Chatbots are a natural fit for enhancing customer service, especially in an online or mobile setting, and we run into them on websites, in hospitals, on social media, and in mobile apps. There is room for this AI-enabled application in almost every business vertical, but there are pros and cons to be aware of when developing your first chatbot.

Chatbots in Customer Support

Customer support can be grueling. It requires businesses to provide friendly, responsive, and quick help at almost any time of the day. Because of the large investment involved in hiring people and building resources, it is difficult to build an excellent customer support team overnight.

It takes a lot of constant training and ongoing optimization to finetune your support representatives to meet all key performance indicators, like time-to-first-response, time-to-close-ticket, and customer satisfaction or feedback. Instead of skimping on one of your most important customer-facing departments, consider what a chatbot can unlock for you and your customers. Whether your company is a Fortune 500 company, doctor’s office, or a corner grocery store, your business can create and deploy a chatbot quickly and easily without a massive investment.

Benefits of Chatbots in Business

Increase Customer Happiness

Every company is in the business of making their customers happy. It’s what keeps profits steady and brand recognition strong. Thankfully, chatbots fit right into that notion as they are 100% customer-centric.

Chatbots work to answer user questions as fast as possible to reach a resolution on the question at hand. They help customers with the same efficiency and response rate, unlike humans which respond to various queries with different response times. This reliability can give customers more consistent expectations of interacting with your company.

If done right, chatbots can improve customer satisfaction. For example, an customer service representative based in Los Angeles may not be able to speak Japanese to help a customer, but a chatbot can easily switch to a different language on the fly. This unlocks the added benefit of reaching many more customers without having to hire interpreters or native speakers.

Leave an Impression on Customers

Besides serving up a consistent experience that customers can count on, chatbots offer customers the opportunity to “ooh” and “aah” over your company’s use of the most cutting-edge AI and machine learning technology. Many customers enjoy interacting with a chatbot, and engagement rates have been increasing steadily.

In 2019, nearly 40% of retail customers engaged with a chatbot in their search for an answer. When chatbots work well, they can bolster your brand image. They can also help customers see your company as an industry leader.

Available Around-the-Clock

Unlike people, chatbots can be “on” 24/7 without feeling exhausted or needing a break. They can help a customer whenever they need it and from wherever they’re located. Chatbots can stay on indefinitely and use customer feedback to continuously improve their success rates.

Generate Better Leads

Besides helping people with their questions and issues, chatbots can also generate leads. Add in a spam filter, and you can even generate better leads than your contact forms. In on-demand delivery apps, chatbots are often used to take orders and process payments from new customers. This can reduce the amount of time it takes to get a new lead to purchase a product from your company.

More Cost-Effective

Because chatbots don’t require healthcare or sick days, chatbots are much cheaper in the long run compared to a traditional customer support team. They use fewer resources like office space, money, and equipment. Chatbots cost a one-time investment fee, and they need minimal maintenance to continue performing.

Downsides of Chatbots

Talking to a Computer

At the end of the day, most chatbots can’t help customers shake the feeling that they’re talking to an automated AI application. For many customers, their problems can only be solved by a human, and this often includes problems with a purchase, shipping, or credit card charge. For these customers, interacting with a chatbot can feel futile and frustrating.

Although natural language processing technology has come a long way in the past few years, we still haven’t reached a point where chatbots feel human. Fluid language isn’t possible yet. Even the best chatbots can’t make customers feel like they’re talking to a human.

Difficult to Develop

Chatbots can be difficult to design and develop, especially if your company’s use case is complex. When adding machine learning technology into the mix, chatbot development can get downright arduous. As it stands, companies need to spend a lot of time, effort, and server space in creating their chatbot.

Most businesses need chatbots for simpler needs, however, like customer support which can run on pattern-based algorithms. There are already no-code or low-code platforms that offer brands the ability to create a custom chatbot. As technology keeps advancing, it’ll get easier and easier to create and deploy chatbots.

Ongoing Maintenance Schedules

Chatbots require updating and maintenance. Someone should look into the chatbot’s failed customer support tickets to make adjustments where necessary to avoid failing to resolve a ticket about the same topic again. As user questions and issues grow, take some time to add these new topics and their associated solutions into the chatbot’s knowledge bank. The time and effort will be worth it: this work can keep your brand image strong.

Developing Your Chatbot

Creating and deploying a chatbot is getting easier, and more companies are taking advantage of this technology by combining it with AI and machine learning. Don’t get left behind — a well-maintained chatbot with a high success rate in answering questions can strengthen your brand image and leave a great impression on your customers.

Have you interacted with an excellent chatbot? What company’s chatbot was it, and what did you take away from the experience? Let us know in the comments below!

For senior citizens who were able to quarantine alone or live alone throughout the pandemic, technology has taken over many aspects of senior care so that nurses and family can safely ensure their patient and loved one is staying healthy and well. Internet of Things (IoT) applications like fall detection and alert devices, behavioral monitoring sensors, and malnutrition and dehydration trackers have worked tirelessly to support caregivers and elders alike during the pandemic. The hope is that these devices will identify signs of a larger issue so that it can be stopped before becoming serious enough to require hospitalization.

Fall Detection Devices

In elderly populations, falls are a major concern. Falls become more common with age and are the second leading cause of unintentional or accidental deaths worldwide. Thus, it is important to control as much as we can for falls both at home and in senior care facilities.

IoT technology can help caregivers prevent, predict, and detect falls by helping them record falls, pinpoint risk factors in the environment and the individual, and learn preventative and corrective measures. Conventionally, fall-detection technologies have used devices that the elderly person carries or wears. When the patient falls, they have to press the button on the device. This solution is great if your loved one is living across the country in Los Angeles while you’re in Atlanta.

But this method doesn’t account for patients that didn’t fall but don’t feel well enough to get up or for patients who haven’t been feeling normal recently. IoT can detect changes in the patient’s wellbeing by monitoring for discomfort and wellness. IoT sensors can help caregivers track their patients’ progress for days or weeks at a time and compare metrics to see if their patient’s health is declining, which is a risk factor for falling. This can support caregivers to act earlier and provide more care to make up for the senior’s deteriorating wellbeing.

Staying Home Longer

Research shows there may be a link between moving out of the home and into a senior care facility and dying earlier. For many elderly patients, it’s important for them to stay somewhere familiar and accessible to their families. IoT can help families remotely keep an eye on their senior family member by sending daily information about the patient’s health and wellbeing without any action necessary from the senior. When used with tele-assistance services, IoT technology really shines for seniors.

Companies like Vitalbase and SeniorAdom are working on remote assistance technology using IoT systems. Their tools include geolocation pendants, motion detection sensors, and wrist band devices. This hardware is supposed to automatically detect changes in behavior, motion, physical strength, and cognition.

By anticipating risks, sending early notifications to family and caregivers, and acting quickly in an emergency, these companies are making it possible to protect our seniors without expending more money, time, and effort. For example, SeniorAdom uses a self-learning algorithm and a smart box connected wirelessly to sensors in the senior’s home. With these devices and software, the company can detect abnormal situations or critical problems and send a warning to relatives and caregivers. SeniorAdom also uses motion sensors and door sensors to create a general daily schedule of the senior so that abnormalities are more obvious when they occur.

A Look at the Sensor Technology

These IoT-enabled sensors work on an 0G network which is used to send small amounts of data over a larger distance. They don’t pick up any personal or private information while they detect differences from the baseline conditions and movements. 0G devices also utilize low amounts of energy, making the overall cost a lot lower for the family.

For devices that run on other networks like cellular devices, it’s possible to utilize 0G as a backup network to ensure a stable connection for around-the-clock supervision and emergency communication. Vitalbases’s Vibby OAK is an automatic fall detection device worn on the senior’s neck or wrist. It connects to a cellular device (like a smartphone) but uses a 0G network when the cellular connection is unstable or unreachable. At healthcare and senior living facilities, devices operating on the 0G network can communicate with existing nursing call systems to keep medical staff updated in the event of an emergency.

More Autonomous Living

Many seniors want to continue an independent, autonomous, and healthy lifestyle. By outfitting their home and body with several devices and sensors in an IoT system, it’s possible for relatives and caregivers to remain vigilant, proactive, and connected without having to ask their seniors to leave home for good.

The roll-out of 5G across the entire world is going to largely affect how we connect and network with each other. In business, 5G will boost the stability and connectivity of existing Internet of Things (IoT) applications while bolstering new IoT systems. It won’t take long for our cities, homes, and ways of living to adapt to all of the benefits 5G will bring, not to mention the added communication abilities, like staying in touch while traveling or connecting to the car next to you in traffic.

Ultimately, 5G will effect change in society, digitalization, and economies in almost all aspects of life and business, but for now, 5G operators are working to ensure mobile connectivity is strong and stable before expanding their focus to other industries and fields. Once that’s done, work will pivot to optimizing connectivity across consumers, businesses, and supply chains.

The Growing Need for Connectivity

Every year, the world’s data volume increases, and with more Internet-enabled devices than ever, 5G has become crucial. Soon, existing technologies won’t be able to meet IoT’s requirements unless 5G is available everywhere. As an example, in 2017, Germany doubled its data volume from 2015, reaching 1 billion gigabytes in a single year.

Experts calculated the number of connected devices and sensors reached between 50 and 500 billion in 2020. With these numbers growing every year, 5G offers unlimited possibilities for our global economy and productivity. Once we reach a certain global data volume, we will need 5G to maintain and scale up business and consumer needs.

LTE Today, 5G Tomorrow

3G made it possible for us to use our phones on a mobile connection with relative ease and speed, and it catalyzed the popularity and manufacturing of smartphones. With the roll-out of 4G LTE, data transfer rates skyrocketed, and it remains the most popular and most-used network even today. 4G LTE offers speeds up to 100 megabits per second, although many of us will experience those speeds first-hand on and off.

It’s possible to boost LTE bandwidths for download speeds up to 4,000 megabits (4 gigabits) per second, and while this is super fast, LTE was designed for smartphone use. On the other hand, 5G will be optimized from the ground-up for IoT connectivity. 5G speeds are faster than much of the Wi-Fi connections available around the world: stable speeds up to 20 gigabits per second aren’t out of the question with 5G.

In comparison, the first smartphones with 1G were eight million times slower than phones will be with 5G. When you put it that way, it seems 5G opens up all kinds of new doors. Now we can dream of transmitting data in real-time with no quality loss. We can theoretically connect 100 billion mobile devices around the world and access them all at the same time. 5G offers stable connection quality and an obvious increase in speeds (moving up to 500 kilometers per hour). That’s like driving from New York City to Los Angeles in nine hours, rather than the 41 hours it would normally take by car.

And besides smartphones, in our increasingly digital world, 5G will be a major asset in applications to many areas and industries. As a result, 5G will become the key technology for connectivity in the near future.

Unlimited Potential

In addition to IoT, the Industrial IoT, a major consumer of mobile connectivity technology, will benefit immensely from 5G. 5G will offer continuous connectivity and data transmission between robots, systems, machines, and people. And analysis will be done on-demand using edge computing, which is an emerging technology that we won’t be able to utilize fully without 5G.

The number of connected sensors and devices is expected to grow at a massive rate, and problems will be pinpointed in real-time rather than after the fact. Optimization can be done in real-time (or close to it), minimizing downtime, revenue loss, and loss of productivity. 5G will enable humanless tasks, not just in driving, but for industrial tasks like picking up and delivering goods, machine-to-machine communication, and loading and unloading materials.

Connectivity in a Digital World

Digital transformation (thanks in part to the pandemic) is driving the growth and expansion of many emerging technologies. But in the field of network connectivity, digital transformation is leading the charge for what to focus on and for use cases. High-quality connectivity is the most important end goal of 5G, especially for both large and small IoT systems. A dropped connection could lead to the factory floor production getting halted.

IoT and 5G experts know that all of the possibilities are still unmapped and unknown. As we arm ourselves with more stable and scalable emerging technologies, we will uncover more ideas, innovations, and opportunities that were previously thought of as unfeasible. Smart farming, which involves keeping an eye on all animals at any given time, crop health, soil moisture, changing weather, and much more, will finally be possible and closer to real-time observation than ever before. Accordingly, we’ll see a large increase in sustainability and efficiency in food production.

5G’s Prospects

Although we don’t know when 5G will reach market maturity, it’s obvious that it will bring about more possibilities, efficiencies, and connectivity than we’ve ever experienced before. It’s unclear what new ideas will be unlocked by the power of 5G. But one thing is certain: The world will never be the same when this next level of network connectivity is fully realized.

Telehealth has changed how we treat and care for those who have medical maladies and are vulnerable. The latest innovations in this field are enabling people to live safer, fuller lives without the need for constant human supervision. The COVID-19 pandemic has made this abundantly clear; more healthcare facilities than ever before are embracing telemedicine in an effort to keep patients from in-person appointments that risk exposure to the deadly virus.

Recent telehealth innovations such as wearables heavily rely on the Internet of Things. With this technological paradigm, we can securely transmit and analyze data in order to unearth life-improving care plans. These capabilities allow aging populations to continue to live in their own homes while reducing the burden that many care facilities are experiencing at the moment. In this post, we’ll examine the benefits of furthering telehealth connectivity innovation and the factors needed to make it happen.

Enabling Patient Independence

Good connectivity is essential for three types of telehealth monitoring: passive, active, and condition.

Passive monitoring deals with medical applications and technologies in the patient’s home that quietly monitor his or her behavior. These devices usually only initiate action if they notice something concerning. For instance, the Alcuris Memo Hub connects a variety of smart devices around a patient’s home, like a tea kettle, TV, and lighting. If this platform notices a change in the patient’s typical pattern of behavior, it will issue an alert. It can also observe and trigger an alert for gradual changes that may indicate a revision to a health regimen is required.

Active monitoring entails devices such as panic buttons and two-way intercoms. In summation, these devices require proactive action, either from the patient or a caretaker.

Lastly, as its name implies, condition monitoring involves the monitoring of specific health conditions. It combines aspects of the first two approaches we’ve discussed with detailed health data, like blood pressure, heart rate, and movement.

Simplicity Is Essential

Digital health innovations help improve the quality of life for aging populations as well as patients living with chronic conditions and disabilities. They also help lower the costs and resources needed for adequate healthcare delivery for these cases.

Ensuring that telehealth devices have enough connectivity to reliably capture, share, and analyze data is absolutely necessary. Without proper connectivity, wrong conclusions (and consequently, outcomes) could be reached. But these connected devices need one more feature to take telehealth to the next level: the ability to work right out of the box.

Telehealth device manufacturers should configure their devices to seamlessly connect to a healthcare provider’s system seamlessly without any complexities. They should also be able to work anywhere, whether that’s Beijing or Los Angeles. Making telehealth devices and platforms plug-and-play is imperative since a large portion of their audience may not be tech-savvy or have the time to set up complicated systems.

Overcoming Connectivity Obstacles

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past decade, chances are good that you have some experience with mobile phones. This means you’re also painfully familiar with the occurrence of black spots where your mobile device can’t receive a strong, reliable signal. Can you imagine this conundrum for a device that your life depends on?

When a patient’s life is on the line, we cannot compromise on connectivity. To mitigate this issue, telehealth devices should be capable of selecting the best network based on its location and even change between networks to minimize drop-out time. During a critical moment, a dropped connection can mean the difference between life and death. So any device in the telehealth market should offer strong, reliable, and continuous connectivity.

To ensure optimal connectivity, medical device makers must consider its importance from the start of the design process. This often translates to a few common factors for the device. For example, it must be lightweight, easy to operate, robust, and unobtrusive. Often, these elements restrict the design of these devices, which is something that manufacturers may have not dealt with before if they previously focused on larger or fixed devices.

On top of this, manufacturers must also think through what occurs at the back end of their telehealth devices. Do they connect to a cloud service through which analyses are run? Or is the data being transmitted to another human who needs convenient access to it? In this case, how should the information be presented? Alongside connectivity, this focus on communication must also be considered at the beginning of the design stage.

Don’t Forget Security

End-to-end security is always crucial for anything that handles sensitive data such as telehealth devices. Whether it’s your hardware or software, all of your connectivity platforms must be secured properly in order for your device to work effectively.

Unfortunately, several consumer SIMs lack advanced security protocols. They actually send data over standard internet channels, which increases the risk of this information being stolen or lost. To mitigate this, prioritize security early on in the device design phase.

Numerous IoT manufacturers treat device security as an afterthought. As we know from the IoT industry’s track record with data breaches, this has not worked out well. The same mistakes cannot be made when it comes to the personal data of patients.

Dedicated end-to-end security solutions are usually the best for telehealth devices. This involves measures such as data encryption at the device level, communication through trusted private networks and secure gateways, authentication, and authorization.

If you want to take things a step further (which is never a bad idea), add in data flow monitoring tools to detect any unusual activity. These could be your first indicators of a malicious attack taking place. Lastly, consider consulting a third-party pen tester before deployment.

Are You Ready for the Future of Telehealth?

We hope you’ve enjoyed this overview of how connectivity can help accelerate telehealth innovation. It may not be the first topic that comes to mind when you think of new capabilities in digital medicine, but it’s certainly among the most important. By emphasizing connectivity during the design of a telehealth device, you’re able to give patients and providers more peace of mind and unlock better outcomes for both parties.

Have you had any unusual experiences with telehealth connectivity? As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

By 2030, the United States is expected to have a tech talent shortage. This year alone, 4.3 million jobs in America’s technology sector are projected to go unfilled — that equates to lost revenue of $162 billion. Luckily, Ted Lieu, California’s 33rd Congressional District Representative, has a solution for the state: Inspire our youth to innovate with the Congressional App Challenge.

Held last Thursday, the 2020 Congressional App Challenge featured sixteen students from ten high schools across Los Angeles County. Altogether, they submitted eleven amazing mobile app concepts. And Congressman Lieu invited Marc Fischer, Dogtown Media’s Co-Founder and CEO, to participate as a judge in the competition!

About the Congressional App Challenge

The United States House of Representatives established the Congressional App Challenge in 2014 to “connect today’s Congress with tomorrow’s coders.” The event encourages students from all corners of the country to get more hands-on with their STEM education by creating and submitting mobile app concepts. The winner receives national recognition and also has their work featured in Washington, D.C.’s Capitol Building!

For Congressman Ted Lieu, the event is a special occasion that connects him back to his own education: “As one of just four computer science majors in Congress, I believe it is essential to encourage and nurture a generation of technology-savvy students who will continue to innovate our economy and advance our technological edge. The App Challenge provides young students throughout my district an opportunity to pursue their creative and technical talents. I encourage all eligible students to participate.”

Since its first year, the Congressional App Challenge has grown exponentially. In 2019, 10,211 students submitted mobile apps. To put this number in perspective, that’s a 373% increase from 2016! This event also now outpaces Silicon valley in terms of diversity: Compared to America’s tech innovation hub, participants are five times more likely to identify as latinx, four times more likely to identify as black, and two times more likely to identify as female.

On the other side of the equation, the Congressional App Challenge is also increasing STEM’s visibility in politics. Since 2016, 54% more Congress members have become involved in the competition and the mentions of STEM and computer science in congress have grown by over 2000%.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s reception was completely remote. Dr. William Goodin, Industry Relations Coordinator at UCLA’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, and Mr. Howard Stahl, Santa Monica College’s Department Chair for Computer Science & Information Systems, judged this year’s submissions alongside Marc.

And the Winners Are…

Dylan and Winston Iskandar of Mira Costa High School and Chadwick School were selected as this year’s winners! Inspired by the ‘new normal’ we all find ourselves in during the COVID-19 pandemic, the duo developed a mobile app called “GroceryBuddies” that connects volunteers with at-risk individuals so they can help them run errands and get groceries. You can learn more about it in the video below:

Jake and Kate North of Stanford Online High School came in second place with their mobile app concept, “Ideos.” “MyChemistry,” a pocket-reference tool for chemistry information that was developed by Rachel Fox of Agoura High School, came in third place:

And “MaskCheck,” an app created by Jayden Bulexa of Beverly Hills High School that helps to educate people about and enforce mask-wearing, received an honorable mention:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8cHHSW9wPY&feature=youtu.be

Each of these entries was incredibly innovative. “As a recovering Computer Science major, I am inspired by all these students who have committed themselves to creating these innovative apps,” Congressman Lieu said.

Marc was also astounded by the level of creativity and quality that these young mobile app developers brought to the table: “It’s an exciting honor to witness the next generation of innovators harness the potential of STEM to improve our lives. I thank Congressman Lieu for the opportunity to help inspire, educate, and foster a passion for technology in our youth.”

It’s absolutely amazing that there’s so much young tech talent in the Los Angeles County area alone! We can’t wait to see what 2021’s participants have to offer.

Telemedicine concept with doctor and smartphone

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed several processes in medicine, but perhaps the biggest was moving from in-person doctor appointments to conducting them over a video call. Telehealth has been great for many patients and physicians across the world, but it still comes with its own set of challenges. With that said, many people are wondering if telehealth is here to stay after the pandemic, or will it fade back into obscurity?

It turns out that the mass adoption of telehealth won’t be as smooth as we’d like to think, but there is a lot of merit in keeping it around for the benefit of both patients and providers.

The Good News

Medical applications like telehealth aren’t new: it’s been around since the Internet was invented, but Internet speeds weren’t fast enough to handle video conferencing. Now, with the roll-out of more affordable high-speed Internet, we are seeing users adopt telehealth with more enthusiasm. Telemedicine can fill in gaps for at-risk and elderly populations by offering better access to care for those populations. And, as we’ve seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, it can also be a safe way to see the doctor when you’re not feeling well enough or are scared to go in person.

Doctor telemedicine service online video for virtual patient health medical chat . Remote doctor healthcare consultant from home using online mobile device connect to internet for live video call .

Telehealth also affords patients more privacy of medical services, security of their sensitive information, and safety from being exposed to infections and illnesses. Better yet, the service offers a lowered cost of service for patients and a reduced workload for providers. Ultimately, it’s convenient for both patients and providers.

With the increasing popularity of smart devices, telemedicine has expanded and grown in the past few years. Compared to 35% of hospitals in 2010 employing telehealth, there was a major uptick to 76% of hospitals offering the service in 2019. Experts expect the telehealth industry and market to grow from $34 billion in 2018 to $185 billion in 2026.

What To Improve in Telehealth

It seems, for all intents and purposes, that telehealth is here to stay — for good. But there are many hurdles for the technology and its proponents to get over. For one, not all medical providers are comfortable enough with technology to offer it as a service. It doesn’t make sense to force the technology on these providers because it could lead to a loss of privacy and data security for their patients.

On that note, there’s also no way to ensure that providers are upholding a decent or consistent quality of service and care between offices and regions. There are no standards of care set out by the federal government or by the governing medical association. Because there are no standards or rules in place, regulation, reimbursement, and billing become more convoluted.

The telemedicine concept with doctor and smartphone

On the other hand, there are entire populations of patients that may not be able to use the service or know how to access it without getting in-person training, which erodes a major benefit of telehealth: convenience. Patients may not know that telehealth is being offered by their insurance company or doctor. And speaking of insurance companies, providers are noticing that insurers are not providing enough support for the service.

Many patients lack local infrastructure and a good-enough Internet connection. While patients in Los Angeles or New York have adequate access to a high-speed connection, rural patients and those in developing third-world countries face disadvantages in conducting video calls. If all medical providers switch to remote health delivery, many people will die from a lack of medical service. Experts say the quality of the Internet connection could determine the accuracy of the diagnosis, which is terrifying to think about.

There is also the issue of cybersecurity, which affects all digital and emerging technologies, not just telemedicine or digital healthcare. With medical records increasingly becoming electronic, there is a risk of losing privacy as well as a need for proper cyber hygiene protocols. Experts say that to achieve an adequate level of awareness for providers and patients, it would require a large investment in digital literacy campaigns.

The Pandemic’s Effect

Up until the pandemic, the adoption of telemedicine was moving at a steady rate, and it was largely viewed as a new service to accommodate even more patients. But with the pandemic setting in, the shift to telemedicine was forcefully accelerated due to a need for remote, accessible, and reliable delivery of healthcare.

For many patients, most of whom had never taken a doctor appointment over a video call, the new service was a great alternative to an in-office visit. Surveys of patients who used telehealth show that 74% reported a high level of satisfaction from using telehealth services and support further development of the technology used. Surveys of providers who used telehealth to meet with patients showed that 57% have become more favorable towards using telehealth after exposure to COVID-19, and 64% are more open to the idea of working remotely.

The pandemic also shifted healthcare policies and streamlined the rapid adoption of telemedicine. Regulatory committees and insurance companies have even worked together to lift restrictions on remote healthcare in 2020.

Medicine Moving Forward

Because telehealth is a new technology, there are a lot of improvements needed before it can become the primary delivery of medical care for the world. But that doesn’t mean that it isn’t already a viable doctor appointment options as it stands.

Still, it’s imperative that we work together with Internet companies, local and federal regulators, and infrastructure departments to bring this amazing technology to those who need it most. There is hope, for both patients and providers, that telehealth will rise up to its challenges and meet its potential, even if it happens long after the pandemic ends.

Have you taken a telehealth appointment? How did it go? Let us know in the comments below!

The healthcare industry is embracing emerging technologies at an unprecedented rate. Consequently, it’s an exciting time for medical app developers, investors, physicians, and patients. But which technologies should you keep a close eye on? Here are the advancements you can expect to see in the next few years.

1. Holistic Cloud Integration

The collection of digital data is obviously vital to the advancement of modern healthcare. But how you share this information is perhaps more important to the success of your endeavors.

More than 90% of medical institutions are hosting applications through the cloud. But this usage of the cloud is fragmented. Look around and you’ll find that health organizations are applying the cloud in data hosting, clinical apps, and backing up their systems. But keeping these discrete initiatives separate forms silos, which in turn limits the potential functionality of the data.

Cloud integration enables healthcare facilities to open up their silos and connect the dots in their data. Tom Lawry, Microsoft’s Director for AI in Health and Life Sciences, thinks this will eventually transform the medical field. “The transformation that’s brought about by the cloud and bringing that data together allows for all kinds of interesting things,” he says. “That to us is the number one transformational aspect going forward for the next few years.”

2. Better Infrastructure = Accessible Healthcare

COVID-19 has shined a light on how essential telehealth and remote patient monitoring are, especially for those with chronic health conditions. And for many people in the United States, these avenues of medicine are often the most convenient and practical to use.

“A majority of this country is still rural,” explains Rhonda Collins, the Chief Nursing Officer at Vocera. Collins is also the Founder of the American Nurse Project. “So, we need to rely on technology to fill gaps in human connections in healthcare-telehealth will be more important going forward, as infrastructure and technology continue to improve.”

Before telehealth came along, it could be difficult to find proper treatment for a malady if you weren’t living in a substantially populated area like New York City or Los Angeles. This conundrum becomes a much more grave matter when you consider that 50% of US counties contain people that have high chronic disease occurrences and a great need for better broadband connectivity. That’s equitable to over 36 million people.

Poor internet connectivity undoubtedly makes remote consultations with doctors extremely difficult. But Collins believes the situation is improving. Eventually, it will become readily apparent to all that telehealth technology will be an invaluable tool for those living in remote or rural regions. But there’s still some work to be done.

An August 2018 Healthline survey found that 46% of Medicare Advantage members were not sure if telehealth was a viable option for them. If that wasn’t troubling enough, 37% of the survey respondents believed it wasn’t available for them, even though it was.

To make this issue worse, numerous hospitals are still contending with inconsistent Wi-Fi and cellular service. In turn, this impedes telehealth services. “These basic issues make it very difficult to bring technology in to provide extraordinary care and connectivity to all patients everywhere,” says Collins. “Infrastructure upgrades are a must, and that should be the focus of many hospitals, so they can leverage great technologies that improve the lives of patients and clinicians alike.”

We have no doubt that these infrastructure upgrades will arrive with time. As noted before, COVID-19 has accelerated our usage of telehealth offerings. Let’s hope that these services become even more ubiquitous in the near future.

3. Accelerated AI Adoption

The development of artificial intelligence (AI) has been a game-changer for several industries, and healthcare is no exception. But all of the use cases we’ve seen so far for this field will pale in comparison to what’s to come.

A July 2018 survey of 200 medical professionals by Intel found 37% of participants to be applying AI in limited ways. 54% of them believed that AI will see widespread adoption by 2023. For John Doyle, the Director of Global Business Strategy for Microsoft Healthcare, this adoption translates to AI affecting all aspects of a medical institution’s workflow.

Doyle believes that medical image analysis, dataset interpretation, clinical workflows, and real-time insights from medical sensor data name just a few factors that will be impacted by AI. As a result, it’s safe to assume that AI will disrupt how healthcare providers engage with patients and streamline various complicated processes.

4. Consumer-Centric Workflows

Over the next decade, Collins hopes that healthcare will adopt more technologies that the average consumer is accustomed to.

Today, a hospital employee can make dinner reservations, converse with friends, and purchase event tickets from their phones, all in just 15 minutes before their shift. But the technology landscape of their workplace is a stark contrast. Collins fears that this difference could deter younger generations from working in the field.

“When millennials go to work at a hospital, we are asking doctors, nurses and care teams to step back 20 years and use landline phones, fax machines, pagers, and overhead calls — all of which downgrade and add complexity to our millennial workforce,” Collins explains. “… As younger people continue to enter the workforce, many hospitals will be forced to modernize.”

We don’t know about you, but the thought of relying on fax machines for medical work today frightens us! Here’s hoping that Collins’ predictions come true sooner rather than later.

5. More Personalized Medical Care

Emerging technologies like machine learning, AI, and blockchain are destined to augment the abilities of clinicians in the next 10 years. According to Dr. Anil Jain, the VP and Chief Health Information Officer of IBM Watson Health, this will lead to more personalized specialized care for patients.

Jain says, “The biggest thing is going to be our ability to use these advanced technology enablers to get much better at doing personalized medicine and personalized healthcare with our patients.” Leveraging these technological capabilities on the back-end will enable providers to seamlessly and swiftly account for crucial data such as genomic profiles and social determinants of health.

According to Jain, more personalized treatment options will likely increase care plan adherence, especially for those suffering from chronic conditions. It will also cut out the back-and-forth usually involved in evidence-based approaches; physicians will likely see higher success rates in the first set of treatments offered.

What Medical Tech Excites You?

We hope you’ve enjoyed this brief glimpse into the future of healthcare technology! In truth, this list only scratches the surface of the myriad changes that technology will bring to the field of medicine.

What technological advancements are you excited to see in healthcare? Which developments should be covered in a future article of ours? As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Automatic clipping hanging machine with pack for sausages

Warning: This article serves as an industrial use case study for how meatpacking facilities are applying automation to improve efficiency and effectiveness. Consequently, many of the images in this post contain depictions of these meat processing operations that some would consider graphic. If this statement leaves you feeling squeamish, you may want to skip this one!

Grocery shoppers from Los Angeles to New York have noticed a decrease in meat on the shelves combined with higher prices for anything that’s in stock. The COVID-19 pandemic has hit meatpacking facilities hard, with thousands of workers getting sick and more than 30 dying. These facilities are cold, humid, and cramped, requiring workers to stand shoulder-to-shoulder working so fast that washing hands to adjust a face mask isn’t even possible.

With the help of the Internet of Things, an innovative technology that’s already improving business operations in industrial facilities all over the world, meatpacking factories can start to automate processes to reduce the number of employees needed on the floor at any given time.

Business As Usual During Uncertain Times

During the COVID-19 pandemic, dozens of meat processing facilities have closed or slowed down operations. Grocery stores are now rationing meats. A Milwaukee-based sausage factory stopped manufacturing its hot dogs completely. But in Europe’s biggest pig slaughterhouse, the factory floor is completely automated. Robots do most of the work while being overseen by humans.

At this facility, everything is business as usual. Pigs come in on trucks around 5:30 AM. Workers herd the pigs into temporary pens on the 90-acre facility. A few hours later, a few pigs are nudged out of the pens and into CO2 gas chambers. The gas knocks them out, and they’re put onto a belt that helps position them for a worker to cut off each pig’s rear feet. From there, the pigs are transported to a moving production line. A worker cuts the pig’s carotid artery, and a vacuum is placed at the cut to lap up all of the blood.

After that, it’s up to the robots to finish the job. A laser-enabled robot measures the pig’s dimensions. Using those numbers, another robot cuts a 4-inch hole around the pig’s tail with a customized artificial intelligence (AI) application. It then reaches into the pig to take out any excrement that’s left inside the carcass. A bladed robot then cuts the pig from top to bottom before a robot mechanically removes organs, slashes tendons, and splits the spine.

The robot portion of the pig’s journey takes only ten minutes. At the end of the working day (midnight), a total of 18,000 pigs have been slaughtered, cleaned, excavated, and packaged.

Modernizing An Age-Old Process

This facility is one of the world’s largest, most modern, and most transparent meat processing facilities in the world.

In fact, many Danish slaughterhouses are heavily automated using IoT applications, and it’s helped them prevent becoming hotspots for COVID-19 infections. Out of 8,000 of the company’s Danish employees, less than 10 have tested positive for the virus. In stark contrast to America (and the rest of the world), none of the Danish slaughterhouses closed down or slowed production.

Meat scientists say that others in this sector and other industrial markets should take note of the Danish slaughterhouses. They’re a prime example of how to physically and technologically set up a facility for long-term success. Robots, IoT, and AI work together with humans to make meatpacking safer and more efficient.

Jayson Lusk is a food and agricultural economist at Purdue University. He says that the cost of not investing in IoT has come back as a bad consequence of failing to implement emerging technologies. According to Lusk, the US government doesn’t provide economic incentives to automate meat processing plants.

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As a result, meat facilities have employed undocumented workers instead of investing in new technologies. In the US, staying competitive as a meat facility depends on how many workers you have tending to the production line.

Progressing Forward Faster

Labor shortages are forcing meat facilities to change their business operations from the ground up. Poultry facilities in the US have become more automated for the last few decades; it took an hour to process 3,000 chickens in 1970, and we can process 15,000 chickens per hour today. But because chickens are much smaller than pigs and cows, the investment to automate is a lot lower.

In the past decade, pork and beef facilities have started introducing more automation into their factories. In 2018, a new pork facility in Michigan opened with automation and robots. It helped the company cut 300 employees while increasing output. The plant has been able to stay open through the pandemic, but it’s slowed down production because it ordered new protective equipment to install.

Close up bologna sliced plate on conveyor of automatic slicer machine for industrial food manufacture

Last year, Tyson Foods start investing heavily in robots for its pork facilities, in an effort to reduce the negative effects of labor shortages.

Preventing the Inevitable

Even if every meat plant in the world automated their production lines and installed robots overnight, it might still not prevent pathogens like COVID-19 from spreading throughout the factory.

Without a strong healthcare system, it’s impossible to prevent a contagion like COVID-19. Workers need to be able to work from home or stay at home when they’re sick without any worry about losing their job and health insurance.

It’s also extremely important that the government moves quickly when a pandemic or any global problem occurs. In the US, President Trump signed an executive order that made meat a critical and scarce “material essential to the national defense”. It meant that meat facilities stayed open while facing less legal liability, even if their workers got sick.

Prioritizing Worker Safety Is a Must

If lowering the number of people in a factory can lower the risk of infection, installing a few robots can help bring down the number of cases.

But automation takes time to implement and optimize. So, in the meantime, factories need to invest heavily in their employees, all of whom keep the factories running at full speed at the risk of their own health and lives. Without more value placed on worker safety and lives, it seems that robots may not help prevent the next pandemic at all.

Hopefully, other industrial facilities examine and learn some insights from the precedent set forth by Danish Crown’s meat processing facilities. What do you think of IoT-fueled automation? As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Wireless technology has transformed how we interact with the world around us. But what does the future with 5G look like? It can be hard to fathom. Luckily, ACT | The App Association aims to elucidate this with a special public webinar featuring FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr. And Marc Fischer, Dogtown Media’s very own Co-Founder and CEO, has been invited to join in on the conversation!

Scheduled to be held this Thursday, May 28th, at 1 PM ET, “A Conversation with FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr on Commission Priorities for 5G and the New 5G Upgrade Order” is an event you won’t want to miss. In this virtual seminar, we’ll get the chance to learn more about the FCC’s views and priorities for 5G.

Valued at $1.7 trillion and employing almost 6 million Americans, the mobile app economy has grown to be an invaluable pillar of the tech industry. And the current COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted just how valuable this sector really is; remote work, distance learning, and telemedicine have all experienced a rapid increase in usage during this pandemic.

For the webinar, Commissioner Brendan Carr will be representing the FCC. He’s committed to rapidly advancing 5G in order to enable more innovation in mobile app development. Carr has supported various FCC policy changes to promote the development of 5G networks.

Most recently, he announced a new 5G Upgrade Order. This multi-year endeavor would simplify and expedite equipment upgrades for existing cellular towers. Scheduled for a June vote by Congress, the 5G Upgrade Order will be a central discussion point of ACT’s event.

ACT | The App Association is a Washington, D.C.-based public policy organization that represents more than 5,000 app companies and information technology firms leading the mobile economy. While we’re located on the other side of the continent in Los Angeles, ACT has been a dear friend throughout the years. Its advocation for an environment that drives smart innovation and regulation in the tech industry has been invaluable.

The live event will begin with a conversation between Carr and ACT President Morgan Reed. Following this, a live panel discussion featuring Carr, Marc, Andrew Savitz of Canned Spinach, and Vishal Singh of Quantified Ag will take place. It will delve into the 5G Upgrade Order and examine potential use cases that the new generation of wireless connectivity will enable.

“A Conversation with FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr on Commission Priorities for 5G and the New 5G Upgrade Order” has an all-star panel lined up and a number of hot topics to touch upon. If you want to see the future of mobile technology, don’t miss this event! For more information, visit here.

Female hand holding a smartphone with diet plan concept

Sometimes, you need to take a little time to take care of yourself. Luckily, mobile technology can give you a helping hand! Last week, we wrote about 5 amazing health and wellness apps that our team members are quite fond of. They ran the gamut from habit management to sustainable weight loss. In case you missed it, you can read the post here.

But let’s be honest — as healthcare app developers, we know that 5 is far too small of a number to cover the amazing products available in this space. It would be a shame not to give some of the other wonderful apps available right now a moment in the spotlight.

After many debates, we were able to trim down our tremendous pool of candidates to another list of just 5 apps that we think you should consider trying. Check them out below. Here’s to a healthier future for all!

1. Smoke Free: Breathe Easier (iOS, Android)

Quitting smoking can be hard; 95% of people who try to quit without participating in a cessation program fail. It’s clear that ample motivation and support are needed. Smoke Free helps deter you from lighting up by tracking your cravings and progress. And it certainly seems to work — this app has been scientifically proven to double your chances of quitting smoking!

Smoke Free’s secret weapon is data science. After gathering enough information, the app tells you exactly how much money you’ve saved by kicking your smoking habit. Smoke Free also monitors your oxygen, blood pressure, and carbon monoxide levels so that you can watch them improve over time. It’s no wonder this app has been downloaded over four million times.

Why We Love Smoke Free

• Doubles your chances of quitting smoking
• Watch your health improve
• See how much money you save

2. Drinkaware: Cut Down Your Alcohol Consumption (iOS, Android)

From celebrations to quick catchups, there are always excuses for drinking nowadays. Similar to Smoke Free’s effect on lighting up, Drinkaware helps keep alcohol consumption in check.

Concept of online medical healthcare services, shows smartphone app with Asian male doctor smiling, telehealth, telemedicine video call

Drinkaware comes with a unit and calorie calculator so you know exactly how much you’ve imbibed. The app is also equipped with a self-assessment tool that allows you to review your drinking patterns and set new health goals.

Perhaps most pertinently, Drinkaware records each dollar you spend on alcohol. That means you’ll never indulge too much at the expense of your wallet.

Why We Love Drinkaware

• Easily moderate your drinking
• Personalized feedback
• Cut alcohol costs

3. Headspace: Making Meditation Mainstream (iOS, Android)

In today’s attention-hungry digital world, it’s more important than ever before to give yourself some peace of mind. Co-founded by former Buddhist monk Andy Puddicombe, Headspace is an app that provides guided meditation and mindfulness training. And all it takes is ten minutes a day!

If you’re wrestling with stress, sleeplessness, or anxiety, the Los Angeles-based developers of Headspace have hundreds of sessions available on their product to help you out. And if ten minutes is too long, it offers shorter sessions. Users report benefits such as better attention span, alertness, and of course, more mindfulness.

Why We Love Headspace

• Mindfulness made easy
• Tailored for busy lives
• Brings calm to life’s chaos

4. MindBody: Exercise Anywhere (iOS, Android)

Want to work out, but don’t want to leave your house? MindBody has got you covered! This app brings virtual workouts and wellness services to your fingertips.

Whether you’re looking for a local community instructor or a world-renowned coach, MindBody lets you browse and book classes in Pilates, yoga, meditation, Tabata, and more. You can participate in these sessions in your living room or wherever you happen to be. It’s also worth noting that they constantly have deals on last-minute appointments!

Why We Love MindBody

• Virtual workouts for anyone, anywhere
• Huge variety of services offered
• Easy wearables integration

5. 8fit: A Wellness App for Workouts and Nutrition (iOS, Android)

App marketplaces are brimming with options for health and wellness apps. But few rival 8fit; this fitness and nutrition companion is perfect for digital minimalists.

If you’re not keen on joining a gym or spending hours searching for healthy recipes, we can’t recommend 8fit enough. This app offers efficient workouts and healthy, personalized meals in one elegant package. You can track milestones and tailor your fitness regimen to your liking. And in case you’re not Gordon Ramsay, the app also provides easy-to-follow instructions for its health-focused meals.

Why We Love 8fit

• Declutter your phone — no need for multiple fitness and recipe apps
• Centralize your favorite recipes and workouts
• Personalize your path to a healthier lifestyle

These Wellness Apps Pave the Way to a Healthier Future

We hope you’ve enjoyed another list of our favorite health and wellness apps! These options certainly vary in terms of application. But they do have a few vital factors in common:

1. Each app’s interface is incredibly simple to use.
2. Rich customization empowers users to personalize the app for their goals.
3. Data connects the dots between your actions and goals.

Mobile technology is capable of so much more than just talking and texting. These apps allow you to take control of your health and wellness in unprecedented ways. Try them out today!