Prognosis for year 2013

New knowledge from biotechnology and new capabilities provided by the evolving global information infrastructure are already transforming health care. Three clusters of technologies hold particular promise: grid computing, intimate computing, and micro laboratory computing. The confluence of these technologies will change clinical laboratory equipment into portable devices, easing the administrative details involved in delivering care and ushering in a new age of monitoring clinical states. Two vignettes, an office visit and a clinical trial, are offered as prognosis for clinical care in 2013. New capabilities hold the power to transform health care, making it truly patient centered as the Institute of Medicine (IOM) has urged.