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Better Living Through Well BeingIt’s no secret there is getting to be a serious shortage of primary care doctors in the United States. This is something that will become increasingly significant as the burgeoning aging population and many other individuals seek access to health care. While public discussion and debate seek solutions in order to shape a functional health care policy, there will inevitably be a lot of change in how Americans will select, pay for and receive primary care over the next 10 to 15 years. A futuristic report, “Primary Care 2025: A Scenario Exploration” provides best estimate scenarios based on current trends. It confirms that primary care will not be a continuation of what we have been doing; it encourages us to think about the future we prefer.Some forecasts held in common by these scenarios are that electronic health records will become ubiquitous, community health centers will give high quality care to low income people, and a small persistent group of affluents will receive great fee-for-service ‘concierge’ health care. You will also see more virtual care, personal health avatars and doctors operating remotely. The scenarios also include challenging and visionary possibilities so policy makers, health care professionals and consumers can think about and help shape the future. *********************************** IBM is looking to develop a commercial product that will exploit Watson’s capabilities as a clinical decision support system to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of patients. Watson (affectionately referred to as ‘Dr. Watson’) is an artificial intelligence computer system developed by IBM capable of answering questions posed in natural language.According to IBM, the overall future goal of the technology is to have computers start to interact in natural human terms across a range of applications and processes, understanding the questions that humans ask and providing answers that humans can understand and justify. In September 2011, IBM and Wellpoint, a major health care solutions provider in the United States, announced a partnership to utilize Watson’s data crunching capability to help suggest treatment options and diagnoses to doctors. Just as Watson analyzed massive data on Jeopardy! to reach a set of hypotheses and list several of the most likely outcomes, it could help doctors in diagnosing patients. Watson could analyze the patient’s specific symptoms, medical history and hereditary history, and synthesize that data with available unstructured and structured medical information, including published medical books and articles. IBM has made it clear that Watson does not intend to replace doctors, but assist them to avoid medical errors and sharpen medical diagnosis with the help of its advanced analytics technology. By accurately extracting medical facts and quickly understanding relationships buried in large volumes of data, such as medical records, family medical history, and the latest clinical research, the Watson technology can help accelerate and improve clinical decisions, reduce operational waste, and enhance patient outcomes. *********************************** Other articles in this Spring 2012 TMIS eNewsletter include interesting inquiries into what it means to be human, narrative communication strategies for patient-centered and life-framed practice, and how employee wellness programs have now expanded to include well-being (mental and emotional health, financial health, work-life effectiveness, and workplace environment and stress) within many organizations.*********************************** I am grateful to be in a collaborative business with many talented and skilled professionals. Additional feedback and recommendations for our products and services at TM Information Services are always welcome. - Mary Michele McLaughlin
Better Living Through Well Being
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