TECH OUTLOOKNovember - 20209great extent, contradicts the physiologic inevitability of humans changing. The clinical intervention that comes in the way of change only makes the lives of the vulnerable population more deleterious and prevents most caregivers from looking at the whole picture of the individual and solely focusing on the specific disease he/ she is suffering from. The change that needs to take place is a paradigm shift in understanding the physiological inevitability for the 10-15 percent of patients who are vulnerable, aged, and chronically ill, and providing the right kind of treatment and care, not just in the concluding days of their lives but right from the diagnosis and walk through the process till the end, with the patients. We as physicians need to understand the inevitability of life itself as well the constancy of change and deliver options that go beyond the bounds of the linear algorithmic model because these ultimately cease to potentiate the improvement for patients. By doing so, we can think differently about the vulnerable population and initiate a reformed care model that will result in better outcomes, higher patient satisfaction, a longer and better quality of life, and better financial outcomes as well. With this ideology itself, I personally have been able to achieve a 70 percent median per capita reduction in expenditures for this population and almost zero hospitalization, which is not just by leveraging the technologies but by incentivizing the right methods of delivering care differently. How do you identify the needs of patients while bringing about the reforms in the MedTech Space?According to my own clinical experience, firstly, as a provider, I have to overcome the barriers of conventional training and education and accept the inevitability of life, change, and death. Across the vulnerable population, who prove to be the fulcrum of the entire healthcare industry, there needs to be a change of our belief systems that we can conquer death itself, which alone can lead us to honor our fiduciary responsibilities of caring for a human being in the most altruistic manner. This change can be spurred by the understanding of what is sacred to the patient and how we can help the patient through their journey of how they want to live. Again, I believe caring is very different from practicing medicine, and some initiatives use this philosophical foundation and translate it through technology platforms, one being a social platform that encourages patient engagement with their families and caregivers. If we can overcome the drudgery of social isolation and couple that with informed consent, that will surely drive the adequate care for everyone. What would be the single piece of advice you would like to give to the CMO community?I think we have to draw on history and understand that some absolute truths exist and can't be altered or changed. On the same lines, we as physicians or caregivers can't change the inevitable, but just change the trajectory of the patients' journey with clinical intervention. But even then, there is only a point when patients' bodies will respond in the same way to all clinical and medical endeavors, and when that inflection point is reached, our methods need to change according to the patients' ability to recover and heal. This inflection point is the time for a change, and if we identify it, we can offer the change in our care, thus proving to be successful in bending the cost curbs, increasing the satisfaction for patients, and helping them transition from just being alive to be living their lives. Dr. Timothy Ihrig
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