Impact of technology on healthcare

With the improvement in the digital world, new technology has significantly influenced the healthcare field in the areas of communication, research, treatment and also in data gathering. Over a period, the technological development has teleported us into another transformed dimension, as compared to the past. Technology has made much advancement, especially in the past ten years and can have a large impact on users’ mental and physical health.

Talking specifically about the impact of technology on the healthcare industry, we can see a lot of positive impacts been made since the time it all started. Everything has changed for good. Life is easier because of the new methods of doing things that have been introduced by technology. In healthcare, research work has been simplified. Due to the availability of internet facilities at all times, research work can be done with utmost ease. Various machines that have been evolving for diagnosis, cure, and surgical processes have been adding to some of the great advantages the technology field has been providing us. In the new age, medical services are not just restricted to the physical hospitals. Many doctors and practitioners have been seen taking their medical services online too. We can contact the doctors for appointment online through their marketing applications that are available for download on all Smartphone’s. Not only can we talk to the doctor for appointments, but can also join a community where medical problems and various symptoms are discussed. This naturally increases our knowledge and awareness. Many other advanced machines have been introduced which are presently used in the hospitals. Medical machinery ranges all from x-ray machines, gamma ray machines, diagnostic machines, nebuliser etc. A number of advanced machines have been making the medical processes easier and faster so that more number of patients can be cured in lesser time. Digital images produced by the x-ray machines and gamma ray machines needs processing to be able to read and note the details accurately. The technical advancements here again come to the rescue. Various software’s for image processing such as MATLAB has been introduced to deal with the imaging field directly. Using them, a doctor can better analyse a medical image and offer better ways to cure the problem. The all new and the most popular advancement in technology is the cloud computing platforms that are trending and succeeding like a boss. Cloud computing is a computing technology that lets clients deploy and use services from a common server known as cloud. With the help of this, the ECG analysis can be done even from home. Reading and instructions are now uploaded onto the cloud from where the patient can measure their heartbeat in the case of emergency and immediately report to the doctor. This can save the patient in case of emergency without rushing to the hospital.

As much as the technical excellence has been adding to the convenience of the health care industry, it also has a dark side. As we can see, there are various websites that offer healthy living lifestyles and answer to all the questions by the patients. However, we need to take care, not to replace our physician with these sites since they can sometimes be wrong. Self-diagnosis with the help of cloud services could be a good thing, but only in the case of emergency. If we make it a normal thing, we might end up getting fake results and affect your health in a drastic way. Hunching in laptop, Smartphone’s and tablets all the time can affect out health too. Being overly connected can cause psychological issues such as distraction, narcissism, expectation of instant gratification, and even depression. Besides affecting users’ mental health, use of technology can also have negative repercussions on physical health causing vision problems, hearing loss, and neck strain. All we need to do is not to let excess of anything technical take over when it comes to our health. We should use the technology for betterment, but should also be careful and stay safe.