Thanks to pressing public health issues, increased longevity, consumer demands, and a variety of other factors, the healthcare industry is facing some steep challenges. There is significant pressure to meet the challenges of the future in healthcare delivery, research, privacy, billing, meeting the needs of various populations, and so much more.
To meet these challenges, physicians, government agencies, hospitals, researchers, and others are turning to technology. One of these technologies is augmented reality, and it’s becoming clear that this could have a revolutionary impact. Here are five ways this is happening right now.
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Improving Training Initiatives
There are so many healthcare fields for which there simply aren’t enough workers. The best way to solve this problem is to train more people to enter these fields. Augmented reality is having a positive impact on the quality of this training, and the delivery of it as well. AR training applications allow learners to interact with 3D images that provide them with a much more realistic experience than simply watching videos or reading a book.
AR works so well as a tool for learning because it gets and keeps students engaged, and it provides an educational experience that is fully immersive. Because students engage so many of their senses as they learn, they are better able to understand and retain a lot of complex information. At the same time, there is less risk as students are able to more sufficiently practice techniques before executing them on patients.
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Increasing The Speed at Which New Tech Can be Implemented
There may be no industry other than healthcare where new innovations arrive at such a rapid pace. These promise great benefits to both consumers and providers alike. The problem is that there is often too much time between the conception of a new technology, and its widespread adoption. This is caused by costs, lack of awareness, struggles to meet training needs, implementation, and infrastructure issues.
AR cannot solve all of these issues, but it can help companies that have products that can potentially serve customers new ways to present those products to a wider audience much sooner. This can be done through AR driven demonstration tools. Once a new technology is adopted, augmented reality can be used for ongoing training and onboarding.
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Assisting in Daily Treatment Tasks
Healthcare practitioners face a lot of pressure to complete their daily tasks in ways that are efficient and accurate. The better able they are to perform medical procedures, examine patients, and diagnose issues the better able they are to deliver quality healthcare. Augmented reality tools can be deployed in emergency rooms, exam rooms, even the surgical theater to help doctors, nurses, and other providers give patients better care. AR can show 3D renderings of a patient’s organs, project anatomical cross sections, and more.
One example of this is the Accuvein tool. This uses augmented reality to help nurses and phlebotomist find a patient’s veins for blood draws and inserting IVs. The result is a quicker, more painless process for the patient.
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Giving Patients More Control over Treatment And Outcomes
Patients are becoming increasingly more interested in playing a role in their own healthcare. This is yet another area where AR tools are having some impact. There are now AR apps and tools that patients can use to better understand their health conditions. Others enable patients to explore their symptoms.
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Better Healthcare Access
Healthcare access is a global problem. There are areas where there simply aren’t enough doctors, patients are plagued with transportation issues, and wait times for appointments and treatments are unacceptably long. Qualified physicians tend to cluster in downtown areas, mear colleges and universities, and suburban areas. This leaves patients in rural areas and inner cities struggling to get the healthcare they need. The situation in developing nations is even more desperate.
Telemedicine has the potential to solve many of these problems. Rather than seeing patients face to face, healthcare providers use technology to provide care over the internet using smart devices and video tech.
For example, a surgical specialist in one region can provide instruction to a surgeon in another, while that surgeon is also assisted by augmented reality tools. AR tools can also be used by patients and allied health professionals to provide practitioners with helpful information they can use for treatments and diagnostics.
Final Thoughts
Is your healthcare organization interested in implementing AR technology? Perhaps you’ve already taken the leap. It will be interesting to see how augmented reality continues to contribute to the healthcare industry.