How Mobile Tech and AI is Giving a Boost to Telemedicine
In the present times, artificial intelligence (AI) and telemedicine go hand in hand. AI in healthcare has several benefits such as cost reduction, speedy processing of patient records, and timely diagnosis of serious illnesses. AI is mainly used in three types of telemedicine – patient monitoring, tele diagnosis, and healthcare information technology.
Telemedicine is defined as the exchange of medical information remotely from one location to another using electronic communication. It has become a significant part of healthcare services, infiltrating into public hospitals, private clinics as well as people’s offices and residences. AI is expected to give a major boost to telemedicine that will bring about a seismic change in healthcare. During the lockdown, teleconsultation and telehealth visits increased by 50% and it is expected that by early 2021, there will be up to 1 billion virtual consultations.
Benefits of AI in Telemedicine
Some of the major advantages that AI can offer in the field of telemedicine are:
Virtual Assistants
There is a rapid progress of natural language processing in the market, thanks to AI, bringing in novel ways of treating patients remotely. Different AI-based virtual assistants and chatbots are available globally that provide easy medical assistance online.
Interpret Data for Improvement of Health Services
We are already using standardized electronic health record system, created with the help of AI, to maintain the huge data of patients. In addition, through computer science, AI provides deep insights which can enable new interference for further enhancing health care outcomes.
Remote Patient Management
Telemedicine technology has made it possible to monitor patients from afar. The quarantine measures, in light of the ongoing pandemic, completely transformed the usual way of visiting and consulting doctors. Thus, remote diagnosis and storage of patient data records have gained ground and become easier with more efficacious health monitoring measures.
Treatment Recommendations
AI can also prove helpful in advising the best treatment option possible to the patient. AI algorithms can analyse the medical history of the intended patient and provide probable treatment solutions in accordance with them. This reduces, by a huge margin, the time spent by doctors in checking the medical history of the patient to prescribe treatment options that are best suited to the current situation.
Early Detection of Chronic Diseases
The AI-powered diagnostic system software helps doctors and practitioners identify the early stage symptoms of different chronic diseases such as cancer. It also eases the economic burden by mitigating human errors and effectively controlling health progression overall.
Preventing Physician Burnout
A doctor’s work usually tends to get very stressful and can lead to frustration and burnouts. Telemedicine is already massively helping practitioners cope with long working hours and the consequent exhaustion. Combining AI with telemedicine multiplies its benefits. AI can reduce the digital screen time of the physician and identify signals which can insinuate symptoms of burnouts. The technology even predicts how many patients the doctor can see before tiring out.
Providing Better Healthcare to the Elderly
Currently, telemedicine involves the use of mobile devices. However, sometime in future, telehealth will also include assistive robots, who will play a crucial role in providing health care services at home, especially to the elderly citizens. These robots will be able to move semi-autonomously and fulfil the tasks designated. With AI capabilities, the robots will be able to interpret the environment and the behavioural patterns of the patient.
Summing Up
The demand for smart healthcare, including telemedicine and telehealth, is growing tremendously. As the field of telemedicine continues to evolve, with increasing adoption AI too will come to play a critical role. Medical professionals, thus, stand to gain hugely from the inclusion of AI in telemedicine.
