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Trends and Skills for Healthcare’s Future

Updated: Nov 25, 2023

The digital age for healthcare


Dr. Bertalan Meskó, The Medical Futurist, identifies the most significant trends in healthcare and, the skills to cultivate in order to thrive in the digital-health era.

Common themes emerge:


1) the patient-doctor relationship will continue to strengthen with a meaningful bond for the individual to share in the individual’s care

2) empathy – robots can perform many tasks but, cannot display empathy or provide caring attention (at least, not as we know robots today)

3) technology has opened the doors to health knowledge, access to well-informed and educated stakeholders – in essence, the walls that divided physicians and those with the medical knowledge, are crumbling into a digital, always connected e-World.

Skills to cultivate in the digital health era—


1. Patient design 

"Patients should be included on the advisory board of big pharma companies, of hospitals, they should get a say in organizing medical events, and a lot more" says Dr. Meskó. The patient (actually, anyone of us) is the center of the modern universe of healthcare – from a decision-making participant in one’s own care to a contributor in the design of healthcare medications, medical centers, medical software, governance and regulatory guidance – healthcare is now patient-centric. 

2. Become friends with advanced technologies and start with a tracker—

It is incumbent upon healthcare professionals to speak credibly about new and advancing technologies. Viewed as the “modern-day doctor’s bag”, physicians are utilizing fitness apps, trackers, and technologies to communicate and engage with their patients. Physicians and healthcare professionals must be engaged and continue to learn current technologies.

3. Be at home in the digital jungle—

In today’s techno world, literacy is not only knowing the arts and sciences, but is knowing “digital literacy”. The American Library Association's digital-literacy task force defines digital literacy as, "Digital literacy is the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information, requiring both cognitive and technical skills."   Healthcare professionals require an additional skill to research the myriad medical and health sources. They also need the knowledge to assess the quality and understand the content available from websites, blogs, community forums, and general all-round advisors in order to communicate and empower patients at their digital literacy level. 

4. Focus on soft skills such as empathy, creativity and paying attention

Robots and virtual reality will perform many tasks for individuals giving them the opportunity to live independently longer. The advanced technologies create an opportunity for healthcare professionals to showcase their soft skills – empathy, sensitivity, feeling of togetherness – attributes a robot cannot provide. In fact, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts jobs expected to grow rapidly are those that provide direct, hands-on patient care: personal care aides, home health aides, and nursing assistants. 

5. Get used to being in a network – e-Friends, e-Meet

"The online platform is not merely a technology but a new way of cooperating, sharing, and caring”, tech pioneer, Vinton Cerf. Social networking opens a revolutionary approach to healthcare for both patients and clinicians.   For example, twitter offers more than a casual platform for networking; with a hashtag (#) and a post, it offers physicians the option to solicit advice from colleagues who can diagnose complex medical cases. Utilizing the wisdom of a network, CrowdMed, a platform that gives an individual the opportunity to post a request for input from the community network to solve their medical condition and, possibly faster than the traditional medical route. Healthcare professionals as well as, lay people share personal insights.

6. Gamify your life and how you prepare for the future  

Who doesn’t like a good game? Gaming, for example board games, encourages collaboration among players and facilitates team work among peers to solve problems, establish relationships in cross-culture teams, and create respect. Qualities developed in collaborative games are valued and respected among doctors, nurses, and patients. 

7. Question everything. I’ll tell you why! 

"The engine of innovation is critical thinking" says Dr. Meskó. The skill of the healthcare professional will be the "ability to judge results, procedures or claims from different angles and in various contexts will prove to be essential".  To maintain your brain fit, check out sites: Good Judgement, where you are challenged to make forecast and predictions for the future, or Elevate, which provides tools to increase cognitive training and analytical thinking.

   


Sources:

Meskó, Dr. Bertalan. 2018. Future Trends Help You Choose The Most Fitting Medical Specialty. Retrieved 8 March 2019 from https://medicalfuturist.com/future-trends-help-you-choose-the-most-fitting-medical-specialty


United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupations with the most job growth. 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2019 from https://www.bls.gov/emp/tables/occupations-most-job-growth.htm



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