PODCAST: On Replacing Doctors with Computers and Smart Phones

Posted on September 28, 2022 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

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Eric Topol on Replacing Clinicians with Algorithms

By Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA CMP™

[Editor-in-Chief]

BU Dr. MarcinkoRecently, I wrote an ME-P questioning the need for a medical license in order to treat patients.

Boy, did I receive unkind private comments and phone calls on that op-ed piece!

The idea was not my own and, in fact, was proposed more than a decade ago by Shirley Svorny PhD, chairwoman of the economics department at California State University, Northridge. She holds a PhD in economics from UCLA

Her simple rationale was that licensure may be a barrier to competition and hence health care.

Link: Will Future Doctors Need a Medical License?

Enter Dr. Topol

Now, we learn that Eric Topol MD, Director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute and [Editor-in-Chief of Medscape] is questioning whether doctors will be replaced by algorithms. He cites dermatology, optometry and pediatrics as first-mover smart-phone applications.

The idea was really precipitated by Vinod Khosla at the Rock Health Program on Health Innovation, when he said that 80% of doctors are going to be replaced by algorithms [Pareto’s rule].

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Video

And so, please enjoy this video presentation of Eric as he describes his healthcare vision of the future.

Link: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/805212?src=wnl_edit_specol&uac=193200AX

Assessment

Of course, this flies in the face of all those projections about hundreds of thousands of doctor shortages over the next 10 years because of the Baby Boomer problem, the aging of the population, as well as the chronic disease burden.

More:

Conclusion

And so, will doctors worker harder, or smarter, in the future? Will the lack of capacity be countered by improvements in efficiency? What will happened to provider reimbursement?

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Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Medical Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com

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