Source: Big Think
- The United States health care system has much room for improvement, and big tech may be laying the foundation for those improvements.
- Technological progress in medicine is coming from two fronts: medical technology and information technology.
- As information technology develops, patients will become active participants in their health care, and value-based care may become a reality.
In his book Health Care Reboot, Michael Dowling, Northwell Health’s CEO, argues that “[the United States] is constructing a solid foundation upon which the new American health care is being erected.” To those steeped in news of health care’s administrative bloat, under-performing primary care, and low levels of insurance coverage, such a thesis may seem bold, wishful, or downright delusional.
But Dowling does not ignore the health care system’s need for improvement. Rather, he believes that contemporary trends can foster such improvement if we recognize their value. He cites advances and disruptions in areas such as consolidation, education, payment reform, and mental health to support his progressive view that “better, safer, and more accessible care” is coming.
Among those trends is big tech’s move into health care, or as Dowling puts it, technology may soon move us into the age of smart medicine.
Medical tech marvels
Dowling sees big tech’s stride into health care as coming from two fronts: medical technology and information technology. On the medical technology front, the technology available to doctors has accelerated at an unprecedented pace, resulting in tools and techniques that are “the stuff of Star Wars.”
“Some of the most advanced technology tools ever developed in any field are in use to care for patients. Look at any modern operating room or intensive care unit, and the technology to treat patients and keep them alive is remarkable,” writes Dowling.
To pick one of many examples, Northwell Health’s Cohen Children’s Medical Center was the first pediatric program on Long Island to institute ROSA, a “robotic operating surgical assistant.” Before ROSA, children suffering epilepsy would have to undergo a full craniotomy to target and monitor areas of seizure activity. With ROSA’s assistance, surgeons can get the same results through a minimally invasive procedure, reducing the risk of infection and strain on the patient.
Even technology not designed for therapy has been co-opted to play small, yet supportive, roles in quotidian treatment. A study out of the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles found that virtual reality can help reduce a child’s anxiety and stress during basic procedures such as a…
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