What Do Medical Experts Dream About the Future of Health?
What is your highest hope for the future of health? I've always wanted to ask that question to medical experts and frontline workers I meet.
During my recent trip to Pune, I received a wonderful invitation: to visit the Sancheti Hospital, a premiere orthopedic hospital in India.
After a traditional Indian welcome, Dr. Parag Sancheti took me on a personal tour through the hospital. He anticipated that I would be especially excited about two things: checking out the machines and equipment that they use for diagnosis and treatment, and talking with the doctors, nurses, and other staff who are the front line of healthcare here.
To my surprise and delight, many of the hospital’s healthcare providers came to an impromptu colloquium that enabled me to meet them face to face. I spoke briefly about my efforts around people-centered technologies, especially in healthcare. Next, I repeated an important question that I had asked each person that I met that day:
What is their dream for the future of health?
Here are some of the goals that I heard:
💡 Harnessing algorithms to rapidly identify trauma patients who need the most immediate attention
💡 Having more time to connect with patients in meaningful ways: to touch, to speak with, and to listen to the people who need healing
💡 Sharing—or even offloading—repetitive tasks like documentation that place barriers between the healthcare providers and their patients
💡 Maximizing the working time that feels rewarding and minimizing the potential for burnout.
Dr. Tiffany Vora hosts a conversation with the healthcare workers at the Sancheti Hospital during her visit to Pune, India.
During this discussion, I highlighted some of the advances that I see in AI, robotics, digital therapeutics (for example virtual reality) and more that I envision will help these goals be achieved in the coming years.
💡 I was also excited to share my own dream for the future: that technology will provide superpowers to healthcare providers, in order to bring the human touch back to the center of healthcare.
I look forward to visiting the Sancheti Hospital again on my next trip to Pune. There will be a new building to see, a “green” expansion that should double the number of patients that can be served. I’m also looking forward to following up with the doctors, nurses, and staff. What new ideas, approaches, or techniques have they tried? Have they identified new pressure points where innovation is needed? And what pressing concerns can I share with entrepreneurs and innovators around the world who are seeking to make healthcare better … for patients and providers alike?
I’m incredibly grateful that I had the chance to see the faces of real patients and to spend time with professionals who are on the ground, helping to make life better for people who have suffered tragic accidents or who grapple with inherited orthopedic conditions. Truly, this is why we innovate.
About Tiffany
Dr. Tiffany Vora speaks, writes, and advises on how to harness technology to build the best possible future(s). She is an expert in biotech, health, & innovation.
For a full list of topics and ways to collaborate, visit Tiffany’s Work Together webpage.
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