You are currently viewing Smart devices are the future of healthcare technology…Here’s why.

The need for new healthcare technology is more relevant today than ever before. The healthcare industry is living through one of its most difficult times in history. Over the past year, the fear of healthcare systems being overwhelmed by an influx of admissions has been the driving force behind every decision to impose national restrictions. While the restrictions have worked to support our healthcare institutions, we have seen hospitals and healthcare clinics work tirelessly to meet demand and adapt to cope with the strain this pandemic has put on them.

A greater effort has been put on improving hygiene and PPE, IT teams have worked around the clock to deliver better infrastructure which accommodates a new way of working and better healthcare technology in the form of critical care beds and ventilators have been brought into use. The development of healthcare has been unprecedented. Hospitals and clinics are at the point where they are looking to innovate, become more efficient and serve more effectively. Improving healthcare technology is the way forward.

This poses the question; what is the future of healthcare technology?As a tech company working to provide smart hygiene solutions, we believe smart technology is the next step in revolutionising healthcare. We have looked at some applications of smart technology and how they can change healthcare technology for the better.

Smart devices improving hygiene

Smart devices and IoT connectivity will significantly change the infrastructure of healthcare technology to make them more manageable and safer environments. We know hand sanitising stations are available throughout hospitals but there is no guarantee they are used by everyone.A YouGov survey commissioned by Tweaq found that more than 10% of adults in the UK do not wash or sanitise their hands every time they use a door handle. The risk of germs spreading because of people not cleaning their hands before or after using a door handle can be entirely mitigated with the use of Rise, a smart self disinfecting door handle.Imagine how much time and money could be saved if staff did not have to regularly go around to check if sanitisation dispensers had sufficient cleaning fluid throughout the day. This is where Rise’s IoT connectivity comes into play. Each Rise is connected to the Tweaq app where usage can be tracked and both battery and sanitiser levels can be monitored. This will improve efficiency as staff will know which specific handle needs refilling and when. It will also allow staff to schedule refills directly from Tweaq ahead of time, ensuring the supply will always meet demand.

Improving patient admissions with smart devices

Processing patient admissions can be a long painstaking process of form filling and waiting for staff at a desk to check you in. During busy periods this is even more inefficient. Advancing healthcare technology with the use of smart kiosks will make the admissions process much more efficient. Smart kiosks will eliminate the need for paper-based registration, will make patient healthcare information flow better by ensuring all information is in one place, will save time for both patients and hospital staff and improve the overall experience.

Smart devices improving communication

Many hospitals lack the ability to clearly communicate between departments and share information on capacity, patient flow and resource demands. Healthcare technology would benefit by adopting smart real-time healthcare systems.These systems can share information on expected wait times, average turnaround times, delays and reasons behind these delays in real time. Hospitals and health clinics will be able to use this healthcare technology to distribute patients according to availability and plan schedules to be more efficient. Poor manual management will no longer be an issue and operations within healthcare settings will run much more smoothly.Adopting smart devices in healthcare settings can entirely improve efficiency, the level of care and overall safety for caregivers and patients. The age of the smart hospital is upon us. Find out more about Hygiene in Hospitals or visit Tweaq’s website to learn more about how Rise can revolutionise hospital technology.