Healthcare IT Goal For 2013: Move From Digital Medicine to Democratizing Medicine

It may be an understatement to say social media, smartphones and mobile devices along with advanced analytics have impacted our daily lives. But through the eyes of healthcare professionals, those technologies have completely transformed the field and will continue to reshape the delivery of healthcare for many years to come.

So says Eric J. Topol, the well-known cardiologist, geneticist and researcher from the Scripps Research Institute who delivered the keynote address at the HIMMS 2013 annual conference.

“We practice medicine today at the population level. We do everything the same way for every patient and fail to recognize that each person is an individual. With technology, we can define them, and that’s where we can make a difference today—we have the tools that we didn’t have before,” Topol said excitedly.

Healthcare technology has already moved to more digital platforms with electronic medical records, health information exchange etc., but by democratizing medicine and allowing patients to take part in their own care, what does this mean for healthcare providers? Well, for starters, it will drive down costs and reduce the need for many doctors’ office visits because technology will allow many evaluations to be done remotely in the comfort of one’s home.

Topol displayed examples of various mobile application technologies for smartphones that the Scripps Research Institute is working on including: digital vital sign monitor, glucose checker, digital voice test (to detect such diseases as Parkinson’s), digital breath test (to detect lung cancer etc.), thyroid and liver test, skin lesion scanner, eyes refraction test etc.

“80 percent of doctors will become unnecessary. We will soon hear: ‘the robot will see you now,’” said Topol. “The idea of going to the doctor’s office will be as foreign as going to the video store,” he joked.

Healthcare CIOs are on the forefront of these massive changes and must help providers take this leap to a more advanced form of care. Doctors should be teaching patients and allowing them to have access to their own data, and healthcare IT executives must make that data available. “It’s their data!” Topol emphasized.

Currently, 68 percent of American physicians refuse to email contact with patients. According to Topol, this must change in 2013 because those physicians, who don’t get on board, will fall off the wagon. And, if doctors take this leap to connected care, this means more work for the IT executives who must monitor that data and ensure its safety—but, it’s all for the good of innovation and improved care.

At this point, none of this can be done without open sourcing, and Topol mentions the need for what he called “MOOM (Massive Open Online Medicine),” which will be hard with the HIPPA compliance rules in effect. However, CIOs have the opportunity to break those barriers and truly make a difference in patient interaction.

“Nothing about me without me. That’s where we want to be with real engagement,” said Topol.