Rethinking the Future of Medicine with Bertalan Meskó With: Dr. Bertalan Meskó
Dr. Bertalan Meskó, globally recognized as The Medical Futurist, joins Dr. Sanjay Juneja to discuss how futures thinking can transform healthcare. With a career spanning over two decades, Dr. Meskó shares why the "future" of medicine shouldn't be left to think tanks alone. He introduces powerful foresight methods that healthcare professionals and policymakers alike can use to prepare for multiple futures. From the role of patient design to the promise of large language models and prompt engineering, Meskó outlines actionable frameworks for navigating the future of digital health. This interview emphasizes cultural shifts, not just technological ones, in advancing care systems and patient outcomes.
Episode Contents:
About the Guest
Dr. Bertalan Meskó is a physician and global thought leader known as The Medical Futurist, specializing in the intersection of healthcare, digital technologies, and foresight.
Key Takeaways
- Futures thinking prepares us emotionally and culturally for change.
- Vision writing helps leaders articulate preferred healthcare futures.
- Prompt engineering bridges clinicians and AI tools effectively
Transcript Summary
Why is it important to prepare for multiple futures rather than just one?
Dr. Meskó emphasizes that no single future exists. By using futures methods, we can identify several possible outcomes and select the one most aligned with our values and goals. This approach shifts healthcare from reaction to anticipation.
How can non-experts begin to engage in future planning?
He explains that methods like vision writing and scenario analysis are easy to learn and powerful. These exercises can help anyone, from policymakers to patients, think ahead in a structured way.
How should physicians approach the growing use of AI in care delivery?
Instead of learning every AI tool, Dr. Meskó suggests mastering prompt engineering. By using large language models as interfaces, clinicians can integrate various AI applications into their workflows more efficiently.
What does patient design look like in practice?
Involving patients at the highest levels of decision-making leads to better satisfaction, compliance, and innovation. Meskó shares how simple design changes can result in measurable improvements.
How do you respond to skepticism or slow adoption of new technologies?
Dr. Meskó underscores the need to stay grounded in evidence-based medicine. Emotional reactions shouldn't override validated data, and clinicians must adapt as the evidence evolves.
More Topics
- AI in Patient Care
- AI in the Healthcare Industry
- AI and Medical Innovation
- Healthcare Ethics and Policy
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About the Series
AI and Healthcare—with Mika Newton and Dr. Sanjay Juneja is an engaging interview series featuring world-renowned leaders shaping the intersection of artificial intelligence and medicine.
Dr. Sanjay Juneja, a hematologist and medical oncologist widely recognized as “TheOncDoc,” is a trailblazer in healthcare innovation and a rising authority on the transformative role of AI in medicine.
Mika Newton is an expert in healthcare data management, with a focus on data completeness and universality. Mika is on the editorial board of AI in Precision Oncology and is no stranger to bringing transformative technologies to market and fostering innovation.