In my remarks I explored the six future forces that I think are making it more likely that telehealth will move more fully into the present. These include:
Income gap economics the fact that incomes have stagnated for 90% of the U.S. population and in fact have declined by many measures, means that a premium will be placed on getting services to people at a cheaper cost that current practices.
Health care requires it a startling new study of sources of health insurance for nonelderly Americans shows that since 2001 those with employer sponsored health insurance has declined from 70% of the population to 53%, while the uninsured have increased from 14% to 20%. When health care reform actually takes effect in 2014 the total insured will improve but I do not expect improvement in employee sponsored programs, in fact I expect the reverse. This all adds up to a system experiencing a fairly rapid devolution, and in the end it will have to change more radically that currently anticipated.
Age wave need and digital natives lead the well known age wave as the baby boomers pass through their sixties into their seventies in the coming two decades will increase demand for health care. This population will be more technically savvy and willing to use telehealth if available. At the same time the next generation of health care providers will be the first from the digital native generation, and they will be frustrated if sophisticated tools for telemedicine are not in use.
Tech acceleration from more immersive and 3D communication technology more widely available, to better tools for diagnosis and treatment, the tech revolution continues.
Quantized-self health revolution this is just becoming known. I related to story of Larry Smarr, currently featured in Technology Review, as an early adopter of increasingly available personalized tools for monitoring and communicating your own health status. As this becomes widely adopted, it dovetails perfectly with telemedicine.
4-P medicine the brainchild and mission of Dr. Leroy Hood and the Institute for Systems Biology, the 4 Ps stand for medicine becoming predictive, preventive, personalized, and participatory. As a concept the 4 Ps are becoming widely accepted as appropriate goals for the future of medicine. All of these themes reinforce the value of telemedicine.
