Re-Engineering Healthcare

This article reviews a system that is in need of repair in the United States, and engineers are uniquely equipped to help fix it. Although the expenditure per capita on healthcare in the United States is higher than in any other country, the current US healthcare system cannot be sustained, and major improvements are needed. Lives unnecessarily lost each year in the United States due to medical errors are estimated to be as high as 98,000 and injuries over a million. The healthcare system is currently facing many problems and challenges, including rapid changes in medical technology and practice, severe shortages in skilled healthcare workers, and an aging population with increased incidence of disease and disability. The cyber infrastructure will facilitate technology-based, distributed delivery of health services, as well as training and lifelong learning for healthcare workers. It can evolve into an electronic care continuum with pervasive access to global, accurate, and timely medical knowledge for individuals about their health needs in an era of rapid change and expanding knowledge.