The medical industry has experienced rapid technological progress in the last two decades, with increasing demands for better clinical care when it comes to treating Rx drug patients.
According to an infographic titled “PoppingPills: The Prescription Drug Abuse Epidemic in America”, the US population consumes 75 percent of the world’s prescription drugs, and 52 percent people above the age of 12 have used prescription drugs non-medically during their lifetime. This has resulted in an increase in clinical intakes and pursuit of advanced treatment options.
More specifically, medical facilities, hospitals and healthcare firms are investing in the following technologies to improve patient care:
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Software suite
Practice Suite and other software advancements are making it easy for healthcare providers to lay out their entire clinical workbench on multiple screens that can be accessed from any in-house or remote location on a Notebook, iPad, Tablet, or Desktop. Treatment providers can also review the withdrawal progress, reactions to treatment medications, and fax directly from the patient records without bouncing from one screen to another.
Other software available is for managing claims, where you can speed up the collections process by automating insurance collections ticklers, customizing work queues, and leveraging tracking tools. Features such as advanced patient management can help eliminate coding errors, missing information, and anything that prevents optimization of clinical care.
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Behavior analytics and web modules
Companies working on healthcare technology have developed dozens of modules that can be leveraged by healthcare providers to assist patients in developing healthier behaviors and avoiding situations that puts them at risk for abusing Rx drugs. Years of research was put into what works in behavioral health, which is how evidence-based treatments through web modules were made possible.
Also, predictive prescription drug addiction treatment depends on analytics. Analytics can be used to identify the types of therapies that are most likely to work on specific patients. They can be used by medical professionals to pinpoint treatments that sustain withdrawal as well as pinpoint individuals who would step benefiting from a particular regime at a given period. Resulting insights can be used to change treatment outcomes and develop new directions for healthcare development and research.
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Robotic assistance and sensor technology
With a growing number of senior drug abusers, healthcare clinics have started to embrace the idea of robot assistants to take good care of patients of all ages. It could be a fair implementation to help patients follow the prescribed treatment and make them move to follow basic procedures. New range of robots also feature image-analysis and patient record technology, as well as the ability to obtain genetic data by drawing blood from a vein in the patient’s arm. These sophisticated technologies are promoting a viable environment in healthcare clinics where patients feel emotionally confident and smart caregiving promotes greater independence.
Then there are also sensor-based devices that healthcare professionals are bringing in clinics to measure blood biomarkers and neurological systems of drug abusers. These are being recorded 24 hours a day and the data is being transmitted to behavior analytics through the cloud to develop a related treatment pattern. Sensors can go as far as recognizing adequate medicine intake, following jaw movements, and recording when you don’t follow the treatment as the doctor stated.
What are your thoughts? Can you think of technologies that are making a difference in clinical care for drug addicted patients? Feel free to leave comments.
