Philips: 10 healthcare technology trends for 2022

Moving into the third year of the pandemic, healthcare professionals around the world continue to face unrelenting workloads and acute staff shortages. Over time, the continued rise of chronic diseases, increasing healthcare costs, widening inequalities, and climate change will only add to the strain if we don’t urgently rethink how and where care is delivered. In the meantime, patient and consumer expectations of healthcare are changing. Future health systems will need to deliver care that is more accessible, scalable and equitable, while helping to preserve the health of the planet. These ten healthcare technology trends show how digital and sustainable innovation can help us get there.

1. Freeing up focus for patient care by automating routine tasks with AI
One of the most pressing sources of stress and burnout in healthcare is that highly capable professionals spend an undue amount of time on routine tasks that pull their attention away from the patient. For example, in radiology departments, imaging staff say almost 25% of their work is inefficient and could be automated [1].



With the rise of AI in healthcare, we now have the tools to automate such tasks to relieve the burden on imaging technologists and free up focus for patient care. Especially in complex imaging modalities like CT and MR, AI-enabled technology can make it easier for technologists to plan and execute routine exams, helping them to get images first-time-right with enhanced confidence and precision.



Similarly, we will see an increased use of AI-based automation in image-guided therapy, where physicians perform minimally invasive procedures on patients with heart disease or other conditions. Today, interventional physicians may spend up to two hours reporting on cases after a full day of treating patients. AI could help alleviate this workload by auto-logging different steps of the procedure – enabling physicians to give their full attention to providing patient care.