Can Technology Make Medicine Human?
Zach Lorenz
The digitization of medicine is shaping the future of health care. As a physician of tomorrow, I believe my cohort will be, in part, defined by how we use technology to solve our healthcare system’s most complex problems.
Innovations already impacting other industries have the potential to be either enormously helpful or enormously burdensome to patients and providers. Doctors must prepare themselves to influence the digitization of their world — to create and tinker with our patients in mind. In light of this, I’ve completed a year-long fellowship in Healthcare Innovation with The Digital Innovation and Consumer Experience (DICE) Group to better understand how technologies like virtual and augmented reality, voice assistants, artificial intelligence, and wearables can improve health care.
Based on the principles I’ve learned, I see four areas where we can potentially apply technology to make medicine more human.
“Alexa, write my after visit note”
Much has been written regarding the epidemic of burnout, a disease that smothers healthcare providers. While identifying one root cause is difficult, many point to the “4,000-key-clicks-per-day” doctors spend documenting clinical encounters, according to the New York Times. Another 2016 study in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that for every hour a provider spends seeing patients, another two are spent in the Electronic Health Record, or EHR.
As a result, a JAMA Network study found that around 50% of doctors in the United States have at least one symptom of burnout. Many point to the digitization of medicine as a cause, but technology could provide an eventual cure.
For example, imagine a future in which the EHR documents itself, removing those clicks from a provider’s to-do list and acting as a virtual scribe. After a visit, doctors could simply glance at a screen, reviewing mostly completed documentation that reflects what was just said and done.
This would require a combination of voice and speech recognition via natural language processing and computer-assisted coding, among other forms of artificial intelligence. Such a solution would need to be vigorously vetted and monitored, and seems the most far-off at this time. Yet it would enable doctoring as intended: with the patient at the center. This solution would allow providers to simply listen and be present, enabling them to shift their focus from the screen and back to the patient.
Your doctor would like to FaceTime
How can telehealth make medicine more human if it removes the patient from the exam room? While it may seem counterintuitive, telehealth makes routine care accessible from virtually everywhere and allows for a broader, deeper, and more connected relationship between the doctor and their patient.
With telehealth, you can talk to your doctor during a quick video chat, text them about a lingering cough, or even get a personalized nudge to finally schedule that colonoscopy. Such an ambulatory care system would make a patient’s in-office visit more efficient, allowing providers to focus on a myriad of more nuanced health issues instead.
Because of its potential to enhance patient-doctor communication, the health care industry should continue embracing telehealth for routine things that can be done safely and conveniently through technology platforms.
The A.I. will see you now
Have you tried searching for a new doctor online? It’s overwhelming. There are hundreds of providers out there and a measly number of skewed reviews.
Not only is it hard to find someone who fits your personality, but it’s also difficult to find someone who fits practically, too. Who takes my insurance? Who’s available on Tuesday afternoon? What type of doctor do I need to see, anyway?
With data science algorithms and machine learning, the process of getting patients to the waiting room would be much easier. Connecting patients with a doctor who fits their practical and personal needs via such algorithms could have a ripple effect, even on clinical outcomes such as patient no-show rates or medical compliance. The priority should be using our innovations to strengthen the patient-doctor relationship.
See one, do one, teach one (in VR)
There’s nothing more terrifying than attending your first “code blue” with a patient on the brink of death, having only practiced the life-saving algorithm a few times on a mannequin. Would medical trainees feel more prepared if they could practice in a simulated environment?
Virtual and augmented reality allow trainees to enter a virtual hospital, simulating these scenarios without posing a risk to actual patients.There are dozens of ways to apply these mediums to better prepare tomorrow’s physicians — from removing a gallbladder to delivering a catastrophic diagnosis. This way, trainees can focus on cultivating their bedside manner and the softer skills of patient care.
The problems facing health care are nuanced and potential solutions must be vetted for safety and efficacy. Nevertheless, technological innovations have the potential to improve patient care and bring the human touch back into medicine.
Author Bio
Zach Lorenz has recently completed a year long fellowship in Healthcare Innovation at Jefferson’s Digital Innovation and Consumer Experience (DICE) Group and is a fourth-year medical student at Sidney Kimmel Medical College. After graduation, he plans to do residency in Internal Medicine and is passionate about holistic care and end-of-life issues. He is interested in developing solutions that empower providers to better deliver compassionate, patient-centric care. In his spare time, you can find Zach running along the Schuylkill or eating ice cream straight from the carton.
