What is the future of healthcare? It is undeniable that global healthcare frameworks are steadily shifting to a more digitized operational model, with the advent of advanced healthcare technology and even virtual healthcare systems.
Yet, there is more to it than only digital health platforms or other tools. The biggest world disruptor on the horizon is the Metaverse and it can have a major impact on shaping the future of healthcare.
Whatever has taken place so far on the VR or augmented reality front is only a trailer of things to come.
Globally, digi-health trends have firmly planted themselves as indicators of what is to come. Digital health startups in Europe raised close to €4.23 billion in 2021, which includes €577 million in France alone according to a Capgemini report.
Government expenditure also clocked 8.2% of the GDP for 2019 in the healthcare industry. The report also states how €1.4 billion is planned for initiatives pertaining to healthcare data sharing.
Virtual reality (VR) will be increasingly deployed for medical education and AR/VR may also play a role in surgeries in the future.
Gamification may be used for linking patients and caregivers at hospitals. The Metaverse will thus have a crucial role to play in the future of healthcare. Shifting to this environment will offer several opportunities including digital healthcare twins, virtual pharmacies, patient communities, and a lot more.
Healthcare providers will embrace the chance to boost practices, enhance remote monitoring and information tracking, offer personalized care solutions, and develop better Metaverse-based healthcare prospects.
Other areas that may see traction include NFTs (non-fungible tokens) for patient data control and ownership, anticipating drug risks with AI and other cross-evaluation techniques, smart contracts throughout the sector, pharmacovigilance measures, CT Blockchain remote monitoring and virtual pre-clinical labs, training, data collection, and remote cross-collaboration frameworks.
A virtual healthcare model cannot be ruled out for the sector and could well be its future, going forward.
The Metaverse can intrinsically impact healthcare, opening up newer opportunities for community-building, information-sharing, consultations, engagement, and process optimization through technologies like AR/VR, digital clinics and pharmacies, and NFTs for data control.
The Metaverse may enable diverse technologies like augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), NFTs, artificial intelligence (AI), and much more.
The Metaverse can improve patient engagement, personalize healthcare better, enhance cross-platform collaboration of specialists, and enable better consultations and lower administrative and operational costs greatly.
Healthcare providers can use the Metaverse for personalized and remote counseling and care solutions as far as patients are concerned, improve their practices with more advanced information sharing and consultations, undertake training more efficiency, and lower operational expenditure alongside.
