I’ve gotten into some trouble in Silicon Valley for saying that the patient in the bed has almost become an icon the real patient who is in the computer. I’ve actually coined a term for that entity in the computer, I call it the iPatient. The iPatient is getting wonderful care all across America; the real patient often wonders, ‘Where is everyone? When are they going to come by and explain things to me? Who’s in charge?’ There’s a real disjunction between the patient’s perception and our own perception as physicians of the best medical care… The discussion is taking place in a room far away from the patient, the discussion is all about images on the computer, data, and the one critical piece missing is that of the patient.¹ (Dr. Abraham Verghese)

1. Abraham Verghese, A Doctor’s Touch, TEDGlobal 2011, Filmed July 2011

Hospitals. Eventually a generation will come along and ask, “Does it even make sense that we take all the sickest people in our region and put them all in the same building at the same time and expect them to get healthy there?”

Mental Health. What does it mean to my sense of self when every idea I have is instantly, habitually followed up by, “Now, how will I broadcast this on the Internet?”