Healthcare Wearable Data Can Help Reduce Medical Costs
Digital technology has reached the four corners of the world, and spread its wings to cover the needs of various industries, the health care sector included. Among the latest inclusion in the list of devices that medical professionals can count on are healthcare wearables. These devices can record medical data and can assist health care providers when tracking information about their patient, among all others. What is with healthcare wearable data? How can it help reduce medical costs? These questions will be answered below.
Healthcare Wearables and Regulatory Safeguards
These technological advancements have been known for providing assistance when tracking daily steps, or miles run by a person. Despite doing those things, most, if not all wearables do not do other things like provide specific medical information, as this can require FDA approval before these devices can be sold in the market. Android and Apple watches, for instance, basically monitors the heart rate, on top of monitoring daily steps or runs. These features must be carefully configured to these devices to avoid medical issues later.
Recording Medical Data – The Past, Present and Future
The actual scenario in a medical setting includes the use of a medical device specifically made for a certain purpose, before medical data can be recorded. These devices are complex plus they are quite expensive too. What’s more is that they can be very large in size that they are often stationed in one department inside the hospital or clinic.
With the spread of fitness trackers, smart watches, and smartphones, even family caregivers find an easier time assisting their loved ones with their respective health care needs. These devices can be kept close to the person’s body most of the time. Built with sensors, it is now easier to collect medical data whenever needed. Consider the competition among tech companies, and you will see that there will be more functionalities added to these small health care devices.
Health Care Employment and Wearable Devices
Health care spending in the US has been recorded at 17.9 percent of the country’s GDP for 2016. This has saw an increase in health care employment. After all, patients still need their doctors, health aides, and nurses to administer care to them. During a health emergency, expect that doctors can take too much time filling out forms, rather than interviewing the patient.
With wearable devices now making its way to health care, small changes can be easily tracked. Among these changes are abnormal respiration, heartbeat, and some other small symptoms of a worsening health condition. This can help improve one’s health, thus reducing medical costs in the long run.
Health Care Becomes More Personalized
While wearable devices are popular for activity tracking, they will become a trend sooner or later, most especially when recording medical data. It is true that as of the moment, patients still prefer receiving treatments from health care providers, but once they see the good in using wearable devices, they will be able to enjoy more benefits. Collecting data from patients is slowly becoming automated and are more personalized these days. Medical professionals spend more time treating patients rather than asking them about their medical history every time they pay a doctor’s visit.
