I conceive the near future of medical care as a connected, distributed space where only a few persons have direct contact with the patient, and a number of consultants examine the relevant data and make recommendations. The eHealth paradigm will make medicine ultra-specialized, a bit de-personalized, fast and cheap.
The current e-business models are taking a while to enter the very conservative health field, but they will enter for good, with great impact and making big bucks for the pioneers. (us). For instance:
– Telemarkets, where the patient demands service offers from all the possible providers;
– Auctions, where medical services/hours are sold to the best buyer:
– Social Networks, where doctors and consultants are qualified by colleagues, online, worldwide
– Expert Systems
– Advertising following the PPC and related models, using the doctor-specific channels to allow pharmaceutical ethical advertising.