The COVID-19 pandemic has led many lives and businesses to come to a screeching halt. While people around the world have been forced to physically distance, work from home, and put a hold on their lives, some are adapting to the reality of the situation. Technology and medicine have no choice but to advance in response to it. They are evolving with the times and are coming together to provide solutions to the problems of the pandemic and improve healthcare overall. We have no choice but to adapt, and for some people there is no avoiding it.
Tech Moves Forward
With so many people working from home, technology is being utilized to its full potential and is advancing because of that. Almost immediately when the lockdowns began, workers were told to work from home and conduct meetings with online conferences. Remote work has been embraced during these times and technology will benefit from it.
As 5G rolls out and makes the speed of the internet and ability to utilize artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) to their full potential and work with larger streams and files, the pandemic ensures that people utilize this technology even after it’s over. When people work with the latest tech, it pushes the field further. One way that it is facilitating the world is by providing online education to those in the medical field.
Medicine Adapts
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the medicine is adapting as best they can. Hospital beds are few and far between. Medical equipment is scarce. Employee personnel are low. With medicine being highly impacted by the virus, new nurses and doctors are necessary. Funding is crucial. There’s no way around the truth that no one was prepared for a virus of this scale and the medical field has to evolve with the needs of the time.
One way technology is facilitating the medicine is by providing opportunities to evolve and adapt to the pandemic. New tech makes imaging easier and telemedicine provides physically-distanced appointments. There are also online ABSN programs. This is an accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing that can be completed in just one year. For those who have the calling to help people and the vocation of nursing to do it, getting educated further helps the field.
The Institute of Medicine recommends that 80 percent of nurses have a bachelor degree. With accredited online ABSN programs and various specializations, nurses can become better educated to handle tough medical situations and improve the field overall.
Technology Advancing Medicine
Tech is facilitating the advancements of healthcare and medicine in general. Telemedicine has advanced greatly. This has enabled people to avoid unnecessary doctor appointments that could lead to COVID-19 transmissions, making them easier to attend. People can get the treatment they need by consulting a doctor online when they can. Telemedicine is helping doctors work more quickly. New technologies are improving screenings for diseases.
5G internet will provide all kinds of advancements. It will enable remote surgeries, quickly transmit large imaging files, and expand telemedicine further. AI and VR will innovate treatments and data for research. It will even improve wearables to monitor vitals and health issues.
86 percent of doctors say that wearables increase patient engagement with their own health. Not only will technology offer information in real-time, treatments and procedures will improve greatly with a better connected world. The evolution of technology will help medicine respond to the COVID-19 crisis and other diseases in the future.
Technology Changes Our World
Technology isn’t just changing medicine, it is augmenting our whole world. The pandemic has contributed to the advancement by necessity and, in some ways, there is no going back. Remote work is more lucrative and productive. The benefits of online conferencing are here to stay. 5G is just around the corner.
Instead of spending time in the office, people everywhere will cut down on commuting and other extraneous activities by working from wherever they are. It will also make living in the same city as your employer irrelevant. As long as the work gets done, there is no reason to commute or relocate. This will enable the employer to hire the best candidate for the job, wherever they are.
As tech advances, our lives will become easier and healthier. Time will tell how technology will change the world around us, but it has become clear that a post-COVID-19 world will be different than the planet pre-pandemic. Both medicine and tech are forced to advance in response to it, but this is not necessarily a bad thing in the long-run.
Ryan Beitler is a writer, journalist, and blogger who has written for various publications about tech as well as The Slovenia Times, Paste Magazine, Addiction Now, New Noise Magazine, and more.