The Creative Destruction of Medicine : How the Digital Revolution Will Create Better Health Care

What if your cell phone could detect cancer cells circulating in your blood or warn you of an imminent heart attack? Mobile wireless digital devices, including smartphones and tablets with seemingly limitless functionality, have brought about radical changes in our lives, providing hyper-connectivity to social networks and cloud computing. But the digital world has hardly pierced the medical cocoon. __Until now.__ Beyond reading email and surfing the Web, we will soon be checking our vital signs on our phone. We can already continuously monitor our heart rhythm, blood glucose levels, and brain waves while we sleep. Miniature ultrasound imaging devices are replacing the icon of medicine—the stethoscope. DNA sequencing, Facebook, and the Watson supercomputer have already saved lives. For the first time we can capture all the relevant data from each individual to enable precision therapy, prevent major side effects of medications, and ultimately to prevent many diseases from ever occurring. And yet many of these digital medical innovations lie unused because of the medical community’s profound resistance to change. In __The Creative Destruction of Medicine__, Eric Topol—one of the nation’s top physicians and a leading voice on the digital revolution in medicine—argues that radical innovation and a true democratization of medical care are within reach, but only if we consumers demand it. We can force medicine to undergo its biggest shakeup in history. This book shows us the stakes—and how to win them. A Professor Of Medicine Reveals How Technology Like Wireless Internet, Individual Data, And Personal Genomics Can Be Used To Save Lives. Part I. Setting The Foundation. 1. The Digital Landscape : Cultivating A Data-driven, Participatory Culture -- 2. The Orientation Of Medicine Today : Population Versus Individual -- 3. To What Extent Are Consumers Empowered? : Clicks And Tricks -- Part Ii. Capturing The Data. 4. Physiology : Wireless Sensors -- 5. Biology : Sequencing The Genome -- 6. Anatomy : From Imaging To Printing Organs -- 7. Electronic Health Records And Health Information Technology -- 8. The Convergence Of Human Data Capture -- Part Iii. The Impact Of Homo Digitus. 9. Doctors With Plasticity? -- 10. Rebooting The Life Science Industry -- 11. Homo Digitus And The Individual. Eric Topol. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. CONTENTS 8 INTRODUCTION v 10 PART ONE • SETTING THE FOUNDATION 18 1 THE DIGITAL LANDSCAPE - Cultivating a Data-Driven, Participatory Culture 3 20 2 THE ORIENTATION OF MEDICINE TODAY - Population Versus Individual 19 36 3 TO WHAT EXTENT ARE CONSUMERS EMPOWERED? - Clicks and Tricks 33 50 PART TWO • CAPTURING THE DATA 74 4 PHYSIOLOGY - Wireless Sensors 59 76 5 BIOLOGY - Sequencing the Genome 77 94 6 ANATOMY - From Imaging to Printing Organs 122 139 7 ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS AND HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 141 158 8 THE CONVERGENCE OF HUMAN DATA CAPTURE 160 177 PART THREE • THE IMPACT OF HOMO DIGITUS 192 9 DOCTORS WITH PLASTICITY? 177 194 10 REBOOTING THE LIFE SCIENCE INDUSTRY 196 213 11 HOMODIGITUS AND THE INDIVIDUAL 226 243 AFTERWORD 245 262 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 249 266 NOTES 253 270 INDEX 287 304 How genomics, big data, and digital technology are revolutionizing every aspect of medicine, from physical exams to drug prescriptions to organ transplants Mobile technology has transformed our lives, and personal genomics is revolutionizing biology. But despite the availability of technologies that can provide wireless, personalized health care at lower cost, the medical community has resisted change. In The Creative Destruction of Medicine, Eric Topol-one of the nation's top physicians-calls for consumer activism to demand innovation and the democratization of medical care. The Creative Destruction of Medicine is the definitive account of the coming disruption of medicine, written by the field's leading voice. The digital landscape The orientation of medicine today To what extent are consumers empowered? Physiology : wireless sensors Biology : sequencing the genome Anatomy : from imaging to printing organs Electronic health records and health information systems The convergence of human data capture Doctors with plasticity? The rebooted life science industry The individual.