How Technology is Revolutionizing Health and Wellness in Asia

Asia has always been a hotspot for medical development. It is also a popular destination for medical tourism due to its cost-effective structures.The advancement of technology in the 21^st century has aided a lot of fields, and the medical industry was also a major beneficiary of this development. Technology has changed the way hospital operations are carried out all the way from the time the patient enters the hospital to their discharge. It has simplified processes which we take for granted and most of the times, it isn’t even noticed.

A study by McKinsey has shown that Today, digital health impacts more than a billion lives, and estimates show that digital health in Asia could collectively create up to $100 billion in value by 2025, up from $37 billion in 2020.

“Against conventional healthcare’s growth rate of seven percent now, prevention & wellness is growing at 15 percent, which is more than double the rate. Inside the prevention & wellness sector, there will be some tumbling of tables, in favour of science based and results oriented solutions.” Says Adityanarayan, Co-Founder of Limoverse.

Patient Diagnosis Report

Diagnosing a patient’s ailment is the most crucial part of treatment. This dictates the type of medicine and care that must be given to the patient. With how reports are stored digitally, AI can draw up a suitable diagnosis based on your prior visits, possible heredity diseases and various vital signatures, this would have been extremely taxing and highly prone to errors. If it was the old method of paper storage which consumes a lot of space and, was bound to get lost and finding suitable reports irrespective of sorting method would take a lot of time, and as the experts say “time is of the essence”, this would result in blunders during emergencies.

This eases the doctor’s task of accessing data and allows them to focus on prescribing medications catered to the patient.

Drug Development Process

Drug Manufacturing is a process which consumes a lot of time in the research and development phase. Historically, this process would take months,maybe years being taken to develop a new drug was a common phenomenon. But, with the application of specialized technology and machinery, the development speed and production of new drugs have skyrocketed and new life saving drugs have come to the market post tech adoption.

Medical Machinery

The application of digital machines has vastly increased the probability of increasing the survival rate of the patient. The MRI for the medical industry has been a godsend. It is also commonplace now to see guided robotic arms doing procedures which would be really risky if done by human hands. Minimally invasive surgeries are commonly done with the aid of such instruments.

The quality of the prosthetic limbs which are produced today are almost sci-fi when compared to what was being made a few decades ago. The manufacturing hubs of Asia have bought down the cost and its easy availability in the open markets has completely eliminated the wait times.

Qualified Medical Specialists

The prominent Asian universities have been quick to adopt AR/VR technology in the education process of their students. This aspect has increased the skill of the students when they have graduated their university compared to their older counterparts who haven’t had this option. AR/VR gives them hands-on experience in field conditions with the risk component excluded.

Recently Tokyo Dental University developed a cardiac rehabilitation therapy by employing smart glasses.

Remote Healthcare Monitoring

The rise of wearable tech with Smartphone integration has given rise to 24-hour monitoring of various parameters, such as blood pressure, heart rate, sleep quality and many more. This has allowed medical professionals to gather more in-depth data about their patient’s lifestyle. Doctor’s visit for reports has become obsolete as you can get the report and diagnosis online.

The pandemic has accelerated the growth of Asian startups which offer remote healthcare services. Of late it is possible to have a consultation with a doctor online. This permits the doctor to see more patients while simultaneously removing the necessity of queuing at the doctor’s office.

Mental illness is viewed unfavourably in many parts of Asia, online therapy has allowed the patients to take a step where they can seek help in anonymity.

All in all, It can be said the technology of today can help us monitor our health like no other times. This is while still there is room for growth. Taking care of our health is easier than ever.