5 Technological Tools That May Improve Your Health
As technology advances, one of the industries that benefits from it the most is healthcare. There are many new and emerging technological tools available for healthcare providers and general consumers to use. Here are five technological tools that may improve your health.
1. Fitness And Health Trackers
These types of trackers can help you work toward improving your metabolic health. You can improve your metabolic health with a combination of diet and exercise and there are apps that can help with both. You can use various fitness tools to track your fitness, set goals and build your routine. Other trackers can help you get better at choosing foods that will help keep your blood sugar levels consistent. When you improve your metabolic health, you may also see improvements in mood, alertness, energy levels and memory.
2. Remote Monitoring Tools
Technology can also help healthcare providers have a more hands-on approach with their patients, in a similar way to fitness and health trackers. Healthcare providers can utilize remote monitoring tools to monitor patients who suffer from chronic diseases and conditions, even when those patients aren’t in the provider’s office. Tools exist for conditions such as diabetes, congestive heart failure and hypertension. Options include phone apps and Bluetooth connections that can automatically provide a doctor with his or her patient’s vitals and other necessary information.
3. Telehealth
Telehealth is another technological tool that is doing much to improve patient health, particularly in terms of public health. Healthcare providers can offer more comprehensive and informative telemedicine visits with the increasing accessibility and advancements of video conferencing software, wifi and mobile connections and software specifically designed to support telehealth. While it can’t replace physical examinations or testing, it’s highly useful for checkups that can be performed remotely, such as mental health screenings, visual symptom checks and follow-up visits. This allows the doctor to be available more consistently and frequently while also freeing him or her up to see patients with more urgent issues in person. It also ensures people in places where it’s difficult to get to a doctor’s office, such as rural areas, can still access healthcare in some way.
4. Virtual Workout Options
Technology has facilitated the ease with which people can get interested in and improve their fitness. This isn’t limited only to your basic fitness tracker. Increasingly, there are apps that take the initiative to remind the user to get some physical activity in, stretch or even meditate. There are also apps that can learn how to motivate users or help users engage with fitness communities. Above all, technology has made it easier than ever to start exercising in the first place. You can use the internet and apps to sign up for various fitness classes or gym memberships. There are free fitness videos available online. You can use all of these options to find your preferred forms of working out, such as swimming or barre classes, or you can use them to find something new, such as a martial art or a new type of dancing.
5. Patient Portals
Patient portals allow patients to take a more active role in their own healthcare. These portals centralize a patient’s information and progress in one location, typically internet-based or cloud-based, where the patient and all or most of his or her healthcare providers can access it to update or reference. A patient can also use the portal to directly message his or her healthcare providers and receive feedback more quickly and efficiently than he or she would if they called the office, where he or she would be more likely to be put on hold or asked to leave a voicemail.
While some of these technological tools are available to general consumers and those consumers are encouraged to use them, it’s always a good idea to check with your doctor first to make sure it’s the right option for you. Likewise, you should consider whether a tool such as telehealth will work for you or not before committing.
