What Is Smart Technology and Digital Transformation in Healthcare?  

Smart technology refers to devices that make use of AI, the Internet, connectivity to the cloud, and more modern functionalities that they previously did not have.  

A few examples of smart technology in healthcare are smart beds that can track patient movements and alert nurses when a patient leaves the bed, or an inventory management system powered by AI that can track and monitor inventory, and then automatically order new supplies when necessary.  

Let’s explore five examples of smart tech in healthcare that enhance the patient experience, improve proactive care procedures, and ultimately create a healthier world. 

1. Remote Monitoring and Automated Healthcare Systems 

Remote monitoring of patients’ healthcare is a growing trend that goes beyond traditional healthcare and into mainstream culture. Smartwatches and fitness trackers have become standard for many people, monitoring health factors like heart rate, blood oxygen, irregular heartbeat monitoring, and more.  

The next iteration of smart wearables are actually smart rings which still connect to your smartphone, but use a series of sensors to take measurements from your finger to track a whole variety of internal body metrics at a more accurate clip than smartphones. Though the ring doesn’t have any sort of screen, you can see all of the data it collects and tracks on your smartphone.  

These smart wearables are making it easier for patients to keep a tab on their regular daily activity, giving their healthcare professionals more visibility into patterns, and a better pool of health data to work with. 

There are several wearable items or devices healthcare providers and patients can take advantage of to improve overall healthcare, including:  

• Biosensors  
• Smart thermometers  
• Connected inhalers  
• Smart watches  
• Fitness trackers (FitBits)  
• ECG monitors  
• Blood pressure monitors  

Wearable biosensors are another technology used in hospitals. These allow providers across the world to monitor patients and administer proactive care. These sensors are worn on the body and monitor vital health signs like temperature and heart rate to give healthcare providers more information and insights on the progression of diseases, illnesses, and overall health.  

In fact, it was just a few years ago when biosensors helped the world track the spread of COVID-19 by monitoring patients to detect symptoms and other signs of the virus. Medical staff could monitor patient data thanks to the devices and avoid unnecessary exposure. 

2. Telehealth and Remote Care 

Many of us are now familiar with telehealth, which became a popular choice for healthcare providers and patients when the pandemic brought more attention to the application of smart tech in healthcare. With the help of conferencing technology, providers could virtually treat patients over video call, provide prescriptions, and perform follow-up visits.  

Part of this virtual care was the use of medical portal technology to build secure online healthcare portals to help providers and patients track treatment, store health records, and collect and access data from wearable devices or clinic visits.  

While the use of telehealth and remote care became prevalent after the onset of the Covid pandemic, it is clear that both patients and practitioners have found benefits in the use of this technology and hospitals will continue to use it. 

3. Connected Emergency Response Solutions 

Connectivity can greatly improve the efficiency and response times of emergency care, something that can be the difference between life and death. With modern healthcare smart technology, it’s possible to share data between ambulances, physicians, first responders, and accident and emergency departments in a reasonable amount of time that facilitates real-time responses.   

This technology enables faster communication, video calls with doctors from inside ambulances, quicker patient histories, and easier hospital admittance with history and conditions already established.   

On arrival, doctors can already have patient data on-hand—including vital signs, blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, etc. 

4. Smart Hospital Management 

Smart hospital management can help improve efficiency and effectiveness, improve patient experience, and help doctors by connecting digital systems to make it easier to access information like bed occupancy, device usage, equipment status, materials and supply counts, and other operational data.  

Tracking this information and using it in decision-making can improve resource management, reduce waste, and help hospital staff avoid not having what’s needed due to bad tracking or incorrect data collection.  

Smart hospitals are going to play an incredibly important role in the future of healthcare using a series of sophisticated technologies such as: 

• The IoT
• AI
• Mobile Health
• Telehealth
• Extended Reality
• Blockchain