Digital twins of the human body, blockchain medical records, metaverse hospitals, and new decentralized systems will profoundly change how healthcare is delivered in the future.
How technology will change the future of healthcare
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In this article, we discuss some of the ways Web3 and immersive metaverse technologies can transform healthcare systems and improve health outcomes for all.
The Age of Metaverse Healthcare
In the future, immersive metaverse technology could improve access to healthcare providers. For example, what if remote medical consultations with doctors could take place in the metaverse, especially for common or minor symptoms that don’t require a visual diagnosis?
You may be able to visit virtual hospitals and clinics in the metaverse or consult with doctors around the world from your location. Immersive VR visits could be a real boon for areas with a doctor shortage or where people would normally have to travel long distances to consult with a specialist.
Using digital twins to improve treatment
The future of internet healthcare offers many exciting cutting-edge opportunities, including the use of digital twins (virtual simulations of patients) to provide personalized, precision care.
Healthcare providers can use these digital representations of patients’ bodies to predict how real-world individuals will recover from surgery or illness, or respond to medicine. Healthcare providers can even run tests to design individualized treatment and rehabilitation plans, or “age” the digital twin to see how interventions will affect them in the future.
Medical Training and Specialized Care in the Metaverse
Companies and healthcare organizations are leveraging immersive technology to provide medical training for doctors and other medical professionals. FundamentalVR, a Royal College of Surgeons-accredited virtual reality medical education platform, has developed a VR solution that acts like a flight simulator, allowing surgeons to practice in a controlled environment before operating on real patients.
Virtual reality-based therapies can also be used to treat mental illnesses. By immersing patients in a simulated environment, they can experience situations that would be difficult or impossible to recreate in the real world. This allows them to process their emotions and experiences in a safe space, and to gain insights and skills that can be useful in their daily lives.
How Web3 is democratizing healthcare
Blockchain can also have a significant impact on healthcare, especially with regards to medical data. Web3 technology can provide a secure platform for patients to store and manage sensitive health data, such as lab results and prescriptions. They can also share this data with healthcare providers, while controlling who has access to their personal information.
Decentralizing health care also helps move away from large centralized systems, where care is primarily delivered in large hospitals and clinics, to a more decentralized model in which services are delivered in a variety of settings, including community health centers, primary care clinics, and even patients’ homes.
A decentralized system in which patients have full control over all of their data makes it easier for them to change providers if needed and to share anonymized data with medical researchers. Decentralization can also be used to improve healthcare in rural and remote areas by delivering medical services through telehealth and other technology-enabled solutions.
To learn more about how the future of the Internet will impact our healthcare system, subscribe to my newsletter or twitterLinkedIn, YouTube, and check out my books, Future Skills: The 20 Skills and Competencies Everyone Needs to Succeed in a Digital World and The Future Internet: How the Metaverse, Web 3.0, and Blockchain Will Transform Business and Society.
