With Amazon, there is no going back

Paco Miralles

A winter desert. The author discusses his post with friends: "The future of medicine is changing daily, but the point of no return will be when Amazon enters the healthcare market ..."

I noticed the smile on my friends' faces when I made these comments to them. I do not have enough scientific relevance to lavish myself in informative talks, so my remarks were in opinions of the same level as those referring to what Atletico will do if it does not qualify for the Champions League. They thought it was an exaggeration and that the medicine was indeed changing a lot, but no so much.

Centralisation of complex surgery: clear, obscure and proposals

@varelalaf

A large group of European and North American surgeons have published in Annals of Surgery a review of the difficulties of centralising complex surgery around the world. The complex issue has multiple actors, starting with governments and respective funding models and continuing by the hospitals, the doctors involved and their corresponding scientific societies. It is surprising, however, that patients rarely appear in such discussions.

Some proposals to reduce the things we do without reason

Nacho Vallejo

Reducing unnecessary tests and treatments in our organisations can be a complicated task, especially in its implementation. To facilitate its development, and in line with the previous reflection on the search for things we do without reason, we have new references that can serve as support.

Canadian Choosing Wisely's Diving into Overuse in Hospitals campaign aims to sensitise institutions to participate in this analysis by making changes (small or large) to reduce this excessive use. On their website, professionals have access to a large number of resources such as a "starter kit", webinars and other exciting supports.

Disruption doesn't show on the tip of the iceberg

Joan Escarrabill

By chance, a couple of years ago, I found some images of Gediminas Pranckevicius, a Lithuanian graphic designer. Some of these images present a (small) upper part in which he describes familiar scenes, but the rest of the image (the lower part) is very complicated. The metaphor is automatic: there is (extraordinary) life in the submerged part of the iceberg.

Pinterest

Disruptive changes take place in the submerged part of the iceberg that, in a short time, change the image of the visible surface. Taxi is a service that is changing in a profound way. The digital press also gives us some clues. In New York, it appears that there are ten times more alternative taxis than conventional taxis, which has caused a decrease in the income of taxi drivers (by almost 30%), a reduction in the value of licenses and a negative impact on traffic due to the large number of vehicles that circulate without passengers. It's a significant problem from many points of view, and the most impressive thing is that these profound changes have taken place in less than five years.