Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
customers, indicating the citizens' interest in this type of personal information,
thus raising the hope that in the near future it will be possible to integrate
molecular information on a broader—e.g. genomic—scale if the legal and ethical
framework is carefully respected.
With the availability of modern communication technologies we are able to
distribute and share information in a way that was unthinkable only a few years
ago. As a consequence we face a situation where the general prescription or
clinician is no longer the only group having proprietary information about health,
diseases, or drugs. The average patient has become more autonomous and now
demands participation in the decision-making process about therapy approaches
and drug prescription. For the provision of specific treatment on an personalized
basis, co-decision and empowerment are key terms [
57
]. As a consequence citizens
assume increasing responsibility for their personal health with all the advantages,
but also the disadvantages of this new situation.
The research in pharmacogenomics has shown the diversity of responses to
drugs [
10
], and with increasing knowledge in this area it becomes obvious that the
stratified medicine approach is no longer sufficient. The 'virtual patient' approach
with the integration of molecular information and computational evaluation via the
model will decrease the number of non-responders and make medical treatment
more safe and efficient [
58
]. If a consequent information policy is followed by all
stakeholders and parties involved, patients will have the freedom to participate
actively in the decision process about their medical treatments and, consequently,
also about their individual (health) behavior. To realise this, opt-in mechanisms on
different levels and with the possibility to individually access the information must
be developed, accompanied by an adequate informed consent. This framework will
allow the individual to have decision power over the knowledge that can be
potentially obtained.
The new concepts and developments in medicine empowering the virtual
patient model open the perspective for truly personalized, efficient, safe, and less
cost-intensive health care in the future. On the technological basis all necessary
disciplines such as life sciences, engineering, ICT, and the like combine their
expertise and efforts to achieve this ambitious goal to enable the patient model as a
powerful tool in medicine. Cooperation with and integration of all stakeholder
groups is also of crucial importance to allow implementation of the patient model
in the health care systems on a sound ethical and legal basis for the benefit of the
citizens. These new routes to personalized and efficient medicine will transform
existing health care systems and change business models and markets in the near
future.
This innovative approach will benefit not only European and first-world
countries, and it will be the duty of the scientific community to transfer and
actively support the access and use of knowledge for less-favoured countries
worldwide to address global challenges in health and leverage the powerful new
tools to eliminate inequalities [
3
].
