By Randy Rayess
What do
Skeptical?
Technology has already started to transform the healthcare industry. There have been numerous instances where it has been used to facilitate better medical services for patients. Take for example telemedicine services like 1DocWay, Aircare and Sherpaa that dispense health-related advice on mobile devices to people who may not have easy access to hospitals or who may not need in-person care.
Technology companies like Lyft and Uber have extensive data about travel that they can leverage to help with logistics and transportation. More recently, Uber undertook the initiative of delivering free flu shots, administered by trained nurses, to your doorstep. Meanwhile, Amazon has launched Amazon Prime Now in New York City, which allows for bike delivery within one hour of an online purchase.
As, you can see, the possibilities are limitless; mere ideas have been shaped into reality. Which brings me to our present-day scenario.
Think of the chaos that ensues when you have to schedule a visit to the doctor or get an ambulance to come over to your place in times of emergency. Not only does it take a while for the ambulance to reach you, getting to the nearest healthcare facility on time is a gamble due to uncertain traffic. With precious time lost, the patient is denied the care and attention she is in need of.
Let’s face it, the process is far from smooth.
But now, imagine this.
A world where ZocDoc, Uber and Google’s driverless car worked together. Using ZocDoc you schedule an appointment with a physician at a hospital closest to you. Then, Uber locates a car that’s closest to your home. And then, that car uses Google’s driverless technology to take you to the hospital.
In the event of an emergency, a driverless car can communicate with other cars and force them to clear the way, so that the travel time to the hospital is drastically reduced. Also a driverless car has full information of traffic on all roads and therefore can select the optimal path. Over time, this information will integrate with ZocDoc such that ZocDoc finds the closest hospital based on traffic data and not just distance.
By integrating all three concepts harmoniously, it’s finally possible to reach out for the healthcare amenities you deserve.
Of course, in fairness, there are a few snags in this system as well, the first one being fraud. It’s possible for people to fake a case of emergency just to get themselves placed on high priority. Not only does it waste a lot of time, it also creates a sense of distrust in the system as real patients are denied timely care. A more pressing concern is depending on a driverless car to deliver ambulance services. While there is no denying the convenience of the entire arrangement, there are still some important questions that have to be answered.
What happens when a patient is not in a condition to walk to the car and has to be carried into it? How will a driverless car deliver emergency medical care to the patient on her way to the hospital if she should need it? Can human life, in fact, be left at the mercy of automated machines without any form of human supervision?
No doubt, these are critical concerns and all the solutions are not in place. One way to address the specific situations where there is an emergency and the patient requires someone to help her get into the car or requires treatment on the way to the hospital is by having a few driverless cars, where:
- One trained paramedic is in the driverless car and can care for the patient
- The interior is designed such that you can easily serve a patient and have her lie down
- All medical equipment required is stored in the car
Once these creases have been ironed out and such a system is seamlessly put into place and executed, we can get ready to see remarkable changes in our healthcare system.
But this isn't just a fantastic example anymore. To really impact industries that most need change (like healthcare), startups and big companies should look to integrate their technologies with one another to provide better, more timely systems that work.
What other examples can you think of that might revolutionize the way we provide life-changing services?
Randy Rayess is the co-founder of VenturePact, a marketplace that connects companies to prescreened software development firms; he previously worked in private equity at SilverLake Partners and in machine learning.
