The best medicine combines high tech and high touch approaches to patient care.
By John Halamka, M.D., M.S., Dwight and Dian Diercks President, Mayo Clinic Platform and Paul Cerrato, MA, senior research analyst and communications specialist, Mayo Clinic Platform and a Professor at Northeastern University.
If you are old enough, you may remember the Apple ad that started this way: “Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the troublemakers, the round pegs in square holes.” The ad went on to praise unconventional thinkers willing to challenge the status quo and forge a path to innovative products and services because they change things. That’s often been the case in the history of technology and healthcare, too. When we wrote Redefining the Boundaries of Medicine, we had these thoughts in mind. Eric Horvitz, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer at Microsoft was generous enough to write the Forward for the book, which we have reprinted below:
What does the future of medicine look like? How can we harness the power of artificial intelligence and advances in the biosciences to improve health outcomes, reduce errors, and personalize care? How can we balance the high-tech innovations with the high-touch human values that are essential for healing and wellbeing? These are some of the questions that Paul Cerrato and John Halamka explore in their visionary book, Redefining the Boundaries of Medicine. Drawing on their extensive experience and expertise, they offer a roadmap for transforming healthcare delivery into an “Evidence-Based Medicine 2.0,” through careful application of cutting-edge methods and technologies.
The authors describe how technical advances can help us expand the boundaries of medicine beyond the traditional scope of clinical practice and research, and to deliver more precise, personalized, and effective care to patients. The book is full of inspiring and intriguing examples that illustrate how computing innovations can extend the capabilities of clinicians and researchers and empower patients.
Readers are provided case studies that illustrate the power and promise of machine learning, causal inference and new approaches to leveraging findings from clinical trials to enhance diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease. Along the way, the authors address multiple practical challenges, including data quality and the reliability of diagnostic and predictive models with shifts in environment and context. They also cover ethical, regulatory and privacy challenges that computing technologies present, and how to overcome them with wise oversight, standards and safeguards.
The authors do not neglect the vital importance of healthcare equity, and the humanistic and spiritual aspects of medicine. The authors describe how computing advances can tackle social determinants of health, such as poverty, racism, and environmental factors, and improve health equity and access for those facing marginalization. They remind us that technology cannot substitute for empathy, compassion and gratitude. They emphasize that medicine is not only based on data and algorithms, but also on values and relationships. They advocate for a high-tech, high-touch approach to medicine that puts the patient at the heart, and respects their dignity, autonomy and preferences.
Redefining the Boundaries of Medicine is a timely and captivating book that challenges us to rethink and reimagine how we deliver health care in the 21st century. It is an informative and engaging read for all who care deeply about the future of healthcare.
Eric Horvitz, M.D., Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer, Microsoft
Redmond, Washington
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