The Future of Healthcare Technology Startups And Data

The world ofhealthcare technology is extremely exciting right now. New innovations in treatment, delivery, data, and more have opened up a world of possibilities and unearthed a few concerns. Let's take a look at some gadgets, trends, opportunities, and potential problems.

Cool Healthcare Gadgets Trends And Innovations

Head Transplants

A man from Russia with a progressive and debilitating disease has just recently signed on to become the first, experimental head transplant recipient. While this is extremely controversial at this point, because the research and science behind this is so new, it has not been dismissed as an absolute impossibility.

Nanobots

These are tiny little robots that can be released into the bloodstream. They can collect and transmit data, or be used to fight disease and infection. Use of nanobots will definitely increase in the future.

Monitoring Health Via Wearables

While this is not the hot trend that it once was a year ago, many healthcare technology firms still see wearables as a very viable means of monitoring a person's health and activity. This information is potentially useful to physicians, sports trainers, and physical therapists.

Obtaining Healthcare Services Overseas

There is a relatively popular internet meme that addresses the issue of healthcare costs in the United States. It compares the cost of a hip replacement in the States with the cost of a hip replacement in Spain. The gist of the meme is that someone could go to Spain, receive a hip replacement, run with the bulls, get a second hip replacement, and still save money vs. getting their hip replacement in the United States.

The reason this meme is funny is that there is a large element of truth. Because of this, many patients are opting to go to Mexico, India, and other foreign countries for surgeries and medical treatments. They are also looking outside of the United States for prescription coverage as well.

Medwand

Working families, people who live in remote areas, and those who rely on Medicaid or Medicare often struggle to make it to the doctor. Sometimes the issue is transportation, sometimes it is the ability to secure an appointment with an available doctor, and sometimes the issue is being able to attend appointments during working hours. Medwand is a device that helps mitigate these problems by acting as an electronic house call. This device, combined with telemedicine gives doctors the opportunity to receive data about a client's health, provide a diagnosis, and consult with the patient regarding treatment options. For many, this represents a true quality improvement in healthcare delivery.

Stemcentrx

Mainstream doctors and scientists all agree that stem cells are the key to curing and preventing a wide variety of diseases and for healing injuries ranging from burns to complete spinal cord injuries. Stemcentrx is an exciting startup that pioneering the use of stem cell technology to potentially cure and treat cancer.

Healthcare And Data

Patient information, research data, and other information combines to make up the sum total of healthcare data that is stored all over the world. Here are some potential concerns and a few opportunities.

Data Storage Capacity Becomes an Issue

There are vast amounts of healthcare related data stored in a variety of data centers and on the cloud. Unlike data in other industries, much of this information must be retained for years. Because of this, capacity is a concern.

Cyber Attacks Remain a Concern

While there haven't been any newsworthy data breaches at major healthcare companies in the past few months, the possibility of this still remains a concern. In addition to this, data vulnerabilities have been discovered and exploited by smaller companies, just not on a scale large enough to become national news. Businesses who update, create, or store healthcare data will need to work hard so that they remain in regulatory compliance and protect that information from attack. This creates a nice opportunity for those specializing in healthcare information security.

Healthcare Concerns For The Future

As always, there are healthcare concerns for the future. These items are cause for worry, but they could also present opportunities to innovators who can create workable solutions to these problems.

Increasing Elderly Population

The Baby Boom generation is turning elderly, and there are a lot of them. This is putting a lot of strain on geriatric health care providers, and the systems that they use. Much work will need to be done to ensure that the end of life needs of this generation can be met effectively and that funds remain available for medicare.

Uninsured Persons

In the United States, it is a law that all people must carry health insurance. However, many people are not able to afford the premiums and deductibles. These individuals who fall in the gap between 'able to afford private coverage' and 'qualified for Medicaid and other government programs, can face financial devastation if they have a healthcare crisis.

Bad Information

Once concern that many healthcare providers have expressed is the worry over the vast amount of bad information and pseudo-science that is being spread over the internet as healthcare advice. The result of this is that physicians and other providers must fight an uphill battle with patients that have been convinced of things that are simply untrue. There are also concerns that patients will delay healing treatment in order to pursue unhealthy alternatives.