The Future of Medicine is Personalized Healthcare
30 Jun 2023
People are increasingly getting used to the fact that they will receive individual treatment when buying goods and using services. This even applies to medical care. The shift from a one-size-fits-all treatment approach to providing the most appropriate medical care for everyone is still in its infancy. Health solutions should be based on proven theories, research and technological solutions tailored to the patient’s health needs.
What does Personalized Healthcare mean?
Personalised healthcare, at its core, uses a patient’s entire medical history, all diagnostic tests, all prescribed treatments and medications, and advances in medicine, telemedicine, and genetics to tailor medical treatment to each individual’s needs. As more medical data accumulates, medical professionals can more precisely determine treatment plans, subsequent rehabilitation and monitoring. Highly individualised treatments aim for faster patient recovery, easier ongoing health management for physicians, and potentially lower reimbursement costs for insurers.
Positive Aspects of Personalised Care
If they implement this strategy, patients, medical professionals, and healthcare facilities will inevitably see the positives of efforts to personalise services. Naturally, it all starts with goal setting and the pursuit of monitoring patients’ condition outside the hospital. Because personalising healthcare means attention to detail and applying the highest standards of inpatient and outpatient treatment and follow-up visitations/health tracking.
Higher patient engagement results from physicians’ efforts to prescribe the most appropriate drugs that will not have side effects. Also, the aim is mainly focused on not letting disease progress progressing patients not developing co-morbidities, as well as early prevention. A personalised approach strongly influences patient engagement and makes them feel cared for and satisfied with the medical services offered.
Booking an appointment for a medical consultation happens quickly and seamlessly, completely remotely. It is extremely convenient to book an appointment with a specialist without explaining your health problems to a clinic receptionist over the phone. It is significantly easier to share tests or your medical record and fill out a health questionnaire for an upcoming examination with just one click. In this way, the patient experience is individualised from the very beginning as well as later the relation during the examination.
Patients receive higher added value for paid services, reflected in improved healthcare without a drastic price change. The accumulation of knowledge, skills and good practices in the personalisation of healthcare leads to satisfaction in patients who evaluate the services they pay for as fair.
When people are convinced that the health care provided to them is of a high standard, they would be more inclined to make the annual recommended visits to specialists. Unfortunately, it is a fact that prevention needs to be more widely promoted and made mandatory. A clear example is the situation with GPs who do not have constant contact with their patients and need to notify them of their annual examinations or upcoming vaccinations. Many specialised clinics also do not have a system to track the health of their patients after they leave the doctor’s office and are referred for further tests.
Unfortunately, even hospitals lack methods to monitor the condition of patients who have undergone surgery. By taking active steps for proactive prevention, post-hospital care and maintaining a two-way relationship between doctor and patient through an individual approach, the level of personalised healthcare will be noticeably increased.
Even some aspects of personalised medical care would generate additional revenue for a hospital facility. Patients would be more willing to make a repeat appointment with a specialist if they received special treatment and an individual approach. Access to a patient’s detailed health record allows the medical professional to send reminders for regular visits or timely changes to the prescribed therapy. In turn, the patient will be able to connect with a specialist online. All these additional services, based on the application of individual medicine, generate the so-called additional income.
Digital Technologies in Personalised Healthcare
Telemedicine is an integral part towards the drive to offer personalised healthcare. It collects all the necessary patient data, connecting them instantly with the health facility, the treating doctor and the insurer. Medrec:M offers patient health status tracking through its app, as well as the ability to manage a medical practice, reserve online appointments, and connect directly with each patient through Medrec:M Clinic. The software solution enables doctor-patient connectivity even after leaving the medical facility, one-click sharing of medical history, and other functionalities that help personalise healthcare. Download the Medrec:M app for free here or test Medrec:M Clinic here.