Future Care: Sensors, Artificial Intelligence, and the Reinvention of Medicine

by Jagmeet Singh M.D.

WITH A FOREWORD BY SIDDHARTHA MUKHERJEE

A renowned cardiologist and Harvard professor spells out  the future digital shift of medicine — and how it will impact the lives not only of patients and health care professionals but of all humans.

Future care is virtual sensor-aided, digitally enabled, and powered by predictive analytics. Like most facets of modern life, human organs, too, are being digitally monitored. Sensors are well on their way to helping us proactively capture the information needed to predict and prevent disease. Paired with the medical world’s growing emphasis on wellness and prevention, the digital revolution will help us effectively monitor and address the chronic diseases that have been the Achilles’ heel of the health care system to date. This large-scale transition is not only going to reshape the patient-physician relationship but also dramatically change how hospitals and the business of medicine operate.

Dr. Singh explores the upswell of virtual care, the evolving role of sensors, and the impact of artificial intelligence in medicine and health care through cutting-edge science, big idea projections, and patient stories. Using anecdotes from his own COVID-19 illness and medical practice, Dr. Singh shows that the success of the digital revolution in medicine is dependent on our ability to understand and adapt to this changing landscape. 

Future Care provides fascinating insights into how health care can become sensible, affordable, and practical and why everyone needs to become a part of the solution. It is an important and timely contribution to the ongoing and increasingly urgent conversation about medicine, technology, and health care.
 

Genres: Nonfiction, Health Care, Science

320 pages, Hardcover

Published June 13, 2023

Reviews

[brinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

a really interesting book that argues what we could have in store for us in the future of medicine with the advancement of technology. singh covers all the bases for the arguments for and against different developments such as AI, robotics and virtual care: from rising costs, less personalization from in-person visits, disparate care across communities, and inefficiencies in treatment due to medical bureaucracies and insurance. he makes a strong case for how medical care can do what it is intended to do, which is focus on the patients' satisfaction of life, make care accessible, and ensure it is efficient and accurate.

i actually enjoyed his personal anecdotes from his own experience being hospitalized with covid and in helping his patients, and he weaves these stories in with logical writing that makes a compelling case for the rise of smart technology. though i consider myself far from a luddite, i do have some hesitations with technology and the over-romanticization of the potential for technology to "disrupt" the status quo. i wish he covered more about the risks of privacy and the breaches that could occur with an increased reliance on sensored and remote devices, but at least he didn't ignore the issue. with any medical development you have to measure the risks with benefits. though risks and mistakes will never completely disappear, the benefits technology could have for the overall health and well-being of people who use these devices has great potential. he does raise the ethical issues that need to be considered and thoughtfully weighed as these tools develop over time. he also address biases in technology, through data collection and the framing of it, to the outputs of AI, apps, and other forms of digital healthcare tools.

i was really compelled by the idea of medical practice no longer being bound by their borders as capabilities in the health field accelerate. over time, we will not only have to consider new efficiencies with cost and the degree of service, but we will also have to consider the structural imbalances people face simply by being born in a certain part of the world. when so much is able to be done digitally to free people from the limitations of in-person visits, there is no excuse to deny someone care in another country, for example.  and though he doesn't tackle the issue of socialized medicine (which i favor), he does at least discusses areas of inequity in healthcare access among race, gender, or economic divides. i do wish there were more in this book about the economics of healthcare, and how workers and patients will be impacted in their pocketbooks over time with these changes. though it's great to have better care, who will bear the brunt of the cost?

singh also focuses primarily on the evolution of care now received in hospitals for heart failures, strokes, and cancer, but i wish there were more about the possibilities digital care could open up for addiction and mental health treatment. i appreciated his highlights on preventative care, and how technology could benefit patients to take initiative over their health before they even get sick, but i feel like there was more to explore in that arena. 

i have no medical expertise and this book was very approachable. the language was accessible, his arguments clear, and the book was easy to follow along. thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an early copy of the book in return for an honest review.

[Bella Trane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a really interesting read about how Dr. Singh thinks healthcare will change in the next 5-10 years. He focuses a lot on sensors, and bringing patients continuous, self-monitoring tools, that will generate tons of data for physicians and AI systems to interpret with the end goal of preventative medicine and managing diseases more effectively. I liked his perspective on this and could see how this will be implemented when there are already many apps available on phones and watches. How the data will be HIPPA complaint and smoothly available in EMR will be important and challenging however. I wish he would have gone into more details about the cost of the strategies he discusses and how we can make healthcare more accessible to marginalized populations.

I’m excited to see how AI and machine learning will advance medicine and the overall healthcare system in the US.

[Kelly Hodgkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an overview of medical developments because of technology. I have broad exposure to both technology and the medical field so didn't learn, as I had hoped, a lot from the book. There is more time spent on the anecdotes from the author, more than it felt was required to communicate the point.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a software engineer at one of the largest healthcare industries in the nation, this book provided a lot of insight that often goes overlooked by us not being on the ground floor. Our goal as developers is to ensure the patient gets on their journey as fast as possible while ensuring this is the correct path for them to take. As someone who sees a lot from the insurance side of things, this book provided first hand accounts of the provider/patient relationship. Knowing more of the intricate details that make up this relationship allows engineers to brainstorm solutions around making healthcare more accessible in ways that matter the most. Excited for the future of healthcare and the role ML/AI play in it.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read alot of books on AI so not much new here. It is decently written with no glaring mistakes but also fairly shallow in terms of technology. I am big on Photoplethysmography
as he seems to be. Having written multi modal EKG software this was fun to read. It was a bit repetitous and coulda been much shorter but not a large book.

No mention of EMF in all his love of cellular technology was a bit troubling.

[Melissa Wiles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of interesting ideas about the future of health care here which left me (an epidemiologist who works mostly on topics related to EHR systems for monitoring and evaluation purposes) curious to keep learning more and motivated to stay up-to-date and informed as things continue to evolve. A bit repetitive at times and not always clearly organized.

[Abigail Teixeira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read!

Very interesting and thought provoking. The future success of Healthcare will depend on who takes control. Giving patients access to control their health may drive the changes needed.

[Tyler Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can check out my review here:

https://youtu.be/xKushhiKO_4

[Ellen Skogsberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW!

Wonderful and thought provoking book. Highly suggest as a MUST read!!! Thank you Jag for sharing your time and knowledge.

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author makes interesting points, especially in area of cardiac arrhythmias. But lots of the book was repetitive.