Disruptive Tech Must Focus on Patients, not Marketing

Artificial intelligence, telemedicine, big data, nanotechnology, quantum processors, and others, are a series of terms that have entered the healthcare industry along with "opinion experts" outside the sector with the noble intention of revolutionizing it.

Added to this is the growing number of industry influencers with concepts that are sometimes more grounded in good intentions or undocumented anecdotal experiences, rather than in science based on a scientific method. This creates a high-risk cocktail for responsible physicians and medical executives who make informed decisions. Therefore, a call to awareness and the need to make smart, well-founded decisions is imperative at this time.

We must remember that a maxim of the Hippocratic Oath is, "First, do no harm," based on the fact that the sector's purpose is to keep people healthy and, if they become ill, to have all the necessary means to recover their health as quickly and as effectively as possible. It can be easily deduced that everything must be centered on the patient.

For many "experts" inside and outside the sector, these principles are unknown or have been forgotten, along with  certain concepts put forward by major universities that are born from the principles of quality, particularly those that refer to the complexity of the medical and health sector – a sector that is among sector that is among the three most complex alongside the air forces of the major powers and nuclear power plants. All three have this in common: They are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and any adverse event can lead to loss of life.

In a world where we are seeing the advent of disruptive technologies, the acceleration of technological change, and an emphasis on marketing and information models that lack scientific support, it is necessary to have the participation of true experts  collaborating with the people transforming the system to ensure a creative and innovative model that puts the patient at the center; that elevates the quality of health, disease care, medical, administrative, and hotel services; that provides healthcare professionals with adequate information in a timely manner for making informed decisions; and that allows for a multi-location approach to deliver services to more people. If we add to this cost reduction through efficient and wise administration and finance, we will have a truly innovative model that helps all involved parties maintain or restore people's health.

Finally, If we add the scientific and technological ingredients necessary for personalized, precision medicine through genomics, big data, and information management with quantum processors that enable real-time, multiparameter health information, "grounded" in systems or apps that people can use, we will truly be talking about improving the system, prioritizing health over disease.

These changes, which may seem distant, are accelerating and could surely surprise us in the near future, leading to the need to understand that this is a horizontal shift in culture and society, involving the educational, economic, pharmaceutical, technological, scientific, and, undoubtedly, the hospital and medical sectors. We must work hand in hand with the government to develop appropriate legislation that will allow for an adequate regulatory framework.

It is also necessary to be responsible in the face of these changes, and if needed, to think through critical decisions several times, especially in a sector as delicate as health, where human life is at risk, giving a different dimension to this process of change.  The participation of the sectors we have mentioned must be coordinated and harmonious, where health sector experts are the basis for decisions, and remembering that the primary focus is to do no harm.

In conclusion, I would like to highlight the fundamental role of universities in this transformation. It is necessary to adapt academic curriculums to an emerging need that will advance rapidly. It is necessary to answer the question we have been asking for some time: How can we prepare people for the university environment if the technology that will be available to them when they enter the workforce does not exist at the time of their training?

We must be highly creative, innovative, and adaptable to these new challenges. They will require all the systems involved in this change to work together to achieve a better future for our children and grandchildren, striving to create "a good ancestor," as conceptualized by Roman Krznaric.