The Future of Healthcare: What Will It Be Like?

For week 10, I wanted to focus on what the future of healthcare will look like. Right now, the model of healthcare in the U.S., is based on a one-size-fits all, office visit model that has been in effect for decades. A physician sees patients for fifteen-minute intervals, often leading to long waiting times if it not an efficient office. We must start thinking differently in order to adapt to a progressing future with superbugs and pandemic-causing diseases, like COVID-19. This future in medicine includes incredible amounts of change, but specifically in the healthcare model, the focus of physicians, and a team-oriented approach rather than an individual one. I found an article on the exact changes we need to improve our healthcare system for the greater population, which can be found here. Sara Michael writes this article on the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center website. She brings up multiple ways to change our current healthcare system for the better, starting with online visits. An online healthcare model is more accessible than the in-person office model due to its reach, for example, people in rural areas could easily reach medical services with access to the internet without having to leave their homes. This could also help those who are uncomfortable with going to the doctor, such as young queer and transgender people. The online model would also allow for more patients to be seen in general, as any canceled in-person appointments could be easily replaced with the needs of an online patient. It also could help to relieve stress on the physicians' part, as they could be able to have part of their day seeing patients in the office, then proceeding to work from home, allowing them to relax, practice self care, and be supported by and support their friends and family. Another change to the healthcare model in the future that could improve it immensely would be group visits. Rather than seeing only one patient at a time, a physician would see a group of patients with similar symptoms. By doing this, the patients get to hear others' experiences as well as talk about their own, which helps the physician to gain knowledge they might not have found in one-on-one visits. Michael continues on about further changes that would help the future of healthcare, and if you are interested in those, the rest of her article is really eye-opening for what the future holds for healthcare. (Michael, "The Future of Healthcare")

While searching for resources about the future of healthcare, I came upon this great infographic too.  It goes over what sci-fi future healthcare tech the business leaders in the healthcare business think could become reality in the future, as based on a survey of over 400 businesses and organizations.  It displays what these businesses believe will emerge as known medical innovations by the next five and twenty-five years. It also goes over other problems in healthcare systems around the world that need to be addressed before we can ethically indulge in sci-fi technological and medical dreams, including affordability, technical issues, ethical issues, and regulation. This infographic is super well organized, so I highly recommend it!