5G started to become available at the end of 2018 and will continue to expand worldwide. It will bring a variety of improvements to the technologies that people use every day. Apart from higher speed, it promises lower latency and instant data delivery no matter where a user is.
One of the industries which are expected to benefit most from 5G technology is healthcare. It’s a fact technology has improved healthcare substantially during the last few years with the advent, advancement, and popularity of technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence. 5G is expected to kick these improvements into a higher gear.
But what are these improvements? In this post, we’ll look at these improvements in more detail.
How Will 5G and AI Improving Patient Experience and Preventative Care
5G technology will have a significant impact on the patient experience. Up to now, most people had one option when they became ill and needed medical attention. They either had to travel to a doctor or hospital to get the required attention.
The advent of 5G technology, will improve remote monitoring systems and telemedicine abilities. As a result, doctors could make recommendations to a patient after a brief video call. In this way, it will be easier for patients to get the medical attention they need when they need it. We’ll deal with telemedicine and remote monitoring in more detail here in below.
5G will bring substantial improvements in preventative care. For example, MRIs and other imaging machines generate huge files that facilities or doctors must send to specialists for review and their recommendation.
And it’s simple, the slower the Internet connection, the longer the image file will take to transmit. Patients often have to wait for extended times to get these specialist insights. On the other hand, doctors are limited by this because they can see and diagnose fewer patients.
With 5G’s speed, facilities and doctors could send these files to a specialist far quicker. Physicians could then also use AI technologies that could assist in diagnosing patients based on these images. It’s easy to see how this means improvement in both the access to care and the quality of care.
Besides, the availability of mobile apps and platforms can also provide on-demand medical information quicker by using 5G and even be used in cases like patient admissions to make these processes more efficient.
Expanding Telemedicine Connectivity With 5G Speed
In recent year’s telemedicine has grown substantially. In fact, experts expect the telemedicine industry to grow at an annual growth rate of 16.5% from 2017 to 2023. The COVID-19 pandemic is also placed a more significant emphasis on these services.
One of the pillars of successful telemedicine software is that it should support real-time, high-quality video. Up to now, this meant that patients had to use broadband or a fiber Internet connection.
With 5G, telemedicine can be enabled on mobile devices because of its increased speed. In the process, it will create more reach and make these services available to more patients. In turn, patients can get treatment sooner, and doctors and other specialists can collaborate more efficiently.
Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
Artificial intelligence (AI) plays a role in healthcare by helping doctors and specialists determine potential diagnoses and recommend treatment plans for specific patients. Besides, AI can help predict patient outcomes and which patients are more likely to suffer complications after treatment. When healthcare professionals know this, they can take the necessary steps to implement early interventions where necessary.
For AI to do this, it needs large amounts of data. In turn, this requires reliable and high-bandwidth Internet connections. With G5 networks, healthcare facilities and practitioners can use the AI tools they need to provide this care. Also, because healthcare providers will access all this data from their mobile devices, they’ll provide care to the patient no matter where they are.
Real-time Remote Monitoring
86% of doctors say wearables increase patient engagement in their own health. In other words, patients take a more proactive role in their health rather than a reactive role when they only go to the doctor when necessary.
Using these wearables or IoT devices, healthcare practitioners can more effectively monitor patients during treatment and postoperatively. It also allows healthcare practitioners, facilities, and companies to gather data that is then used to improve preventative care. Based on this data, healthcare companies and facilities can also use personalization in their approaches to patient care. Read – IoT the future of Healthcare
Before the advent of 5G technology, this form of remote monitoring was limited by the capacity of networks to manage these vast amounts of data. In other words, facilities and practitioners could not get the real-time data they needed to improve patient and preventative care and make quicker healthcare decisions.
With 5G technology, which promises lower latency and higher capacity, remote monitoring can be improved substantially and, in the process, enhance patient care and provide healthcare providers with the data they need in real-time.
Improving AR, VR, and Spatial Computing
Healthcare providers are already using augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and spatial computing to a limited extent. G5 technology can make the use of these technologies more widespread. In this way, practitioners will deliver innovative and less invasive treatments. Its potential applications include an integral role in simulating complex medical scenarios and enabling alternative treatments for critically ill patients.
For example, it can be used to provide calming and distracting content through 5G enabled AR or VR to reduce pain and anxiety for terminally ill patients. Apart from improving patient care, it can also enhance medical training by generating low-risk virtual training environments where practitioners can develop knowledge and skills without putting patients at risk. In this way, doctors, nurses, and other staff can visualize procedures through virtual situations to enhance medical education.
Also Read – Top Trends in Healthcare IT for 2021
Heading Into the Future
5G technology promises to improve the quality of care and provide a more personalized patient experience while also reducing care costs. Ultimately, this means better healthcare for all.
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