One of the most interesting aspects of healthcare today is the application of artificial intelligence (AI) which can scan for cancers and heart problems using smartwatches and other devices. Improvements in technology could change the practice of medicine for the better, especially in patient care, but at the same time, an important question remains: what is the role of human beings in care?
The Great Technology Advancement in Medicine
The improvements and advancements made in technology utilized within healthcare systems has been astounding. Let‟s analyze some of these:
- Artificial Intelligence: Algorithms that utilize machine learning carry out an evaluation of medical images with a level of precision that is comparable to even specialist doctors. These technological developments can recognize patterns within data that even the best clinicians would miss.
- Telemedicine: The pandemic of COVID-19 greatly improved the adoption of virtual care by making it possible for patients to receive care regardless of their geographical location. What initially was a luxury nowadays is considered a fundamental need, and this specifically applies to people in rural or underserved regions.
- Wearable Health Monitors: Now, people are able to utilize consumer products that enable them to wear devices that can monitor their sleep and blood oxygen levels, and this encourages self-care.
- Electronic Heath Records: Digital record systems are not the easiest to implement, but they do help improve the coordination of care and reduce harmful medication errors.
All these different types of technologies can assist in offering health services more precisely, quickly, easily, and more accessible that ever before.
Embracing new tools and technologies does raise one salient question: are we sacrificing something fundamental in the adoption process?
The Indispensable Part: Human Element
It was noted by Dr. Chen, a primary care physician with two decades worth of experience, that healthcare fundamentally is still a people-centric business.
She stated, ‘the most potent diagnostic weapon remains the consultation between doctor and the patient.’ ‘The technology can inform me all that is occurring within the body of the patient, however, only the technology can tell me what is going on in the life of the patient. Why? Because, only through human interaction is it possible for me to comprehend their world: the fears, the enabling social circumstances, and their willingness to act accordingly.’
She reiterated, “Every single person requires empathy. During a procedure, patients frequently feel helpless and alone, and requiring empathy from someone who accompanies them is essential.” Empathy becomes the integral pillar to every interaction.
This human touch goes beyond the transaction set in motion by the doctor to encompass the holistic healthcare system:
- Nurses extending soothing care during painful procedures
- Encouraging words from physical therapists during painful rehabilitation
- Providing safe psychological spaces for disarming conversations to happen through mental health professionals
- Sowing trust by community health workers who know the community and context Puppeteers.
Their essence will be lost if these interactions are automated or digitized entirely.
Striking a Compromise: A Blend Strategy
Care in the future will most likely be delivered not by choosing between technology and people, but by cleverly combining the two.
Think of a new model of care, which is called “high-tech, high-touch” – digital tools can take care of routine monitoring and administrative work so that healthcare providers can spend time with patients meaningfully.
This is the reasoning Dr. Marcus Johnson, a digital health researcher at Stanford University, proposes: “The best system is one that puts technology to use in enhancing what a human can do, not in replacing the person. We want AI to take care of the mind-numbing repetitive work while the practitioners use their uniquely human skills: feeling, moral reasoning, and imagining solutions.”
Examples of this blended approach might be:
- AI algorithms that screen medical images before the radiologist sees them in order to save the radiologist time on studying straightforward cases.
- Human providers reviewing data from remote monitoring technologies that were designed to follow patients between visits for when there is a pattern that suggests a problem.
- Virtual assistants doing the first stage of screening to assist with inbound calls as well as meeting patients to give them more attention as they check the patients out of the clinic.
The Perspective Of The Patient
At the end of the day, innovation in healthcare must be evaluated based on the effect it has on patient wellbeing.
For 67-year-old Maria Gonzalez, who manages numerous chronic conditions, technology has changed her experience greatly. “But what matters most is that when I see my doctor, she knows me as a person, not merely as a set of data points,” she explains. My smartwatch not only monitors my heart rate, but also reminds to take my medication, helping me feel confident to be more active. This is how so many patients feel: hoping for the convenience of technology blended with the compassion that only humans can provide. This sentiment Indeed reflects what many patients desire. So, let’s deep-dive more into this matter: Consider Moving Forward With Questions As to determine the future direction of health care, some questions need to be examined carefully: What can be done to design systems that utilize technology’s efficiency without sacrificing meaningful human interactions? What can be done to ensure that nurses and physicians, as new technologies are adopted, do not forget how to maintain empathic presence? What can be done to curb new innovations from increasing already existing barriers to health and healthcare? Creating a feasible plan to value and measure the unquantifiable human factors that comprise patient care is complicated. These questions will determine what side of the argument we take on healthcare technology: is it neither more so to treat diseases more effectively, nor to as healthcare truly aims to accomplish: care for people in a well-rounded manner? As we shift deepen into the digital transformation of healthcare, we have to not forget that algorithms, even the most sophisticated of them, do not bolster the healing power of human connection. A gentle touch and a caring ear will always stay irreplaceable.
The best prospects ahead rest in utilizing technology while still protecting the core of healthcare.