As our population increases, there will be a huge influx of people demanding wellness checks. Unless we double or even triple our Healthcare Worker Force, I would expect to see longer lines, and more time hanging out in a wellness clinic, waiting to be seen, ultimately causing frustration on both sides.

The solution? Automation.

We will begin a Healthcare shift into a "Virtual Doctor". Either an Augmented Reality (A.R.) connection with a real human, or a connection to an Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) Interface.

Consumers will be utilizing "diagnostic wearables" that convey instant health data feedback, and will be linked to a live/A.I. doctor to read, understand, diagnose and prescribe, all via Augmented Reality in the privacy (and convenience) of their home, or current location.
Doctors will be able to access data on-the-fly for certain high-risk patients as well.
Will it be easier? I think so. Especially if half of the requests can be handled by A.I. There is no limit of patients or amount of appointment times capping A.I., since patients won't be dealing with a live human. Thousands of interactions can be happening at the same time, without travel or fuel expenses. However - a large server/bandwidth system would ultimately be needed, such as a Universal Quantum Computer (reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yaY4Fw-ovM).

There will need to be an initial "brain dump" into A.I. - to take all the data that's in all the medical books, as well as all the medicine reactions, contraindications, and include the organ-neuro-musculo-skeletal relational components too (for example: right lower shoulder blade pain can be a referral pain for gall bladder stones). Creating an in-depth Differential Diagnosis database (D.D.d.) would be a huge undertaking at first, but a huge payoff for whoever did it FIRST. A good example of what a personalized INTERACTIVE "Wearable-To-A.I." could look like can be found here: http://AIWellnesscare.com

NOTE: It's something I designed for a colleague to emulate what can happen if a company were to integrate a wearable into a phone app for a gofundme project they are currently trying to fund. Feel free to try it out on your smartphone (FYI - it's a little clunky).

Imagination Can Now Be Reality.

Imagine being able to dial into your fitbit/iwatch/wellness band, and have a morning update - or a recap at night, as well as your vitals being interpreted and explained to you. A block-chain, HIPPA compliant database stores all your info for long-term assessment as well.
Depending on how integrated your wearable is, you'll be updated on the latest "what's happening inside your body". If it requires immediate attention (i.e. cancer cells, high levels of uric acid, low blood sugar, hormone imbalance etc, ) you will be in touch with a 24/7 A.I. doctor, who, if needed, will schedule you with a live call - or a visit to your local doctor. The wearable may even educate the end-user on what to do themselves; home remedies, stretches, - and may even email/text a prescription to the closest pharmacy, based on user's location and pharmacy hours. It can even dial 911 if you are unconscious or have fallen and are unable to get up. Heck, let's even throw in a carbon monoxide warning system in there while we're at it.

Here are some of the things to consider:

1. Doctors getting equipped with Augmented Reality Interface (A.R.I.) equipment
2. Digital companies INVENTING the A.R.I. for the health field, including the D.D.d.
3. Creating the wearables to correctly monitor health data from the user
4. Adding environmental sensors that provide instant aid if needed, including earthquake, tornado & tsunami warnings
5. Creating the A.I. for the "minor issues", and allow less "face-to-face" doctor time that can be handled by A.I.
6. What can be included in this system, and what cannot
7. Setting up a network of free WiFi for the wearables to communicate/upload data to the "Health-Cloud" (my wording) - which would be HIPPA compliant and un-hackable. Most likely a Blockchain encryption system.
8. Recharging systems for wearables (buses, cars, etc) or creation of a longer-life battery. Solar options if no power is available.
9. What is the subscriber $$? Will this be part of a social healthcare system, or a paid-for-service?
10. Will there be a new billing-code system? To diagnose, prescribe and treat via A.R.I. - would it be "Augmented ICD codes or AICD?
11. A division between Wellness Care and Sickness Care. Are we better off treating for wellness and prevention, and rewarding that system, or do we need to focus more on treating Sickness... or both?
12. Will doctors, nurses, therapists, healthcare providers be reimbursed per call, per hour, or salary?
13. And finally, as doctors do we focus on treating SYMPTOMS, or CAUSES of disease?
14. And of course, all the things YOU are thinking of too... : )
15. Having years of daily health information from millions of users will give medical researchers amazing data and possibly create predictable precursors for preventative outcome assessment models and treatment, including gene therapy.

As Healthcare Businesses and Providers position themselves for futuristic health systems (2020 and beyond), I believe the companies that create their own "A.I./A.R. Divisions" ASAP are the ones that will have the ultimate leverage and set the bar for health standards. Their longevity/survivability in the healthcare market will be based on how deep their health knowledge and databases (D.D.d.) are. I also believe there will be a decision that each of these companies (are they already in existence?) need to make in the direction they go, based on the projected needs of the consumers they want as clients. A wellness approach will entice those that are already healthy and want to stay that way, whereas a sickness and disease approach will attract those that are dependent on medication and monitoring.

Both are needed and valued.

1. Increasing employee or participant engagement.
2. Shifting from Wellness (physical) to Well-being (more holistic whole-of-life experience).
3. Shifting towards more intrinsic forms of motivation rather than extrinsic.