AMSCO in The Community – GRAM SEVA TRUST

Alpha Medthrift Scientific Co. takes a great deal of pride in giving back to the community in anyway possible. As a member of an independent co-op, we understand the importance of working together to reach a common goal.

Co-founder of AMSCO Medical, Dinesh Shah, is proud active member of the Gram Seva Trust and recently arrived back from his annual trip to India with the organization. The Gram Seva Trust is a non government organization started in 1994 that is dedicated to health and development in tribal area of South Gujarat. The organization is based in Kharel, Navsari district of Gujarat State of India and reaches out to more than 3,000,000 of the population in South Gujarat.

Along with free monthly eye camps, the organization also runs free annual medical and surgical mega camps that screen thousands of patients in need of care. The annual camps provide the people of South Gujarat with free medical or surgical care from licensed physicians, gynecologist, pediatrician, and more right on the spot. Screening of patients and their medical/surgical management was done free of cost with the support of distinguished members of the organization, such as Mr. Dinesh Shah.

This year’s camps had more than 2000 patients checked and attended to, with 173 being brought to Kharel Hospital for further medical or surgical management. As part of the organization’s commitment to the development of South Gujarat. the Gram Seva Trust also runs a 100 bed secondary level hospital with a beautiful campus and staff quarters that caters to over 300 surrounding villages. The formerly abandoned hospital was resurrected by a very dedicated couple, Drs. Ashwin & Harsha Shah, who left their successful practice in Amalsad and settled in Kharel to serve the less fortunate. Today, the hopital services has available by the organization has treated over a million patients in the outpatient department, over 100,000 patients hospitalized and over 30,000 surgeries performed. Hospital services provided by the Gram Seva Trust also includes free or substantial relief in medical bills and free food to patients and their attendants.

Their work goes far beyond the the hospital, free eye, medical and surgical camps. The non-profit organization. The organization’s commitment to the health and development of  South Gujarat expands into dialysis services, blindness control project, community health programs, education projects and livelihood projects that include sewing classes, handcrafting, and kitchen gardening.

Gram Seva placed satellite centers in the interior forest areas of Dang, where patients have to travel more than 60 miles to get treatment for any ailments. Gram Seva created medical dispensaries in these areas to provide medical services to the tribal people. Gram Seva currently run two active dispensaries in Kudkas and in Shivarimal. Every week a team of medical officers and staff visit these centers and treat nearly 300 patients and those requiring further treatment are brought to Kharel hospital.

In 2019, Gram Seva Trust celebrated the silver jubilee of the organization, celebrating 25 years of commitment to providing health and rural development to less fortunate areas of South Gujarat. To celebrate, a two day program was organized on Decemeber 28th and 29th.  A book launch was also organized and Training Module for Adolescent workshop was organized.  All guests were also presented with a special 25 year report, highlighting the progress, presenting visions for the future, and engraving its core values of self discipline, good governance, simplicity, and transparency.

Gram Seva Foundation, Chicago (USA) is one of the major supporters of Gram Seva Trust’s free activities ran offered throughout South Gujarat, especially for women and children. It was founded by Dr. Khushroo Patel’s wife, Dr. Roda K. Patel, in 2003. She was a Pediatrician by profession and a superb humanitarian at heart. The Gram Seva Foundation connects supporters from the U.S with supporters from India, as well as the Gram Seva Trust’s board of trustees. To find out how to get involved or donate, please see contact information listed below!

Donation and Contact Information
Gram Seva Foundation, USA
2030 Post Road
Northbrook, IL 60062

Email: rodak@aol.com
Website: http://www.gramseva.org
Gram Seva Foundation USA, is a 501 (c ) (3 ) Tax Exempt Charitable Non-profit organization.

Pharmaceutical Distribution Trends to Keep an Eye On

Pharmaceutical distribution plays a significant role for drug manufacturers. Manufacturers have a few things they need to keep an eye on this year as they plan for their future clinical and business needs. Here is five main trends that should draw the attention from everyone involved in pharmaceuticals from pharmacies to distributors to patients. The following trends will provide more clarity when it comes to the pharmaceutical industry and what to expect moving forward.

• The number of manufacturers each distributor is willing to carry is slowly declining.

The average number of manufacturers from which one distributor purchased products from was 1,211 in 2016. That number has been dwindling down as months and years go by (down from about 1,474 different manufacturers in 2014). As pharmaceutical companies grow and expand their product inventory, the number of manufacturers needed to fully supply a distributor is expected to decrease moving forward.

• The average number of individual products per distributor is rising.

Like previously mentioned, the number of manufacturers that each distributor handles is declining which in turn results in an increased amount of manufacturer SKUs per distributor. The average number of individual products per distributor saw a 5 percent increase in 2016 from the previous year. This number increased from 52,066 in 2015 to 54,692 in 2016. Also, the average number of brand-name prescription drug SKUs per distributor dropped from 6,383 in 2015 to 6,265 in 2016.

• Distributors are increasing the amount of pharmaceuticals sales made through their facilities. 

While the number of manufacturers per distributor is decreasing, distributors are increasing the amount of pharmaceutical sales flowing through their facilities. In 2016, almost $450 billion in pharmaceutical sales were done through medical distributors. That number is up over 45% from a few years ago, when the figure was just above $300 billion. About 95.7 percent of pharmaceutical sales were made through distributors in 2016.

• The most dominate form of product ordering continues to be done through electronic ordering systems. 

Electronic ordering systems was the most dominate method of product ordering for distributors, which includes both software-based and web-based systems. In 2016, 93 percent of all pharmaceutical distributors offered one (if not both) form of electronic ordering for customers to buy products, that percentage has increased by an average of 1 percent every year since 2014 and is expected to continue in 2018. The use of phone ordering and fax ordering continues to decrease making up for less than 8 percent of orders combined.

• Distributor’s customers are starting to become more prevalent in hospitals and specialty pharmacies.

In 2016, hospitals accounted for a total of 15.8 perfect of pharmaceutical sales through distributors. That number is steadily increasing, compared to just 14.5 percent in 2014. During that two year period, purchases by specialty pharmacies also increased from 1.1 percent to 1.4 percent. These numbers are also both expected to continually increase in 2018. Chain pharmacies are still the biggest customers of distributors accounting for 42 percent of all sales.

These five main trends are something distributors and distributors-alike should be keeping their eye on moving forward. There’s also a couple other movements that will continue to impact the pharmaceutical industry such as an increase in barcoding individual items. This helps pharmaceutical manufacturers keep better track of smaller individual items like pill bottles. Manufacturers barcoded an average of 74% of individual items, compared to just 34% of shelf packs and 71.4 percent of product cases. An item’s size determines its chances of being barcoded, the smaller the unit the more likely it will be barcoded in the future, if not barcoded already. Another trend in the pharmaceutical industry is the overstocking and returning of health products to distributors. Overstocking continues to be the most common reason for returned pharmaceuticals to distributors and that trend is likely to continue in 2018. In 2016, overstocking of products caused 88.3 percent of returns to distributors.*

The AMSCO Medical staff is committed to providing advanced insights on prevalent topics in the industry. If you have a suggestion for a blog topic you’d like to see covered, let us know in the comments.

*Statistics were extracted from the 2017-2018 HDA Factbook.

New Migraine Relief

Migraines are one of the largest neurological disorders in the US, effecting about 16 to 23 percent of adults aged 18 or older in their personal, professional, and social lives. One study estimated the lost productivity in the country (due to missed work) to be $5.6 billion to $17.2 billion per year. To ensure that preventive drugs have the best chance of preventing a migraine, they need to be taken before an attack. Although some people report characteristic symptoms before onset, they aren’t specific, and the time between them occurring and the headache beginning may vary, making them little use as a predictor. However, an exciting study was recently released, giving migraine sufferers new hope in forecasting their next episode.

The study, performed by Dr. Tim Houle, PhD of Massachusetts General Hospital, discovered a new way to predict migraine attacks. Dr. Houle reveals, “…we know that certain people are at greater risk of having an attack over other people, but within a person, we have not been able to predict increased risk for an attack with any level of accuracy…this study demonstrates that it is quite possible to forecast the occurrence of a headache attack within an individual headache sufferer.”

In the study, by Dr. Houle and his colleagues, which included 95 individuals with 4195 days of diary data, participants experienced a headache attack on 1613 (38.5%) days. A simple forecasting model using either the frequency of stressful events or the perceived intensity of these events had promising predictive value. While the participants reported low to moderate levels of stress overall, stress was greater on days preceding a headache. While still needing more research and fine-tuning, this study opens potential of preventive therapies with targeted intervention.

On top of stress, another thing for migraine suffers to look out for is the weather. For some people (50 percent of migraine sufferers), weather changes may cause imbalances in brain chemicals, including serotonin, which can prompt a migraine. Exposure to triggers for weather-related migraines may worsen a headache initially caused by other triggers. The most common weather-related triggers are temperature changes, high humidity, high winds, stormy weather, extremely dry conditions, bright lights/sun glare and barometric pressure changes.

If you get migraines, your body’s sensitive not only to what’s going on inside you (like stress, hormone fluctuations, fatigue, nutrient levels), but also to what’s happening around you (like bright lights, strong odors, and the weather). The chances of an individual’s trigger sparking an event, as well as the time at which it may begin, can vary substantially, so make sure you are aware of what works best for you. As always, subscribe to The Insider today to stay up to dates with new posts, topics, and discussions!

Sleep is Directly Related to Your Productivity and Ability to Focus

Is Your Sleep Schedule to Blame for Lack of Productivity and Focus?

Let’s face it. Adults are busy. We work all day and come home to even more responsibilities. From dishes, laundry, groceries, and bills, to children, spouses, and pets, our time flies by. Yes, we try to get everything done as fast as possible in our fleeting hours at home (after an exhausting day), but hours feel like minutes, and minutes feel like seconds, and before we know it, its midnight again.

Did you know that by increasing the amount of time you sleep per night will increase your quality of life and productivity as well? The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) recommends that adults sleep for at least seven hours each night for “optimal health.” Most adults fail to reach this amount. Thirty percent of working Americans get fewer than six hours of sleep daily, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control. An insufficient amount of sleep puts you at a disadvantage every single day. Lack of sleep hurts your cognitive processes, making it hard to understand, concentrate, reason, etc.

Interesting enough, studies by The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) discovered a correlation between NBA Players’ sleep schedules and performances the following day. They reported, “[NBA] Players scored on average about 1 point less in games following late-night tweets [between 11pm-7am], and their shooting accuracy dropped 1.7 percentage points compared with their performance in games that did not follow late-night tweeting. After a late-night tweet, players also took fewer shots and had fewer rebounds, steals and blocks.” We are not living our lives to their fullest potentials.

So, what now? Obviously, we simply need more sleep. It’s best to create a cycle of increasing our sleep, thus improving our performance/productivity. This allows us to get to bed faster and do it all over again. Even a short-term increase of sleep can help daily performance. Results show that after five nights of sleep extension, professional baseball players (from an MLB organization) demonstrated a 13-percent improvement on a cognitive processing speed test by reacting 122 milliseconds faster. They also responded 66 milliseconds faster on a test of selective attention when confronted with distractions.

Documenting the amount of time you sleep per night can help you recognize trends and ways to improve. There are several smart phone apps available to help you. “Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock” is one of the most popular applications used. It allows users to track their sleep and create alarms with many free features, such as motion detection. Technology is not necessary. Tracking is not necessary. Your body and performance daily is the only thing that matters. Find ways to get more sleep. Listen to your body. See your life improve. As always, subscribe to The Insider, AMSCO Medical’s official blog site, to stay up-to-date the health industry, health advice and much more!

Proper Influenza Preparation: Trends to Watch for Next Flu Season

With spring in full swing, the focus of many patients often transitions from flu season to allergy season. Health care providers, on the other hand, are already looking to prepare for the next flu season.

One of the biggest topics of conversation when it comes to flu season is flu vaccines. Are they effective, are they worth the cost, when should I get one, etc.? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, adults commonly receive their flu vaccine in either a doctor’s office or a pharmacy. Children also commonly receive their flu vaccine in a doctor’s office, but also in a clinic or health center.

Every year, the upcoming flu virus strains are a bit different. Health care provider’s play a leading role as flu vaccine administrators and proper preparation starts with knowing what flu virus strains will be widespread in the upcoming flu season. The next flu season is 2017-2018, which runs from October 2017 through May 2018. December through March is usually the four-month peak period.

In early March, The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended flu vaccines that target four types of viruses (two B strains and two A strains) for the 2017-2018 flu season that vaccinate patients from the following strains of influenza:

• A/Michigan/45/2015 (H1N1)pdm09-like virus
• A/Hong Kong/4801/2014 (H3N2)-like virus
• B/Brisbane/60/2008-like virus
• B/Phuket/3073/2013-like virus

Although WHO makes their recommendations on which flu vaccines to use for the upcoming flu season, the FDA still needs to approve those recommendations for the flu vaccines to go into affect. According to multiple reports, the FDA did just that. That gave drug manufacturers the green light to produce vaccines that immunize patients from the four virus strains identified by the WHO. Keep in mind, the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research must also approve each vaccine for use by providers on patients before the flu season starts this upcoming.

Among the new flu vaccines expected to be available for the 2017-2018 flu season are:

• Afluria quadrivalent 0.5 ml prefilled syringe (18+ years old)
• Afluria quadrivalent 5.0 ml multi-dose vial (18+ years old)
• Flucelvax quadrivalent 5.0 ml multi-dose vial (age 4 or older)
• Flublok quadrivalent 0.5 ml prefilled syringe (18+ years old)
• FluLaval quadrivalent 5.0 ml multi-dose vial for infants (6 months or older)

Learning From Last Flu Season

In order to effectively prepare for the upcoming season, one must evaluate last season’s successes and failures. According to the CDC, the vaccine for the 2016-2017 flu season was about 48 percent effective overall. It was least effective on people age 18 to 49 (19%) and most effective on people age 50 to 64 (58%). After about a month into last flu season:

• About 40% of adults had gotten their flu shots,
• About 37% of children (6 months old – 17 yrs. old) had gotten theirs,
• And about 68.5% of health care personnel had gotten theirs.
• Now with the 2017-2018 flu season less than six months away

The takeaway from last flu season would be to target the most susceptible patient populations with the most suitable flu vaccines available and as always, administer the vaccines as soon as possible. Continue to follow AMSCO Medical as flu season approaches and subscribe to The Insider, AMSCO Medical’s official blog site, to keep up with the industry’s biggest topics and to stay ahead of what’s to come in the medical industry!

Are You Prepared for Allergy Season?

Temperatures are rising across the country, which excites millions of Americans that have been in hibernation throughout the winter season. People in the Midwest have been taking full advantage of our unseasonably warm weather the past few weeks. Getting a glimpse of warm temperatures early in the year is hard not to enjoy, but it also means allergy season may start early as well.

Generally speaking, there are three seasons for outdoor allergies: spring, summer and fall. Spring allergies can start as early as February, especially if temperatures begin to warm up. Although the timing and severity of allergy seasons vary depending on location, the effects remain the same. Sneezing, coughing, runny nose and itchy eyes are all part of the allergy season symptoms. If any of these symptoms seem to occur only during certain seasons or whenever temperatures warm up, you may have seasonal allergies.

The best tip for allergy relief is to know your personal triggers. Grass, pollen, and mold are the most common triggers of allergies, but other substances can also play a part. There are other triggers that are closely related to particular seasons such as chlorine in swimming pools and insect bites during the spring/summer and pine trees or wreaths during the winter season. An allergist can help you find the source of your allergies, which will help you stop the symptoms not just treat them after they occur. Allergist will typically recommend starting medications to alleviate symptoms about two weeks before they’re expected to begin.

Not all symptoms require attention from a doctor or allergist. There are various DIY measures that will help you avoid allergy reactions completely. Living in this current age of information makes checking pollen counts very easy. To check pollen counts simply visit the National Allergy Bureau (www.aaaai.org/nab) for updated counts daily. Be sure to take extra preventative measures whenever pollen counts are high, such as closing doors and windows, start taking your medications before your symptoms start, etc. Things such as eye protection and face-masks can make the world of difference whenever you are working outdoors.

One of the most effective ways to treat seasonal allergies is immunotherapy (allergy shots). Allergy shots will expose you to increments of your allergen in order to help you tolerate it rather than having typical allergy reactions such as sneezing and watery eyes. Understanding that allergy season is looming, AMSCO Medical is currently running a promotion on our selection of allergy trays, which can be found here. Subscribe today to receive notifications whenever a new blog is posted!

Healthcare 2017: A Glance at What’s to Come

Rolling into a new year, people tend to reminisce on the past year and look ahead to the year in front of them and the healthcare industry is no different. With a new president taking office in 2017, the future of healthcare remains on the mind of millions of Americans across the country. 2017 is headed to become a year of uncertainty, as well as opportunity, for everyone working in the industry. Along with the uncertainty of the Affordable Care Act, new technologies will alter preconceptions about healthcare delivery, the shift towards value-based care will continue to develop, and more! 2016 saw it fair share of healthcare discussion, controversy and confusion and 2017 seems to be heading in the same direction.

Newly elected President Donald J. Trump is settling into the oval office; the healthcare industry is preparing for significant changes on many fronts. One of the biggest question marks heading into 2017 is the Affordable Care Act. The fate of the ACA remains unclear, but President Trump’s stance on it is very clear. Before taking office, Trump made it clear that repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act is one of his top priorities. However, that process would reverse the expansion of Medicaid and cause the 20 million newly insured Americans to lose their current coverage. If reversed, hospitals could experience a dramatic increase in uncompensated care. Health organizations across the country should map out their potential gains and losses of insured consumers to help them prepare for what’s to come. Although the reversing of the ACA can cause a series of issues, it will also create opportunities in the market. Heading into open enrollment for 2017 and the exit of many healthcare providers puts nearly 1.6 million lives and over $8 billion in premium revenues up for grabs.

One of the biggest topics of discussion this past year was the shift toward value-based care. This shift will cause organizations to adapt, innovate, and build new programs and ways to approach their work. The push toward paying for value over volume has been gradually increasing. Providing higher quality, lower cost care will require an analytics-based approach to deliver custom care management solutions based on the specific needs of the patients. This type of approach will require a strong infrastructure of technology, as well as clinical skills, that will take time to build and organize.

With all of the questions marks regarding healthcare in 2017, there’s one advancement you can count on to play a huge role in the months to come. As discussed in a previous post, the future for healthcare technology is on the rise. Although the healthcare industry is a couple of steps behind other industries in terms of the use of emerging technologies such as drones, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence, these advancements in technology are on the health industry’s horizon in 2017. In order to operate these technologies, organizations should expect to compete with technology, financial services and retail companies for workers that include engineers and designers. Since technology is shifting things to a cyber format, organizations should also invent in cyber-security to avoid costly breaches.

Millions of dollars will be set aside for drug and devices aimed at fighting the spread of infectious diseases such as the Zika virus. Education will be key in this fight as companies selling the drugs and devices should provide strong educational resources for healthcare workers to pass along to their patients. These resources should help prevent the spread and new pathogens and the development of antibiotic resistance.

 

As we look ahead into 2017, the year is panning out to be filled with uncertainty but also relief. The best thing for health organizations right now is to prepare as much as possible with the amount of information that is available. There’s somethings that are out of our control, but with proper preparation organizations should experience minimal time in a transition stage. AMSCO Medical wishes everyone a prosperous year and we will be here every step of the way to help keep you up-to-date on any and all future changes in the industry!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winter Skin Care

With 2016 coming to an end and the start of the new year just around the corner, there’s one thing most Americans can guarantee and that’s a decrease in temperatures. With dropping temperatures, chilling wind gusts, and an increase in snowfall, there’s plenty of precautionary measures that should be taken during these cold winter months. Some parts of the country will experience temperatures below 0°F this winter and one of the biggest problems American face during the winter is dry/irritated skin.

Showering for extended periods of time during the winter season is a common occurrence. People tend to spend extra time taking a hot shower or bath, which is always a recipe for dry skin. Moisturizing, as many of us already know, is the key to avoiding dry skin and replacing any moisture the dry air might’ve taken away from your skin. An important thing to remember is that everyone’s skin is not the same, everyone’s complexion and sensitivity is a little bit different. Since we often feel the coldness on our face, it’s understandable to only concentrate on what’s irritating you the most. Most people overlook the fact that their whole body needs to be treated with the same care as one’s face.

Another commonly overlooked way of maintaining healthy skin during the winter season is to relieve the amount of stress that you may be dealing with. Stress tends to be at an all-time high during the winter season with the numerous of holidays around this time. It is good to find a stress reliever in the winter that works well for you, such as exercise, meditation, or yoga. Everyone has their own unique way of relieving stress, so it is best to find what works best for you and then incorporate that into your weekly/daily schedule.

Eating good will also benefit you greatly when it comes to staying healthy and feeling comfortable in your own skin. Poor food choices can and will have an effect on your skin so it is important to be cautious of what you’re putting into your body, not just on it. With the holidays in full affect, it’s very easy and very tempting to make poor food choices. The options for healthy eating during the holiday season are slim to none, so staying on track is not any easy task to accomplish, but it is something your skin (and body) will thank you for later down the line.

Another overlooked situation when dealing with winter weather is the lack of skin exposure to the sun. Just about everyone dealing with dropping temperatures will bundle up as much as possible during the winter days, which leaves your skin with little to no sun exposure. We all realize the importance of sun exposure for your skin, but the winter season will definitely put a limit on it. For this lack of exposure, many have turned to alternative solutions during the winter season such as photo-therapy.

To millions of Americans, the winter season presents a series of issues which makes it easy to overlook something like skin care. Many of us feel the effects of dry winter skin, but only after the damage has already been done. It is important to not only take precautionary measures during the winter, but it’s also very important to be aware of everything causing these issues. This will ultimately help you avoid skin damage that the winter air may cause and will help you narrow down the issue if dry skin does occur. Bundle up, moisturize, and stay warm!

Subscribe today to stay up-to-date on everything happening in the health industry! If you have any topics you’d like to see covered in the near future, feel free to drop your comments below!

The Increasing Importance of Patient Portals

Patient portals have become an increasingly popular option for healthcare providers to make available to patients. With people having more access to information today than ever before, a patient portal makes complete sense. Patient portals have been a topic of discussion for the last few years now, but just recently has the true benefits really come to light. Investment in patient engagement solutions (such as patient portals) has increased every year and even more investment is projected in the near future. It is estimated that the patient engagement solutions market will go from $6.7 billion (2014) in funding to about $16.4 billion in 2020.

Whenever the patient has the option to directly review their own health information, the level of comfort with their doctor instantly increases. If patients are aware of their health history and current health situation, it is much easier for them to understand and address those situation with their doctors. After reviewing their health information, either online or through mobile/tablet, patients can do their part and research certain symptoms and/or terms they are unfamiliar with. One of the biggest mistakes that patients make with their healthcare provider is having a lack of communication. Increasing patient portal usage will not only inform the patient about their current health issues but it will also give them the confidence to talk with their doctors and ask questions they wouldn’t normally ask without the use of a patient portal. The more information that travels between patient and doctor only increases the chances of that patient receiving better quality of care.

With patient portals, there is no longer a need to go the extra mile to hunt down the gatekeepers for medical records, but as well all know with pros, come cons. There’s certain circumstances in which more portal usage is not beneficial for either side. One of the issues that can arise with increased patient portal usage is portal overload. When receiving inpatient care, a patient may encounter a number of different providers and payers such as the primary care doctor, the independent laboratory, the medical specialist, the diagnostic imaging facility, the hospital, the retail pharmacy, and more.  Each one of these stops has a portal which contains some but not all of the patient’s data.

Fortunately, there are a couple of strategies that can help overcome the overload issue like interoperability and convenience.  Interoperability is the ability to acquire patient data from a number of sources, comply the data, and make it available to everyone in a single view. Patient portals should be as user-friendly as possible. This includes easy access (including mobile and tablet access) and the use of understandable terms/data. The development of the portal should be designed and created with the patients in mind, not just the providers.

By creating patient portals and maintaining them in a way that is convenient for everyone will benefit all parties involved. The patient’s benefits when using portals are clear, better access to your medical data and better quality of care from their providers. Providers and health plans will definitely see a dramatic increase in the number of patients using their online portals and other applications, which will only benefit them both clinically and financially. Patient portals are here and they’re here to stay, maintaining them and cultivating them to meet patient’s needs will be the key.

The Future of Health Technology

Healthcare 2025

Health technology has been one of the most intriguing topics in the industry for a while. Depending on what happens now and in the near future, there’s quite of few things that will change in the near future. Since tech is one of the most sought-after industries, especially in recent years, it only makes sense that the tech industry is looking for ways to implement technology into every market possible. Since the healthcare industry makes up about one-sixth of the economy, it was only a matter of time before it grabbed the attention of tech giants, tech startups, and everything in between.