The Digitalized U: The U.S. Health Care Consumer of 2026

What will the digitalized U.S. health care consumer of 2026 look like? Fifteen years from now, several currently emerging trends will have had time to mature, converge and disrupt the U.S. health care ecosystem, including mobile connectivity & mHealth, social media & electronic health records (EHRs), genomics/proteomics & diagnostics, consumer-controlled healthcare & insurance reform, and, not unimportantly, the rise of the BRIC countries. The system of levees and dams that currently controls and constricts innovation in the U.S. health care industry, (i.e. HIPAA, FDA Regulation, Medical Malpractice, Third-Party Payment System, Cultural Mores, Medical Paternalism, etc.), will find itself overcome by a surge of digital technology, consumer (a.k.a. voter) demand, a loosening of disease stigmas, Medicare & Medicaid cut-backs, an aging population, and a drastic need for improvement in system efficiency.  A generation of individuals raised on the internet with easy access to information, a culture of openness & sharing, and a consumer-focused economy will become middle-aged and demand more control over their own health and that of their parents. 

·         Mobile Connectivity & mHealth: The mobile health revolution is underway. Consumers are already psychologically connected to their iPhones, so a physical connection seems inevitable. mHealth will allow for continuous capture of clinical data in the home and mobile setting, an innovation which will dramatically change the treatment of chronic conditions and general health.  Sensors of all abilities will flood the market by 2026, and we will use wireless patches and implants along with environmental sensors to monitor our every biodigital datapoint, e.g., heartbeat, net calorie consumption, temperatures, insulin levels, blood pressure, brainwaves (yes, some basic thoughts), mood, stress, cholesterol levels, infections, protein-expression levels, etc. Cyborgs, here we (be)come.

·         Social Media & EHRs: The Web 2.0 revolution will be a distant memory and Web 3.0 will be underway. Compiling and utilizing international databases of consumer health care data will be considered second-nature. Population statistics applied to this data will reveal novel understandings about disease etiology & response to treatments. Clinical study implications will change the face of drug development, clinical use, and reimbursement. Social stigmas for many diseases will be reduced as a clearer picture of epidemiology and open discussion of symptoms emerges.  

·         Genomics/Proteomics & Diagnostics: A large percentage of the U.S. will have their genome sequenced, housed within global population databases, annotated for phenotype, and analyzed for revelation of new promoters, genes, SNPs, etc. Similarly, advances in microfluidics and proteomics will allow for the monitoring of a variety of protein expression signatures over time and an understanding of their association with disease. Diagnostics in general will be more accurate and ubiquitous, with OTC access. The medical profession will be incentivized to put much more emphasis on prevention vs treatment, with major implications for the drug industry.  

·         Consumer-controlled Healthcare & Insurance Reform: “Patients” of today will become the “Consumers” of tomorrow who utilize consumer driven health plans and are culturally open to out-of-pocket payments for health monitoring and preventative therapies. Instead of brick-and-mortar doctor’s offices and hospitals, health care will take place at home, in retail stores (Walmart, Walgreens, Brookstone), and online (Amazon, iTunes App Store, SaaS sites), etc. Health care consumers will take more control over their treatment plans and medical paternalism will give way to doctor-patient partnerships.

·         Rise of the BRIC Markets: India and China will be more dominant forces with innovation economies of their own. Their lower barriers to market will drive initial launches of new health care innovations outside of the U.S., with obvious successes influencing the U.S. market. The interconnectivity of the internet and digital information will allow for international human health & biomedical databases and an arbitrage on conducting research in those geographical markets with lower regulatory hurdles and more fundamental health care needs (with resulting ethical concerns).  

How the process will play out over the next 15 years remains a question, but the end result described above seems clear. Big, successful, profitable, transformative health care companies will exist in 15 years that are only glimmers in someone’s mind today. Stay tuned.