Forum: Will more personalised healthcare plans cost patients more?
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I have a few concerns after reading the article “Healthier SG care plans will be more personalised over time with use of apps: Ong Ye Kung”
While I understand there to still be confidentiality between the doctor and patient, the involvement of companies handling the data analytics, the wearables, apps, artificial intelligence and other technologies seems to have expanded the circle of those in the know of what is supposed to be very personal patient information.
It is concerning because the patient may receive undue pressure to act according to the outcome that the AI technology has “predicted” for the patient, just like how social media algorithms analyse, determine and select what videos, news and advertisements to show a particular individual. This is not necessarily a good thing.
Making use of one’s genomic data to prevent diseases or improve health sounds scientific, and hence is unlikely to be questioned. But will this subsequently lead individuals to become targets of marketers who by way of AI technology know whom to market certain treatments, nutrition or health-related products to? When people are stressed by health concerns, they are vulnerable and become easy targets of such marketers to spend for health’s sake, but which may have other health implications for them.
We have been told that generic drugs are effective and easier on the pocket compared with patented drugs. But if we are to shift towards precision medicine based on the specifics of an individual’s genotype, will it not be the case that people could end up paying more for healthcare because of the need for customised treatment?
The increasing use of technology in healthcare comes at a cost. Who bears this cost?
Grace Chua Siew Hwee
