Clinician of the Future

Elsevier has released a very relevant and interesting report on changes that are on the horizon in health care: https://www.elsevier.com/connect/clinician-of-the-future.

It’s based on in-depth research through a questionnaire-based engagement with clinicians (the term encompasses doctors and nurses, for the purpose of the research) across the globe.

The document offers a fascinating glimpse into the thinking of healthcare practitioners about changes their roles will experience over the next 10 years, organized into 5 thematic areas:

-?????????The Future Clinician as a Partner for Health

-?????????The Future ‘Total Health’ Clinician

-?????????The Future Tech-Savvy Clinician

-?????????The Future Balanced Clinician

-?????????The Future Accessible Clinician

A few noteworthy drivers of change and anticipated developments are:

-?????????Patients will be more informed about their health conditions

-?????????Patient satisfaction will be a key element in offering services

-?????????Digital technologies will empower patients and put more pressure on clinicians

-?????????Most patients will have their genomes sequenced to guide and improve their health

-?????????Telehealth will be more ubiquitous and affect empathy shown toward patients negatively

-?????????Focus ought to shift from cost to care; from diagnosis to prevention; from patients as beneficiaries to partners

-?????????Clinicians will predominantly work in interdisciplinary teams

-?????????There is going to be a shortage of clinicians, not least owing to the effect digitisation is going to have on the profession

-?????????Most health care will be delivered at home (not in traditional settings)

-?????????Aging and chronic diseases will be top on every clinician's agenda

-?????????Most decisions by a clinician will be augmented by AI (Artificial Intelligence)

What’s most interesting about the report are the nuances in thinking it picks up in different regions. For example, it seems as if confidence in the role of digital technologies and the relevance of personalized approaches is much more developed in APAC countries than in the EU + UK realm.

Overall, this is a worthwhile report to have on your desk if you are interested in the transformational changes the health care sector will be experiencing over the next couple of years.

In a nutshell, digital technologies make patients more informed, more empowered, and, more demanding (consumer perspective). Clinicians will feel the pressure and will have to adapt to the concomitant changes. When they do, they will use the same technologies to engage remotely (telehealth), more effectively share information (patient empowerment), and make more ‘holistic’ decisions by working in interactive teams which will also include algorithms as members (AI). Depending on the ability to adapt, digital technologies will either diminish or enhance their work/life balance as well as quality time spent with patients.