– Anne Buchanan and Megan Keohane
On Tuesday, November 29, 2016, agency president Anne Buchanan and I attended an event on mobile technology in healthcare, organized by the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (of which we are both members). Now, you may be wondering, “Why attend a healthcare industry event? Don’t you work in PR?” Well, while not a PR-related event, we do have clients in the healthcare and life sciences industries, and feel it is important to stay on top of new trends and innovations that could be of importance to our clients. You never know when you may learn something fascinating from an insider – something the broader public does not know about yet – and boom, news hook!
During this event specifically, we learned plenty of interesting facts and happenings in the healthcare space. Here are just a few:
1. By 2019, 30 percent of all web interaction will be by voice. Crazy, right? As of now, voice-activated Bluetooth and speaking into our television remotes are pretty much the norm. Technology like Siri and Alexa are becoming more and more standard, making it quicker and easier to look up an answer or play music. As connected technology and the Internet of Things increases in popularity, web interaction by voice will steadily climb as we rely on it to turn on our lights, adjust the thermostat setting and even check up on an elderly parent through remote camera access while at work – without ever lifting a finger.
2. Mobile technology is rapidly impacting healthcare, making things faster and easier and fostering more breakthroughs. When calling your doctor to schedule a standard appointment, the average time between the phone call and the visit is between 8-18 days. Now, with telemedicine, you can see a doctor within hours – right from your home. It is also streamlining the notoriously manual clinical trials process by providing more efficient screening/check-ins and reducing friction.
3. Wearables encourage better health habits. Since the explosion of Fitbits and other similar wearables, we’ve seen an increase in awareness of physical activity. When heart rate, steps counted and calories burned are visible right in front of us, it holds us accountable, ultimately encouraging an increased level of physical activity. The data collected from wearables may also strengthen telemedicine – quickly providing useful information to the doctor.
4. Connected technology can improve overall quality of life. Hypothetically, if there’s a loved one in your life who needs around-the-clock monitoring, connected technology could be a solution to keeping him or her in the comfort of their home while providing the necessary oversight and easy access to care. Cameras connected to wireless devices enable loved ones to be monitored through an app, while wearables collect information on his or her levels – all transferred to the appropriate person remotely, allowing the loved one to stay in his or her home without needing to move to a care facility. Monitoring fine motor skills using connected technology can also allow for the early detection of neurological diseases.
What other innovations or breakthroughs in digital health are trending now, or may be trending over the next few years? Let us know in the comments.
Anne, great blog. I’m a big believer that voice will be the game changer of 2017. Cheers, David