Since moving from bedside nurse to health technology, there is a lot to keep up with. New health technology comes out everyday, so how do I stay on top of it all? My honest truth: I don’t.

There are always going to be new gadgets, software, and companies that fly under my radar. I stay on top of what I can, which is where having habits in place helps. Instead of worrying about reading every health technology story out there, I focus on a few things.

Having the following habits ensures I get a broad view of health technology topics without overload.

Before I dive into what the habits are, I want to mention how important it is to stay curious. Curiosity about any topic will help you to keep up naturally. Day dream, imagine ‘what if,’ and ask questions. It makes keeping up a lot more fun.

Habit #1: Take note of health stories in the news.

I listen for health stories in the news to see how technology played a role. For example, as the pandemic started, I paid attention to how technology helped with:

• Tracking the virus
• Identifying infected people
• Treating sick people
• Communicating new information
• Slowing the spread

Technology was central to all of those pieces – existing technology was used in new ways, and new technology was created. In some cases, technology used during the pandemic will be part of the new normal. A lot more people are going to expect their doctors to do telehealth for example.

The ways technology helps solve a health problem can inform future trends, which is why it helps to read health stories with this view.

Some stories are about health technology directly, which makes the trend easier to spot. For example, the heart monitoring functions of the Apple Watch hint at smartwatches becoming more medical in the future.

Habit #2: Research health technology trends I hear about.

When I hear about something new in health technology, I make sure to research it. Because I do not get to work with all of the new technologies out there, I have to rely on what I find online to give me a sense of how they work.

Here is my process:

Step 1: I usually start with a Google search and read a few initial articles just to understand what the main products and companies are in that space.

Step 2: Once I know who the main players are, I look for academic articles or posts from known health systems. For example, I wanted to understand more about where the ‘smart clothing’ market is since the pandemic started.

My Google search led me to pilots of the ‘smart patch’ by Northwestern University, and ‘smart shirt’ by Hackensack University Medical Center. I then went to the university websites directly to find anything they published about these pilots.

Step 3: I visit product and company websites to see demonstration videos. A lot of companies have short videos showing their products in use. These are tremendously helpful in picturing how the technology works.

Step 4: I fall into the rabbit hole for a while. Basically I read as much about the topic as I need to understand it.

Many times one article will lead me to another topic I was completely unaware of. For example, the ‘smart patch’ led me to an article about how Tufts University is working on fabric dyes that change color depending on your health condition.

Again, being naturally curious is an asset in keeping up with technologies.

Habit #3: Subscribe to health technology newsletters.

Of course, it is great when health technology news gets delivered to your inbox each day. In fact, subscribe to my newsletter and I will make this on super easy for you! But, if you want to go the harder route, there are some great technology newsletters I subscribe to:

Healthcare Innovation

This website is geared towards technology leaders in healthcare. They cover topics from population health to health policy, all with a focus on technology. Their daily newsletter presents three headlines from their website, along with links to webinars and white papers about health technology topics.

I find the newsletter and website helpful for staying up to date on topics in the health technology industry. However, this is not the easiest source for anyone new to health technology to learn. They definitely assume you have some background on these topics and know more technical terms like ‘interoperability’ and ‘digital infrastructure.’

MobiHealthNews

This is a publication put out by HIMSS – the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. It focuses on digital health and covers news in the industry such as which startups got funding and companies partnering to create new products.

Their newsletter usually presents two headlines from their website. For each one, they provide a summary of what happened and why it is an important digital health trend to pay attention to. This is definitely the place to go if you want to understand the digital health industry.

The Medical Futurist

This is a site featuring Dr. Bertalan Besko, a self-described ‘geek physician.’ On his site he explores how technologies that seem like science fiction make their way into healthcare. He covers topics like how artificial intelligence (AI) will impact medicine, predictions for the future of pharmacies and emergency rooms.

His descriptions of how different technologies will come into play are very helpful. He pulls together trends that seem unrelated and shows how they can create a different experience. I would recommend his newsletter for any health professional who wants to learn more about technology trends. It may be harder for non-health professionals to follow because it assumes you understand medical terms and how health systems work.

Habit #4: Follow health technology companies.

There are some health technology companies that are helpful to follow on social media like LinkedIn. But with new startups launching all the time, how do you know which ones to follow? If you are a healthcare professional and there is a software you already work with, I would start by following that company. You will learn about new features and they usually share their plans for the future (called the ‘product roadmap’).

Epic – an electronic health system used in many hospitals – shares videos on their LinkedIn page about topics like machine learning and telehealth.

I mentioned HIMSS earlier. They are a popular professional organization for people in healthcare technology. Before the pandemic, HIMSS used to host a big conference in Las Vegas each year popular in the health technology community.

The HIMSS LinkedIn page shows HIMSS TV which mostly covers interviews with healthcare technology leaders. HIMSS TV is a great way to hear about different startups, projects, and new technology without having to follow each one.

Keep an eye on the big tech companies dipping a toe in health

Aside from software companies and professional organizations, it never hurts to follow what the big technology companies are doing with digital health:

Google Health talks about everything Google is doing to help with the pandemic, how they are using artificial intelligence to diagnose, and their research studies on various conditions.

Apple Health has focused more on putting health technology into the hands of customers. Patients owning their data is a big trend in health technology and worth paying attention to.

Watson Health by IBM is working to integrate artificial intelligence into healthcare by doing things like suggesting treatments based on large amounts of data. And, yes, it is the same technology that beat Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings.

Key Takeaways:

With so much going on in healthcare technology, it is easy to get overwhelmed with trying to keep up. But with a few key habits, you can make keeping up much easier:

• Keep an eye on health stories in the news – look at where technology helped to solve problems.
• Research health tech trends you hear about – fall into the rabbit hole of learning about new technology.
• Subscribe to newsletters – get updates delivered to your inbox.
• Follow health technology companies – they kind of love telling everyone how cool they are anyway.

Do not stress yourself out trying to adopt all of these habits at once. I would pick a few habits to start with and take it from there. Once you put several of these habits in place, you will find it much easier to stay up on the latest.