Karel's HealthTech Chronicles #11 - Augmented Medical Doctor

I recently quoted that we are about to witness the most powerful tool in the history of humankind soon. It is a combination of the human brain and cognitive skills with the skills of AI and machines. Let's have a look at how this powerful new complex reality can change the routine of healthcare, and especially the routine of doctors.

Real Change of the Paradigm - It Is Important to Really Notice This Change

It is crucial to realize the depth and impact of this change. So far, treatment decisions have been made based on the education, experience, perception, and intuition of human individuals. Now comes the fifth element - machines. This has never happened in history. It is a complete change of the paradigm with huge implications. I believe we do not see all of them yet. In fact, we probably see only a minority of them. Welcome to a new reality which brings hope and great new possibilities for healthcare. New approaches, new treatments, new therapy plans. Great news for patients.

As a part of that reality, let me introduce a new position in healthcare:

Augmented Medical Doctor - A New Member of the Medical Staff

"Augmented Medical Doctor" could be the name for the doctor of the future. Recently, doctors had to rely on themselves. Now they will also be supported by artificial intelligence and outputs from machine learning tools. Healthcare will never be the same. Healthcare as we knew it ended before the COVID pandemic. This pandemic will be recognized in the future as a milestone between traditional European healthcare and the digital one.

An Augmented Medical Doctor will have a suite of powerful digital tools at their disposal. Let's create a vision of how such tools and a new approach to medical practice could look. For future reference, let's use the abbreviation AMD for an Augmented Medical Doctor.

VISION of the Daily Routine of Future Doctors

Static Data - The Beginning As Always, But Never Again From Scratch

Imagine you have been informed that someone needs healthcare managed by you. It all starts with information, it all starts with data. Before a doctor makes crucial decisions, it is beneficial to have enough precise data to do so. You will have a comprehensive medical data tool that will prepare all the necessary data - lab results, anamnesis, EHR, x-rays, etc. The data will already be prepared in a structured way.

With a new patient, you always have to start from zero, but in the future, you will never again start from scratch. All EHRs will be finally integrated, and all patients will have a medical history. Therefore, it will never happen again that we will have to ask patients many questions that they have already answered numerous times. Machines will also prepare a medical history of the patient, providing a good overview before the patient knocks on the door.

Data Analytics - Proper Preparation for Next Steps

All the above-mentioned data will be pre-analyzed. You will get suggestions if some important data is missing and will also be advised to add more specific examinations. You will get options for further examinations including the probability of the success rate of each examination. Machines will try to find a way to obtain necessary information from already performed diagnostics to avoid further diagnostic actions. This approach will minimize overdiagnosing and also invasive diagnostics.

Pre-analysis will define not only suggested diagnoses but will also issue alerts if AI recognizes some risks on the patient's side, like potential infection, diabetes, or inflammatory disease.

Thus, we talk here about the complete data set needed for precise diagnostics and the creation of a suggested therapy plan. Therapy plan suggestions will be created based on the analysis of thousands of similar patients. You will receive several suggestions for therapy plans, including the percentage of probable efficiency and success rate. Then, you will make the final decision. Over time, partial steps will be evaluated, and machines will again offer an optimal process based on current development.

Predictive Medicine

Machines will be able to analyze the past and the present but also predict the future. Predictive medicine will become routine. You will receive info about potential risks for the patient in the future. The prediction will be made based on historical and current data of the patient and will also be strongly connected to genetic diagnostics.

Communication

You are going to have a tool for modern communication with all possible means of getting in touch with patients. So, at the beginning, you can be sure that the patient already received information about you and your hospital. They were informed about the next steps and already requested to start communication with you. You both agreed that it is a good idea to start with a video consultation. The patient also provided some additional info which was not part of their electronic health record. You also sent them a questionnaire, which will help you to properly set the next steps.

The patient started to communicate also with your nurse concerning necessary things

prior to the physical visit to your office. This communication makes it smooth, and once the patient arrives at the hospital to have a physical meeting with you, everything is prepared, and your nurse welcomes your patients with a smile.

The communicator also takes care of the consistency and shared communication between you and your nurse.

We cannot forget to mention the official communication layer of medical information prepared for the patients. Machines will help you to create a comprehensive but still digestible overview for the patient. People will finally have a feeling that they understand what they need to know.

The Patient is in the Doctor's Office - Hybrid Powerful Tool in Action

And now comes the moment of the most powerful tool - the combination of the unique human approach and machine. Imagine a real doctor sitting in the office using the help of an artificial one. An unbeatable team. Such efficiency, such speed, such precision. We will be able to reach a level of diagnostics and therapy planning never accessible in the history of Western medicine.

The patient receives a therapy plan created by the best knowledge of a human individual, augmented by the outputs from machines. Let's apply the plan and see the results.

Machines will also help us to avoid problems like unwanted drug interactions, hospital-acquired infections, etc. Machines will help us not to overdiagnose patients and limit the medical actions and examinations needed to set the therapy plan.

Administration

Machines will take care of all the paperwork. You can be 100% focused only on the generation of final therapy planning, exploring consequences in a human way. It means we will finally again be 100% focused on the processes which generate the highest added value.

The machine will listen to your words when you talk to the patient and, once you stop, the minutes will be ready. You make just fine-tuning and print it, send it. That's all.

Dispensary Healthcare, Continuous Monitoring, and Evaluation of the Success Rate of the Therapy

Thanks to telehealth, we are going to have a continuous flow of information about the patient's development. We will create an environment where the patient will feel the interest he should feel.

If it is an acute condition, we will get precise real-time information with real-time evaluation of the trends. Over time, all information will be assessed, and original therapy plans will be reassessed to reach optimum results. We will share the status with the patient to make him a partner in his own treatment process.

If we diagnose a chronic disease, we will offer a chronic disease management tool for the patient. These tools will play a significant role in improving the conditions of patients with chronic diseases.

Little Summary

So, I tried to draw evidence of the revolutionary change in healthcare. We are going to see changes soon. And in a couple of years, there will be completely new healthcare.

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