Speaker 1: At the end of each year, I'm trying to give you a sneak peek into what we can expect as we head into the next year. In 2021, the pandemic only accelerated some already established trends in digital health. And in 2022, I expect to see even more emphasis on AI solutions, remote care, and at-home tests, as the point of care keeps shifting to wherever the patient is. I'm Dr. Bertalan Meskó, and you're watching the Medical Futurist. Let's dive into specifically what we can look forward to next year. Vocal biomarkers. What's more futuristic than having a conversation with an AI that in return can tell a lot about the state of your mental health, and even whether or not you have COVID, for example? Now voice tech startups are blooming, leveraging machine learning to detect vocal biomarkers that are red flags for certain conditions. By the characteristics of your voice, these algorithms can be accurate, fast, and cost-effective solutions compared to the average checkup processes, which could essentially be the difference between life and death. For example, a US-based startup, Sonophy, is focusing on a voice-based screening app that will look for vocal features related to the presence of COVID-19. The pandemic highlighted how many limitations patients have regarding access and affordability of healthcare, and how much telemedicine can alleviate overburdened hospitals. And as the money starts to pour into the field of voice tech, an accurate diagnosis for some conditions can be as easy as a patient speaking into a smartphone. AI in diagnostics. Since we are talking about AI in diagnostics, let's take a look at one example of how it will disrupt healthcare in the near future. Skin cancer is one of the most common cancer types worldwide. 1 in 5 people is expected to receive a skin cancer diagnosis during their lifetime. Early detection and treatment are invaluable, since almost all skin cancers can be cured if found and treated early. But skin checks are usually at the end of our lists when it comes to health checkups. And as the pandemic disrupted our lives, and there was a general absence from all diagnostic appointments, one fearful fact dermatologists pointed out was that about 21% of melanomas might have gone undetected in 2020. Of course, telemedicine could be helpful if there were enough medical professionals to work online, but ultimately, technology could provide much more than online visits. It could actually do the job. Skin check apps are on a hype cycle now, as more and more startups are popping up in this field. With skin check apps, patients don't even need a dedicated medical device, only their smartphone and they can easily check skin lesions through an app like SkinVision. A study in Nature confirmed that on cleaned data for selected lesions, AI is as good or even superior to human experts in image-based diagnosis. And AI will do the same for a vast array of medical fields, where it will look at biopsy or radiology images and flag the suspicious ones for further review by a trained professional. But don't worry, in and of itself, AI will not replace physicians. But physicians using AI will replace those that don't. Chatbots in traditional healthcare Over the past years, smart algorithm-powered text or voice-based interfaces have multiplied, and they are also taking their place in healthcare. With chatbots, computer programs, or smart algorithms, conducting conversations are becoming more and more popular and widespread. And in healthcare, they can be perfect assistants to ease the burden on medical professionals. There are countless cases where a digital personal assistant or a chatbot could help physicians, nurses, patients, or their families. Better organization of patient pathways, medication management, helping emergency situations, offering solutions for simpler medical issues. These are all possible situations for chatbots to step in. Health chatbots are also being used to address specific issues. There are AI-based chatbots that could address patients' misunderstandings and concerns, delivering information in a responsive, conversational way over email or text. They can also monitor patient satisfaction, cancellations, no-shows, and successfully completed exams. In some cases, health chatbots are also able to connect patients with clinicians for diagnosis or treatment, helping to try each patient to spot those who require prioritized medical help. But that is one step further down the line. The general idea is that in the future, these talking or texting smart algorithms might become the first contact point for primary care. Patients will not get in touch with physicians or nurses or any medical professional with every one of their health questions, but will have to turn to chatbots first. And only if the little medical helper cannot comfortably respond to the raised issues will it transfer the case to a real-life doctor. At-home lab tests In line with the emerging trends we've seen in remote care and AI diagnostics, the pandemic ushered us into a new era of at-home lab tests. If I had to name which futuristic healthcare innovations are the easiest to put into practice now, I would say one of those is definitely at-home testing. To have access to a wide range of analysis without the wait at a doctor's office or lab is a game-changer. For example, pregnancy tests and finger prick diabetes tests were revolutionary. They are easy to use and about 100% accurate. Now with a handful of other tests coming to our home, we could truly take a bigger control in our health management. Over the past few years, I've tried and used many tests that used to be only available in laboratories. A microbiome test helped refine my diet. My whole genome sequencing analysis and other genetic tests encouraged me to design a preventive plan. These are crucial pieces of health information, and in a few years, it will be standard to access them easily at home too. It's also more private and convenient, while these tests can remove a serious burden off the shoulders of medical professionals. Empowering patients is key for the future of healthcare, and testing kits can be great tools for people to take control of their own health data and to shift the paradigm from reactive to proactive care. Digital health insurance. There is no doubt that all these digital technologies and the massive amount of health data that come with them will change health insurance as we know it. Investing blindly in people, knowing only a few details about their lives and lifestyle is not ideal for insurance companies. They can obtain some rudimentary details of patients, such as gender and age, some basic details. But without quantifiable health parameters, the value of the investment remains questionable. But in this new age of digital health, for better or worse, they are about to be a lot more informed. With access to personal health metrics, it's not a question of if insurance companies will use them, but how they will use them. For example, insurance firm Oscar Health famously incentivized living a healthy lifestyle by rewarding US customers with Amazon gift cards for achieving their daily goals as measured by Fitbit variables. But this is a slippery slope. On one hand, the more health data insurance companies have on you, the better investments they can make. Thus, they can provide more appropriate care. For instance, if someone's genome test indicates a high risk for breast cancer, an insurance company can subsidize more regular mammograms. But on the other hand, this approach could lead to a breach of your privacy, so that insurance companies can modify your plans and benefits accordingly. Perhaps they won't want to pay for the health coverage of those who don't take proper care of their health. For example, if a patient with a high risk of breast cancer is also found to be a heavy smoker, an insurance company might be more cautious about offering coverage to such a patient and might even charge premiums. In a dystopian scenario, companies will mandate that patients provide access to all of their health data, including those from their personal sensors and smartwatches to sleep monitors. They could say that, only then will they decide whether to provide insurance to them. The creation of such a Dr. Big Brother is truly horrifying, and regulators need to keep an eye on the issue, while striving to keep a balance between maintaining a level of privacy and providing quality and personalized care. These are the five major trends that I believe will dominate next year and the years to come. Hopefully, 2022 will be a better year than the one we just had. A bit less turbulent, less weird, and with less news about horse medicines. One thing is sure, I will be here to keep on discussing the near future of medicine and healthcare with you. If you liked this video, please leave a comment and subscribe below. Also, please don't forget to tap the notification bell, so you will get notified about all new videos. Thank you so much, in the name of the whole The Medical Futurist team.