There have been tremendous advances in healthcare technology and medicine over the last decade, some of which have been truly “awesome”. However, what these advances are depends on who you speak to (patient, physician, nurse, engineer, etc.) and how you define “greatest” (financial, efficiency, outcome, etc.) Because of this diversity, I will describe some of the successful advances that have had a significant impact in patient benefit and are either already available or close to being introduced. While some of these advances have been listed by other prominent sources, the list below is based on my professional opinion, as a physician and healthcare executive.
The Cleveland Clinic announced about six months ago what it perceived to be the top 10 innovations that would positively impact healthcare in 2007. Of the 10 advances cited, I would consider 4 of them to be truly “awesome”. These include:
1. Left Ventricular Assist System (LVAS): This is the first implanted heart assist device that can sense when to increase or decrease the rate of blood flow. This device allows patients with severe heart failure awaiting a transplant, to feel and breath better and be mobile and not “tied to their bed”.
2. Endografting: This is a minimally invasive repair technique that has been used to treat diseases, such as abdominal aortic aneurysms, which previously could be treated only with major surgery.
3. Ranibizumab: This drug that was approved one year ago, treats a form of age related macular degeneration that accounts for 90% of all blindness from the disease. Macular degeneration is a chronic disease of the eyes caused by the deterioration of the central portion of the retina, known as the macula, which is responsible for focusing central vision in the eye. Age related macular degeneration affects about 200,000 people in the US and accounts for 12% of all cases of blindness.
4. Cancer Vaccines: One of the cancer vaccines developed is the HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer caused by human papillomaviruses. This vaccine was approved by the FDA in mid-2006.
Other significant advances over the past decade include:
5. Telemedicine: Combining high speed networks and high resolution images has allowed x-rays to be read by a radiologist nowhere near where it was done, to have consultations done over computer lines with full audio and video, and to even have critically ill patients remotely managed by physicians miles from the patients bedside. Many of these technologies are still in their infancy with exciting growth still to come.
6. Computational Model of HIV Infection: Discovered in 1996, this model, provided guidance in the development of multi-drug therapy for AIDS contributed to the dramatic decline in AIDS mortality over the last five years.
7. Automated External Defibrillator These devices have been used by Paramedics since 1982. It was not until 1997 that they began to appear commonly in public places and in 2002 were approved for home use. These devices decrease the time it takes to restart a heart after a heart attack and therefore improve a patients survival and brain recovery significantly.
Finally, the British Medical Journal recently published a list of the 15 greatest advances since 1840. Of those 15 advances, only Evidence Based Medicine, occurred in the past 15 years. Evidence Based Medicine, which was listed at Number 8, involves making use of the current best evidence (such as medical research studies), along with a physicians clinical experience, to make decisions about patient care. While the term was coined in the early ’90s, the concept has been evolving ever since.
As the US continues to try to reign in healthcare costs, provide healthcare to all its citizens and improve healthcare quality to truly be “the best in the world”, we thankfully will continue being significant innovators and developers of healthcare advances and technologies that will make our health and our lives that much better.
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