In an exclusive interview, Chou spoke on how Augmented Reality (AR) is making its way into the healthcare sector and transforming the healthcare practices for better care delivery.
The Evolution of AR
AR has evolved tremendously over the years, creating a realization of a lot of things—from gestures to voice recognition. It ensures a tighter blending and integration with how technology would interact with us across our senses. AR has come a long way in the healthcare sector too; in medicinal services AR has wide reaching implications with capacity to change the therapeutic segment—from giving ongoing information and help amid convoluted surgical methods, to supporting aftercare and the healthcare organizations in their procedures. Today, the healthcare industry is moving in the right direction in terms of using this latest technology.
AR in the Healthcare Sector
AR improves the way medicine is practiced and significantly enhances treatment quality from healthcare providers. The risks involved in surgical procedures can be decreased by keeping the most imperative data up front for the surgeons.
AR can likewise help enhance a patient's aftercare administration. After leaving the hospital, a patient might be required to proceed with specific medications to effectively deal with a medical problem. For older individuals specifically, monitoring of medications can turn out to be very challenging. AR applications installed in smart glasses, for example, Google Glass can act as a computerized healthcare assistant in reminding the patient to take their medications at specific times and urging them to eat better and exercise more.
While it is of undoubted significance that medical students understand the hypothesis behind surgical systems, ailment pathology, and human life structures, AR technology would enable an enhanced medical training. This would prompt physicians and nurses to join the dots from theories in books and white papers to the real world outcomes.
AR in Surgical Procedures
AR can simplify complicated surgical procedures. An entire operation can be seen before hand and understood how it should be performed. The exact process and sequence of the operation can be practiced using AR to improve outcomes.
Practicing complex surgical operations with the help of AR enables hospitals to prevent any mishap. With medical procedures relying on AR, the healthcare industry will witness a positive change in terms of treatment and patient aftercare.
Role as Chief Information and Digital Officer
As the CIO of Children's Mercy Kansas City, I have the responsibility to manage technologies used in the entire hospital. To ensure that things are in place, 30 percent of my time is solely devoted to ensure that the technologies implemented in the hospital are keeping the operations moving. It’s also essential for me to see that the work is done with the entire application portfolio or procedure. Major part of my time is spent in organizational strategies, analyzing the latest technology and the competitive advantages it brings to help us think digitally.
AR in the Years to Come
Though AR is paving a path into the healthcare sector, its applications are still being doubted as any wrong implication can adversely affect a patient’s life. However, a full-fledged AR developed for healthcare can tremendously transform the way the sector functions and delivers services. Realizing this, huge investments are being made to improvise and implement the technology to overcome the challenges it possess.
