A few years ago I was at the eMerge Americas event in Miami and I had an epiphany moment. I had been interested in the HealthTech sector for a while but I was listening to a panel on HealthTech and I realized that technology was going to solve our healthcare woes before the government would even get to discussing it. And technology was capable of implementing healthcare services in communities across the globe where none currently exist. So when I received Trond Undheim’s email about reviewing his book HealthTech: Rebooting Society’s Software, Hardware and Mindset, I was definitely intrigued.
I should state that I had been in denial about the US healthcare system for many years. Growing up in the midwest and pacific northwest as an allergic kid in the 80s and 90s, I picked up some pretty unhealthy habits related to nutritional education. When I started studying in Europe, I started to unlearn these habits and focus more on having a healthy, active lifestyle. This is where I fell in love with public transportation. At the same time, I went to the doctor whenever necessary (which was very rarely) and didn’t think much about healthcare at all because it is a public service there. It was easy. When I moved back to the US in my early 30s it was a whole different ball game. People talked about the medicine they were on by name because of the constant marketing and the healthcare system seemed unnecessarily complicated and not very good for a new arrival like me. And the general level of health in the US was not great because there was so much focus on treatment instead of prevention. It was, as Undheim described it, overwhelming.
That was my state of mind when I talked to HealthTech companies. I realized that they were creating technological solutions that were going to take the marketing and guesswork out of staying healthy for millions of people in the US and they were going to enable solutions for populations around the world that have little or no healthcare services. I’ve been interested in this topic ever since and I am especially interested in the intersection between health and transportation. Undheim’s book gives an excellent overview of the history of healthcare systems since the onset of science-based thinking, how technology is currently contributing to the healthcare sector and the future of connected healthcare services. There is a section that covers a who’s who in HealthTech and Digital Health that is extremely informative and definitely worth the read for anyone interested in what is going on in the sector. It’s pretty exciting to learn about what is already being done.
The book is incredibly comprehensive and definitely worth a read. For me it is what he calls the “Healthcare System Reboot” that is most interesting because it fits so well into the model for intelligent cities and societies. We need to rethink how we access healthcare in the same way that we need to rethink the way that we access transportation. And 5G network capabilities are going to enable us to develop connected societies that help us monitor the way that we live our lives and interact with other people and institutions. The COVID pandemic has been instrumental in helping us consider other models for living and we strike while the iron is hot. Although there is a lot of ground to cover, I join in Trondheim’s belief that our arrival at this smart world is a question of when, not if, and embracing these changes can help us live healthier, more sustainable lives.
smartcityperspectives.com 