Role of Wearable Tech in the Healthcare Industry

The wearable technology was started in the 13th century and introduced a portable and wearable clock, and lately, these high-tech watch has developed into many life-changing tools. Thanks to the digital revolution over the past few decades, we have seen major advances in wearable tech's sophistication and capabilities that have given rise to a new term ‘telemedicine’.

Telemedicine is the use of telecommunication and information technology to provide health facilities like health assessments, consultations, and such through video conferences and such real-time video streaming applications. It is the fastest medium to reach distant remote areas and rural areas. Wearable tech is the latest norm that offers healthcare at your hands.

Due to their placement on the body, devices such as smart watches and wearable sensors have the capability to transform healthcare as we know it. In addition to empowering the individual to gain proper insight into their bodies and better manage their health, wearable devices like smart glasses greatly enhance medical providers’ ability to provide informed and personal care.

Wearable Tech and Personal Fitness

Many devices aids in better understanding and take control of personal fitness and nutrition. Studies have repeatedly shown that people tend to underestimate how many calories they consume while also overestimating how many calories they burn through exercise.

This makes weight management challenging since burning more calories than you eat is key to losing weight. With the help of augmented reality (AR), field service management software have been introduced that makes life simpler.

Wearable devices that track how many calories you burn throughout your day combined with tracking exactly how much you eat quantify your efforts and eliminates all the guesswork. Observing eating patterns objectively like data makes it easier to know which habits need to change.

Changing How We Manage Health

Wearable devices can also monitor and manage chronic conditions or general health by keeping track of indicators like blood sugar, heart rate, and blood pressure. 80% of those living with a chronic condition track their health as do 61% of those without. Wearable devices make tracking significantly easier. Furthermore, data from the device can be shared with your healthcare provider to personalize and enhance their efforts.

Wearable devices can also help treat certain conditions. Implanted technologies similar to those used in smart glasses can help those with eye and vision issues such as macular degeneration, acquired blindness, glaucoma, and astigmatism. Meanwhile, some externally worn smart glasses act as miniature computers which reduce eyestrain.

Smart Glasses Used by Medical Professionals

Wearable devices are also transforming healthcare through their use by medical professionals. Not only can providers review data from wearable devices worn by patients to monitor health indicators, but they can also wear devices themselves to enhance care. Remote assistance software like smart glasses, in particular, have created a level of personalization and comprehensiveness for healthcare providers that were unimaginable 50 years ago.

Smart glasses make it virtually possible to be two places at once so access to specialists is suddenly no longer limited by geography. Using smart glasses, the specialist can observe the patient in real time while working remotely using real-time video streaming. Patients are relieved of the huge obstacle of traveling to doctors and can access experts for rare diseases and conditions. The benefits of smart glasses are not limited to working across long distances, however.

Smart Glasses Humanize Healthcare

Medical providers physically present with patients can also benefit from using smart glasses. By using real-time video streaming technology, doctors are able to relate with their patients more personally.

Dr. Laurie Rothman recently told mHealthIntelligence.com: “The biggest benefit right off is just being able to get the computer out of the visit for the most part when I’m seeing patients. Since we’ve been using electronic health records,.. one of the biggest disadvantages is that a lot of doctors and providers are staring at a computer screen because they’re trying to document what the patient is sharing, instead of having a face to face interaction.

Having smart glasses is now allowing me to put the computer aside and look at my patients while I am speaking with them. It’s a breath of fresh air. We’re able to take new technology to bring us more back to old-fashioned medicine.”

While it might seem wearing the smart glasses could make patients feel awkward or even depersonalized, Dr. Rothman reported that “overall – I would say 98 percent – reacted in a very positive manner. They were curious and offered questions. I had a very little negative reaction. Most people think it’s interesting, are very happy in using new technology, and appreciate that I’m focusing on them and not on documentation” through a computer screen. Ironically, smart glasses enhance the human touch of modern healthcare.”

Smart Glasses Revolutionize Surgery

Another highly promising use of smart glasses is to assist with surgery. The surgeon wearing smart glasses almost has x-ray vision where he can observe the patient in real time while also seeing them internally. The smart glasses can also convey vital signs so the surgeon has every bit of information possible immediately.

The New York Times recently reported on a lung surgeon at U.C.S.F., Dr. Pierre Theodore who wears smart glasses when he “performs minimally invasive surgery that requires the doctor to rely on imagery to guide the surgical instruments. [This way] Dr. Theodore can see the images from scans and the live images at the same time.

‘There’s relatively little shift of attention between seeing the patient in front of you and seeing critical information in your field of vision with these field service management software,’ he said. ‘I believe it can be and will be revolutionary.’

Life made Simple with Wearable Tech!

Whether used by consumers to track calories or by doctors to treat patients, wearable technology is changing how we understand and treat our bodies for the better. Remote access software are used to change our lifestyles by helping us with small reminders to using smart glasses while performing operations. They play a vital role in improving and enhancing our way of life.

Blitzz provides field service management software using augmented reality which is a powerful tool that enhances customer satisfaction and enables first-time fix rates.

Augmented Reality in the Insurance Industry - How it’s Making an Impact?

Augmented reality or AR, has many applications that can improve your life. Of course, AR also works to improve various industries as well. Augmented reality field service creates and projects images that make the user feel like part of the landscape. It actually puts you into the "action," which allows you to safely learn from situations that can be complicated and/or dangerous in reality. While the insurance industry has lagged a bit in incorporating this technology, it has recently upped its game, using AR in a number of situations that make claims adjusters and repair technicians more efficient and customers more satisfied.

1. Determining Repair Costs

Some insurance companies are using augmented reality field service to help their adjusters assess the amount of damage in a building by creating 3D models from photos. AR allows them to overlay before and after images, which helps reveal the extent and location of the damage. This technology can allow inspectors to "see" beneath the floors and behind the walls, which allows them to accurately estimate damages and the costs associated with repair. In situations such as hurricanes, adjusters could largely do their work from afar, which would greatly speed up the payout process. Live remote assistance allows claim processors to do their job faster and more effectively as well.

2. Repair Solutions

Augmented reality may also allow policyholders to interact with contractors and determine which repair option they prefer. When your home floods, for instance, figuring out what replacement flooring to use and what to do about the appliances can be hard to picture.

Imagine being able to know how each repair would look before you made your choice. You could also make an informed decision about spending your own money to supplement what your insurance covers. When you make these decisions blind, you often end up regretting some of your choices.

3. Customer Education

At least one major insurance company has created an online home that contains various dangerous scenarios. By using your smartphone, you can put yourself in the home and find the problems that can lead to home accidents and/or structural damage. In that way, you and your family will be inspired to make your own home safer.

Insurance companies want their policyholders well educated in these matters so that fewer accidents happen. That way, the companies pay out less money, and homeowners stay healthy and experience less upheaval. These insurance exercises work on the same principles as many video games, making them enjoyable as well as educational. You might even get the kids to take part.

This video-powered platform can also be used to help consumers choose their insurance policies. Reading about coverage is less informative for many people than seeing scenarios in action. Some companies are employing AR to demonstrate what happens when you choose certain policies. You can better understand your copay responsibilities and what happens when you wreck your car when you can see the situations play out.

AR already has many practical uses for various industries as well as individuals. The insurance industry is particularly well-suited to employing augmented reality field service solutions. Adjusters continually have to assess damage and make reasonable payouts to policyholders. They must strive not to overpay or underpay in every situation in order to keep the company financially healthy. AR allows them to more accurately complete their tasks with the help of live video support. Repair technicians benefit from having a full picture of what damage has been done. In addition, insurance companies use this technology to better educate their customers. The augmented reality revolution has already arrived, and it is fast becoming a key component of your insurance coverage.

5 Benefits of Using Video Chat for Field Service

Are you often frustrated by wasted time and money in your field service department? Whether it's sending employees out to jobs which could have been solved remotely, missing out on knowledge sharing opportunities, or failing to hit first-time fix targets, field service management software is here to help.

Having a powerful remote assistance software at your disposal, it empowers your team to make the best use of their time and skills -- meaning that problems are solved more efficiently.

1. New Employees Will Be Less Likely to Make Costly Mistakes

When new team members are out on their first solo jobs, the risk of mistakes is high. If an inexperienced field service technician makes a problem worse due to lack of experience, you're looking at tons of extra time and money to fix it -- as well as a disappointed customer.

Field service solutions help the new technicians connect quickly and easily with more experienced team members, reducing errors. While a technician probably wouldn't want to call in physical backup for a simple question, they'll have no problem using video chat to ask for advice. It means they'll learn faster, feel more confident, and be much less likely to make mistakes.

2. Experienced Team Members Can Help Without Incurring Travel Costs

What if one of your team members faces a problem that can only be solved by someone more senior, but they're a couple of hours away from your head office? Asking another team member to travel to their location is a massive waste of time and money, but linking up via video chat is fast, simple, and cost effective.

Using augmented reality glasses, they'll see exactly what the field technician is seeing, so it's as good as if they were there. Research shows that 65% of field service technicians consider live video support one of their most useful tools.

3. Customer Issues Will Be Solved More Quickly

If an issue can't be fixed over the phone, customers have to wait for a technician to arrive, which is frustrating and inconvenient. However, if the problem is simple enough for them to fix themselves via video chat, the wait time could be as short as a few minutes, with no need to wait for a technician to arrive. It means a massive boost to customer satisfaction.

When issues are so complex that the first field technician who visits can't figure them out, customers are looking at an even longer wait time for a second technician. With video chat, the second technician can be there virtually in seconds. It cuts down on customer inconvenience and makes even complex problem solving quick and easy.

4. Common Problems Can Be Recorded and Used in Training

Got an issue that keeps recurring, but only one team member who fully understands how to solve it? When your technicians use video chat, all their solutions can be recorded and distributed to the rest of the team.

This tribal knowledge sharing means you won't have multiple employees wasting time and energy trying to solve problems that have already been figured out. It means greater employee satisfaction and less frustration while on the job -- leading to a lower technician turnover.

5. Employee Safety Will Increase

When field service technicians are reluctant to ask for help because they know it will incur high costs, they're more likely to take risks that compromise their safety. However, when a more experienced technician can be contacted by video chat at the touch of a button, there's nothing to stop them asking for advice as often as they need to. That means increased safety compliance, which is better for everyone.

A field service management software makes life easier for your field service technicians, improves safety and efficiency, and boosts customer satisfaction. If you want to stay ahead of the competition, now is the time to invest in a video and chat platform for field service.

Blitzz's software provides custom integrations for your workflows and can be integrated even into your existing FSM and CRM tools. By using our software, you'll be able to get insightful analytics and can make us your "collaborative system of record."