As the healthcare industry moves into 2023, it will continue to grow and evolve, incorporating the latest medical knowledge and technology.
Changing healthcare trends are especially important to keep up with in a post-pandemic landscape when advances in telehealth and telemedicine empower a growing population of patients and providers to meet online both safely and conveniently. Read on for the biggest healthcare trends to track in 2023.
1. The Increasing Role of Telehealth and Telemedicine
During the pandemic, people preferred the security and ease of access of remote healthcare over showing up to face-to-face appointments. Turns out, that wasn’t a temporary solution—virtual healthcare services are not only more convenient, but they save time, money, and resources.
Rural areas and inner cities, which often lack healthcare facilities, benefit substantially from the access that telemedicine provides, and workers and patients no longer have to travel long distances. For a healthcare professional, staying up-to-date with digital healthcare trends means not only providing exceptional remote care while being at the forefront of healthcare innovation but also translates to significant career advancement opportunities that bridge the gap between limited access and traditional, in-person care.
From remote physicians to virtual addiction specialists to simply overseeing a patient taking a COVID-19 test via an online platform, technology opens doors and expands access. Of course, being comfortable in a virtual healthcare environment takes additional training and preparation. Enrolling in expertly-designed courses from online learning platforms, like the Intro to Telehealth and Telemedicine course from Premiere Education, equips healthcare workers with valuable background knowledge to begin exploring the burgeoning telemedicine field.
2. Addressing Staffing Shortages
The health sector has undergone a labor crisis of enormous proportions in recent years, and the national healthcare staffing shortage is one of the biggest threats to patient well-being and can lead to service shutdowns altogether. The shortages are fueled by increased working hours, inadequate resources, skyrocketing demands on individual healthcare workers, and high rates of burnout.
That’s why finding ways to alleviate the stress and burnout that lead to resignations is a top priority for organizations, and it starts with having serious conversations about workplace culture.
As far as healthcare trends go, prioritizing wellness among healthcare employees, implementing remote care solutions, boosting awareness of mental health issues, and offering flexibility in working hours will result in the biggest payoff for both workers and patients.
3. The Growing Interest in Retail Clinics
With hospitals and health systems either struggling to meet patient demand or closing their doors altogether, the public is increasingly turning to retail clinics to address primary healthcare concerns.
Fueled initially by a growing need for local COVID-19 testing sites as well as vaccines, the number of retail clinics continues to rise post-pandemic thanks to their ability to offer walk-in services, ease of access, and low costs. No longer just a place to get a seasonal flu shot, places like CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens will continue to expand their range of patient services.
4. The Rise of Remote Patient Monitoring Tools
Drawing on the latest digital-first trends, the healthcare industry has begun to deploy remote patient monitoring (RPM) technology. Relying on technology to monitor patient health, physicians and healthcare workers can improve patient outcomes while reducing costs and hospital readmissions.
These handy devices are at the forefront of digital healthcare trends due to their ability to collect and read physiological information, and can include:
- Digital blood pressure monitors that enable physicians to check on their patients’ blood pressure and oxygen levels
- Continuous glucose monitors that prompt people with diabetes to take insulin
- Apnea monitors, which mean that patients no longer have to spend uncomfortable nights in clinics for proper testing
5. Improved Cybersecurity
Of course, as remote care and use of medical devices among patients become more popular, so will the need for increased and improved cybersecurity. Unfortunately, U.S. hospitals are frequent targets for hackers, costing more than $10 million per incident.
Protecting IT infrastructure and patient data is a vital concern for healthcare organizations and one of the most critical healthcare trends. That’s why policy leaders in the healthcare space are calling for the national implementation of a “Meaningful Protection” standard for healthcare cybersecurity. The incentive-based approach asks the U.S. government to push for adopting certified technologies, practices, and processes that can measurably improve the safety of patient data.
Another approach involves yet more technology: since ensuring patient data security requires round-the-clock monitoring of connected devices, the process is poised to move from being manually intensive to fully automated. Instead of asking healthcare staff to shut down computers and medical devices in the event of a cyberattack, for example, automation can be used for discovering and classifying devices while tracking communication on the sites to which these devices connect.
Keeping Up With Healthcare Trends
Tech and science change rapidly, and the healthcare industry keeps up. As a healthcare professional, it’s important to be aware of the latest innovations to ensure you’re delivering quality care while remaining fully compliant with all healthcare policies and regulations.
The healthcare specialists at Premiere Education work hard to deliver actionable, practical online courses and resources from licensed professionals so that you can keep learning and stay compliant.
