MOREOR LESS

Practicing Medicine in 2013: What’s Out and What’s Here to Stay

Healthcare practice has changed drastically in just a few years. Here is what practices can expect to see more and less of this year.

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MORE:Hordes of ePatients

The numbers speak for themselves – 53% of people say in-formation they found online led them to ask a doctor new questions.

Patients are increasingly becoming advocates for their own care. Expect the spread of patient portals this year to fur-ther prove this.

MORE:Practices in the Cloud

A growing number of physicians took their practices to the cloud in 2012 and it’s not entirely shocking - client-server systems are clunky and startup costs run upwards of $60k.

Physicians will continue to see the benefits of cloud-based EHRs in 2013, which are overall easier to implement than on-premise solutions.

MORE:Digital House Calls

According to Healthy State, 2.2 million patients used a monitoring service in their home last year, which represents part of a 25% estimated growth rate for telehealth systems.

Expect even more of an uptick in digital visits in 2013 as technology improves and corporations encourage employ-ees to connect with their physicians remotely.

LESS:Paper Trails

Administrative inefficiency and redundant paperwork ac-counts for 18% of healthcare waste a year.

But there’s hope. More than half of American physicians have adopted an EHR, and the CMS reports that 42% of those meet federal standards – meaning trees will have Meaningful Use to thank for a higher standard of living.

LESS:PHRs – For Now

The demise of last year’s Google Health dealt a serious blow to personal health records (PHRs).

So while PHRs may not be visible in 2013, the spread of portals and ePatients this year could result in a comeback for patients interested in using technology to keep tabs on their health.

LESS:Standardization. Sort of.

On one hand, you have the New Yorker’s Cheesecake Fac-tory approach to healthcare: standardization of care proce-dures, like other business processes, namely restaurants.

But does this mean the loss of something vital in the pro-cess? Expect a tug-o-war between the pragmatists and those who fear the extinction of medicine as an art.

BOTTOM LINE:The practice of medicine is moving quickly, and some will inevitably left behind.

What side are you on?