The MedTech industry – what is it today?
Hospitals continue implementing essential tools and technology that help diagnose and treat various medical conditions. Decision-makers among hospital teams may benefit from learning about the latest trend predictions by discovering what’s new throughout the industry. In recent years, impressive solutions and devices that assist the medical staff with safer medical procedures have been released. Examples include devices like ENvizion Medical’s NG tube positioning system, ENvue., and PathAI’s precision pathology platform, AISight.
The MedTech industry has grown significantly in recent years, driven by aging populations, rising healthcare costs, and technological advancements.
The industry is subject to a range of regulations and standards to ensure the safety and effectiveness of medical devices. In many countries, medical devices must undergo rigorous testing and approval before being marketed and sold.
With data more readily available than ever and smart devices ready to use in complicated medical processes, it’s time to consider 2023’s top five MedTech trends.
If you are a care provider, speak with your team about recent technological advancements that can benefit patients’ health and care quality. It is crucial to keep the five latest MedTech trends in mind, as you can make the most significant impact in the workplace to reach a higher level of performance.
Patient safety – medical devices reducing complications
The number of people requiring attention in hospitals increased because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A new age of technology geared toward patient safety has begun because hospitals can now utilize resources geared toward patient needs outside of COVID-19 care. The distinct focus on patient safety is expected to rise in 2023 as hospitals shift from crisis to a higher state of stability.
Hospitals regularly search for more accurate, safe, and efficient solutions to honor patient safety in daily medical procedures like feeding tube placement. Since urgent COVID-19 technology needs are decreasing, hospital decision-making teams can focus on other innovations. Navigation technology, in particular, has gained popularity due to its real-time bedside assistance, as well as its user-friendly guidance and adaptability.
Various products on the market help prevent concerns related to patient safety and assist hospitals in their continual search for better devices. One such device is the ENvue NG tube positioning system by ENvizion Medical. This navigation system helps medical staff with inserting feeding tubes in patients, therefore reducing lung misplacement complications.
The ENvue system uses electromagnetic body mapping technology to assist with NG tube positioning. Sensors in the device’s distal tip display the tube’s direction on a monitor in real time. Technology like this will be revolutionary for initiating safer patient procedures this year.
Digital health – the aftermath of COVID-19
After the effects of COVID-19 were introduced, patients could not receive in-person care as liberally. Because of this, digital health companies gained the ability to devise a more efficient positioning in the healthcare field. Using electronic resources enabled medical practitioners to find patient records and predict future outcomes quickly and became a primary method for patients to easily access appointments that do not require a physical presence in the clinic.
Considering the financial burden of the pandemic, more electronically compatible companies shifted to telehealth care in recent years to keep up with chronic illness care or one-time visits. They invested in technology to decrease the number of unnecessary in-person appointments, both for quarantine and time convenience purposes. Telehealth is an excellent tool for companies to utilize further in 2023 for remote care.
Despite a fall in telehealth since its chaos-inspired peak in 2020, nurses and doctors will continue to provide for patients virtually. According to a Healthcare Dive article, “Virtual care will increasingly be held to the same clinical standards as in-person care, and this year will bring more emphasis on quality and safety.”
Mobile app health care is one of the most popular technologies expected to increase in use this year. Patients can use mobile apps for various medical purposes, including tracking weight, monitoring sleep, and scheduling and attending doctor appointments. In addition, hospitals can utilize medical management apps to assist in daily operations.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) – doctors’ future assistant
Artificial intelligence is a technological advancement already present in daily human activity. As Forbes states, per Insider Intelligence, “30% of healthcare costs are associated with administrative tasks.” This task load may soon be automated, some of which will have already switched to AI by the end of this year.
AI helps automate the sometimes-tedious processes of identifying illnesses and enacting more complicated medical processes, such as choosing the appropriate medication prescriptions for patients, developing diagnoses, and establishing proper care methods. In an Aidoc article, contributor Elad Walach states, “As clinical AI continues its maturation, I predict it will touch up to 50% of providers in 2023.”
PathAI, based in Boston, MA, is a company that created a product called AISight to help pathologists conduct more accurate diagnoses, namely for cancer patients. The company’s product aims to treat patients more effectively, achieving greater recovery results for all kinds of diseases.
Home care – adding new unique services
As monetary inflation affects the world more prominently, healthcare is no exception. As a result, the pricing of home care health services is rising, and workers are starting to understand the benefits of leaving their employment agencies to work independently.
Some health agencies in 2023 will start offering more holistic and unique services aside from charging care providers to patient homes. This is to ensure companies keep up with the ever-growing medical staff needs.
New activities among agencies may include training initiatives, rewards programs, and physical group exercise opportunities. According to Home Health Care News, agencies report “cost-of-care increases of anywhere between 15% to 40%.”
This might mean hospitals, medical staff, and home care providers will soon experience a new affinity for more innovative devices and automated systems that ease the administrative implications of agency employment.
Sustainability – reuse while upholding proper hygiene
The impacts of disposable products largely contribute to unsustainable healthcare methods. Administrators and managers incorporate product reuse and material reduction more every year. Because of this, hospital decision-makers will now consider more innovative devices before disposing of unnecessary items like product packaging.
Of course, the issue with reuse in healthcare remains proper cleanliness and hygiene. However, sustainability in the health field reaches beyond issues related to disposable products. Device design can also reduce environmental impacts by creating smaller physical elements and batteries.
DuPont introduced its famous brand, Tyvek, in 1995 to help create more sustainable healthcare packaging. Tyvek’s sterile packaging actively manages patient risks, such as cleanliness, while implementing sustainability. In addition, they continually improve their technology to make healthcare packaging cleaner and safer.
MedTech trends recap
MedTech continues to advance the healthcare world for patients and doctors every year, and 2023 is no different. With newer technologies and industry insights, healthcare professionals can provide faster care and reduce complications during common hospital procedures. In addition, the ability of medical staff to receive more accurate results and faster patient recovery is primarily due to the technology that the MedTech industry constantly introduces.
The healthcare field moves so quickly that these five major trends are expected to perform well in 2023. After experiencing new risks COVID-19 unexpectedly brought to the world, predictions for technology this year include reducing risk, prioritizing safety, and strengthening technologies to ease medical processes for patients and hospital staff.