*Image via HIMSS
Some of the brightest minds in healthcare gathered last week in Chicago for the 2023 HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition. The influential conference is known for driving innovation and education throughout healthcare. While many important topics were discussed, like health equity including the patient experience and cybersecurity, one theme that was top of mind was emerging technologies and how digital solutions are key to improving care delivery and health management.
Technology is helping to push the healthcare industry forward. This is notable given Q1 2023 U.S. digital health funding closed with $3.4B, exceeding Q3 and Q4 of 2022. While many experts suggest this trend does not indicate health tech investment trends are free from facing investor doubt around economic uncertainty, the pandemic certainly made a case for healthcare needing to move digital, especially as it relates to telehealth and electronic health records.
As healthcare continues to move digital, the patient experience is top-of-mind for healthcare professionals. Another hot topic from HIMSS was around virtual reality (VR) which is timely as investments in VR — specifically medicine and healthcare are expected to grow 35% by 2030. And you can’t have virtual reality without artificial intelligence (AI). Lately, there has been a lot of buzz around how new AI capabilities like ChatGPT will transform healthcare. One of those potential areas is around improving medical record keeping.
In fact, Harshit Jain, MD and Global CEO of Doceree gave an insightful presentation at HIMSS on the latest trends around the electronic medical records (EHR) ecosystem and how it empowers healthcare professionals to improve health outcomes for their patients. Additionally, moving more activity online provides the opportunity for busy healthcare professionals to save time by having critical information in one place, easily accessible.
While advancements in VR and AI provide innovation for patient outcomes, cybersecurity concerns within the health tech community still exist. To ensure that healthcare information technology systems stay in good cyber health and avoid any cyberattacks, preparing for more patient activity to take place online starts with having standards, guidelines, and practices in place. Luckily, there is a Cybersecurity Framework Implementation Guide provided by HIMSS.
Innovation comes from education and key learnings which were apparent at HIMSS 2023. As the healthcare industry continues to transform and embrace digital transformation, key trends like telehealth, improving the patient experience and leveraging AI for specific administrative tasks will be critical.
- Kyle Murray, Account Supervisor