Developed and used properly, health-oriented telecommunications … carry the possibility of providing major assistance in revolutionizing health care, making it both cheaper and better, spreading it wider, involving people in making decisions about their own lives, helping America (and eventually the world) build truly healthier communities.
Predictor: Flower, Joe
Prediction, in context:In a 1994 article for Wired magazine, Joe Flower explains the types of changes that could come in health care through the use of networked computing. Flower writes:”Developed and used properly, health-oriented telecommunications carry possibilities that go far beyond gee-whiz Buck Rogers romanticism, and more toys for the big boys. They carry the possibility of providing major assistance in revolutionizing health care, making it both cheaper and better, spreading it wider, involving people in making decisions about their own lives, helping America (and eventually the world) build truly healthier communities. How close is this stuff? That varies enormously. Some ideas are already being put in place, at least in their first-generation versions. These include expert systems, telemedicine links, and using massive databases for outcomes management and research. Others are in the prototype stage, including data glove links, image fusing, telesurgery, and telementoring. Still others, such as the battlefield ‘armored ambulance,’ are just ideas. Some of the ideas will require not just technical work, but large-scale funding, a major expansion of the infrastructure, and a long-term political commitment – especially a universally available personal health information system.”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1994
Topic of prediction: Getting, Sharing Information
Subtopic: Medical/Professional
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: The Other Revolution in Health Care: Leave Hillary and Bill Out of It … The Health Care System is Going to Change Drastically Over the Next Decade
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.01/healthcare_pr.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney