Healthcare is a complex ecosystem that differs from region to region and all around the world. We consider ourselves ambassadors for consumers of healthcare who can help people make more informed healthcare decisions and we want to make the system better in all its various aspects. As healthcare communicators, we need to have the knowledge, the determination, and the courage to make sure you get the most accurate information possible.  

I consider it a privilege to be in this role, and I chose it because I can help tens, thousands, or even millions of people get better healthcare, which is far beyond the reach that I would have had as a military EMT and pharmacy technician, my previous roles.

What are the advantages of telehealth today, even outside of social distancing?

Telehealth is now, it’s happening. It’s going to be established, and we aren’t going to move away from it after this crisis. It is here to stay, now that this coronavirus has brought it to the forefront and forced patients and doctors to embrace it. It will be part of the American fabric, and people in rural areas are going to have better access to healthcare as a result of telehealth.

Mothers concerned about their crying babies at two a.m. will be able to get peace of mind with telehealth. We are going to see an improved healthcare system as a result. 

What do you recommend healthcare companies and organizations do during the current pandemic?

The important thing that healthcare providers need to do right now is to create a bond of trust with their users, their patients. Telehealth will not be used if customers don’t think it works well and meets their needs. 

Telehealth will need to address these consumer needs of trust and experience and become more consumer-friendly in order to survive. Our front line health workers may need to have courses on customer experience and seeing the patient as a consumer. If telehealth can’t win over the person that is using it, the walk-in clinic may become the standard, and telehealth will fail.

There’s a lot we don’t know about this virus, and we need to continue to learn and incorporate what we are learning into best practices that can address people’s comfort levels but not neglect their medical needs. 

This is a condensed version of the full interview. Read the full interview with Gil Bashe here.

John Lynn is an entrepreneur and a blogger with extensive experience in the information technology sector of the healthcare industry. Among his many IT skills, John takes particular pride in his ability to bridge the gap between those who are technically savvy and those who are technically challenged.

Q: Based on your experience in healthcare-related IT, how do you see the healthcare experience evolving for providers between now and 2025?

A: The biggest change I foresee is an increasing use of AI (artificial intelligence). I expect AI to take over a lot of the mundane tasks that plague healthcare today. And I think that’s true for nurses, doctors, and even the doctor’s front-desk operation. Everyone involved in healthcare is going to be impacted by AI. 

Now, it’s not going to replace the doctor as some people have suggested, but I think that it will augment medical professionals in ways that are going to make them more efficient and more effective. And it’s going to improve the care that patients receive. 

Q: In what areas of healthcare will AI have its earliest impact? 

A: We already see it to some degree in radiology, where the FDA has approved a handful of AI-assisted diagnostic tools. It probably will show up next in back-office operations. Already, chatbots are interacting with patients about bills, scheduling, and even in a kind of triage function. These bots can make sure patients are directed to the right source of care, and they can even assist doctors by suggesting potential diagnoses that the doctor has not yet considered.

AI is also helping doctors to formulate clinical decisions by supplying input on drug interactions and potential allergic reactions. But I think we’re going to see that accelerated to a much higher degree where the decision support will go beyond flagging potential drug-allergy interactions to something more specific involving such factors as genomics and biomics. This could help to ensure that patients get treatment tailored much more closely to their specific needs.

Q: How will IT alter the patient experience in the years ahead?

A: If I were to walk into a doctor’s office right now, the nurse would know nothing about me, and the doctor would know only what the nurse had asked me before the doctor entered the exam room. Our visits to the doctor should include much more information that’s being collected by ourselves, by sensors, and by previous doctors’ visits. 

AI could assist by filtering through all the information that’s available from our personal devices, our past health history, and our genomics to give the doctor a running start when he walks into the exam room.

Q: What kind of other technological advances do you foresee in healthcare?

A: Ambient voice technology, already in use to some degree, could improve things immensely for both providers and patients. I imagine something like Alexa in the exam room listening to what’s happening between the doctor and the patient, recording it, and then applying voice recognition technology and natural language processing to understand what’s being said and by whom. 

For more from John Lynn on this topic, read the full interview

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Secure Medical recently interviewed Irma Rastegayeva, cofounder of Boston-based eViRa Health, a business-to-business marketing consultancy. What follows is a condensed and edited version of that exchange. 

Q: As a co-founder at eViRa Health, can you briefly discuss the company’s mission?

A: At eViRa Health, we are digital storytellers with a purpose. We live at the intersection of emerging technologies, healthcare, and patient experience. Our mission is to inform, educate, and inspire the vast healthcare community. We use the power of storytelling and the reach of new media to engage with our audiences, who are healthcare stakeholders spanning health technology, providers, patients, patient advocates and caregivers, payers, pharma and medical device companies, researchers, policymakers, and healthcare executives.

Q: Looking ahead five years, which digital technologies do you expect will most profoundly shape the delivery of healthcare in America and elsewhere around the globe?

A: In my recent 2020 Digital Health Predictions article, I highlighted eight technology trends that have been gaining momentum and are poised to accelerate in 2020 and beyond. I believe that in five years, many of them will become increasingly prevalent and a routine part of healthcare delivery. I’ve organized my list of predictions by their position along the continuum of care, with innovations at the front end of the healthcare continuum having the biggest potential impact on health outcomes and healthcare costs. Those trends are

  1. Disease prevention
  2. Reducing employer healthcare costs
  3. Artificial intelligence for early diagnostics
  4. Digital therapeutics
  5. Care personalization with 3D printing
  6. Creating alternative to opioids
  7. Connected healthcare and the internet of medical things
  8. Digitizing clinical trials

Other technologies that I believe will profoundly shape the way healthcare is delivered in the United States and around the globe include connectivity and telemedicine, particularly as they will be facilitated and enhanced by advanced wireless technologies, and mixed reality. [According to, Kenneth Research projects that the global augmented and virtual reality market in healthcare will reach $8.5 billion by 2025.] 

Q: In a LinkedIn article about the role of AI in healthcare that you coauthored with Evan Kirstel, you quote Bill Gates about the tendency to overestimate the magnitude of short-term change while underestimating long-term change. What are your realistic short-term expectations for AI as a force for change in the healthcare industry?

A: While “AI” has become a buzzword that seems to be ubiquitous, it really is an important technology that is ushering in a new era of transformation and rapid growth across every industry. In healthcare, which is my particular area of expertise, artificial intelligence is increasingly being viewed as the “nervous system” and the engine for the growth of this sector of the economy. Artificial intelligence and machine learning can enhance every stage of patient care, from research and discovery to diagnosis to selection of therapy to the monitoring of treatment progress. 

Q: As a self-described “influencer” and “digital storyteller,” what sort of health-related online content is most likely to engage public interest and trigger positive consumer response?

A: I would recommend informative and educational content that is properly targeted to a given audience, can be easily understood, and can be realistically applied. I think it’s essential to go beyond “edutainment” to share accurate, relevant, timely, useful, and actionable information. To achieve that goal, I would encourage using a variety of formats and mediums to meet people where they are and tap into their preferred methods of consuming information, be it text, images, audio, or video. 

Q: What forces do you blame for the public’s relatively slow acceptance of telehealth/telemedicine as a viable alternative to the conventional face-to-face practice of medicine?

A: Uncertainty about the coverage of such services by traditional health insurers and the regulatory environment at both the state and federal levels have been key factors in slow acceptance of telemedicine by both healthcare providers and healthcare consumers as well. We see signs of growing acceptance as some of these questions and uncertainties are resolved. 

This interview has been edited and condensed. 

For more from Irma Rastagayeva, read the full interview on

By Don Amerman