Four physicians recently joined Becker's to discuss the disruptors they are keeping an eye on for 2024.
Editor's note: These responses were edited lightly for brevity and clarity.
Swaranjit Bhasin, MD. Diagnostic Radiology Specialist in Modesto, Calif.: The biggest disruptors will be the ones that get to the root cause of chronic diseases, which is insulin resistance. This is the elephant in the room, and healthcare needs to call this out more. The organization that addresses this the most efficiently will reap the most benefits from the cost savings of reversing diseases rather than just managing them.
Vineet Sharma, MD. Emergency Medicine Physician in Los Angeles: The healthcare disruptor that I am eyeing is how health systems and hospitals will respond to healthcare becoming more consumer based. How will technology and utilization of AI is going to drive care outside of hospitals and into clinics, homes and virtual models.
Sri Sundaram, MD. Electrophysiologist at South Denver (Colo.) Cardiology Associates: The biggest health disruptor in 2024 will be consumer wearables. Patients now have access to their data with devices such as Apple Watch, Karida and Oura Ring. The more information patients have, the better they will be able to manage their own healthcare. From a patient's perspective, it's only positive. From a physician's perspective, it can be overwhelming. I get daily reports from patients about abnormal recordings from their wearables. How do I respond when only the wearable is abnormal? Keeping up with this data and questions from patients has already become demanding.
Sheldon Taub, MD. Gastroenterologist at Jupiter (Fla.) Medical Center: The biggest disruptor in the healthcare industry now, and this will continue into 2024, is the ongoing problem with prior approval for procedures, labs and imaging studies by many of the insurance companies. This also carries over to prescription medication. This will continue to result in delayed diagnosis and potential treatment for multiple medical problems. I'm afraid this may lead to more and more physicians leaving the medical field because of the above problems.