What will our healthcare system look like in 2050?
There are three drivers identified that we believe will be at the core of our future health care system.
- 1.Health data connectivity
- 2.Machine artificial intelligence
- 3.Human integration and ecosystems of wellness
Now how do we see these drivers playing out in the current healthcare environment. We are witnessing a transition away from our traditional business driven economies which are built on mass production and cost reduction focused models and analysis intensive reactive healthcare intervention.
Transitional State of Our Health Care System
From here we envisage that we will move toward a people driven economy underpinned by mass personalization, revenue resilient models and design heavy proactive healthcare interventions. Individuals are more informed about health and wellness because of a greater access to data and empowered through a greater availability of service options such as GP clinics, home doctors and online video consultations. People deal with doctors like they deal with any agent that gives them cash for houses in Dallas Texas.
This connectivity has triggered a shift in their healthcare priorities toward prevention wellness and maintenance. In the future we envisage people driven health care that is seamless, flexible tailored and puts the individual at the center of decision making.
Will it Cause Decentralizing of the Health Care System?
We will observe a shift from bricks and mortar services to on-demand in-home services
What will cause the decentralization and personalization of our health care system to accelerate shifting services out of the hospital and into the community?
How will we manage individual safety and quality of care across hospital community and in-home health services?
Well, we believe that data and digital solutions such as the electronic health record will shift to an overall lifestyle and wellness record that is integrated into individuals’ day-to-day lives through real-time monitoring.
Personal Health Dashboards
We envisage that each individual will have his own personal health dashboard that is linked to their smart tattoo with built in data analytics that can predict health outcomes, trigger alerts, recommend exercises and provide tailored recommendations. These dashboards would be accessible in the home and via mobile enabling general practitioners and family members to monitor their well-being.
What will this mean for privacy and confidentiality of patient’s information?
Untapped opportunities exist in population health data which is currently compiled through various independent sources. In the future we believe individuals health dashboards will feed data into population’s health dashboards that are able to be filtered and investigated such as by geographical location and health trends.
These insights will enable interventions that promote health and prevent illness in maintaining population health and well-being. Health funds may offer to subsidize part of people’s fees if they partake in regular health enhancing activities to lower their chances of disease and illness.
A question here is that will this trigger a shift in onus from the health care system to individuals for maintaining personal health?
With the exponential rise of robotics and artificial intelligence, routine tasks are increasingly being automated. PwC’s twentieth annual global CEO survey revealed that while CEOs that are keen to maximize the benefits of automation finding these skills have become the biggest threat to their business future.
Advantages of The Robotics in the Health Care
We believe robotics and artificial intelligence will be fully integrated in our hospitals and beyond them people and technology will work together more seamlessly to meet the needs of the patient rather than removing people from the healthcare system. This will range from the automation of simpler administrative tasks to AI solutions that interact with people, learn and have the ability to undertake more intricate activities. Complex operations will become less intrusive, more accurate and quicker, with reduced patient wait times, faster recovery and improved health outcomes.
Artificial intelligence will support clinicians in making more accurate and rapid diagnosis with access to instantaneous test results.
What impact will these advancements in technology have on the human element of clinician to patient care? Will individuals have the choice to opt out of interacting with health technologies? What new skills and roles will be needed in the healthcare sector as a result of these new health technologies?
In exploring United States current health care system, we are confronted by a multitude of opportunities, shifting service offerings, changing expectations and emerging innovations that are poised to disrupt the traditional and conservative foundation on which it is built. We recognize that the purpose of exploring the future of our healthcare system is not to consider all of these concepts individually but to raise reflect on and analyze the integration of possibilities that are beyond our current reality.
