The Future of Telemedicine with the Rise of Artificial Intelligence

In this article, we are going to review 4 telemedicine trends where artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to play a role in revolutionizing the healthcare industry.

First, we will explore the future of AI within remote patient monitoring and how intelligent assistance can help medical professionals form a diagnosis and treatment plan. We then examine how advances in data retrieval and analysis will impact healthcare information technology as well as improve collaboration between medical experts around the world.

1. Remote Patient Monitoring

Currently, one of the best uses for telemedicine software is patient monitoring. This has been developed to the point that it mimics face-to-face interactions between physicians and patients. With the rise of uses for AI technology, the possibilities for remotely monitoring a patient’s health seem almost infinite.

In the future, we may see a reduced need for face-to-face interactions between patients and physicians as AI will able to monitor the health condition of a patient within their homes. Similar to Dr. Rho Medical Telepresence Robot, advances in AI and robotics will allow robots to examine the vital signs of patients with little outside assistance.

2. Use of Intelligent Assistance for Diagnosis

Current technology allows patients to monitor conditions such as their heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing. However, new technology being developed by startup companies such as Lemonaid Health uses AI to screen and evaluate patients so that doctors can quickly and efficiently form a diagnosis, and prescribe any necessary medications from a remote location.

Adding machine learning into the equation could prove critical in emergency situations. For example, AI can collect data from a patient that is in route to the emergency room and provide an initial diagnosis, instead of waiting to collect needed information once the patient arrives.

3. Enhances in Healthcare Information Technology

According to the Annals of Internal Medicine, about 50% of a physician’s time is spent at a desk, and working on electronic health records (EHR). However, future advances in big data analytics and neural networks will make EHR retrieval much more efficient. One system presently being analyzed uses a chat interface to collect patient data and store it in such a way that it is immediately retrievable.

Another study focuses on expediting medical analyses through the use of mobile devices and cloud technology. An example of this uses an armband connected to a smartphone to collect data and forward it to a cloud collection center. It is also likely that a fingertip press on a smartphone will yield a person’s vital signs, such as their blood pressure.

4. Improved Collaboration among Healthcare Professionals

Future advances in telemedicine are expected to encourage collaboration among health professionals. Physicians will be able to conjointly diagnose a patient while using insights from other physicians.  Advances in artificial intelligence will also expedite medical research and make findings more readily available on a worldwide basis.

Trends in big data analytics are also expected to revolutionize pharmaceutical research by making it easier to consolidate test results, analyze data, and recognize patterns. An added benefit of using AI for pattern recognition is the potential of removing human bias.

Revolutionizing Artificial Intelligence

In the future, AI is expected to produce advances that will eclipse the present state of telehealth. Physicians will have the opportunity to conspire and compare research and diagnoses.

Getting ahead of abiding diseases and costly occurrences are the goal for healthcare providers worldwide. The challenge will be to make sure that such technologies are cost-effective everywhere, including rural areas.