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Personalized.
All the above will result in a healthcare that is personalized. Rather than the routine,
generic prescribing of vaccine schedule, medications or other treatment modalities, enough
information will be available about a person to permit customizing healthcare by time,
dose and method of application, rather than a single schedule or dose into which every
person must fit. This may seem like a rather sweeping and expensive change that is
unattainable. However, today vast reams of information are acquired and monitored on
nearly everything you purchase through the use of the ubiquitous bar code, which appears
on most every item you purchase. Not only is the information about the item (brand, cost,
etc) encoded in the bar code, but a single swipe of the bar code reader at the checkout
counter automatically provides appropriate discounts, updates inventory, analyzes buying
habits, and a dozen other functions. Just as the innocent little bar code is a gateway
into an entire world and process of information management for purchase, distribution and
sale of goods, so to will the micro-sensors, genetic profiling, informatics, etc be the
tools to enable the 5 P’s of healthcare. |