Technology is the wave of the future, and considering all the technological advances that are taking place at such a rapid pace, it's safe to say that the wave of the future is definitely here. Technology touches our lives on a constant basis; we've become so reliant on it as a society that it's almost impossible to imagine what life would be like without it. Looking toward the future, the global society is only going to become more reliant on technology, as more and more advances are introduced on a seemingly daily basis. Technological devices have certainly provided us with numerous benefits, and it's exciting to think about what other devices and applications we'll be introduced to and how they'll improve our lives even more in the coming years. We're already seeing the next phase of technological development, and that phase is convergence.

Innovations have transformed nearly every industry from education to accounting, and the healthcare business is no exception. Doctors and other healthcare professionals have long utilized technology inpatient treatment, but today's innovations trend more toward increasing patient access to care and empowering individuals to take more active roles in their health outcomes. Prescription monitoring technology has enabled providers to slow the opioid epidemic by preventing doctor shopping. Up and coming innovations will improve other areas of medicine from counseling to cardiac surgery. The following are some of the most prominent of these predictions for 2019.