Future health

What will the hospitals of the future look like? Or will there be a need for hospitals at all, with the advances now being made in remote healthcare systems? We already have aces to many apps on our smartphones that can monitor vital statistics 24/7 should the need arise and smartwatches have made it even easier.

According to foreign media reports, Apple Inc's healthcare technology is spreading quickly among major hospitals worldwide, showing early promise as a way for doctors to monitor patients remotely and lower costs. Apple says that over 600 developers are integrating HealthKit into their health and fitness apps.

Many hospitals are participating in a pilot program of Apple's HealthKit service - which acts as a repository for patient-generated health information like blood pressure, weight or heart rate. This will help doctors to monitor patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. Apple rivals Google and Samsung Electronics also have released similar services which are being introduced to hospitals. The Google Fit service runs on Google's Android software that powers most smartphones. Samsung is working with Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital to develop mobile health technology.

Scales

Apple’s HealthKit gathers data from glucose measurement tools, food and exercise-tracking apps and Wi-Fi connected scales. The company's Apple Watch, due for release in April, promises to add to the range of possible data, which can be sent to an electronic medical record for doctors to view. With the Internet of Things coming our way, where practically every appliance is connected to the Internet, perhaps your refrigerator will be able to alert your doctor that your are storing too many sugary treats there.

These systems make it possible for doctors to watch for early signs of trouble and intervene before a given disease reaches an acute stage. That could help hospitals avoid repeat admissions while helping the patients to seek medication without getting admitted to a hospital. Sri Lankan hospitals must follow this development and get on the bandwagon if the technology is feasible for a developing country such as ours. Since our Internet infrastructure is relatively good, it might be good idea to explore the possibility to getting such systems here.

The research firm IDC Health Insights says that 70 percent of healthcare organisations worldwide will invest in technology including apps, wearables, remote monitoring and virtual care over the next five years. At the same time, major advances are being made in tele medicine (also called telehealth) and robotic surgery. Telemedicine involves using the Internet and other technology to provide care to patients remotely. As a basic example, a physician could use a video link to consult with a patient who is at home. This reduces costs drastically and saves time for both the doctor and the patient.

Operation

As for robotic surgery, a surgical robot fitted with multiple arms has carried out its debut operation recently in England, in a technology breakthrough which will make new treatments possible for the first time. The Da Vinci XI, which is hand operated by surgeons, has the ability to make tiny and precise incisions, replacing some traditional operations which require cutting patients open and months of recovery, with far less invasive keyhole surgery. The Da Vinci XI is able to work on multiple areas of the body at the same time and its arms can move independently from the body of the robot.

Surgeons at the Royal Marsden Hospital hailed the technology as pushing the boundaries in surgery, particularly in cancer care, as they completed the first operation on a patient with a tumour. While the operators of this particular machine were in the same hospital, the system can theoretically be operated from a remote location as well, making remote robotic surgery a possibility. If you saw the movie Prometheus, you would have a seen a so-called “Med Pod” which can even perform Caesarian operations. We might indeed have such facilities in the future, perhaps 200 years from now. There could also be 3 D printers that can “print” basic medicines and health foods a few decades down the road.

Condition

But what does this mean for the traditional doctor-patient relationship? Will there come a time when you no longer have to see your family doctor in person? Will doctors literally wash their hands off surgeries? It would indeed be tragic if face-to-face consultation goes out of fashion, because that is still the only way to establish a good rapport between the two parties. It is always better if the doctor can physically examine you and talk to you on the spot rather than doing it remotely. However, when the doctor knows about your condition, it may be permissible to gather data remotely and evaluate them.

In this context, several hospitals are developing so-called visual dashboards to present patient-generated data to doctors in an easy-to-digest manner. There will eventually be a need for common standards to ensure that data can be gathered from both Apple's system and its competitors and that they are uniform regardless of the manufacturer.

It will also be vital for medical colleges to teach these techniques including remote surgery for future doctors and nurses. Most medical students are armed with tablets and smartphones anyway, so they will be in a position to learn about the apps and telemedicine services faster than the more conservative, older doctors. There are also plenty of apps that teach various medical lessons such as ECG interpretation.

Facilities

Health apps, telemedicine and robotic surgery will combine to make a multi-billion dollar industry over the next few years as more people, doctors and hospitals opt for these services. The savings could be enormous - in terms of travel, fuel, time and hospital facilities. Almost everyone will have access to these services as health wearables become cheaper and widespread. The traditional hospital could disappear in its present form and become even more high-tech. Healthcare is at an exciting new frontier and the next few years will be even more exiting.