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5 Healthcare Trends and QA Tips to Implement Them

No matter the era or trend, quality, and ultimate service are the topmost requirements in the healthcare industry. And the performance of every element constituting this field plays a vital role in keeping the medical centers and organizations afloat.

From the quality of products and service to their execution and delivery speed, everything revolves around being the best and updated to heighten the communication level between healthcare specialists, patients, and technology (data generation.)

We can address the parameters of high-quality service in health and medicine through technical advancements. And thus, there have been various major and significant innovations in the healthcare trends to combine digitization with the domain of medicinal practice to deliver reliable results and create innovations to enhance investments. Factors like these help polish the healthcare industry’s overall condition and give customers a more personalized and happy patient journey.

Thus, this article will discuss the healthcare trends and focus on implementing them in our system with minimum loss and maximum benefits to get the most from technical specialization and advanced analytics.

Why do we need testing of the ideas and apps for healthcare trends?
Five biggest healthcare trends to look out for
Quality Assurance tips for implementing the healthcare trends
What can we expect in the future?

Why do we need testing of the ideas and apps for healthcare trends?

The field of science, medicine, and healthcare are of practical applications and rigorous implementations. Thus any healthcare trend we want to introduce and practice ahead should pass through a series of verification and safety tests to ensure that they are not harmful to the human mind and body.

Through numerous testing and approvals of the ideas and apps, we can confirm their efficiency rate and how well they can perform for versatile people and their needs. It also allows us to determine any anomalies, side-effects, or drawbacks of the same and how we can improve them to deliver better results and services to the patients.

Five biggest healthcare trends to look out for

A trend in the field of science and development doesn’t fade away. Researchers and experts worldwide learn to comprehend its aspects and work on designing ways to reduce its limitations. Such ideas keep upgrading and merging with other concepts to revolutionize the world and implement changes that will benefit everyone. Themes like data science, AI and ML, space exploration, healthcare, etc., are only some of the examples.

But when we consider the domain of medicine and healthcare, there are infinite possibilities. We can explore various elements and features by combining medication with technology and deep learning to deliver optimum results to the customers and ensure a happy and safe patient journey.

And keeping that in mind, various healthcare trends have popped up in the industry to administer these needs.

Below, we have highlighted 5 of the most prominent trends and practices that are most prevalent today:

Trend 1: Apps for employee wellness

Since 2015, there’s been a sharp rise in listening and catering to employee wellness. And after the onset of the pandemic, it has further become necessary to monitor the health and well-being of every staff in the company. Thus the creation and utilization of apps to track one’s health have become one of the most prevalent healthcare trends. Many software developing companies and forums have come forward to administer this healthcare trend and have designed apps to track employee wellness.

Using these applications, we can monitor our health like temperature, blood pressure, sugar levels, calories burned, heartbeat rate, etc., and maintain their systematic record. A separate database keeps a copy of the same saved in the employee information history and alerts the head and other in-charges about the distress of a particular worker.

Thus it allows the person to get immediate medical attention and avail of the best facilities like healthcare policy, medicines, and treatment to get well soon.

Case Study

US-based medical obesity treatment platform provider strengthens testing and boosts confidence in QA

Trend 2: Telehealth

Telehealth refers to using digital communication concepts and devices like mobile phones, tablets, and computers to provide healthcare services. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become one of the most sought and popular healthcare trends that have enabled people to avail of high-quality medical facilities quickly and with fewer efforts.

As physical and face-to-face person visits declined, healthcare providers became burdened with this massive disruption in the medical sector. They had the task of delivering their services without dropping their quality and utilizing their limited resources. And that is where the telecom healthcare trends took a steep rise and acted as a sound way out of this limitation.

According to an article by MobiDev, around 43% of the total primary healthcare visits got conducted online via telehealth platforms in 2020. And we can estimate this growth to reach about 185.6 billion dollars by 2026.

Once the lockdowns and social distancing got introduced, people now prefer telehealth services over long-distance journeys and person-to-person physical interactions. It is helping them save time, money, and energy as they can avail the same service with less effort. Thus, it is clear that this healthcare trend isn’t going anywhere for a long time.

Trend 3: AR and VR implementation

AR and VR can also help address the rising concern for mental health treatment and prevent suicide rates in various countries. These devices and applications are especially helpful in dealing with healthcare practices and implementing services for the customer to feel good in no time and with minimum effort.

In a survey report, MMWR displayed that from August 2020 to February 2021 (the COVID-19 Pandemic Phase), the mental health symptoms grew from 36.4 to 41.5 percent in those around 18 to 29 years of age. And the number of untreated cases rose from 9.2 to 11.7 percent, thus creating pressure to provide better and more efficient treatment in this direction (mostly anxiety and depression).

And by relying on AR and VR, patients can now get immediate and high-quality care for their emotional and mental well-being at home. They can participate in a set of online training and undergo artificial simulation and fully immersive experiences to tackle their PTSD conditions, depressive and manic episodes, and anxiety attacks. And it can also help them to open up about their conditions as technology like augmented, virtual, and mixed reality in caring for mental health will help break the stigma attached to it and make people more empathetic to each other’s suffering.

Trend 4: IoT and Medicine

According to IoT Analytics, IoT experienced a worldwide growth of 8% in 2021 with 12.2 billion active connections. And we are estimating it to grow around 18% at the end of 2022 with 14.4 billion active endpoints. As a result, the collaboration of IoT with medicine is one of the most beneficial healthcare trends these days.

The concept of IoT (Internet of Things) has allowed healthcare experts and providers to connect more with patients and gain an in-depth understanding of their conditions and issues. They have become more watchful of the patient’s health and wellness by addressing them more proactively and sympathetically.

And data collected by IoT applications and devices helps doctors and nurses to get closer to the patient’s condition and, thus, formulate and come up with the best solution to administer the treatment for a speedy recovery. It is helping the customers recover quicker with sustaining minimum suffering and allowing physicians to deliver their best services and reach expected outcomes with fewer efforts.

Trend 5: AI-based innovation in communicable disease management

These days, using AI to monitor and prevent infectious diseases is constantly increasing due to the need to be safe during physical and person-to-person interaction and working or staying outside our houses for any purpose.

By setting up complex AI models to replicate the pattern of communicable disease infection and their behavioral patterns once they interact with the human population, we can find solid and effective cures for fighting them and preventing them from becoming deadly diseases.

Through the information generated from these AI-based innovative tools, we can detect any satellite patients harboring silent symptoms of any communicable disease, trace the earliest signs of the said condition in masses, and find suitable cures and vaccination to curb their spreading and prevent mass death and loss of life in future.

Quality Assurance tips for implementing the healthcare trends

Here are some helpful QA (Quality Assurance) hints and tips that address the challenges of healthcare trends and how we can contribute to their better growth and implementation:

1) Addressing the versatile needs of multiple customers.

We can deploy suitable holistic software to address the versatile requirements of multiple customers simultaneously. It should be able to record and access the patient data, address their specific needs, and maintain an interactive session with the stakeholders, investors, and the medical staff to distribute and conduct healthy practices and build a trustworthy relationship between patients and healthcare providers administration.

For example,

The Indiana Healthcare Information Exchange (IHIE) follows the concept of Interoperability. Various information systems and applications exchange data through data access, integration, cooperation, and coordination across multiple organizations and nations to deliver timely and reliable healthcare facilities to every individual anytime and anywhere.

Under IHIE, there are three products to address the needs of multiple customers simultaneously; OneCare, PopCare, and GovCare, which help access patient data, track patient care facilities and ensure that every obstruction is removed from the way for a seamless and optimized medical journey.

2) Boosting the transformation of modern healthcare trends.

We can boost the transformation of modern healthcare trends through a series of testing that addresses the elements of multiple healthcare applications. And by including the verification of medical workflows through IHE (Integrated Health Enterprise), we can also share valuable information and improve the working process.

Here is a list of QA healthcare testing that can help us accelerate the growth and development of vital medical services:

Functional Testing – Addressing the operational capacity and efficiency of healthcare services and applications and generating ideas to enhance workflow.
Conformance Testing – Measuring the security requirements like HIPAA and FDA conditions to verify service safety protocols.
Interoperability Testing – Measuring the interoperability (CCD/CDA, DICOM, NCPDP, FHIR, HL7) through industry-standard applications to test the security levels during data exchange and regulation.
Load and Performance Testing – Testing the healthcare applications through load and performance benchmarks to verify their quality and performance results.
Platform Testing – Rigorous testing of software on the computer and mobile platforms to measure their effectiveness and cross-browser compatibility.
Medical Imaging Testing – Verifying the accuracy and security of various medical imaging applications through specialized test automation tools.
Security Testing – Forming a test case scenario with security and safety as the priority.
Integration Testing – Dealing with suitable test cases to ensure the functions are integrated as per the customer story.
Database Testing – Inspecting the database to verify the data inserted matches the work history and respective events.
User Interface Testing – Executing cases to assure the subject that their demands will get fulfilled.

For example,

Applications like X-ray machines controlled by software programs need constant testing since an error in their performance can adversely affect the patients. Thus, FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has laid out a series of guidelines (called the Test Plan) for various medical devices. Any mobile and web application that undergoes this test must follow a series of pass and fail criteria per their guidelines. The test reports are collected, and based on their analysis, whether the application is suitable for use in the healthcare field is decided.

3) Strengthen QA practices and introduce next-gen QA.

We can further boost the growth and influence of the healthcare trends by focusing intensely on satisfying the needs and demands of the consumers and conducting a trustworthy and flawless customer journey and experience. And for this, we can introduce efficient and highly-automated QA practices and testing to address complex issues and secure data flow.

By maintaining the standard of QA practices, we can further enhance the workflow balance at the team and company levels and help reach relevant results quicker. And if we also work on simultaneously introducing next-gen QA through AI and ML, we can stay one step ahead in the market. It will allow us to contribute to the development and enhancement of the overall service efficiency, work flexibility, better utilization of human and technical resources, and reduce risks and possible failures.

For example,

To implement positive changes and implementations in the field of medicine, researchers and healthcare providers are focusing on the concept of PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Act). Under this scheme, the aim is to establish a functional relationship between old and new QA practices and how we can take suitable steps to improve the cycle of the healthcare industry.

The implementation of the PDSA cycle works on three primary laws: Identifying the project aim, realizing how to find whether the aim was reached, and calculating the end time for the project’s completion and success.

The results gathered from a PDSA cycle help maintain the QA standard for any healthcare organization and take necessary steps to improve the same in the future.

What can we expect in the future?

Today, the hype around metadata and virtual social reality experience has generated an emotional connection across people of different ages. Combining healthcare trends with modern technology and making it more ubiquitous and accessible has helped everyone avail of the best services cost-efficient and effortlessly.

Whether it be the elderly who can reach out to doctors and reliable facilities/centers to help them regain parts of their suppressed memories, the young aged people receiving treatment through mixed reality to battle their mental health issues, or instant medication and medical care for any health destress in the young ones, data and tech implementation in this field are tremendously accelerating our well-being. Combining healthcare trends with modern technology and making it more ubiquitous and accessible has helped everyone avail of the best services cost-efficient and effortlessly.

And that’s not at all; we can expect more changes, exploration, and innovative experimentation in domains like bioprinting (keeping organs alive outside the body) and organ care (taking care of organs outside our bodies) technology. It is possible that in the future, AI will be able to assist doctors in determining whether an organ preserved outside the body for more extended periods is suitable for transplantation.

While ideas like bioprinting have been practiced before, with no successful results, they may become mainstream in the coming days through experiments, clinical testing, and utilizing modern technology in medicine and healthcare.

Closing thoughts

Though the list ended here, it is not exhaustive. Perhaps, more healthcare trends will pop up and sweep the world by storm within the next couple of years. As we know, trends do not go away; they only upgrade and take an advanced form. The same is for these healthcare trends. What we see today would be a more refined and organized setup tomorrow.

Nowadays, the field of medicine and health are taking science and innovation seriously and implementing technological advantages to boost their service’s performance and availability. While there is plenty of scope for improvement and development, every person and investor involved in this domain isn’t leaving any stone untouched to provide better health facilities and equity to everyone.

And the day isn’t far from when we will have ubiquitous access to reliable and sound healthcare services that will help shape our future.

With majority of our clients in healthcare industry, check out how Zuci is enabling better, faster, healthier patient care experiences.

Looking to improve your app quality and user experiences? Take a look at Zuci’s QA consulting services and see how you can leverage Zuci for your business needs.