The healthcare industry is witnessing new technologies every day that are useful in treating numerous diseases. Today, hospitals and other organisations embrace new technologies to provide better services and improve the patient experience.
One of the technological advancements that we commonly hear about in the healthcare industry is Healthtech. It has simplified the process throughout the various departments of the healthcare industry. However, the latest technological advancement, such as Medtech, is also coming under the limelight.
So, what are Healthtech and Medtech? What is the difference between them? We explore all those things in this article.
What is Healthtech?
Healthtech focuses on improving the patient experience through prevention and monitoring. It is a technological solution that improves the delivery system, patient care, billing system, etc. The patients can take advantage of Healthtech to deal with matters outside of the hospital, such as remote monitoring and telehealth.
Healthtech usually entails using wearable, mobile phone apps, and databases to check/monitor any patient. For instance, the wearables give an insight into the patient’s blood sugar levels, blood pressure, etc. It collects all the details and sends them to an app, which analyzes the data.
There is another category in Healthtech that helps the staff within the healthcare organisations. It serves the purpose of the administrative staff, doctors, and healthcare workers in:
- Billing management
- Keeping records in the database with patient information
- Schedule patient appointments
- Schedule staff shift
What is Medtech?
While Healthtech mainly focuses on monitoring patient health, Medtech technology helps diagnose, analyze, and treat a person. You will find the use of Medtech technology inside the hospital since it assists more in treatment instead of prevention.
Healthcare organisations use various Medtech devices, software, technologies, and systems to evaluate patient issues. They can have a severe impact on the person’s health, and that is why Medtech devices have a regulated supply. Medtech technology design was to provide the following purposes:
- Give better treatment
- Quicker and more precise diagnosis
- Much safer surgeries
- Less invasive examinations
Similarities and Differences between Healthtech and Medtech
Healthtech and Medtech both make it easier for healthcare professionals to treat their patients in a better way. Their robust features are changing the healthcare industry. Let’s go over some of the differences and similarities to have a much better understanding of them.
Similarities
Below are some of the similarities between Healthtech and Medtech:
- Both doctors and patients can access the Healthtech and Medtech software
- Medtech and Healthtech are a common symptom checkers among patients
- Both the technologies assist in monitoring and diagnosing the patients
- Both have the same wearable if used outside of the hospital, work as a Healthtech, and if used inside the hospital, then they work as Medtech
Differences
Below is a table showing the differences between Healthtech and Medtech
Healthtech |
Medtech |
|
Forms of Technology |
Databases, mobile apps, devices, etc | Drugs, genetic screening, modified organisms |
Rules and Regulation |
There are no regulations or barely any regulations in some places | Has proper regulations
|
Usage in the Healthcare Industry |
At the patient’s home or anywhere outside the hospital (Besides the project management software) | Within the hospital parameters |
What Purpose Does it Serve |
Prevention, monitoring, and personal care, | Treatment, analyzing, changing lives through artificial body parts, and keeping a check |
What Is The Major Difference Between Both of These Technologies?
The significant difference between both these technologies is the functions that they offer. The primary purpose of Healthtech is to monitor patient progress outside of the hospital.
On the other hand, Medtech focuses more on treating the patients. Let’s go over some examples to get a better understanding of them.
Healthtech Examples
- Headspace: It is one of the wellness apps which is an example of Healthtech technology. The app monitors the mental well-being of a person by monitoring their sleep patterns. It also helps in stress management, and you can download it on your phone to use it.
- Kardia: Another mobile application that is an example of Healthtech is Kardia. It monitors the heart rate and sends an EKG to your mobile phone. If it detects anything is wrong, the app will send an alert on your mobile phone.
- PainScale: PainScale allows patients to keep track of the areas where they feel pain and check out the frequency and intensity. The app also gives you tips by collecting the data to relieve your pain. You can enjoy fitness tips from the app to maintain perfect health.
Medtech Examples
- Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS): The DBS helps patients with epilepsy who are not responding well to the treatment. The doctors place the device into the brain through the surgery, and it sends electric impulses to parts of the brain that causes a seizure.
- Magtrace: This Medtech example is an alternative to radioisotope/blue dye, and it assists doctors in finding out whether breast cancer is spreading to the lymph nodes. It requires proper care and handling when used, or else it can result in severe health implications.
- CustomFlex Artificial Iris: This treatment solution helps in providing a distinctive treatment for patients suffering from aniridia. People who received this treatment reported much better vision and better cosmetic results.
Takeaway
We hope you now understand what Medtech and Healthtech are, their differences, and their similarities. In a nutshell, Medtech helps diagnose and provide accurate treatment to patients. Healthtech is useful in keeping a check and monitoring the patient’s progress.
These technologies are changing the healthcare industry and making it easy for medical professionals to take care of their patients. We can expect to see more technological advancements as healthcare organizations aim to look for quicker and safer treatments for various illnesses
So, it is better to follow the news and Healthtech PR agencies as they might be the first to tell about any new advancement. Furthermore, you can stay on top of the latest medical trends and discoveries regarding different topics by following Healthtech PR agencies.
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