Since the dawn of modern medicine, technological advances have been giving doctors, nurses, and hospital administrators better and better tools for treating the unwell since the dawn of modern medicine. This includes everything from the stethoscope to vaccinations to x-rays to present day integrated healthcare technologies.

Since 2011, the trojan Stegoloader has infected machines all over the U.S. with malware disguising itself as a pirated product key generator. Once deployed, the trojan steals electronic medical records and attacks system vulnerabilities. Although the healthcare industry has been the primary target, other businesses are not invulnerable.

Technology is constantly changing and evolving. And while many of these changes are designed to add convenience to people's lives, there is a chance that some technological advances can do much more. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a form of technology that may have the potential to do real good for humankind through applications in the healthcare industry.

The medical industry is one of the most data-rich business sectors of the 21st century. Patients that receive care have hundreds of data points associated with their medical history -- but how is this data being handled? In most cases, not carefully enough.

The tech industry is littered with buzzwords: overused jargon generally meant to inspire feelings of hope and accomplishment. Not all have positive connotations however, and data compliance is one of those spooky buzzwords that many small- and medium-sized businesses have scant specific knowledge about.

Ease of access, legibility, and accuracy are all key factors when you’re maintaining important business records. They’re even more important when it comes to the tracking of medical patients’ information. And thanks EHR, you no longer need to shuffle through reams of paper files, attempt to decipher doctors’ messy handwriting, or wonder if the data is up-to-date.

Corporate giants like Microsoft, Google and Apple are essentially cultural icons because their software and hardware innovations have been, dare we say, revolutionary. Similarly, in the not-too-distant future, we’ll be looking back and marvelling about how healthcare once existed without some of the radical-sounding technologies that are tantalizingly close to becoming reality.

Medical records are generally inaccessible and hard to understand. In fact, if you were to try reading your own medical data, you might find that it’s almost as if it’s in a different language. A medical record can be riddled with cryptic phrases, acronyms and complex terms that mean nothing in the eyes of someone that didn’t study medicine for eight years.

ESPN recently reported that a laptop containing the medical records of thousands of NFL players was stolen from the car of a Washington Redskins’ trainer. And while the team released a statement saying no health information protected under HIPAA guidelines was at risk, the incident shows that EMRs are vulnerable no matter the size of your company.

“We are living in a digital world, and healthcare practices need a URL”. If Madonna could change the lyrics of her 1984 classic to speak to the healthcare industry, she may have sang something like this. A URL is just one facet of the digital strategy that hospitals and private practices alike will need to adapt if they wish to remain competitive in today’s world.