The health care IT market is projected to reach $640 billion by 2026 – up from $187 billion in 2019. The growth will be primarily fueled by the high adoption of telehealth solutions, the need to automate processes, increased use of personal health care apps, and the ongoing development of IT infrastructure to combat new diseases.
One area of health care experiencing consistent growth is medical software systems. Although you may hardly notice it, software solutions are revolutionizing almost every aspect of providing health care – from managing internal processes, creating flexible payment options, facilitating virtual consultations to improving scientific research.
In this post, we will look at five types of software used by health facilities.
Electronic Health Record (EHR) Software
EHR software is one of the most common types of health care solutions. It’s used to collect, store, and retrieve information such as patient appointments, prescription history, doctor’s recommendations, lab results, and past and planned medical procedures. Apart from holding all patient records, it also allows authorized users to instantly access or share information.
For better workflow management, professionals in different branches of medicine utilize different EHR software. For instance, chiropractors specifically use chiropractic software to organize their patients’ medical records.
Medical Database Software
This software stores a patient’s medical history, procedures, and medication plans, just like the EHRs do. However, it classifies the data by disease, rather than by patient profile. This way, doctors can refer to similar patient cases and make quick and accurate treatment decisions.
With a platform where they can review all the data on a particular disease, medics can learn the different types of a disease, identify unknown symptoms, analyze how patients respond to various medications, and adjust their treatment approaches accordingly.
Medical Diagnosis Software
This system allows the automated real-time exchange of patient information among different medical practitioners to enhance research and diagnosis. Physicians get a holistic view of a patient’s health, learn what they didn’t know about a particular disease, and make more informed diagnosis decisions.
This solution is increasingly using artificial intelligence to sift through available patient data and give an automated diagnosis. It also offers predictive analytics to help doctors flag patients vulnerable to a particular illness, allowing preventative care to begin in advance.
Medical Imaging Software
The medical imaging field has seen technological breakthroughs in the development of hardware and devices and on the software front. Medical imaging software is mainly used for processing data obtained from CT scans, MRIs, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, and designing 3D models.
The software allows medical specialists to plan complex surgeries and design and print equipment and body parts such as coronary stents, artificial limbs, and even teeth. In years to come, patients will no longer rely on donors for organ replacement, thanks to advancements in 3D modeling software.
E-Prescribing Software
Electronic prescription software is quickly becoming a must-have solution for doctors. E-prescribing is the process of digitally generating and transmitting a prescription order directly from a physician to a patient’s preferred pharmacy. With this system, the doctor doesn’t have to make calls to the pharmacy, and patients don’t have to worry about misplacing a prescription note.
It also eliminates the chances of getting the wrong medication at the pharmacy. The network used to send the prescription is highly secure, and it allows doctors to connect with pharmacies all over the country instantly.
Healthcare Is Going Digital
Medical software is changing how health specialists diagnose diseases, make treatment decisions, prescribe medication, conduct research, oversee equipment, and manage their finances. There is no doubt these developments are improving the quality of health care and making it more accessible.
