Legacy of Excellence Digital Flipbook

LEGACY OF EXCELLENCE

improve quality of life and outcomes for the patients we treat, with greater emphasis on wellness and prevention. Training, Education, and Research Future trends in medical education will be defined by the proliferation of scientific information—with quality and accountability, reevaluation of the principles of adult learning theory impacted by evolving workforce demographics, and the role of technology in education, especially following accelerated adoption and implementation of digital technologies during the coronavirus pandemic. The pace of change will continue to accelerate as we adapt content reform, delivery-platform reform, and resources to best accommodate digital learners. Digital, virtual, and online education content and training will expand with greater national and international collaboration and with expansion of simulation. E-learning will expand with interactive online modules, video teleconferencing, web-based workshops, electronic medical libraries, and open online courses. Education opportunities will become more asynchronous, on demand with blended or hybrid platforms. The increased role of simulation-based education will promote learning through engagement in a safe environment with decreased patient risk and with an opportunity to learn from mistakes with real-time feedback in achieving proficiency. Simulation-based education will increase with 3-D printed simulators, game application, VR, and augmented reality (AR). In addition, with progress in the artificial intelligence (AI) field, we will surely come across even more applications of the technology in healthcare education. We will need to continuously redeploy, upskill, or reskill our students and educators to stay ahead of these changes, ensuring proper information transfer, technical skill acquisition, and standardization of assessment for demonstration of proficiency-based training for mastery of skills in our field. Practice in the Digital Age The Fourth Industrial Revolution in Healthcare is upon us, ushering in an era marked by fusion of technologies in physical, digital, and biological spheres and the proliferation of robotics, AI, nanotechnology and quantum computing, 5G wireless technology, 3-D printing, and material science expansion. Data management, data liberation, and interoperability are becoming integral components of successful medical practice and will continue to drive quality as it relates to

value assessment and ultimately payment. Digitization has facilitated low-touch care, virtual and distance based care, remote patient monitoring, wearables, and virtual nonclinical care. Interoperability will facilitate optimized workflow in a so-called connected care health ecosystem, with enhanced digital platforms facilitating higher levels of personalized medicine and care. The trend will continue from minimally invasive surgery to robot-assisted procedures, nanotechnology, and genomic medicine, through advanced data analytics, AR and VR, functional imaging, 3-D planning, and bio printing and other advances. Digital technologies will enhance automation of nonclinical practice of medicine to improve overall office, clinic and departmental functionality, workflow, and efficiency. Automation of the revenue cycle will improve cost, revenue, customer service, and employee engagement and satisfaction. Digitization will have an increasingly important role in addressing consumer/ patient demands for better service, overall experience and convenience, and ease of navigating the healthcare system. This will also facilitate improved healthcare transparency, important to both patients and regulators alike. In addition, digital and other emerging technologies, such as AI, robotic process automation, cognitive computing, and VR/AR, will automate and augment tasks performed by most physicians and many surgeons. Otolaryngologists and the AAO-HNS/F will need to stay at the forefront of evaluating, developing, and implementing these technologies that will shape the future of our specialty in decades ahead. Practice Types Models of otolaryngology practice will continue to evolve, shaped by a variety of factors, including geographic location, practice size, insurance distribution, and other market forces. Well-capitalized practices likely have invested in the data infrastructure to utilize data tracking and outcomes measurement to ensure they are distinguishing themselves in a more outcomes-oriented marketplace. As physicians, we will need to continuously reassess our practice environment, business model, opportunities and vulnerabilities, and financial stability to remain competitive and viable. The trend toward employed physician practice will likely continue; however, other provider practice

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