Wearable technology is slowly rising in prominence in the professional world. The convenient and adaptive hardware has many uses, changing how workers communicate with each other and complete various tasks. So too is the healthcare industry seeing a trend with wearables playing a larger role in healthcare services.
The types of wearables vary, but many allow for similar progression in services. Communication, for example, is a big part of medical success. Hospitals face hourly medical challenges that range from mild to emergency care. Having a convenient, all access device that doctors, nurses and technicians can wear means these problems are addressed as soon as they occur.
This also enables healthcare professionals to examine patients in entirely new ways. For instance, doctors often have to look up patient information from a desk or computer. A wearable however, means information can be looked up immediately while the patient is being helped. A surgeon could use Google Glass to view x-rays of a patient without the need to go to a separate room. A doctor could have all of a patient’s prescription info with the convenience of a smart watch.
Data entry and patient status are also potentially affected by wearables. Typically, nurses must input various information about an individual before they can receive proper treatment. This too is done at a desk or computer which can sometimes be clumsy or inefficient. A wearable, however, means that the condition of a patient, from meds taken to what procedures they might need, can be updated on the go. This helps increase the speed at which patients receive treatment, answers and care regarding their medical condition.
Patients also benefit from wearables. With most current healthcare models, individuals at a hospital have their vitals checked every few hours. Depending on the patient, this can become a tiresome process. However, certain wearables create this information for healthcare professionals. Heart rate, temperature and blood pressure can be measured with wearables and directly uploaded to a different console for the patient. This is in contrast to a nurse visiting a person and checking these vitals directly with various devices.
These expedited methods are just a few ways wearables are slowly changing healthcare. They’re offering new methods for medical professionals to acquire information about a patient’s condition while simultaneously providing critical information when conducting procedures. It adds more understanding for the patient and allows healthcare professionals to complete tasks at a faster, smoother rate.
Cost goes down and efficiency goes up with the potential of wearables. While they have yet to see mass adoption by hospitals and offices in the United States, their evolution will have many impacts on the medical industry as a whole.
