What We Believe In – The Medical Futurist Mission Statement

It has never been more important to look at the road ahead of us. 2020 has brought unprecedented challenges upon humankind. And at times when the world seems to collapse and all we knew or thought to know changes in an instant, we all need solid ground beneath our feet. We at The Medical Futurist believe this ground is science itself.

Indeed, 2020 has been a decisive year in many aspects. What matters to us the most is that it has created a massive gap between those who believe in science and those who don’t. It has also brought science fiction into our living room as the world we saw in movies or read in books has become our everyday reality – like telemedicine, sensors at home or at-home lab tests. Ultimately, this reality can become a good one – but it needs every single one of us to participate in turning healthcare digital.

What is digital health?

Digital health is nothing else but the cultural transformation healthcare has been going through in the 21st century. Today, our life depends on a massive amount of luck, and on the decisions of others. If you get into hospital, you are impuissant to circumstances, strangers and available hospital infrastructure. What we need to realize is that healthcare has been going through a major transition because of digital health technologies that provide data to both patients and medical professionals. There are now a zillion devices, applications and tests that can provide you with data on your condition, state and genetic background. Incorporating this data into the medical practice would be a quantum leap into that future we envision. 

The reason why it hasn’t been implemented yet is purely human. It’s the 3Rs of healthcare gatekeeping: Rejection by individual medical professionals, good Regulations that are lacking, and the Resistance within the existing healthcare system, which is rooted in the belief that change can be stopped. Well, 2020 made it obvious that it can’t.

The change is now and you should be a part of it

The Medical Futurist team aims to facilitate this transition. In 2009, Dr Bertalan Meskó envisioned a new era of healthcare where patients and doctors work together using the latest technologies. Today, we believe in the value of digital health and in the idea that technology can make patients the point-of-care, receiving care, diagnosis and treatment wherever they are. 

We envision healthcare to be seamless; that the process from diagnosing the symptoms to monitoring the process is error-free. We see the first steps in this direction through advanced A.I. systems in diagnosis or in medical-level at-home devices. Healthcare shall also be invisible so patients can enjoy the attention of experts and technologies of the entire healthcare universe. With the extraordinary rise of telemedicine solutions, this too we already see happening. 

We also envision healthcare to be preventive. Becoming proactive gives us the chance to live longer and healthier lives preventing diseases from developing. And there is yet a branch of medicine that aims exactly that, called lifestyle medicine.

We have work to do until everyone in the world has access to healthcare: either through their own healthcare system or through the use of technologies.

Dr Bertalan Meskó

How do we want to facilitate digital health transformation?

One.
Helping medical professionals understand how digital technologies can support them is a crucial step towards this reality. After all, doctors will be beneficiaries of the progress, not the victims. We believe that the role of medical associations is to enlighten the path that leads towards the future. In order to support this, we cooperate with medical associations that are already embracing the concept of digital health – like the American Medical Association (AMA) or the Canadian Medical Association (CMA). As a Private Professor at Semmelweis Medical School, Budapest, Dr Meskó has also strong ties with the Hungarian University, supporting their digital transformation. To bring medical professionals into this era, it is high time for the rise of e-physicians.

Two.
We also need to help patients understand these technologies and how these can be used for the benefit of their health or disease management. In our digital health utopia smartphones, health sensors, and wearables are in fact used by patients and also embraced by doctors. Once they have viable expectations about their health, patients will also be able to build equal partnerships with doctors. 

To facilitate this part of the transition, we have published articles on The Medical Futurist site every week since 2016. They cover in-depth analyses, tests, reviews and explanatory pieces. We have a long line of youtube videos that helps understand complex issues (and introduces many to the world of science fiction and futurism). By creating infographics of various subjects we make this knowledge even more accessible. We use our social media channels to help our followers orient themselves in the daily load of digital health news; and more recently we started live Q&As to directly answer grave amounts of questions in various themes. All this supports people in their path into becoming more aware, empowered patients themselves, and, ultimately, becoming the knowledgeable point-of-care they should be.

Three.
Governments and policymakers should be the fertile feeding ground for this growth by understanding the big picture and creating good regulations and future-proof policies. 

A while ago Dr Meskó gave an inspiring speech about digital health to the Canadian Senate (that we put forward as an open letter to every government) about challenging the existing status quo in healthcare. 

There are several nations around the world where digital health technologies already part of everyday life. These aren’t necessarily the ones you’d most expect: like digital health pioneer of Africa Rwanda where by necessity telemedicine and drone deliveries are as good as common and a central electronic health records system ensures data is collected about health activities. Or Kazakhstan, where the government provides all of its citizens with access to universal health coverage and empower patients to become the point of cares through digital health solutions. But just recently Dr Meskó was invited by the Federal Minister of Health of Germany to share his vision and knowledge about A.I. in healthcare at the “Digital Health 2020 – EU on the Move” Conference (watch the video here).

Four.
And last but not least, we must help the scientific community by providing studies through The Medical Futurist Institute, which aims to initiate public discussions about how to shift the paradigm of medicine and how it is aided and augmented by disruptive technologies.

The Medical Futurist supports a renewed trust in science in the 21st century when fake news, non-believers, anti-vaxxers, populist politicians and other groups that try to bend the truth according to their beliefs and interests. 

Published studies like the one guiding physicians in the jungle of artificial intelligence or create a database of the state of A.I.-based, FDA-approved medical devices and algorithms in lieu of the FDA itself all stand for the same goal – the supporting role of science from the top-down and the bottom up.

What we envisioned, must become our common reality. We want to be with you whether you treat people, whether you get a diagnosis or whether you just want to make healthcare better through regulations, products or processes.

We all need honest, scientifically-based real facts to bring us focus, hope, and clarity in this era of fake. The Medical Futurist team, with the leadership of Dr Meskó is a fierce advocate for digital health technologies. But for the full adoption of these digital health technologies on a global scale, healthcare needs a real cultural transformation to take off. And that’s our job: yours and ours. So come join the conversations on our channels, follow the news you can trust and support us on our Patreon site to be able to keep going and growing.