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The most important technology trends in the healthcare sector

Although it is true that the healthcare sector began its digital transformation years ago, since the end of the pandemic and in 2022 the implementation of new and innovative healthcare technologies is making the sector one of the most advanced in the world.

In ETKHO’s new post, we take a look at the main technological trends in healthcare, not just today, but for the short and medium term future.

We can anticipate that sustainability, telemedicine, IoMT, robotics or drones are some of the protagonists. But there is much more.

Sustainability and environmental protection in hospitals

It is everyone’s job to reduce carbon emissions in hospitals and to reduce the environmental impact of healthcare management.

Every 5 June is celebrated worldwide as Environment Day. This date is an excellent opportunity to remember what is at stake, to highlight, to rethink and to act.

In this new Etkho post, we want to talk to you about the adaptation and evolution of hospitals to contribute to the health of the planet. Faced with the climate emergency, the deterioration of ecosystems and atmospheric pollution, the threats to the planet are many.

These elements have a variety of consequences for people all over the world, including the emergence of associated infectious, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, as well as for animals.

BMS systems for hospitals and their integration with the electrical installation for IT systems in critical hospital areas

Among the amalgam of modern and innovative technological solutions for intelligent buildings, one of the most prominent is the BMS system.

This solution for energy saving and efficient control of safety and comfort in hospitals is one of the best tools available to health centres to avoid energy waste, problems in the electrical installation and serious situations such as those that can occur in critical hospital areas.

Building Management Systems (BMS) are increasingly used in all types of public and private buildings. In our case, especially in hospitals.

Electrical safety in the ICU and resuscitation areas

Hospital units, especially ICUs, are contexts with high risks of electrical failures if they do not have an adequate electrical safety system.

Today, most medical devices are electronic, so they are powered by power supplies and the electrical grid. If an electrical safety failure occurs, the risk of patient injury is high. Especially, in areas such as the ICU or other critical areas in health centers.

The ICU is the intensive care unit of a hospital, that is, the area of a hospital center where the most seriously ill patients who require continuous and specific surveillance and attention are admitted.

By critical areas we understand those areas of the hospitals where health care is produced in which the risk is high. In addition to the ICU, for example, we find operating rooms, emergencies, clean rooms, isolation rooms, ICU…

To maintain hospital electrical safety in these areas, there are various elements that protect and guarantee the electrical supply. We are talking about, for example, IT power systems, uninterruptible power supplies or ground connections, among others.

Telemedicine: Paradigm shift after the pandemic

Telemedicine, after the coronavirus, has positioned itself as an essential element in the health industry.

One of the main consequences of Covid-19 is the great advance that telemedicine has experienced globally. Whether they are more advanced countries accustomed to the use of new health technologies, or those that had not opted for telemedicine, remote health care has increased during the pandemic and lockdowns.

Although it is true that more telephone medicine has been done than telemedicine itself, many barriers planned for the coming years have been broken in just a few months. In addition, much of the fear of the dehumanization of health technology has been eliminated.

Thus, the different health administrations are beginning to generalize teleconsultations and other resources of the digitalization of health.

The effectiveness of home health care, regardless of the face-to-face hospital infrastructure, in case of having telematic means to be able to monitor the patient, has become the present and the future of health.

The future of quantum technology applied to medicine

Quantum computing is presented as one of the greatest allies of health for the coming years.

Quantum computing has positioned itself as the protagonist of the next great revolution in the medical sector. The advantages of this technology are endless in many fields, but especially in what affects the health sector. Fundamentally, thanks to the processes of quantum computing technologies, problems that used to take days, months, or entire years to solve will now only be a matter of seconds.

The union of quantum physics and quantum technology uses nanotechnology, artificial intelligence and especially quantum computing to process large volumes of data, create simulations, develop custom drugs, manipulate organs at the molecular level…

What applications in medicine does quantum technology have? What is it based on? What can the future hold for us? In this article, we are going to analyze in detail the new paradigm of quantum technology in the health field.

5 Healthcare trends in 2022

Hospital engineering, electrical safety, the consumerization of health, mobility and telemedicine are some of the challenges that will mark the future of global health this year.

Like every beginning of the year, it is always interesting to analyse the trends that we will find in the health field. With our sights set on this 2022, at Ethko we have detected some of the main items or elements that will be decisive in hospital centers. From the outset, we cannot ignore the pandemic, which although it no longer causes the same havoc as in 2020 and early 2021, we do have to take into account that the transition from pandemic to endemic will take place.

There will be new treatments and vaccines on the market and in the sector to deal with Covid-19. In this regard, the reinforcement of primary care is a yes or yes that, however, produces more uncertainty than anything else. We already know that this virus has become persistent in thousands of people, something to keep in mind. European funds for health, the impact of mental health… The topics will be many and varied.

However, we can talk about the 5 main trends that will mark the path of health in 2022.

Ranking of the best hospitals

The covid-19 pandemic has pushed Spanish healthcare to the limit, and practically all of the countries most affected by SARS-CoV-2. The successive waves of coronavirus have put Primary Care, hospitals and, in short, the entire healthcare structure in check and to the test.

Therefore, since the beginning of 2020, hospitals have had the opportunity to show their strengths and weaknesses, their degree of hospital excellence and the impact on the well-being of the patient. And how the money in taxes and contributions affect those who pay for their own health. Centers to save lives, centers to vaccinate, 2020 and 2021 have been a before and after in all hospitals in Spain.

Therefore, it is important to know how the best hospitals in Spain are estimated each year, whether public or private, specialized in one area or another.

Alarm repeaters

Current alarm repeaters, in addition to their basic and logical use, which is to ‘snitch’ about an error or possible problem situation, have evolved to help medical personnel act. And it is that health workers have often considered this alarm as a necessary ‘nuisance’, seeing its required maintenance as a nuisance.

The fact is that, with some frequency, medical personnel have not known how to act in the face of these alarms. Or they simply did not know the risk situation that was taking place, especially in the alarms related to electrical safety.

But today, alarm repeaters not only provide additional information to medical personnel, but indicate what to do at all times to remedy the situation, or who to call. With them, touch screens also stand out on technical panels, for example in operating rooms, which allows the graphic display of the alarm with icons and colors.

Current outlook of hospital energy cost and consumption

Improving efficiency in energy consumption in hospitals has many advantages and is a crucial aspect for the future of these health centers in the coming years.

The price of electricity is shooting up 25% in energy costs for hospitals. That is the reality that health centers are experiencing due to the global energy crisis, which is increasing the price of electricity to unapproachable limits for many people and companies.

According to the Spanish media Redacción Médica, hospital centers are going through very hard times and uncertainty due to the year-on-year increase in the price of electricity of 25 percent. According to Sedisa, 100,000 euros the monthly bill for electricity consumption of an average hospital. Hospitals spend more and more energy because they take on more and more activities, and also the VAT they pay and pay is 21%: there is no reduced price for these rates.

As they explain, part of the country’s health centers do not have the price of electricity closed. This causes that there is a real increase on what they pay in each invoice. Especially taking into account that the energy consumption of hospitals is around 3% of the country’s total.