The world is changing quickly with disruptive technologies. Every day it seems that something we’ve grown used to is shaken up and replaced with a ground-breaking product that changes the way we think about health care forever.
Haven’t seen artificial intelligence at play in your office? Hang around a few minutes; it’s bound to happen soon. Already it’s being implemented in just about every facet of medical practices, from helping predict which patients won’t show up or cancel appointments to supporting those suffering from congestive heart failure.
So of course when we think about the ways disruptive technologies are going to change our patterns in the coming months and years, it’s only natural to think about the good and the bad. That’s what helps us plan for a safer environment for both patients and employees.
The Worldwide Health Industry 2018 Predictions report recently provided a list of their top predictions for the coming years. And if they are correct, healthcare as we know it will change in many ways. Their predictions include:
- By the end of 2020, 25 percent of data used in medical care will be collected and shared with healthcare systems by the patients themselves (with the use of Bring Your Own Data).
- By 2020, one hospital in four with 200+ beds will have deployed robotics to handle time-consuming tasks, reduce labor, and prevent errors to enhance the sustainability of its business operations and improve patient safety.
- By 2021, digital healthcare services will account for 6 percent of global healthcare expenditure.
- By 2021, the world will have seen its first $100 million class-action lawsuit against a medical device manufacturer for negligence due to a cyberattack causing the death of more than 25 people connected to networked medical devices while hospitalized.
See the trends?
As technology advances, we become more vulnerable. As we put more data into these new technologies, there’s a bigger attack surface waiting for someone to come in.
The explosion of mobile and networked medical devices is the biggest security threats we have as we integrate the Internet of Things into the workplace. We’ve already had a taste of that happening thanks to the WannaCry ransomware attack in mid-2017.
When looking at the repercussions of what WannaCry had across the world, it’s easy to see how the Worldwide Health Industry predictions are probably right on track. Which means as you’re implementing new technology into your business practices, it's equally as important to think about it from every angle: from how the data is stored to how its delivered all across the planet.
Layered approaches will be mandatory. There should be depth to every defense strategy you implement into your business model. Because if you’re always thinking ahead, you’ll have less chance of becoming one of the statistics.
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