Future Health - 11/21/25
Delivering care in the new virtual world…
The Coming Age Of The “Digital Twin” – If you haven’t heard of it, there’s a new concept that’s been introduced to the healthcare community, and you should become aware of it for future use. Specifically, it’s the creation of a digital twin or a virtual replica of a real-world patient, organ, device, or health system information that is continuously updated with real data. It combines information from medical records, imaging, sensors, and AI modeling to simulate how the real counterpart behaves, whether it's an institution or an individual, or anything in between. Some of the key applications include:
- Patient twins: simulate individual health to guide personalized care,
- Organ twins: model organs (like the heart, lungs, kidneys, etc.) for surgical or treatment planning and care optimization,
- Hospital twins: related to optimizing staffing, workflow, and resource use within the institution; and,
- Device twins: track and improve performance of implants or medical equipment.
The benefits of using “digital twins” are that it allows providers to offer more precise and personalized care with a reduction in overall risk and cost as well as improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the services provided through the use of an innovative tool set. There are challenges such as maintaining data privacy and security, the integration of complex and diverse data sets as well as minimal regulatory standards at the present time, along with minimal ethical frameworks in place to rely upon for deployment of these systems. However, with the ongoing need to reduce costs and enhance outcomes, the marketplace is beginning to increase its investments in the strategy in hopes of managing care delivery more effectively and more efficiently.
In particular, the Asia Pacific nations (e.g. Japan, China, Singapore) are seeing heavy investment in the idea as a precursor toward precision medicine and healthcare optimization. However, not to be outdone, heavy investments are also occurring in North America, which represents the fastest-growing market across the globe. Specifically, the research and development funding and technological leadership is emanating from three major players of IBM, Microsoft, and Siemens on the heels of major healthcare investments in telehealth use and big data integration. We all need to keep our eye on this one…
The Distribution Of The Healthcare Dollar – I honestly forget where I saw a copy of this allocation of the healthcare dollar…but, wanted to pass it along. It reveals some of the disparate priorities of our healthcare expenditures as a nation…
The Impact Of Circadian Rhythm On Heart Health - Last month, the American Heart Association (AHA) released a report on the impact of circadian rhythms on cardiometabolic health. Specifically, the circadian rhythm is the body's internal 24-hour cycle that regulates our physical, mental, and behavioral changes, most notably the sleep-wake cycle or the "body clock” for individuals. Our cycle depends on the influence of external cues like light and darkness as well as hormonal release, appetite, and body temperature. Disruptions that occur in your cycles, derived from such issues as artificial light, irregular schedules, and late-night eating, can contribute to increased health risks for individuals, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. The AHA report focused on the importance of timing for sleep, meals, and exercise and offered up some specific suggestions. For example, one practical strategy is to engage in consistent sleep-wake times and morning sunlight exposure. Hmmm. Perhaps I’m failing on that front, although I have started to keep the shades down to prevent sunlight from sneaking into the bedroom too early. In addition, the report notes that an understanding of a patient’s chronotype (e.g., "morning larks" vs "night owls") who are then faced with sleep changes that go against their natural rhythm, can have negative consequences. Finally, the report noted that consideration of a patient’s circadian health should be included as part of ongoing patient evaluations.
