By Karen Pallarito HealthDay Reporter <\/p>\n
(HealthDay News) -- Imagine if doctors and hospitals got paid for providing better care, not more care, and consumers had better data for making informed health choices. <\/p>\n
A new report suggests that's the direction the U.S. health system is headed. <\/p>\n
The report, from the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics in Parsippany, N.J., identifies 10 \"harbingers of change\" -- recent events expected to alter the delivery of health care and use of medicines over the next decade. <\/p>\n
The authors concede that poor adoption of new technologies, worries about data privacy and other obstacles could slow the pace of change, but their long-term outlook for patient care is hopeful. <\/p>\n
\"I think there can be optimism about the effectiveness of the care [patients] receive and even the cost of it,\" said Murray Aitken, executive director of the institute, as well as one of the study's authors. <\/p>\n
One indication of what lies ahead: the entry of such technology juggernauts as Apple, Google and Samsung into the health care marketplace, according to the report. <\/p>\n
IMS predicts greater innovation in mobile health applications and wearable health devices that cull personal health data and monitor everything from physical activity to blood-sugar levels. <\/p>\n
\"These new technologies get people more engaged in their own health care,\" Aitken said. <\/p>\n
And with a consumer's permission, a doctor could tap into that data to tweak medication levels without the patient having to make an appointment. <\/p>\n
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The rest is here: <\/p>\n
Report identifies game changers for U.S. health care<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Karen Pallarito HealthDay Reporter (HealthDay News) -- Imagine if doctors and hospitals got paid for providing better care, not more care, and consumers had better data for making informed health choices. A new report suggests that's the direction the U.S Continue reading