By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    improving patient experience
    6 Ways to Improve Patient Satisfaction Within Hospitals
    December 1, 2021
    degree for healthcare job
    What Are The Health Benefits Of Having A Degree?
    March 9, 2022
    custom software development is changing healthcare
    Digital Customer Journey Mapping and its Importance for Healthcare
    July 21, 2022
    Latest News
    Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
    May 16, 2025
    Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
    May 16, 2025
    Choosing the Right Supplement Manufacturer for Your Brand
    May 1, 2025
    Engineering Temporary Hospitals for Extreme Weather
    April 24, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Can Thinking Younger Make You Live Longer?
    April 20, 2011
    Image
    Obesity’s Outlook Unchanged
    June 13, 2011
    When It’s An Emergency Elderly Not Treated As Well in Hospitals
    July 16, 2011
    Latest News
    Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
    May 18, 2025
    The Critical Role of Healthcare in Personal Injury Recovery: A Comprehensive Guide for Victims
    May 14, 2025
    The Backbone of Successful Trials: Clinical Data Management
    April 28, 2025
    Advancing Your Healthcare Career through Education and Specialization
    April 16, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Some Further Disruptive Changes in HealthCare Delivery
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > Health Reform > Some Further Disruptive Changes in HealthCare Delivery
eHealthHealth ReformTechnology

Some Further Disruptive Changes in HealthCare Delivery

StephenSchimpff
Last updated: September 24, 2012 7:55 am
StephenSchimpff
Share
5 Min Read
SHARE

Technology to lower costs rather than accelerate them. Smart phones to increase physician and other providers’ productivity. Fewer primary care physicians but more involvement by nurse practioneers and others. And increasing appreciation of the value of integrative medicine. These are but a few of the disruptive changes in care delivery that are coming.

Technology to lower costs rather than accelerate them. Smart phones to increase physician and other providers’ productivity. Fewer primary care physicians but more involvement by nurse practioneers and others. And increasing appreciation of the value of integrative medicine. These are but a few of the disruptive changes in care delivery that are coming.

Recently, I have posted concepts on Healthworks Collective of how the health care delivery system will change in coming years – quite unrelated to reform – and how these changes will often be disruptive, transformative or both. Here are a few more.

We think of new technologies as exacerbating health care costs. But it is also quite correct to look to technology to reduce costs or at least slow the growth of expenditures. It is time to look for a new value proposition for technology. Today and tomorrow technology needs to help health care professionals to 1) compensate for shortages, 2) enhance their responsiveness to patients 3) control costs and 4) improve quality and safety.

More Read

How Much Does an MRI Cost? $425 to $2530
Small Is Big: New Vscan Technology May Replace The Stethoscope
Readmissions and Consumer Engagement
Patient’s Urgent and Ongoing Search for Cancer Information
The Top 5 Considerations for Successful Medical Device Software Development

Smart phones with wireless connectivity and multiple apps are a good example of technology to assist, compensate, enhance responsiveness and improve quality. Increasingly, physicians are becoming very reliant on their phones as a shortcut to knowledge, to stay well informed, to argue and debate among themselves and perform many other functions.

Robotics can likewise benefit all four parameters. A good example is how robots have made the hospital pharmacy more efficient while substantially safer. One robot selects pills via bar code; another prepares intravenous medications and solutions more accurately then a technician and a third transports medications to the nursing unit using wireless technology – sort of like R2D2. This frees up the pharmacist to do what he or she does best such as watching for drug-drug interactions, proper dosing, and critical higher order functions.

But the coming changes are not just in technology but in the distribution and work of providers. With shortages of physicians, especially primary care physicians, appropriate integration of nurse practioneers and physician assistants can not only partially compensate but provide quality interaction with patients, augment preventive programs and enhance care coordination for those with chronic illnesses. And although there is considerable controversy as to appropriate scope of practice, it is certainly clear that the interaction of PCPs with NPs and PAs can enhance the totality of patient care.  Similarly, expect to see more mental health delivered by psychologists and social workers; visual care by optometrists; and hearing care by audiologists.

Consumers (patients) will press for and expect a more integrative approach from their PCP and other providers. Patients today increasingly search out and use practioneers of acupuncture, massage, chiropractic, yoga, mind body techniques and other complementary medical modalities. More and more medical students are graduating with at least some understanding and training in the use of these approaches. And the acceptance by physicians is growing, albeit slowly in many cases.

Integrative medicine means more attention to the whole person – family history, social situation, work environment, and how all of these plus stress, eating smoking and drugs preferences interact with the patient’s illnesses. A “prescription” for high cholesterol may still include a statin but it might well also include a trip to a nutritionist, a personal trainer, a program for stress reduction , etc. The end result is better medicine yet completely coordinated by the primary care physician.

Health care delivery is transforming. It will come in fits and starts but it is and will continue to change. Hopefully most of the changes will be for the betterment of patients and providers alike.

 

 

 

 

 

TAGGED:healthcare delivery
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Clinical Expertise
Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
Health care
May 18, 2025
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Health
May 15, 2025
Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
Health
May 15, 2025
Dr. Klaus Rentrop Shares Acute Myocardial Infarction heart treatment
Dr. Klaus Rentrop Shares Acute Myocardial Infarction
Cardiology
May 13, 2025

You Might also Like

The Healthcare Social Media Landscape

June 3, 2011
healthcare informatics
eHealthMedical RecordsTechnology

The Long Road to Digitization: A History of Healthcare Informatics [INFOGRAPHIC]

May 5, 2014

Health Care Reform and Other Health Care Innovations – Regina Herzlinger Speaks From Harvard

July 7, 2011
Robert Pearl
BusinessHealth ReformPolicy & LawPublic Health

A Healthcare CEO Speaks Out About Domestic Violence

December 10, 2013
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?