It's a start! Computers will replace physicians in the care of the human being! Just a start!

This is only the start. My believe is within a few short years a computer will greet the patient in the waiting room, assist them into the exam room, scan the patient (with the help of an implanted device - yeah...that's coming soon as well), ask a few short questions, then diagnose and prescribe if necessary! You heard it here first. Physicians will be directing, and in some instances assisting the doc-computer.

IBM Watson partners with Modernizing Medicine of Boca Raton

May 17, 2014|By Marcia Heroux Pounds, Sun Sentinel

Modernizing Medicine is partnering with IBM Watson — of Jeopardy! fame — to expand its electronic medical assistant.

With the help of the supercomputer, physicians will soon be able to ask a question of Watson about treatment research and get an immediate response as they're caring for a patient.

The interaction would take place via Modernizing Medicine's iPad tablet customized for specialty physicians such as dermatologists.
"The next decade forward will be the most exciting we've ever seen in computing as we begin to ask the computer questions and get direct answers," said Dan Cane, co-founder and CEO of Modernizing Medicine, based in Boca Raton.
IBM announced Friday that Modernizing Medicine was among three companies chosen for the IBM Watson Ecosystem program designed to develop a new generation of apps.
"The power of Watson is a game-changing proposition. Since we established a Watson developer ecosystem, we've seen the creativity flow from entrepreneurs around the world with business-changing ideas for the Watson technology," said Michael Rhodin, senior vice president for IBM Watson Group.
Watson may be best known for the 2011 stunt when the supercomputer was pitted against the best players on the TV quiz show Jeopardy! The computer won.
Cane said Watson represents a new era in which a computer can understand natural language while Modernizing Medicine collects data to help doctors learn from treatment outcomes.
With Watson, doctors will be able to instantly access research and information about clinical trials in hundreds of medical journals to better assess a treatment for a patient.
"Watson allows us to combine both worlds," Cane said. "It's a phenomenal collaboration."
Modernizing Medicine has built a prototype and plans to make Watson available to dermatologists that use its iPad app later this year, he said.
Cane said the company was working out a financial arrangement with IBM, which he couldn't disclose.
Modernizing Medicine, which was founded in 2010, has more than 3,300 physician practices across the country using its medical assistant systems.
The business has grown to $17.5 million in revenue in three years, employing 175 people.

In 2013, Modernizing Medicine was listed at No. 47 on Forbes' annual ranking of America's Most Promising Companies.

Pull up a chair! Obamacare is causing longer waits to see a Physician!!!

Incentive has been taken away from Physicians to work hard! Just ask Adam Smith in regards to the “Invisible Hand” that causes us to do our best. Remove incentives and fair reimbursements, and what do you get….LONGER WAITING TIMES!

Doctor Wait Times Rise As Obamacare Rolls Out

1/29/2014 @ 11:13AM

h/t FORBES 

Patients are waiting an average of 18 days to schedule an appointment for a doctor, according to a study of appointments for commonly used specialty physicians in 15 major U.S. cities.

The survey by physician staffing and consulting firm Merritt Hawkins comes as a doctor shortage looms as more patients seek medical care under the Affordable Care Act. The health law is bringing millions more Americans health benefits and therefore the ability to pay for a visit to the doctor’s office.

The longest wait to see a doctor was in Boston where the average wait was 45.5 days to schedule an appointment with a family physician, dermatologist, cardiologist, orthopedic surgeon or obstetrician/gynecologist. The survey came from a sampling late last year of nearly 1,400 medical offices across the country.

“In the next two to three years, can we keep a bad situation from getting worse?” asked Travis Singleton, senior vice president at Merritt Hawkins, a subsidiary of AMN Healthcare (AMN). ”Everything will tell you it’s going to get worse and not better.”

The increase in doctor wait times to this point isn’t completely related to the health law. The improving economy is also driving more Americans to the doctor’s office. In recent years, data has showed slow growth in visits to doctor’s office during a period of high unemployment as well as the trend for insurance companies and employers to increase co-payments and deductibles.

“Finding a physician who can see you today, or three weeks from today, can be a challenge, even in urban areas where there is a high ratio of physicians per population,” said Mark Smith, president of Merritt Hawkins.  “The demand for doctors is simply outstripping the supply.” When health care coverage is expanded and there is more access to physicians, wait times rise.

Take Boston, which has a high number of “physicians per capita,” Singleton said. “Yet they still have the longest waits for appointments.”

Massachusetts has had broad health care coverage for most of its residents for several years now and the state’s law was the model for the Affordable Care Act.

“People are accessing the system (in Massachusetts) at greater and greater levels,” Singleton added.

There is, however, good news for appointment times as health care reimbursement moves away from fee-for-service medicine to value-based care that emphasizes the use of accountable care organizations and patient-centered medical homes.

In ACOs and other models, doctors are handing off more responsibilities to physician assistants and nurse practitioners with the physician as more of a quarterback of sorts.

Medicare and most private insurers like those operated by Aetna  (AET), Cigna  (CI), Humana  (HUM),UnitedHealth Group UnitedHealth Group (UNH) and most Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans are linking with ACOs, which push high quality, less expensive care rather than today’s payment system that often leads to excessive care by paying for each treatment or procedure that isn’t always better.

The providers in an ACO are responsible for managing the care of the health plan enrollees and are financially rewarded if the enrollees, or patients, stay out of the more expensive hospital.

“We are much better at managing the health care system and using nonphysicians,” Singleton said. “We are much better at using nurse practitioners and physician assistants.”