How Personalized Medical Treatments are Being Developed with the Help of Technology

In the past, many patients were forced to undergo a one-size-fits-all approach to treatments. While this worked for some patients, it didn’t necessarily work for everyone and could end up making diseases expensive for those who received the wrong treatments. Fortunately, healthcare is beginning to undergo some major changes. Namely, personalized treatments are becoming a more common occurrence in healthcare.

One of the main reasons that personalized care has become more accessible is due to the advancement of technology. Gaining perspective on the ways that technology is advancing personalized treatments can give one a more nuanced understanding of the future of healthcare.

Here is how personalized medical treatments are being developed with the help of technology.

The Rise of Electronic Health Records

While it may seem insignificant from the outside, electronic health records have made a powerful impact on the world of healthcare. In the past, changing medical providers could be an incredibly difficult task that involved the transport of physical documents from one place to another.

Today, however, the digitalization of health-related documents has streamlined this process dramatically, making it easier for nurses and doctors to quickly access this type of information.

In addition to making this process quicker, it has also provided doctors with more access to pertinent health information. In fact, medical professionals can now access a plethora of medical information about patients in just moments. This is now allowing medical professionals to take a deeper look into patients’ medical history which makes it easier to tailor medical care to individuals’ unique needs.

This ability to easily assess patients past medical histories is a significant step towards personalized care. As electronic health records have become more accessible across the country, personalized care has become an easier task to undertake for medical professionals of all kinds.

New Technology Unlocking Genetic Codes

Each individual has a unique genetic code that is wholly their own. This genetic code determines many characteristics, including how certain individuals react to certain ailments and certain treatments. Over the last several decades, more information about the human genome has become available to the medical field. In more recent years, new technology has emerged which makes it possible for medical professionals to use this information to tailor medical treatments to the unique needs of individual patients.

Unfortunately, utilizing genetic information to tailor treatments to patients has not yet become widely available or accessible. The technologies and techniques used in this method of treatment have not yet been perfected and are still being trialed and tested for the time being. However, given the rapidly advancing nature of technology in recent years, this form of personalized treatment based on individual genetics may become commonplace in the coming decades.

Although this completely unique version of personalized medicine isn’t yet available, medical professionals are beginning to utilize vast quantities of patient data to inform treatment plans.

The Increasing Role of Data Analytics and AI in Personalized Care

While we may still have a few years until individual genetic make-ups inform treatment plans, that doesn’t mean that the vast amount of patient data that’s been recorded isn’t being put to good use. In fact, more and more medical institutions are beginning to use data analysis and AI-powered software to produce better health outcomes for patients.

Essentially, medical professionals now have access to databases of vast quantities of patient data. AI software is used to rapidly analyze these databases and discover patterns and insights. When specific patient information is entered into these systems, the software will produce insights based on historical patient data from masses of previous patients.

For example, a certain patient may share the same characteristics and symptoms as many patients who went on to develop a certain type of cancer. As such, medical professionals can start preventative treatment to mitigate the possibility of this happening.

As can be seen, this form of preventative care can be seen as a breakthrough in cancer treatment, along with many other diseases. While still in its beginning phases, this form of individualized care is having promising results and is likely to become a normalized part of the treatment process in the coming years.

Personalized Care is the Future of Healthcare

Though in many ways it is still in its early stages, personalized care is making a dramatic impact on healthcare and patient outcomes. From being able to detect early warning signs through the use of data to using AI to analyze health patterns, new technologies are quickly transforming the ways patients receive care.

While many of these methods and technologies are still evolving, it’s likely that many of them will become normalized healthcare processes over the next decade.