Questionnaire – Future of Health Care Trends

Pick one or more in order of preference or check all of the above.

Continued expansion of health exchanges, Medicaid, Medicare, and other federal programs.



More determined efforts by opponents of big government and control of health care with replacement or repeal.



More telemedicine with virtual visits to doctors via Skype with rapid diagnosis not requiring direct doctor physical presence.



Dramatic growth of nurse practitioner-run retail outlets in stores like CVS, Walmarts, and Walgreens.



More patient ordered laboratory tests performed on a drop of blood for $1o or less.



Greater consolidation of big insurers and big integrated hospital-based integrated systems, many of the latter with their own insurance arms to capture market share and share of federal dollars.



Shrinking of number of hospital beds with expansion of hospitals into outpatient markets with diagnostic and treatment centers, urgicenters, and free-standing emergency rooms.



More emphasis on personalized, individualized, precision medicine to treat patients, to anticipate what works in patients with certain genomes, and to ward off future diseases.



More use of consumer-empowering I phones and wearable or inserted devices to monitor vital signs and effects of implanted devices.



More patients using symptom-checking to self-diagnosis and to direct themselves to relevant physician.



As costs rise, more emphasis on prevention and wellness with rewards for good health.



More talk about the use of “Big Data” to rationalize care, reduce costs, and improve outcomes.



More direct cash only, retainer-requiring, concierge, primary and specialty medicine as deductibles, premiums, and out-of-pocket costs rise to unaffordable levels.