Healthcare organizations throughout the globe are working towards enhancing their patient care services by bringing internet technology into their work process. From being the end-users to moving on to be the major decision makers in the healthcare sector – the patient community is seen as a group which should be provided more access to information to improve the overall delivery of healthcare services. Perhaps this is the main reason why the patient monitoring equipment market is growing at a rapid pace, encouraging players to experiment and innovate in this segment.
Some of the key challenges faced by vendors in the healthcare sector as identified by our industry experts are
- Financial and budget constraints of hospitals
- Regulatory issues in the commercialization of new products
- Competitive pricing between global and regional vendors
Apple’s iPhone plans for health care
Leveraging its strong position in the healthcare sector, tech giant Apple is planning to take its iPad gadget to every patient in an average hospital. Last year the company acquired Gliimpse – an electronic health records (EHR) development company as part of its strategy to make its products the center of EHR data. Until now doctors regularly used mobile phones and iPads while treating their patients, but patients having direct access to their medical information through iPads is a major innovation in the healthcare industry.
Apple has already begun this initiative in hospitals like Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, Chicago based MetroSouth Medical Center, and Jacobs Medical Center at UC San Diego. And even though there were a good number of patients who were initially reluctant to use iPads, they found the whole experience to be quite comforting later on as they were in direct touch with all the vital information on their health.
In cases, wherein premature babies are isolated from their parents at the initial stage, iPads are being used to initiate BabyTime (FaceTime with babies) by the parents. Apart from helping the patients, iPads are also playing a critical role in bringing down the volume of work for the hospital staff; thereby making the entire process more synchronized and seamless.
Better delivery of patient care services has gained a lot more focus in the past one decade. Technology is one of the aptest solutions which can bring the patients, doctors, hospitals, and other major stakeholders in the healthcare industry on a common platform. For all the latest market research reports on the healthcare and life sciences industry, request a free demo.
