7. POWER THERAPY FOR THE BRAIN
In the United States, the days of doctors routinely making house calls are long gone. Soon to follow: the practice of most medical care occurring in person in a practitioner’s office, a clinic, or a hospital. Increasingly, care will be delivered in a blended, real-world-mixed-with-virtual-world model.
The majority of patient-doctor interactions don’t require the “laying on of hands,” or a physical exam. Private (and increasingly reimbursable) Skype-like interactions between patient and physician will take place through web-based portals. Patients’ vital signs will be obtained and shared with the physician via web-integrated wireless scales, blood pressure cuffs, and monitoring devices. A telemedicine dermatologist can use the selfie you’ve sent to prescreen your suspicious-looking skin spot and tell you either to rest easy or get it checked in person.
8. READING THE WHITES OF OUR EYES
The time it usually takes for medical appointments—including travel and waiting room time—will plummet, supplanted by telemedicine visits with a new type of clinician, the “virtualist.” The provider-patient relationship will take a déjà vu turn, with patients in their own homes for appointments.
In the future your prescriptions may include more “digiceuticals.” Already in limited use, they’re meant to enhance well-being or manage a condition with no drugs, no in-person ministrations—just use of prescribed software, or digital exchanges with a practitioner offering information and encouragement.
Though many are still under study, some digiceuticals are demonstrating effectiveness. Examples: At least two firms have developed apps to reduce the relentless noise of tinnitus by retraining the brain to turn down the volume—and some reviewers say it works. To manage heart failure patients, the Mayo Clinic prescribed the use of an app that would track blood pressure, activity, and other factors. The reported result: a 40 percent reduction in hospital readmissions related to cardiac issues.