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As Managing Director of Purview, Les Trachtman drives Purview’s shared mission to improve medical outcomes and access to quality medical expertise for millions of people, regardless of geography. Les is a seasoned entrepreneur, educator, and author with over four decades of experience in strategy, consulting, and start-ups. Les is also an adjunct instructor at the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School, where he shares his years of experience and insights with the next generation of business leaders. He is a frequent guest lecturer at Harvard Business School, MIT and other academic institutions, as well as a board member of The Metro Group. Les is also known as the author of the Amazon bestseller "Don't F**K It Up, How Founders and Their Successors Can Avoid the Cliches that Inhibit Growth", and a blogger on founder succession and other topics. He is passionate about sailing, traveling, and challenging the status quo.
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Most of the attention that telehealth has garnered over the past year has focused on using remote technology for synchronous virtual patient visits. During portions of 2020, these visits represented as much as 70% of all patient encounters.
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Clinical trials are the way that most new treatments are tested for initial efficacy and are becoming much more public in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
If you are sick, having easy access to your medical records is important for a multitude of reasons. But if an appealing or selective trial opens up, having your records available and organized prior to joining a clinical trial could save you time and stress and help you secure a spot in the trial. Even if you are not sick, in order to join a trial, you will likely be required to produce an extensive set of your medical records.
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Suppose that a patient is seeking a second opinion from a specialist in Texas for their recent cancer diagnosis. The patient resides on the East Coast of the United States and is unable or uncomfortable traveling. To properly confirm and address the diagnosis, the physician in Texas needs to see the patient's full medical history, including pathology. Unfortunately, sending the pathology report through the mail is costly and wastes valuable time, and also runs the risk of getting lost or damaged in transit. Not to mention, digital pathology slides are so large they will not fit on a DVD for sending.
While we are still reeling from the onslaught of the pandemic, it is useful to reflect on and investigate some of the occurrences that will pave the way for healthcare in the coming years. Even if it wanes with the current delivery of multiple vaccination candidates, COVID-19 has made an indelible mark on our healthcare system.
Here are ten of the most important trends that we expect to emerge or gain traction in 2021, as the veil of COVID-19 is pulled back.
The last thing a patient needs when they are sick, is to have to scurry around and collect their medical records from the various providers who generated the patient’s medical records. Often these records can help to understand a disease progression that is critical for the patient’s treatment plan. But patient records often reside at various providers who store these in proprietary, incompatible and disconnected silos, often requiring the patient show up in person to receive a CD or printed paper copy. Without these records in hand, a patient’s diagnosis can be incorrect or incomplete. Expensive and sometimes uncomfortable tests may have to be performed again.
