Digital healthcare and medicine trends

To be a good specialist, you should keep pace with the times and always monitor what new things are happening in your field.

We have already drawn your attention to the current web design trends. Digital transformation has an impact on spheres of human life, including the healthcare system. So let's look closely at what digital healthcare trends can be observed in modern medicine.

Digital Healthcare Technology Trends

• Orientation on mobile devices

The popularity of mobile devices has been a trend for a long time and will remain one for the near future. Therefore, making sites mobile-friendly is a self-evident necessity. However, unfortunately, not all websites have managed to be optimized yet.

When people have an injury or experience the unexpected symptoms of an unknown disease, it is more likely that they will have a smartphone at hand than a desktop computer, especially outside. They are able to find the location of medical facilities on the electronic map and follow the most convenient route. Users evaluate other patients’ testimonials about medical organizations and doctors to choose a service they won’t regret. Patients search online for contact information and schedules to make an appointment.

Also, before buying goods or services, modern consumers are used to doing online research, and this trend has not bypassed the medical field. Even after getting a doctor's prescription, users read on the Internet about the pros and cons of various medications and their existing counterparts to decide which brand to trust. People also compare prices for the same drugs in different pharmacy chains (and also in online drug stores) to make the best purchase.

Therefore, to make your medical site display conveniently on small screens, apply a responsive design. To make web pages load faster, implement the AMP standard. This will also make your site prepared for mobile-first indexing from Google. Remember that by adapting to mobile devices, you will not only improve the user experience for your clients, but also increase your position in the search engine result page.

• mHealth: mobile applications for monitoring body condition

mHealth (mobile health) is a term used to describe the use of mobile devices and wireless technologies for medical purposes. For example, for diagnosis, recording the levels of various substances and hormones in the blood, heart beats, etc., and also for communication with a doctor.

Many doctors are happy to use mobile applications for smartphones and tablets and recommend them to their patients. Among the applications developed for medicine and pharmacy needs we can highlight the following groups:

1. apps for doctors, nurses, pharmacists and students that contain medical knowledge
2. apps that help patients keep personal records about their health conditions and share this data with their physicians
3. apps with alerts to help patients who have to take many different medications to remember when to take their pills
4. apps to manage chronic diseases, like diabetes, mental illnesses, blood pressure issues, etc.
5. apps that help women monitor their menstrual periods, pregnancy progress, breastfeeding and other health issues
6. healthcare apps including fitness apps, nutrition apps, weight loss apps and so on
7. online drug store apps that allow them to order and buy medicines as well as medical equipment

• Focus on healthcare cybersecurity

Besides the prominent benefits of digital transformation and rapid digitization of healthcare sphere, there are some negative side effects. Hackers can get illegal access to electronic health records and laboratory test results. Nowadays a hospital’s medical data has greater value on the black market than even a bank’s financial data.

A survey conducted by Healthcare IT News and HIMSS Analytics found that more than 50% of hospitals were hit with ransomware at least once during the past year. Moreover, 15% are unsure whether they were attacked or not and 10% have no way of knowing. And what about your organisation? What do you do to prevent cybersecurity issues? Do you backup your data every day, for example? There are many critical questions you have to ask yourself. Your security solutions should scale with your business and not worsen the user experience of your patients.

• Qualitative web content about healthcare issues

Internet users often read articles and blog posts written by experts they trust. People are curious about the results of recent scientific researches and statistics. They strive to better understand the causes and symptoms of the diseases which they (or their relatives and friends) have encountered or are at risk of encountering. Users also look for pieces of advice about healthy nutrition, diets and physical exercises to keep fit.

So a lot of useful and unique healthcare content is needed now. Many professionals can give interesting and valuable insights and share their experiences through the Internet. It’s a nice way to convert potential patients. To get the benefits of blogging and other content marketing, remember about your target reading audience specifics. Don’t use very complicated terminology without explanations. Write with emotions, don’t be boring. Structure your text and title paragraphs well. Use photos, schemes, images, charts, videos, etc. to illustrate your words, because visual content is processed faster by the human brain than textual, and is more catchy.

Summing up

What we can observe now is that the process of data sharing is simplified, which gives both patients and doctors easy access to health data through websites and applications. This increases the level of awareness and knowledge about diseases and their treatment. However, hospitals should be careful to provide limited access to their data centers to avoid cybersecurity threats.

If you have any questions about digital healthcare trends or medical site optimization, please contact our IT specialists who will gladly help with the development and support of web resources.