Healthcare and Lifesciences Predictions for 2020

While technological advancements have disrupted major industries worldwide, healthcare is the one segment that has remained the most stubborn to change. This scenario is up for the revolution now, owing to the onset of many disrupting technologies pervading the Healthcare industry.

Gone are the days when you would consult a doctor and he would prescribe medicines to you on a paper in illegible handwriting. You were forced to remember your medical history and make a decision on the same.

Telemedicine, videoconference virtually-present doctors are becoming more and more commonplace. Patients, through portals, and centralized information over the cloud will become a part of their own treatment. They would also be able to monitor their health regularly and independently through cloud-connected wearable devices.

With these growing trends in place, we predict the scenario of 2020.

• AI shall slay cancer- Diseases and conditions that have till now appeared curable might be potentially treated through Artificial Intelligence by 2020. In a similar attempt, the Translational Genomics Research Institute’s Center for Rare Childhood Disorders is using high-performance computing infrastructure to execute extremely complex algorithms that analyze terabytes of data from genes and molecular level of patients and attempting to develop personalized treatments.

• Healthcare data handling- Through traceability and continuous monitoring of a patient’s food patterns, diet charts, and lab tests, data handling, and management aspects are sure to be disrupted and build again with the use of cloud-based storage and retrieval facilities. With these and other decision support software applications, data management will take shape as the nature and volume of data changes.

• Internet as a hub- As healthcare providers catch up with the solutions available on the Internet, the Healthcare industry ecosystem will build around collective collaboration and knowledge-sharing.

• Virtual hospital environments- For the skill-building and training purposes, virtual hospital environments will become more commonplace by 2020 and will pave the way for improving clinical skills through patient and doctor avatars being built into Augmented reality and virtual reality applications.

• Remote Healthcare Delivery- Advancements in Technology will take Healthcare delivery beyond the four walls of a hospital. This change would result in low-cost settings as the cost of maintenance of a hospital adds up to the medical services delivered, rendering the cost of healthcare to boom. Through telemedicine, healthcare will be made available in the comfort of home in case of immobility of patient, scarcity of healthcare resources and large distances to hospitals.

• Wireless technology- Wireless biomedical sensors, radar technology, etc enable monitoring of patients through wireless technologies. Increased use of Smartphones will enable effective remote communication between healthcare providers and patients.

• Lab-on-a-chip Technologies- Through advanced tests and laboratory proceedings, the time between the test and the results will be shortened resulting in a faster diagnosis of disease and an early treatment.

• Personalized medicines- With powerful and economical genome sequencing technologies, medicines will shift from one-fits-all to a more customized approach providing personalized medicine and healthcare services. This would also help to differentiate between several forms of a single disease and treat them accordingly. With a comprehensive study of the DNA of a patient and customized medicines, the adverse effects can be greatly reduced.

• Medical Imaging- Molecular information would be possibly added to body imaging to enable a clearer imaging and a simpler and more effective treatment. MRIs would lead to giving a definition of a person’s physiology and thereby ensure better treatment and early detection of diseases.

• Research and development- Extensive research and developments by 2020 would lead to the invention of new drugs and innovations in healthcare operations to drive better diagnosis, communication, and data management.

52% of mobile users today gather their health-related data on their smartphones. Also, 72 percent of physicians use their smartphones to access drug information.

As we near 2020, the trends in Healthcare industry pertaining to technology will continue to grow and advance. With Mobilization of applications, Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, and Big Data, the Healthcare sector is to witness amazing innovations and development.