Calie Pistorius/DeltaHedron/October 2018 – A broad spectrum of emerging technologies continue to impact on healthcare and the healthcare industry, including 3D printing of organs and devices, artificial intelligence and machine learning, analytics and big data, virtual and augmented reality, blockchain, robotics, the internet of things and drones as well as advances in biotechnology and materials – typically interacting with one another and more mature technologies. Mobile technologies, wearables and the cloud are enabling and creating exciting and viable opportunities in remote and telehealth, homecare, clinical trials as well as medical devices, procedures and diagnostics. Innovations driven by these dynamics of technological change have a strategic impact on the health and care of patients as well as the healthcare industry, profession and national health systems.
All aspects of healthcare are affected, including primary, secondary and tertiary care; the span of clinical disciplines, nursing, therapy, treatment regimes, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and funding as well as research to combat diseases. In order to ensure that the benefits are captured now and in the future, it is essential that current and future healthcare practioners and the institutions that educate and train them embrace and adopt the emerging technologies. It is important to understand not only how emerging technologies can improve and enhance current ways of working, but also the new opportunities, new solutions and new capabilities that are being opened – that is the essence of “disruptive innovation”.
A recent DeltaHedron report contains references to news articles published in the open media circa September/October 2018. The artciles provides an overview of trends and selected examples of the broad impact of a number of emerging technologies on various disciplines and applications in healthcare.