Semis/Nanotech's Medical Device Revolution, Apple?

[Arthur Hanson]

Just as AI/ML is revolutionizing medical diagnostics, quickly besting doctor's diagnostics by a wide and ever increasing margin, semis/nanotech is developing new ways of doing diagnostics that dramatically cut the time, invasiveness and cost of diagnostics. Below is but one of many examples of but one of these devices. Connected through IOT to massive data bases the numerous coming devices will change the face of medical as they develop correlations that deal with multiple conditions on many levels and reveal ever more ways of diagnosing diseases and conditions, while offering an ever wider range of options on dealing with medical problems of all types. Building sophisticated combinations of semis, mems, packaging and other nanotechnologies will offer the semi industry vast new markets that will constantly advance at an ever increasing rate I call the "Great Acceleration".

I feel this is the direction Apple has to move in to keep up their momentum as the smart phone market as we know it morphs and matures. They have already taken the first steps with a FDA certified ECG on their watch. With services Apple's fastest growing market, medical offers a firm of even Apple's size a very, very large world wide market and the chance to build the world's largest medical data base. This would extend through personal devices to diagnostic devices in medical facilities linked to data bases through IOT. It's no secret Apple has made very serious moves in this direction and has made alliances with major medical institutions, Kaiser among them. With the world's population getting older and richer this is perhaps the largest future market on the planet. If they could find the holy grail of links between health and mental acuity, it would even open large, undeveloped world wide markets. The penetration of semi/mems/packaging/nanotech industry is still in its early stages with many new frontiers yet to be discovered and the slowdown we are now experiencing is just a pause. Apple has mastered the platform and this could be the largest of all by far. I have no doubt Tim Cook already has the process in motion, the only question is timing and speed of implementation. Imagine what would happen to Apple's revenue if they went to a tiered subscription model for medical monitoring that just saving the customer from one incident could save them from a large medical bill or even their life, let alone just the opportunity to maximize the quality of the life you have. This could be the ultimate product and service platform, it might even become mandated by insurance companies and national health plans on an international scale.

With the US ranking 37th in quality of medical with the world's highest cost, this area is ripe for the innovation and desperately in need of massive disruption the tech sector can bring with its well proven skill set of lowering costs, while at the same time increasing results. Thoughts, comments and observations on this solicited and welcome for these costs threaten the economic viability of the US.



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[Daniel Payne]

Medical technology is driving up the prices of health care, not decreasing. Case in point: On September 1st my clavicle was broken, along with two ribs, my lung was punctured, and right thumb displaced. I spent 24 hours in a trauma hospital, OHSU. No surgery was required, however they performed multiple CAT scans and X-Rays. I was sent home with a sling. Price tag, $24,000.

Same injury happened to my friend while cycling in France, his bill, just $4,000.

American hospitals are not driving down costs with technology, rather they are increasing costs. I would expect this bad behavior of increasing costs to continue as AI and MEMS technologies are applied in America.

 

[Arthur Hanson]

Dan, the disruption has to be not only in the technology, but how technology is applied and the new business models the tech sector brings like UBER, Airbnb, Google, Amazon(which is already out to disrupt the pharmacy business with Pillpack). The medical sector desperately needs transparency. Also the massive corruption from the collusion of government and medical that demands practices that drive cost massively higher. Examples, you and I are in top shape and have to subsidize people that abuse themselves in numerous ways with little or no repercussions. If auto insurance were handled this way, we would all end up paying 20K a year and road safety would go down dramatically. The tech sector could also provide transparency Amazon style. Bumrumgrad hospital even has an advance price list, something the gangster medical system in the US would not tolerate except on an extremely limited basis.

In short Dan, it isn't technology raising costs, but massive waste, fraud, corruption, inefficiency, required over certifications required for everything all hidden in a near total lack of transparency the foundation of which is they are saints and heroes and are sacrificing to help us. This cycle must be literally be broken before we can even start to solve the problems. The tech sector has its problems, but nothing even close to approaching that in medical.

PS did you look at your itemized medical bill? I have on mine and it was nothing short of INSANE, and in this case the caps are more than justified. On a basic in and out simple surgery it cost over 42K, this worked out to over 50 dollars a minute for everything including every bit of labor and facility charges, INSANE. Fifty dollars each, for the operating room, recovery room, surgeon, anesthesiologist, nurse, recovery room technician and horrible prices for everything else. How many top senior engineers do you know that bill out at 3000 dollars/hr?

Just read in this weeks "Barron's comment section, a statement by Dr. Wade H. Martin that "Some physicians complain of being treated like criminals, but maybe they should stop acting like them" . The comment goes into corruption as partners with the government and medical. US medical has become the largest, most powerful criminal cartel on earth as I have previously documented.

Other countries use technology to reduce costs, the US system uses technology to raise costs.