The healthcare industry touches almost every facet of our lives; financially, mentally, physically, and emotionally. Being so sensitive, it is one whose challenges require immediate attention to ensure optimal patient care is maintained. As it is, technology is at the forefront when it comes to quelling challenges healthcare providers face in the new digital landscape.
But before even attempting to resolve anything, what are these issues?
Below are the top challenges healthcare providers face in today's digital economy.
1. Leveraging advanced healthcare tech
Technology is everywhere and has touched our lives in almost every possible way, just like healthcare. Where technology and healthcare meet is where optimal life quality resides. However, the rapid dynamics of advanced hardware and software is something healthcare providers are having trouble keeping up with.
About 48% of medical devices are connected via IoT, which will likely increase to 68% in the coming years. Also, many medical systems such as Patient Administration and Laboratory Information Management Systems now leverage AI.
Healthcare industry leaders must work together with tech manufacturers to enable the latter to design technology that aligns with the sensitive nature of patient care. On the other hand, small clinics and startups may find it challenging to acquire and leverage such sophisticated and expensive tech to their maximum capacity. Government Funding can be a solution to this challenge.
2. Cybersecurity issues
Where there's prey, there's a predator. The fact that healthcare service providers use technology and the internet opens up an avenue for cybercriminals to launch attacks. Medical records and patient information can get exposed. While this may sound unlikely (of course, of what value are medical records to anyone?), there has been an increase in medical data breaches in recent years, making cyber security a true healthcare challenge. However, with the advancement in medical technology, there are methods such as using medical device 510(k) cybersecurity to support you in cracking down on potential patient data being accessed. This will be able to help medical professionals with applying for a cybersecurity deficiency for a resubmission. It is important you aim for the highest level of security for your medical devices to ensure the upmost care for your patients.
These breaches have led to the theft/exposure of almost 200 million healthcare records. How is this a healthcare challenge? Look at it this way: suppose a celebrity wants to keep their mental disorder a secret. If they realize that information could be exposed by hackers when they go to a healthcare facility, they may become averse to seeking help.
However, service providers are taking steps to maximize cybersecurity by:
Limiting access to connected medical equipment
Structuring proprietary networks and differentiating access permission levels
Following app development security protocols.
3. Healthcare cost and price transparency
There are many factors and players influencing the cost of healthcare. The service offered has its price, but there are now sophisticated medical devices and technology involved, leading to a rise in healthcare costs. In essence, medical device manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, and healthcare service providers, among others, play a role in determining the cost of healthcare.
With so many players, there needs to be a central body or consensus regulating these prices. But that's not the only healthcare challenge cost poses.
The rising cost of healthcare impacts physicians' revenue; it also discourages patients from seeking treatment, especially for manageable conditions.
In the midst of it all, potential patients have no idea how much their entire treatment and medication will cost as they don't know what diagnoses, technology, and processes the provider will use. But thankfully, the same technology has availed price transparency in healthcare to enable consumers to feel more financially prepared. They can now have an idea of how much the entire treatment will cost even before care is delivered.
This transparency benefits not only consumers but also healthcare providers as they can now have clarity when seeking reimbursement from healthcare insurance providers. This can also potentially ease payment processing and invoicing to an extent.
In addition, healthcare service providers can make life easier for consumers by:
Reducing the number of medical tests in order to lower the total cost (some tests are downright unnecessary).
Encourage patients to choose plans according to their financial capacity
Beat down the cost of prescription drugs.
4. Misuse of prescription drugs
Prescription drugs like opioids are fine. Some of them help with chronic pain. However, many patients end up misusing these drugs, causing more problems for themselves and healthcare providers.
Take, for instance, marijuana. Medical marijuana is now legal in most US states. But whether medical or recreational, it is the same marijuana, and an overdose of it -- which is difficult to control if the drug itself is legal -- can be catastrophic. In 2017, drug overdose was the leading cause of death among Americans under 50, according to the New York Times.
In essence, society would need stricter measures and a regulatory body to check the use of opioids, marijuana, and other prescription drugs.
Final thoughts
While healthcare service providers can help themselves in some of these challenges -- like adopting the right technology, some issues are totally out of their hands. But whatever the case, identifying problems is one step to resolving them.