From advancements in specialty care to developments in AI, healthcare is moving toward a future where patient care is more personalized, precise and interdisciplinary.
These advancements have also pushed healthcare outside the four walls of traditional brick-and-mortar settings, creating new opportunities for healthcare organizations.
Four physicians recently joined Becker’s to discuss what’s exciting them most in healthcare right now — and how what they see in the future of the industry.
Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What are you most excited about in healthcare or medicine right now?
Christopher Lehrach, MD. Chief Physician Executive at Nuvance Health (Danbury, Conn.) I am most excited about the convergence of artificial intelligence, advanced analytics and precision medicine, which is accelerating healthcare’s transition from reactive intervention to proactive, individualized care. These capabilities are enabling earlier risk stratification, more targeted therapeutics, enhanced clinical decision support and meaningful reductions in administrative burden. Equally transformative is the expansion of care beyond traditional settings through digital health, remote monitoring and virtual care models. What is particularly compelling is that these innovations augment — not replace — clinical expertise. If deployed thoughtfully and equitably, they have the potential to improve outcomes, narrow disparities, enhance system efficiency, and restore clinicians’ ability to focus on the cognitive and relational aspects of medicine.
Steven Podnos, MD. Critical Care Physician and Principal of WealthCare: The most exciting changes in health care revolve around the almost unbelievable advances in medicine — especially in oncology and cardiology. When I was practicing, “heart attacks” with resulting death and disability were common-and now are uncommon. Advances in cancer therapy (especially immunotherapy) are just amazing.
Brian Stone, MD. Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of VHC Health (Arlington, Va.) The pace of change in care delivery tools. Ambient listening is the one I’d point to first, not because it’s flashy, but because it attacks a real problem. With documentation managed, patients get focused time and attention from the provider during the visit. The physician spends less time charting after hours and more time with their families or recharging. Reducing “pajama time” isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s a burnout and retention lever. More broadly, I’m optimistic about technology that gives time back to the clinician-patient relationship rather than adding another layer between them.
Easwar Sundaram Jr., MD. President of Texas Institute for Neurological Disorders (Dallas): Maybe a future where AI can help with mundane stuff and paperwork, so I can see and take care of patients.
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