The current year of the healthcare industry has introduced and is continuing to introduce a number of highly ambitious and reformative solutions that could change healthcare as we know it. The following are five of the major healthcare advances that should definitely be paid attention to.
Better Patient Referral Technology
One of the oldest and biggest challenges in healthcare has consistently been the lack of more efficient ways for patients to easily schedule appointments through referrals because of the lacking, largely paper-based communication between different providers’ health systems. A new line of SmartMATCH Technology-based platforms developed by referralMD have shown the ability to provide a much easier time for patients to get immediately referred to the best healthcare providers that they need without any delays.
Breakneck Speed Diagnosis
With the introduction of Qualcomm Tricorders, the speed with which healthcare providers can diagnose significant conditions can potentially be accelerated to the point of accomplishing disease identification within seconds. Whereas the traditional diagnosis process usually takes hours or days, Qualcomm Tricorders have the promise to open up a brand-new dimension of diagnostic speed that could save many lives.
Pacemaker Technology
One of the greatest the risk factors associated with pacemakers has historically been the possibility of an infection due to their lead content. Thanks to the contribution of companies such as St. Jude that have invested in safer pacemaker design, some of the newest pacemaker models are entirely lead-free. These leadless designs give those who rely on them a much better chance at being able to enjoy the benefits without putting their hearts in danger in the process.
Expedited Clinical Trial Processes
Traditionally, the process of clinically testing newly developed drugs has always been a very long and expensive process that necessitates the sacrifice of many animals. Though a single compound test costing billions of dollars has long been considered the norm, new Silico clinical trial developments have centered around the push to develop technologies that can greatly reduce the cost, time and animal deaths associated with the conventional clinical trial practices. Wyss Institute has developed a series of microchips that can be used as stand-ins for the standard animal organ test samples usually used for clinical trials, resulting in a much more ethical, economic and fast-moving procedure.
Heart Disease Survival Improvement
A synthetic drug by the name of Serelaxin (based on the hormone called relaxin) has been suggested by researchers at the University of California to have the potential to increase heart disease survival by as much as 37 percent. Though the drug has not successfully gained FDA approval, it remains in development and has gained a solid base of support for its purported potential. If successfully developed and released, the American healthcare industry could finally achieve a decisive victory in the fight against the leading cause of death in the nation.
Conclusion
These new solutions and many others have been made to address some of the most prevalent pains of the healthcare industry that many patients have resigned to being necessary evils. Though some are still in the process of development, the potential they hold to revolutionize healthcare is too significant to be ignored.