More Patients

As we “Baby Boomers” age, the number of individuals arriving at age 65 will increase dramatically. Ten years from now, more patients will be living longer. The ability to treat patients with chronic diseases such as heart disease is clearly lengthening their lives; in the next 30 years, the number of people with heart disease in the United States is expected to double

More Technology

As genetic diagnosis and treatment translate from cell to bedside, the information and armamentarium available to the clinician will increase perhaps inconceivably over the next 10 years. Markedly improved less invasive imaging (e.g., computer-assisted diagnosis of coronary artery disease combining echo, magnetic resonance, and positron emission tomography).

More Information

As the technology improves, the information deriving from patient care will also improve. With the Internet and its successors (which among other features will provide the important safeguards for confidentiality), the electronic medical record will not only be able to store patient information but also to provide information on “best practice” instantaneously, whether it is derived statistically from the practice of the physicians in that AHC, or based on health plan data or nationally generated practice guidelines

The Patient Will Be the Ultimate Consumer

As patients surf the web and as employers perhaps no longer choose the health plan for their employees (rather giving them a “defined contribution” to buy their own healthcare), patients will become the ultimate consumers.

Different Delivery Model

With improved availability of data to the public, processes and outcomes will improve. Those not capable of achieving the best outcomes will likely either improve or stop doing the procedure. In the next 10 years, processes and outcomes will be optimized for a significant proportion of patients with relatively common diseases.

Opportunity for Innovation

As care for many patients becomes more regularized and process and outcomes data become more similar, competition among practitioners will be based less on who has the best outcomes for common diseases and more on the ability to innovate: developing the best care delivery models for patients with common diseases or developing new strategies for patients with uncommon diseases or presentations

Costs Will Increase

While it is clear that in addition to more efficient billing, less wasteful tests and procedures will be done as better information on appropriate care becomes available, and more efficient care models will emerge with technology for the care of patients at home, these improvements will be dwarfed by increasing costs

Uninsured Will Increase

As costs rise, the major payers in the private system, the employers, will attempt to reduce their costs by reducing coverage and increasing the burden on the employee.

International Journal of Emergency Mental Health and Human Resilience, is a multidisciplinary quarterly designed to be the premier international forum and authority for the discussion of all aspects of emergency mental health.

Authors can submit their manuscript as an email attachment to: mentalhealth@emedscholar.com

Regards,

Journal Coordinator

International Journal of Emergency Mental Health and Human Resilience