Thoughts of what our future will look and be like are always fun to entertain. We often drift off to ideas of flying cars, robot butlers, and what society will look like. Very seldom do we entertain the idea of what healthcare, and more specifically, hospitals will look like in the near future. As advances in medicine continue to be made and people continue to live longer, it may seem impossible to envision what the future has in store.
Less is More?
A major push in the healthcare industry is preventing the problem before it can become problem. Major medical providers have been pushing these ideas in order to lessen the load on the healthcare industry itself, which happens to already have an overladen workforce facing record amounts of burnout and fatigue. By promoting health programs that focus on healthy eating habits, proper mental health practices, and less substance abuse, providers are hoping a major impact can be made.1 More serious conditions that may not be preventable, such as cancer, can be given more time and effort in terms of research and treatment, rather than those resources going towards combating obesity.
Going Digital
Keeping patients who do not need to visit the hospital at home has become a major priority. Programs have been and continue to be developed to allow patients to connect with doctors in anyway besides face to face contact. Virtual meetings and teleconferences to discus symptoms have been implemented in communities all around the globe, with many of these programs reporting great success in their trial runs. Besides just discussions between patient and doctor, these platforms can offer easier ways of requesting prescription refill, referrals, records, and other goods and services that would typically be obtained in a physical clinic.
Electronic Medical Records
One of the best innovations in the healthcare field is that of the electronic medical record, and this improvement is only getting better every year. Transferable medical records via secure online portals has allowed for faster data transfer, leading to more positive patient outcomes and quicker treatment times. Instead of waiting for the physical record to show up at a hospital, records can be brought up in the blink of an eye if a patient is referred to a specialist or chooses to change primary care providers.3 This innovation may seem like a no brainer type situation, but the move from physical file records and fax machines is still an ongoing struggle within the medical community, with many holdouts still refusing to switch to any kind of electronic record system.
The Future is Now
All these innovations only make up a small portion of the major shift that is occurring in hospitals today. As sicknesses get worse and medicine continues to advance, it appears that the future is happening right in front of our eyes, with no sign of slowing down. The next 10 to 20 years might hold more than the imagination can think of.
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