Better Hope for Healthcare:IT

 

Futurist predicts IT may offer solutions to increasing healthcare demands.

 

"The construction of new hospitals and massive expansions of others around the country show[s] how unprepared the industry is for the effect of baby boomers on healthcare," according to futurist Jeff Goldsmith. He predicts that there will be "a key role for information technology in healthcare of the future, as the demand for services increases just as the healthcare workforce diminishes."

 

Speaking "Monday night before a group of healthcare leaders," Goldsmith's presentation "focused on how the health system would cope with the 'mismatch' between the demand for healthcare services, and the dwindling supply of professionals, technicians, and managers in the field."

 

In a recent article, he equated the increased demand and declining supply to a tsunami, and predicted that "eICU, remote monitoring, and Eliza [are] three types of technology that can help fill the gap."