The article "Drones May Become 'The Next Big Thing' In Healthcare Delivery", written by Balasubramanian (2022), introduces the uses and impact drones have on the healthcare sector. Balasubramanian started off the article by mentioning a real-life case study article by the European Heart Journal (2021), where the successful delivery rate of drones to Out-of-Hospital cardiac arrest patients was 92%. Through the advancement of drone technology, medical supplies such as Automated External Defibrillators (AED) will be able to arrive in a timely manner. Balasubramanian also discussed about an article by CISION PR Newswire (2022), when an elderly in Sweden suffered from cardiac arrest in December 2021 and it took just over three minutes for an AED to be swiftly delivered from the time the alarm sounded. Due to this timely out-of-hospital save, the elderly is fully recovered today. He shared that besides the utilization for delivery purposes, drones are also equipped with cameras and display screens for virtual communication between healthcare professionals resolving access-to-care and hard-to-reach patient issues which have been affecting modern-day healthcare. To sum off, Balasubramaniam assert that with the promising future drones have, many sectors such as retail and military are also testing and researching to cater to their needs. With more users, the cost of drone technology will drop and this creates opportunities for more healthcare organizations to utilize drones at a more advanced stage and cheaper rate.
In my opinion, drone technology has the capability to improve healthcare delivery through both transportation of healthcare supplies and providing of accurate diagnosis and advice for patients during delivery, in short telehealth, though some critics argue that it woud not be sustainable due to weather conditions.
Drones can improve healthcare delivery through transportation of supplies such as vaccines and time crucial medical samples. According to Netscribes (2022), drones allow vaccines to be reachable for remote areas and this allows speedier vaccination administration especially for cases like the pandemic. This is likely because drones are airbounded and are able to fly at a high altitude avoiding resistance such as traffic jams and uneven terrains. According to Joshi who referenced from an article by Singh (2022), “Drones can zip over traffic” thus they can delivery twenty times faster than land delivery. A report by Supply Chain (2022) claim that till date, more than 220,000 doses have been successfully distributed overcoming challenges such as their low storage temperature. The report also mentioned that in Rwanda, drones owned by the company Zipline transported blood to 350 healthcare facilities and decrease wastage of 95%. This proved that by delivering vaccines within its valid period, it decreases wastages and enhance health outcomes.
Another capability of drones is their ability to provide accurate diagnosis and advice for patients during delivery, in short telehealth. According to Southwick (2022), telemedicine diagnosis have an accuracy of 86.9% as compared to in-person diagnosis. The drones are equipped with cameras and display screens for communication between medical professionals and patient in their home (Balasubramaniam, 2022) and they are also of appropriate size to manuever around tight areas in houses (Miller, 2021). this gives healthcare professionals the flexibility of giving consultations without the need to travel. According to Miller (2021), this is necessary for patients during the pandemic as it acts as an in-person care especially for people who live alone. As healthcare experts are able to monitor the living and health conditions of patients, this allows them to be more precise in the medicine they prescribe and more specific to their needs and remind the patients on how to apply the prescribed medicine. Besides that, they can also be the first responders for emergencies. For example, an article from Netscribes (2022) wrote about the Amublance Drone in the Netherlands, which is not only used for delivery of AEDs but also equipped with a 2-way communicator and screen. In any event of a cardiac arrest, emergency service would send the drone out and educate onlookers on administering CPR and AED and execute until their arrival.
At the same time, it has its drawbacks which relates to weather conditions. According to Posea (2023), factors in the air such as wind, humidity and density can impact the flight as the drones only can withstand 13 to 18 mph of wind at most and it might consume more battery life to overcome the resistance. As there is more consumption of battery, there would be an increase in charging periods and down time. According to an article by UniEnergy Technology (n.d), flying drones in harsh conditions frequently drains the battery. Due to this, drones would only be dispatched when there is optimal weather condtions otherwise their batteries would be damaged faster and the drones might even get lost. Since weather condition are unpredictable, the accuracy of timely delivery would be affected.
In conclusion, drones contributes significantly to healthcare delivery through the transportation of supplies and the accurate diagnosis and advice for patients during delivery. As it is still a new and evergrowing technology, weather is still a big factor affecting the accuracy of delivery. Therefore, with advancement to technology, it would help accelerate the development of healthcare drones.
References
Sai Balasubramanian (2022, Jan 9). Drones May Become 'The Next Big Thing' In Healthcare Delivery. Forbes.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/saibala/2022/01/09/drones-may-become-the-next-big-thing-in-healthcare-delivery/?sh=9357ddd1e9b3
Schierbeck el at. (2021, Aug 26). Automated external defibrillators delivered by drones to patients with suspected out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. European Heart Journal.
https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article/43/15/1478/6358076
Everdrone AB (2022, Jan 4). For the first time in medical history, an autonomous drone helps save the life of a cardiac arrest patient. Cision PR Newswire.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/for-the-first-time-in-medical-history-an-autonomous-drone-helps-save-the-life-of-a-cardiac-arrest-patient-301453744.html
Netscribes (2022, Feb 15). Drones in healthcare: The ‘next big thing’ for care deliver. Netscribes.
https://www.netscribes.com/drones-in-healthcare/
Supply Chain (2022, Mar 14). Flying pharmacy: why medical drones will take off in 2022. Supply Chain.
https://www.here.com/learn/blog/medical-drones
Michael Miller (2021, Mar 15). New UC telehealth drone makes house calls. UC News.
https://www.uc.edu/news/articles/2021/03/virtual-medicine--new-uc-telehealth-drone-makes-house-calls.html
Ron Southwick (2022, Sep 12). Telehealth diagnosis shows high level of accuracy, study finds. Chief Healthcare Executive.
https://www.chiefhealthcareexecutive.com/view/telehealth-diagnosis-shows-high-level-of-accuracy-study-finds
Cohen Healthcare (n.d). Healthcare Compliance Issues for Medical Drones. Cohen Healthcare.
https://cohenhealthcarelaw.com/2022/10/healthcare-compliance-issues-for-medical-drones/
Paul Posea (2023). Can Drones Fly in Strong Winds? Dronesgator.
https://dronesgator.com/can-drones-fly-in-strong-winds/
Suvrat Joshi (2022, July 9). Faster Deliveries: Are Drones the Answer? Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
https://www.sdcexec.com/software-technology/emerging-technologies/article/22327025/fareye-faster-deliveries-are-drones-the-answer
UniEnergy Technologies (n.d). How Long Does A Drone Battery Last? (Tips To Increase) UniEnergy Technologies.
https://www.uetechnologies.com/drones-battery-life/
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