Medical technology can serve to bolster human connections and streamline medical services, Joel Landau writes in Newsweek Dec. 9.
He argues that despite initial assumptions, technology used in medicine actually aids in creating connection between patients and medical professionals that is consistent.
He cites the work of Summer Knight, a Deloitte consultant, who says that digital care may nudge patients and physicians closer together and create a therapeutic alliance.
By being user-friendly, medical technology can enhance patient experience and save time for overworked medical professionals, Mr. Landau writes.
Doubts about the value of medical technology in enhancing the practice of medicine are misguided, he argues.
"All the way back in the 1700s, there were concerns that the stethoscope would strain the bonds between physician and patient. But those concerns were unfounded then, and they are unfounded now," he writes.