5 minute read
Trust levels to doctors are falling while people become more trustful to algorithms and computer data analysis. Healthcare industry is changing. How far will the change go? It is extremely likely that nurses and general practitioners will be substituted with apps and Artificial Intelligence. Let’s reveal the future of basic health care.
Patients cooperating
with apps and computers
Numerous studies have shown that preventative care greatly reduces future health care costs. In 50 years from now, preventative measures will be a lot more effective and in an entirely different form than we have today. To begin with, being healthy will be fashionable and easy to keep. Frankly, it will be hard not to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Sensors and smart analytics will be there to remind the user to have a jog, take a vitamin, or drink a glass of water. All the vital measures will be monitored in a real time providing in-depth information about current health status. It will help to predict and prevent any diseases on early stages. All the data will be digested using Artificial Intelligence and redirected to a doctor in case of any anomalies. Moreover, DNA testing will give an insight on the risk of getting one or another genetic predisposition illness. Most of the chronical diseases like diabetes will be cured automatically making patients’ life as normal as possible. Technological breakthrough in the healthcare industry will significantly increase the quality and longevity of life.
End of general
practitioner era
In one of the future scenarios, there will be no need for GPs as their functions will be performed by an app. Most of lab tests will be carried out at home or stations in the pharmacies using gadgets and robotics. Amazon, Apple, and Google have launched programs to develop “smart health” hubs. For example, Apple’s HealthKit gathers information from different sourced like wearables or phone applications, in one place for deeper analytics. While at the moment new specialized wearables are popping up to the market, in couple years from now, users will expect one gadget to measure all health data at once.
What is extremely revolutionizing is that doctors will get data on their patient’s health condition in the everyday environment instead of only crisis situations. It is a most common problem that people do not monitor their habits well. It is more than tiring to keep a journal with all the events of the day including diet diary. Even when the diagnosis and treatment are prescribed correctly, there is still a risk that patient will not follow recommendations. And how often does it happen when the patient forgets to take a pill on time? Current innovations are directed to eliminate this principal-agent problem in healthcare. To be more concrete, technology innovations will allow accessing a full information about the patient including sleeping patterns, nutrition facts, blood pressure, and even stress levels. It will reduce the time needed to question patient and improve the quality of information. As a result, the functions of General Practitioner and nurses will most likely be substituted by AI, deep analysis, and robotics. The patient can submit his or her complaints and worries to the app. It will be followed and analyzed by the program. In cases when AI sees the need, a patient will be sent to a human professional for further investigation.
Virtual health
for real people
Most of the meetings with doctors will become virtual using programs like Skype or Facetime. The communication will become easier and less time consuming with no traveling time and waiting periods. It will enable a possibility to get a consultation with any doctor in the globe. Geographical freedom will increase a professional competition improving the quality of medical care consultancy. At the same time, it might create a risk of low local availability of qualified experts. Hopefully, this challenge will be solved using robotics controlled by distance. Nevertheless, an issue of the access to experienced doctors has to be kept in mind with the fast pace of technological development.
All these changes do not mean that there will be no humans in the industry. Human contact is essential when it is about compassion and empathy. Of course, unless robots will be able to”feel” the pain. Read about the future of robotics and artificial intelligence as well as future ethics in our previous article “Understanding the Future of Intelligence“. In any case, the real human interaction will be a luxurious and expensive service available for a thin layer of society.
It is expected that technological development, access to real-time data and enhanced medical research will lower the cost of healthcare. At the same time, health and life insurance will be delivered in a completely new way. AI consultation will be included in the basic insurance package, while even virtual meeting with a doctor will require an additional payment. Altogether, this is a long-awaited jump forward to maintain global health and life satisfaction on the top level.
#Artificial Intelligence #wearables #telemedicine #medical literacy #healthcare #edoctor #future trends
