The goal is to keep people out of the hospital so Brian shares that we should look at lesser beds and not building new hospital wings (except if it’s for a pediatric cancer or something we need). These hospital beds will no longer be necessary, sort of an exponential decline, as the exponential growth will be brought about by technology caring for people in the community. Computers are now accessible everywhere instead of just in one main frame and a mobile phone has more computing power than computers just 10 years ago.
Brian shares that we are in the inflection point of the exponential curve of information technology so you have to think mobile first. If you look at the price point of a computer, the processing speeds continue to increase and other data points towards validating this fact.
Anyone who tries to improve health care has to recognize the exponential growth factor. Look at the emerging trends and technologies so that, three or five years from now, you can accurately forecast where you are going to be in terms of technology capabilities.
Health care, at its core, is humans caring for other humans so it has to be local and community-oriented. It is local more than anything because if you have a relationship with somebody, it is much easier to build in behavioral modifications. You have to tap into the people who care about the individual – these are the people who love you, your church group, people you play bridge with, etc.
Everybody talks about gaps in health care and it’s true but we should realize that gaps in data are the ones that lead to gaps in care. That is why it is really vital that we get all the health information to the right person to the right place at the right time so we can provide the best care possible.
