Technology is moving fast – whether it’s in the world of hand-held devices, TVs, or healthcare.
But unlike your teenager’s urgent pleas to acquire the latest iPhone, or your spouse salivating over a mammoth flat-screen, there is a lot more at stake when trying to harness technology in healthcare. Moving too fast — or too slow — could literally mean the difference between life and death.
The topic of keeping up with technology in healthcare was a popular one this week at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual conference June 1-4 in Chicago. Informatics, precision medicine, new drugs, diagnostics, the latest gadgets, treatments – technology was everywhere and top of mind.
“Our ability to create these tools is much faster than our ability to figure out what to do with them,” said Peter Yu, the Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute’s Physician-in-Chief and ASCO Immediate Past President, in an interview with the American Journal of Managed Care.
However, having so much technology in medicine is a good problem to have, Dr. Yu said. Research and clinical trials are saving patients’ lives every day, and Hartford HealthCare’s membership in the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Alliance means local patients have access to the latest breakthroughs before many others.
“I think, without a question, if you ask most physicians, would they rather go back to paper charts? ’The answer would probably be ‘no,’ Dr. Yu told the American Journal of Managed Care. “If you asked patients, would they like to go back to the age where you could not get a patient portal? Find out your lab tests? I mean you always want more, but would you want to go back to the point where you had nothing? People would say ‘no, that’s not a good idea either.’”
To make an appointment at a Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute location near you, visit https://hartfordhealthcare.org/services/cancer-care/service-locations