Since the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, the use of telemedicine has quickly become a go-to solution during a crisis. The pandemic has facilitated the digital transformation the healthcare industry was expecting.
Today, this sector has attracted many telemedicine software development companies who constantly develop innovative custom healthcare solutions. They aim to change how patients and doctors see telehealth and emphasize the benefit of in-person care.
Therefore, telemedicine is a handy tool for various healthcare market trends of organizations and institutions. And with the rapidly growing telemedicine app development services, the telemedicine future is brighter!
Here, we’ll discuss the top 5 software development trends in telehealth that will continue growing for years to come.
What is Telemedicine?
Telemedicine uses technology (messaging apps, video, phone, computers) to provide healthcare services remotely. It includes remote patient monitoring, digital consultation, diagnosis, and follow-up visits.
Key Telemedicine Market Statistics 2019-2021
According to a report by Globe Newswire, the telemedicine market was $ 61.40 billion in 2019. As of 2020, the value rose to $144.38 billion. That was a remarkable growth of 135.2% compared to the yearly average growth during the 2017 to 2019 period.
In 2019, the telemedicine market stood at $90.74 billion. These telemedicine statistics estimate that the market will grow to $636.38 billion by 2028. That represents a CAGR of 32.1%.
The rapid rise in CAGR is due to the market’s increasing demand and growth.
Telemedicine Software Development Trends
1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technology and Chatbots
Artificial intelligence has made incredible waves across several industries. As of 2022, it is an essential technology, especially for medical services.
With AI technology and chatbots, numerous mobile telehealth apps reduce waiting time for patients. They help verify a patient’s medical history, explain their symptoms, and express their current concerns before visiting their doctors.
In addition, patients can upload photos and better understand the severity of their symptoms. The best part is that AI technology enables patients to go through the same QA (question and answer) process as a traditional healthcare assistant.
Chatbots also help merge patient responses to determine the cause of their symptoms. As a result, it becomes easier to prioritize high-risk patients in the queue. Healthcare providers can also provide valuable resources such as self-care articles. Besides, they can propose a diagnosis or create treatment plans.
The thoughtful AI integration in telemedicine applications for healthcare enhances patient health accountability. However, AI and chatbots can’t fully substitute in-person healthcare, but they are widely used in many mobile telemedicine apps.
That’s because healthcare providers are continuously looking for better ways of enhancing patient experience, smoothening intakes, and improving the overall service effectiveness.
2. IoT and Wearables
Internet of Things (IoT) and wearable devices are some of today’s most promising telehealth industry trends. Multiple wearable and tracking devices are currently emerging in various industries, including healthcare.
For example, modern feature additions can alert patients of a potential heart attack. They can also measure their sleep quantity and quality, and more.
It is not a secret that there’s an exponential growth in the number of devices connected to the internet. That’s because many private healthcare providers and hospitals continue to increase the variety of telemedicine services they offer.
This provides many opportunities for telemedicine providers as they can easily track symptoms, collect data, and determine the results for many patients.
In the first quarter of 2021, 11.3 billion IoT devices were connected to the internet. The global market of IoT devices is estimated to shoot from $26.5 billion in 2021 to $94.2 billion by 2026.
As the healthcare industry continues to become connected to the internet through these technologies, there’s no way we can ignore IoT.
3. EHR-Embedded Solutions
An Electronic Health Record (EHR) is an embedded telehealth solution, a telehealth tool, or a technology that uses an EHR to store, transmit, and display health information.
EHR-embedded solutions help streamline workflow for healthcare providers, preventing duplication of entries. They also help avoid juggling between various applications, resulting in reduced errors, saving time, and minimizing the risk of clinician burnout.
Using an embedded EHR telehealth solution offers the functionality needed. Medical officers can schedule telehealth appointments and visits and let the patient visit them easily.
Any changes made when using EHR-embedded solutions can help update the health records instantly. As a result, healthcare providers can see their patients’ latest health information. Besides, they can create clinical documentation while attending to their patients virtually.
4. Remote Monitoring
Remote healthcare monitoring is crucial as it enables doctors and patients in particular populations to stay connected. Some innovative solutions can help monitor patients remotely.
Patients in such remote areas are greatly affected and often need medical care. But the problem is that there are no healthcare providers to attend to them. Thankfully, remote monitoring helps people connect with doctors via video calls.
With a telemedicine mobile app, clinicians can effectively reduce healthcare costs and increase access to care in remote areas. This service also allows medical professionals to reach out to other doctors and specialists located at a distance from them.
What’s more, patients can now access their medical records anytime and anywhere. It also reduces the cost of traveling to the hospital or clinic for treatment and buying medications.
5. Patient Engagement
No matter how elaborate products and services the healthcare industry may offer, they’ll never be successful without excellent levels of patient engagement. When patients get engaged, they’re more likely to do what’s needed for a successful recovery.
In addition, they’re also more likely to return for future treatment or follow-up care. The patients won’t feel they are just passive recipients of healthcare services.
Instead, they become cooperative persons who are part of the decision-making process.
In short, there exist an essential link between the patients, doctors, and their treatment plan.
But with the rise of new technologies, there are plenty of capabilities to boost patients’ engagement, improving their health. The best way to make that possible is to educate patients and make them the leading actors in their individual medical history by providing their medical information.
The healthcare software development future is all about creating reliable solutions that are intuitive and patient-centric to use. Mobile medical apps, IoT, and wearable devices can help deliver essential information easy to understand.
The future of healthcare is technology-driven. We’ve seen the rise of telemedicine and other technology solutions to modern challenges facing the healthcare industry, and it’s only going to continue to grow in years to come.
With the emergence of software in telemedicine, there are a lot of trends that are being developed. We’ve provided you with some information about these trends to help you get ahead of your competitors in this article.
Lucy Adam