With tens of millions of Americans living without insurance, things are still not as dire as they were ten or twenty years ago. With the amount of data, information, and technology that’s commercially available to patients, there’s a lot to rejoice about. The future of healthcare will see more people covered and even more people with access to living a healthy life.

Here are five ways that healthcare is changing.

1. The Era of Telemedicine is Here

Believe it or not, many people like the freedom, flexibility, and cost savings of telemedicine. For people dealing with chronic diseases or who need to check in for mental health issues on a sporadic basis, it’s been useful and effective. People prefer to be able to manage their care on an as-needed basis rather than having the formality of an office visit.

If you’re new to telemedicine, you should know that it’s much more than just a virtual office visit. With telemedicine, patients can contact the highest quality healthcare providers, no matter where they’re located geographically.

If a patient travels a lot for work, they’re going to struggle to take time off to visit a doctor on a regular basis. When they have a chronic issue that requires regular management, they could either suffer from the symptoms or use telemedicine to get help over the internet.

Most serious issues require a follow-up call or a visit with a medical professional. This creates a situation where a lot of people take a chunk of time out of their schedule for what could be a five-minute visit. Instead of having to do that, telemedicine allows this to happen over the phone.

The most revolutionary place where telemedicine has had an impact is in mental health care. Instead of having to dig for the right fit, schedule a consultation, and potentially have to start the search again, the process is streamlined. Patients will pay less than they would for an office visit and have access to health care suited to them.

Rather than having to pay for a full hour, telemedicine offers low price, shorter sessions that can happen as often as a patient needs.

2. Wearable Tech is Becoming Huge

In case you haven’t noticed while sitting in meetings, riding the train, or in the grocery store, millions of people are wearing activity monitors 24 hours a day. As more people get comfortable with wearables, they get more connected to their body.

Even uninsured people will live a healthier life with wearables.

Doctors can connect to the results that wearable tech devices find to help monitor their patients’ vitals over a longer period of time than just a visit to their office. They’ll know whether or not they’ve adhered to the exercise schedule they said they would and how their heart rate is doing. If they see spikes, they can talk about patterns of activity or behavior that might not have come up during an office visit.

Thanks to the pervasiveness of patient portals connected to offices all around the country, patients can get access to their medical records when they need them. Rather than having to wait every six months for a reminder of how their health has changed, they can check at a moments’ notice.

3. Artificial Intelligence Can Work Magic

In the tech industry, data means everything. With all of the data gathered, machines and computers can recognize trends and make predictions. When these trends are connected to devices, those devices can make intelligent changes to improve health.

If patients represent a high-risk factor for certain diseases, wearable devices and IoT optimized tools can help usher along preventative treatments. From the comfort of home, patients will get data letting them know if their blood pressure or heart rate has reached a higher than optimal level. If this happens, devices can recommend actions or activity to help.

In the future, we’ll see AI tools that can call for help if an emergency occurs.

4. Medical Apps

When given the choice of whether or not to take their health into their own hands, most patients will choose to do so. Because it can be frustrating to try to get in touch with doctors when waiting for test results or a diagnosis, medical apps are trying to eliminate this problem.

Since most medical facilities are going mobile and using networked technology throughout their office, there’s no reason that data can’t be sent to patients. Instead of waiting for results, you could find things out the moment your doctor does. Instead of calling and waiting for someone to track down a chart, you could view information right from your phone.

A growing number of medical facilities are storing their patients’ data on the cloud. Because of privacy concerns and HIPAA regulations, there are several layers of data protection and security between the data and patients. However, once these concerns are resolved, it should be much easier for the average patient to get their data without hassles.

5. Engaged Patients

The biggest trend, which finds its way into each of the above items, is a better informed and engaged number of patients. Starting with WebMD and thankfully now more grounded in data, patients can find out information about their health that was inaccessible in previous eras.

The cost of healthcare is higher than many other products and services, yet patients used to have no power over their service or their information. The internet gives everyone the ability to learn about preventative care tactics, lowering the barrier to entry for millions of people. There’s never been a better time for patients to learn more about their care.

The Future of Healthcare is Undeniable Digital

No matter your age, health status, or experience with healthcare, there’s no way around the future of healthcare and its digital revolution. With more people talking about how many steps they took, sharing vegan recipes online, and having open conversations about disability, people will live healthier. When we have access to information, we have the chance to live a healthy life.

If you’re concerned with losing weight, check out our latest guide to learn what your options are.