Is the US hospital management sector waiting for the next big thing in hospital management? What is it going to be and what shape is it going to take? Any change in the hospital management sector needs to be watched for, because it is part of the $ three-trillion healthcare sector in the US, the world’s largest.
Which are the major changes that one can expect in this Pan-American sector of hospital management? Like many other sectors related to healthcare, will hospital management be technology-led too? The prognosis presents a mixed bag because when we look at some of the trends while looking for the next big thing in hospital management, we could be looking at changes that could be both technology dependent and non-technological ones.
Self-care is set to be the next trend in hospital management
This sounds rather paradoxical, when one considers how technologies have been making serious inroads into hospital management and are facilitating a vast number of functions relating to areas such as helping to monitor core hospital management areas such as patient visits, for instance.
Yet, hospital management is moving towards more focus on patient self-care. The main reason attributed to this is the fact that hospitals are seeing self-care as a means to control patient inflows and help them avoid unnecessary visits to hospitals. This is all the handier when it comes to old aged patients, for many of whom making visits to hospitals could be a challenge.
Take the case of patients with diabetes. Many patients can avoid multiple visits to hospitals with the aid of apps and other tools which help them monitor the condition on a daily basis and interact with the healthcare giver only in the case of serious variations or adverse symptoms in their condition. Not visiting hospitals does not mean lesser care. On the contrary, it is quite likely that they could receive better attention because of the presence of automated tools such as emails and text messages and interaction through the social media that send out quicker signals to care providers. As technologies and tools become more patient-centric, there is a good chance that the hospital sector will undergo a few major changes with lessened footfalls from patients.
Telemedicine could alter hospital management
One cannot discount the possibility of telemedicine taking over the role of being the next big thing in hospital management. Telemedicine has been around for quite a while now. So, what is new, you may ask. Well, telemedicine has been around for some time now, but what makes it the potential next big thing in hospital management is that its ability to lead to virtual care is now being explored more vigorously. If telemedicine serves as the foundation for the growth of virtual care, it will have more than served its purpose of hastening medical care where it matters the most and is needed the most.
The technologies that go into making virtual care a reality, are being considered favorably for eliminating many of the drawbacks of telemedicine, such as heavy dependence on staff for call centers and wired systems. Telemedicine is being seen as the technology that could alter itself for the better and alter the face of hospital management in the US.
Technologies will transform hospital management
This is a fact all too well known for anyone to be surprised by. Technologies are pervading every area of our lives and are transforming them beyond our comprehension. How does one expect hospital management to be different? Areas such as operations, microsurgery, hospital financial management, laboratory management and a bunch of areas that work in close sync with hospital management could undergo drastic changes with technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. These technologies are likely to bring in paradigm changes by altering the very foundation on which hospital management is built. They could be bringing about real changes in nearly every area of hospital management in the next few years.
Hospital data needs to be secured
No technology, practice or process being touted as the next big thing in hospital management will be of any use unless hospital management learns how to deal with malware attacks. Hackers are very enticed by patient medical data, which now commands a higher rate in the black market than even credit cards and social security data. The next big thing in hospital management should look at how to nip this evil in the bud.
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