Will Artificial Intelligence partner or replace Human Intelligence?

While using technology to improve individuals’ health was never new for the Healthcare sector, the unprecedented outbreak of COVID-19 has accelerated technology adoption. The digitalization of Healthcare enables medical professionals and patients to work together toward managing health conditions using revolutionary digital tools .Digital Health is here to stay in the new normal.

Digital Health: Heading towards the revolutionary future of Healthcare

“I think the biggest innovations of the 21st Century will be at the intersection of biology and technology.” – Steve Jobs.

Digitalization has almost transformed Healthcare ,doctor consultation, diagnosis, treatment , drug discovery / research, it has permeated everywhere and this generates huge amounts of data. To rapidly increase data assimilation ,innovative technology implementations are required which will help analyze and understand the data to provide valuable insights.These digital tools provide a more holistic view of patient health through data driven insights and give patients better control over their health.

Major technology trends that are disrupting Healthcare

Technology in healthcare has been there since the day the first x-ray was done. What is new , is the purpose for which it is being used now. Major disruptive technologies such as AI/ML/Data Science, Robotics and IoT are moving Digital Health to a whole new level.

AI/ML and Data Science

Starting from the doctor consultation to the drug discovery process, the technology disruption is revolutionizing the future of Healthcare. Medical professionals and caregivers are being encouraged to utilize datasets to extract clinically relevant information for patient diagnosis, drug development, precision treatment and more. Diagnosis of life threatening disease like cancer is now being done by AI-powered software applications and through Machine Learning. Researchers are using Machine Learning to train systems to recognize cancerous tissue at a level comparable to expert physicians.

The use of AI will decrease medical costs and will make treatment and prevention accurate and fast. Already, there is evidence that the use of chatbots has huge positive outcomes in the field of mental health.

Robotics

Medical and dental surgeries and procedures have transformed with the intervention of robotics.Recently a successful dental implant procedure was done with the help of the first robotic dentist and without any human involvement. Robotic arms can be programmed to perform procedures like insertion of dental implants, using haptic feedback to detect particularities of the patient.

The grape surgery video that went viral, 10 years ago, demonstrated that robots in Healthcare can be a real gamechanger. While robotic surgeries are continuously being worked upon in the medical arena, the 21st-century robo-doctors are expected to outperform the best doctors by combining the available data and knowledge with the power of AI in the near future.

Internet of Things (IoT)

The Internet of Things (IoT) in Healthcare has made the remote monitoring of patients possible along with keeping them safe and healthy. It helps the Healthcare professionals deliver their care through IoT enabled devices. It not only reduces the hospital stay duration for patients, it also reduces the costs significantly. The widely in-demand wearable devices are IoT enabled and they help Doctors and caregivers of patients monitor different aspects of their health. IoT enabled devices tagged with sensors are also used to locate medical equipment. In this pandemic, to arrest the spread of the virus IoT enabled hygiene monitoring devices will help in maintaining hygiene.

Also read: Healthcare is changing beyond recognition! Are you ready to embrace the change? https://nationalskillsnetwork.in/healthcare-is-changing-beyond-recognition-are-you-ready-to-embrace-the-change/

Building a career in Digital Health

The skill requirements for professionals are going to be very different in the future which is why the capacity building and training is very critical. New emerging job roles are going to provide numerous career opportunities. Healthcare industry is looking for professionals with Data Science and Deep Learning capabilities. With Data science and AI capabilities one could look into new career opportunities in the domain of Digi health such as,

Healthcare Data Analyst
Advanced Analytics and Insights Strategist
Research Scientist, Health AI
Health Program Analyst
Associate Scientist, Drug Product Development
Senior Medical Imaging Software Engineer

With the new normal, the Healthcare industry has huge demand for a skilled workforce. Those who aspire to build a career in this domain should build their expertise in the new age technologies through upskilling and reskilling. Many courses are offered by different institutes which are inclined towards the current requirements of the industry.