5G is all set to transform healthcare

Patients are already video chatting with doctors from their homes. Health professionals are managing patient records on digital platforms. In recent times, we have seen a tremendous digital transformation in the field of medicine, improved data transfer, security of patient data, broadband access, and advancements in technology to name a few. However, transferring a massive number of patients’ data can be challenging over a 4G network. This is why 5G network will make a big difference.

5G speed will not just facilitate high quality video interactions, but also enables near-instantaneous data transfer of records such as prescriptions, test reports, medical imaging, and other reports. The implications of 5G in the healthcare sector is expected to usher in limitless possibilities, some of which are as follows:

Futuristic innovations in telemedicine
XR-powered tools can be used for teaching, medical training, or virtual therapy. Healthcare professionals can get immersive training and visualisation for highly complex procedures. Besides that, AI-enabled apps and wearables, machine learning will facilitate health-related data analysis in multiple scenarios.

Improved patient care

With increased bandwidth and low latency, 5G will help healthcare professionals provide improved quality of care. As the superfast internet will enable sharing of higher resolution videos and images, virtual interaction will enhance multiple times over. This will not only cut down the trips to the healthcare centres when absolutely not required but also benefit the remote patients who are unable to make it to the hospital.

Better patient data management
Data management is becoming increasingly important in healthcare, as everyone including doctors, nurses, lab technicians, and EMTs share information. Certainly, in an industry where time is of the essence, a fast 5G connection can make a difference, with an ambulance being able to swiftly transfer an emergency patient’s data to a doctor, a doctor performing a check-in on a remote patient’s vitals with near-real-time review, or patient's relatives viewing an ultrasound from different time zones.

Increased security of patient data
Healthcare data is not only vast but also contains highly sensitive and personal patient information. Enhanced security and privacy offered by 5G will come in handy while building up on the proven, solid security foundation of 4G LTE. Reduced latency and reliable connectivity will further improve use of applications, especially when we are heading towards the use of edge cloud technology and AI to execute faster data analysis locally.

Be it remote surgery or emergency medical attention, IoT medical devices or AI-powered data analysis, 5G will surely streamline health monitoring for both patients and doctors. It would not be wrong to say that the superfast fifth generation internet will potentially create an out-and-out connected hospital that provides health equity to one and all.