Healthcare Will Never Be The Same Again
21 Mar 2021
Image by Luisella Planeta Leoni from Pixabay
We are all waiting and watching to see what will happen to sectors and industries all across the world, when the pandemic passes. How will we work, how will we commute to work, will we need to anymore? It’s all up in the air regarding travel, transport, holiday industries, and more. It’s also the same for healthcare. If hospitals have become a marker for mass illness and death, will people want to go to a local hospital to receive their care anymore? Nurses, doctors and politicians work very hard to rid the stigma of the hospital but it may have just had a renewed battle put on it. However, this also means that there may be some rapid and important sector changes occurring; and here are just some of them.
Zoom calls
One of the things that puts people off from going to see their doctor is the waiting time. It’s part of the whole experience, to sit in a waiting room full of sick people, hoping that your turn will come in as little time as possible. Yet, it’s not always the case that you get to see your doctor on the time your appointment says you will. So Zoom calls are being touted as the way of the future. You’ll be able to sit at home, use a webcam or your phone, to talk with your doctor about a problem. It’s the future! How can it not be?
Well, some people are saying older people who don’t know how to use or have access to such technology, they will be left stranded. And so, in-person meetings may be given as a priority to older people as younger people will feel more content to have appointments over the phone. Already there are ways you can get an online consultation. Doctors can ask you questions and also ask you to move the webcam around to show where an injury might be, to assess swelling, and you can also have your medication dispensed at the same time.
Treatment apps
Apps that show you what kind of medications are available over the counter are going to become the norm. In a bid to make healthcare more autonomous, apps that give you options for various conditions are very helpful to people who live busy lives. If someone has a stomach ache, rather than just Googling ‘stomach ache treatment’, they can put this into an app and it will show them all the treatments available to them. Most of this will be over the counter, so it will also show you which stores are close by, who have the medicines you need. This will also mean that doctors can get more work done, see more patients that need urgent care instead of just having a meeting with a patient for 2 minutes and prescribing medication you could buy yourself anyway. Convenience, speed, efficiency.
Senior care
We have all come to truly appreciate our older generation. The Covid-19 crisis has shown us how fragile our grandparents are and we must do something to help them live better lives post-pandemic. Senior care is going to become the top priority for governments. After the issues that nations have faced regarding nursing homes, it looks like better training and more policies to protect the elderly will be considered.
The nursing homes of today will have the digital technology of tomorrow, featured in their services. For example, more old people in nursing homes will be allowed to use a facility that gives them the ability to have virtual care meetings. This could be primarily for mental health as well as checkups from a hospital on the healing of a broken limb. It’s now the time for investors to consider which technologies have the highest chance of success and start buying the stock of those companies.
Sanitation drive
In shopping centers around the world, you will begin to see sanitation dispensers that will be giving customers the chance to wash their hands before entering. It’s so important to have this now, and in the future, especially in towns and cities with a high population of older people. Hands are the number one cause of spreading when it comes to viruses. If this can be implemented at a relatively cheap level, it could become a normal part of shopping.
Healthcare is personal and very emotional to all of us. These changes may bring us more convenience and better options, but they will need to be mixed with emotive in-person care, which all governments are striving to achieve.
Cheers,
Big Daddy
If you would like me to review your product, service, restaurant, or travel destination, please send me an email at craig@bigdaddykreativ.ca or tweet me at @BigDaddyKreativ
Craig Silva
Craig is a husband, a father, team leader, travel and food writer, senior youth group coordinator, designer, brander, community builder, volunteer, and social media strategist. Craig likes to travel, go camping, go on road trips, watch movies, build stuff, operate the grill, and sing with his band. Craig is a member of the Travel Media Association of Canada. In June 2017, PR firm Cision identified Craig as one of Canada’s top 10 most popular male bloggers in the parents and family space.
