The Potential for Hospitals to Be Obsolete

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Hospitals are about a third of our medical costs right now. The hospital structure is a huge formidable barrier to innovation in my mind. We can provide exquisite monitoring through sensors as good or better than an intensive care unit. And all we need is to get remote patient bedroom, not in the hospital and prove that people are safely looked after in their own home.

Cardiologist and author Eric Topol talks about his book Deep Medicine with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Topol argues that doctors spend too little face-to-face time with patients, and the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning is a chance to emphasize the human side of medicine and to expand the power of human connection in healing. Topol surveys the current landscape of the application of technology to health care showing where its promise has been overstated and where it is having the most impact. The conversation includes a discussion of the placebo effect and the importance of the human touch in medicine.