Healthcare in the Open Economy: General Manager for WWT Application Services London comments on industry changes
Posted by The Telegraphin October 2017:
Healthcare is about to change beyond recognition. A host of technologies are uniting to transform the way we treat patients and develop new cures - from artificial intelligence and robotics to virtual reality and connected devices.
Over the past decade, mobile technology has transformed the world we live in - changing everything from the way we watch television to the way we hail taxis. Now a new revolution is set to change healthcare for ever - one driven by mobile technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies.
This is the crest of a wave. In the coming years, 5G will enable surgeons to perform robotic operations from other continents. Augmented reality will change our understanding of the human body. AI will help us fight illnesses that have defeated even the best care givers. Everything is changing, and it's all down to those little ones and zeroes flying through the air.
What does the internet have to do with my health?
Technologies already familiar to us, like wearable fitness monitors and health apps, are the start of a transformation that will save thousands of lives.
"Virtual" visits from doctors, delivered via portable video devices, can save lives, says Kelly White, London general manager of WWT Application Services. His company's connected kits come with sensitive two-way cameras for patients to talk to medical staff, along with health monitors for blood pressure and blood oxygenation.
"For those older people who live alone," White says, "having a doctor regularly checking in helps to avoid the tragic instances of people suffering strokes, heart attacks or falls, and lying unnoticed at home."
Mercy Virtual, which trialled virtual check-ups in the US, found that patients spent a third less time in hospitals on average and that deaths from septic shock fell by 60pc.