Smart healthcare

A long time ago, a revolution took place in the field of healthcare. Human anatomy was recognized as a science, and doctors operating on people were started to be held in high esteem. Healthy living habits were generated and spread through the masses, but unfortunately were never fully realized.

Living in India, we know that even though our country is one of the leading nations in healthcare research, much of its rural population rarely has basic healthcare available to it. Part of the problem lies in the fact that the healthcare budget of our country is very low in comparison to other nations. That is the why many of the citizens still die of diseases that could be easily cured. Many people die without ever realizing there was something wrong with them, or they don’t find out about it until it’s too late. Some can’t keep a proper tab on their situation because they can’t get regular checkups and ultimately suffer for it.  If only there was a way we could stop this, a way that could be implemented in our country’s rather small healthcare budget and a limited number of doctors, a way accessible for all, a cost-effective way. A smart way.

Enter the world of smart healthcare. A way to automate and expand the better standard of living modern technology has been introduced to even the remotest of areas. Let’s consider the scenario of a village that does have basic mobile connectivity, a rudimentary healthcare system and a bunch of literate people. By itself it can’t diagnose serious diseases, especially the ones that are disguised as something very normal, like swine flu whose most symptoms are consistent with common cold. But that system when paired with an expert on video chat, using mobile connectivity via a tablet etc. can help save many lives in the village and contain that disease. Called the tele-health it is the most effective system for inducing cheap and reliable healthcare, not just in India, but in fact in countless countries by simply eliminating physical presence.

But that’s not all, for smart healthcare comes with a variety of devices that make us healthier every day. Pedometer is one of the most common example of these devices. By telling us how much we actually ran or walked in a day, not only does it help us track our fitness, but also motivates us to be healthier. And now with introduction of smartwatches and smart bands like Fitbit, it’s easier than ever, as the device now simply lives in these everyday gadgets. Talking about these gadgets, they even measure heart rate through the day, which is beneficial for people having heart diseases or hypertension as they detect and trigger a warning if something starts going wrong, potentially saving hundreds of lives.

Same goes for specially made bands for people suffering with epilepsy, cancer or some terminal disease, which trigger an alarm and send location data of patient to their family members in case of an emergency. One of the most revolutionary change has been brought into diabetes treatment with the introduction of test strips which detect blood glucose level instantly and can be used by anyone enabling the patients to keep their vitals steady and under check.

There also are almost similar methods, using which life threatening diseases such as AIDS can be diagnosed quickly and cheaply. Smart devices such as these are going to make healthcare better everywhere and cheaper, and also expand the reach of system to the remotest areas. What makes it so powerful is that it can do all this by simply using the current system.