become better.
The situation redefined what humans perceived to be normal and taught us different ways to coexist in our environment. The healthcare industry was particularly affected by these situations considering it was solely responsible for caring for health needs of individuals. This was supposed to be an easy task but the healthcare industry was not fully prepared for the challenges that came with the pandemic. It became a known fact that the healthcare sector needed certain reforms so that they can perform better and discharge their duties effectively. The situation from last year has affected lots of decision making in the healthcare industry and different activities have been concentrated to make sure that people are no longer affected by certain situations that takes place in the sector.
Made in America Products and Services: If there was anything that the pandemic exposed to the America population and the rest of the worlds, it was the disadvantages of relying on foreign-produced drugs. Prior to the pandemic, it was not uncommon to discover that people depended on the use of foreign-made drugs and supplies. After the pandemic, there has been a national cry for the healthcare industry to reconsider some of its importation decisions. A lot of people are advocating for domestic products so that the issues associated with importing drugs during difficult times will be avoided.
As a result, the healthcare industry is beginning to assess risk and thinking of strategic decisions to implement. This means that the suppliers of essential products will need to work closely with the government to produce products and services that are suitable for consumption. This development needs a reliable technology for it to become successful. The technology will be created to ensure that the government track product availability, supply chain and other information surrounding its development.
After it was discovered that China produced 90% of the face mask, America’s supply was inadequate. This prompted the health systems in America to pool resources together and produced a locally made face mask and other protective equipment. This was also encouraged companies in America to produce isolation gowns rather than depend on its exportation.
Technology in public health: Prior to the pandemic, technology has always been in use in the healthcare system. However, things have taken a different turn after the deadly virus affected the healthcare industry. The healthcare industry relied heavily on the use of manual system to compute data and other relevant information. This method while it seems reliable has proven to be flawed. The use of manual means of computing data means that it would be difficult to correctly track the cases of COVID 19 and other related diseases. It would always spell difficulty in preventing or controlling future predictions.
One interesting fact about the pandemic and its advantage is that it has geared the healthcare industry to make use of technology and all the benefits that came with it. This is why it is not a surprise to see the healthcare sector make use of EHR. In the same vein, many clinical records also make use of apps that world with Electronic Health Record (EHR).
These technologies have been instrumental to the healthcare sector as many hospitals make use of them to conduct symptom surveillance at point of care using artificial intelligence. When the virus is detected, it allows for quarantining and other preventive measures to curtail the spread of the virus. The symptom surveillance can also serve as a guide to promote treatment for patients and also encourages aggregate collection of data. This implies that it is easy to monitor the spread of disease among the population using technology. Technology has also been used by the government to monitor the issues that are experienced in supply chain.
