The significance of health in human life and existence on earth is undisputed. The human race has made technological advancements among the central elements of the healthcare system to enhance their well-being. Revolutionary systems and applications have been developed to replace traditional treatment methods and foster advanced future care plans. Although these advancements continue to play a significant role in enhancing remote monitoring of patients, increasing virtual treatment, quicker data analysis and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare. They are still faced with various obstacles such as high costs and giving the wrong result of the patient condition, which pose significant challenge to the health sector.
Remote monitoring and automated healthcare systems are among the growing healthcare system trends. Its tools such as fitness trackers and smartwatches have become standard for monitoring issues like heart rate and blood oxygen. These devices are vital in helping patients constantly monitor their conditions and guiding them in making proactive care choices based on the data trends and analysis (Darwish et al., 2019). For instance, the connected inhalers allow patients to track usage and remind them when to take dosage to maintain a healthy schedule. Similarly, wearable biosensors have also been significant in monitoring and administering proactive patient care. During the coronavirus period, the biosensors were vital in tracking the spread of the infection by monitoring patients to detect the signs and symptoms of the disease.
Consequently, the integration of artificial intelligence in healthcare has been vital in enhancing quicker data analysis and improved patient treatment procedures. For instance, using robots to diagnose and recognize diseases within the test results dramatically increases the number of patients being assessed and diagnosed, thereby reducing the waiting time and congestion in the hospitals.
Additionally, the technology has also been vital in fostering integrated emergency response solutions to the treatment of patients. For instance, during the coronavirus period, doctors and physicians used innovative technology and telehealth systems to share data between the physicians and the accident and emergency departments in a reasonable time. Allowing for real-time response, something that can make a difference between life and death.
On the contrary, these technological advances face various obstacles and challenges in their implementation and practice in the healthcare sector. The major challenge associated with it is the increased cost of treatment which limits its applicability to all patients across the globe (Darwish et al., 2019). For instance, many treatments and surgeries executed through technology are costly compared to traditional treatment methods. The robotic surgeries and other machine treatments have higher costs. This restrains many low-income patients in the rural and urban areas from getting these treatments.
Consequently, artificial intelligent technology has been associated with wrong patient diagnoses. For instance, research reveals that these machines are made by engineers and programmers who code commands and instructions (Darwish et al., 2019). In the process, they can commit errors and bugs, thereby rendering the devices inaccurate. Furthermore, the machines are prone to viruses and therefore can give wrong results over time (Darwish et al., 2019). Therefore, when the doctors use these results to administer treatment and diagnose patients, they pose risks and dangers to the patients’ life.
In conclusion, technological advancements have been indispensable in ensuring remote treatment and monitoring of patients, improved efficiency and quicker response coupled with faster data analysis of patients during health problems. However, the higher costs and inaccurate data that accompany these technologies pose a significant challenge to the health system across the globe. Therefore, governments and healthcare stakeholders should employ a well-managed and integrated approach to reduce these challenges by ensuring hospitals’ affordability and accuracy of data analysis.
Reference
Darwish, A., Hassanien, A. E., Elhoseny, M., Sangaiah, A. K., & Muhammad, K. (2019). The impact of the hybrid platform of internet of things and cloud computing on healthcare systems: opportunities, challenges, and open problems. Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing, 10(10), 4151-4166.