The Future!

What does the future hold in terms of Health IT and future trends? I believe one trend we will see in future is the use of implantable technology to track health and predict diseases (Koydemir, & Ozcan, 2018). Technology straight out of a science fiction novel where a character can view information coming from the nodes implanted in their body, which can scan for cancer or any out of the normal symptoms. With this technology, patients would be able to seek medical attention faster due to the knowledge and information they are constantly receiving and hopefully be cured. This technology can hopefully help the U.S. healthcare industry by tracking trends and gathering more data that can help with future diagnoses.

Another future trend I see that may occur is the advancement in personal healthcare with the use of artificial technology (Thimbleby, 2013). The days of having to talk to a physician will be of the past since all health data ever created can be inputted in to a system where a person can type in what they are feeling and receive a diagnosis, prescriptions, and recommendations. A future where people are able to walk in to building, insert money in to a machine, and get a MRI scan done all without the written permission of a provider. "Al a carte medicine" is probably the best way to describe what I am talking about (Prasad, 2010). A patient can pick and choose what they want done or be seen for by entering a one stop shop facility that uses AI technology to help guide a patient through care. Quick and easy experience that would relieve the burdens of appointments or filled up waiting rooms. This technology can help the U.S. healthcare by relieving the stress of appointments and emergency room wait times, but doesn't necessarily mean it is the right technology to have.

I say this as a possible future trend because people are always looking for the quickest way to get something done and I believe that medicine and personal health are no exception. It is sad knowing that a majority of people want to know the ending versus everything that has lead up to this point. Most patients just want to know whats wrong and what medicine they can take to fix it without the education. In my experience working in the emergency room, I've began to notice how inpatient people are now a days in terms of receiving health care. When you enter a emergency room you expect to be waiting a least a couple of hours before being seen, but recently I've noticed that a lot of out patients are willing to walk out of their room if a provider is not in there within five minutes of placing them inside the exam room. This is why I believe one day someone will create a way for people to walk in a facility, pick and choose what they want in terms of health care needs, and walk out.

References:

Koydemir, H. C., & Ozcan, A. (2018, June 12). Wearable and Implantable Sensors for

Biomedical Applications. Retrieved from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29490190

Prasad V. (2010). Holiday reading: A la carte medicine. CMAJ : Canadian Medical

Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne, 182(18), 2011–

2012. doi:10.1503/cmaj.101301

Thimbleby H. (2013). Technology and the future of healthcare. Journal of public health

research, 2(3), e28. doi:10.4081/jphr.2013.e28