Covid-19 has sped the adoption of virtual care, or the provision of health services remotely in a synchronous or asynchronous fashion. No longer just a convenient enhancement to in-person clinical care, virtual care is needed by patients, clinicians, care teams, and health systems alike. But the gap between the promise and the reality of virtual care is substantial: The stakeholders often don't get what they need while trying their best to navigate a new paradigm. We aim to close this gap by helping health systems refine and reimagine their virtual care journey while prioritizing the needs of the people who get and give the care. Our guiding principle is a needs-based approach that retains the best practices of in-person visits while sensibly adapting to the unique characteristics of a virtual setting.

"You had to decide for every single patient how you're going to provide care for them in a way you never had before," he recalls. That prompted him to ponder the role of the physical itself: "What would happen if I delayed it three months, or didn't do it at all?" For Dr. Hyman and many other physicians and their patients, the pandemic triggered a disruption in one of medicine's most common encounters--and, through virtual visits, provided an early glimpse of the physical of the future. A look at how innovation and technology are transforming the way we live, work and play. An explosion of advances in digital technology, imaging, gene sequencing and artificial intelligence will likely transform the physical into an even more virtual experience.

It comes as Jupiter Artland, which sits on more than 100 acres just outside of Edinburgh, prepares to reopen to local members on Thursday and to local visitors from 5 April following the easing of coronavirus restrictions. The park features artists' work including Sir Antony Gormley, Sir Anish Kapoor, Charles Jencks and Ian Hamilton Finlay – all of which have been recreated virtually to sit in "Minecraft Artland".

Battling a pandemic as serious as COVID-19 requires drastic responses, and political leaders and public-health officials have turned to some of the most radical strategies available. What began with a lockdown of one city in China quickly expanded to the quarantine of an entire province, and now entire countries including Italy. While social isolation and curfews are among the most effective ways to break the chain of viral transmission, some health experts say it's possible these draconian measures didn't have to become a global phenomenon. "If health officials could have taken action earlier and contained the outbreak in Wuhan, where the first cases were reported, the global clampdown could have been at a much more local level," says Richard Kuhn, a virologist and professor of science at -Purdue University. The key to early response lies in looking beyond centuries-old strategies and incorporating methods that are familiar to nearly every industry from banking to retail to manufacturing, but that are still slow to be adopted in public health.

While technologies that impede, rather than enhance care, have made the healthcare industry somewhat skeptical of innovation, a shift toward patient-centric care is changing the game. Healthtech innovations in 2019 are helping to transform the business of care, creating efficiencies, cutting costs, and providing better outcomes. How these new technologies mesh with the clinical skill set of a medical provider is still being determined. Providers who embrace tools now available will help to determine how healthcare delivery looks in 2020 and well beyond. Here's what you need to know: If you aren't offering your patients virtual visits, it's likely they'll find someone who is Virtual visits, often conducted via a smartphone or personal computer, offer convenient access to care, saving patients the time and expense of traveling to an appointment and providing care to those who have limited access to it.

Sunrise-based MDLive already offers virtual health care, connecting patients with doctors 24 hours a day, seven days a week, via mobile app, online video, or phone. But now, MDLive is taking its virtual service to the next level by incorporating automation and artificial intelligence: Meet "Sophie," MDLive's interactive chatbot, which is designed to ask patients about their symptoms and guide them through online registration for their virtual visit. The idea is for Sophie to collect patient information and relay it to a physician for review and followup by phone or video chat, freeing the doctor from that part of the process. "When the doctor is spending time with you, she is focusing on more empathizing and educating and making sure the diagnosis is right vs. collecting history and asking questions," said Rich Berner, CEO of MDLive. Sophie asks questions based on patients' health concerns, and is designed to continually learn from its interviews of patients to perform more accurate diagnoses and suggested treatments, according to the company.

Healthcare technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace, altering how clinicians practice--from delivering patient care to documentation. Here is a look at some of the up-and-coming technologies in healthcare that could influence physician jobs and work opportunities for advanced practitioners. Artificial intelligence (AI), computers learning to think more like people, is making its way into healthcare technology. Algorithms draw on data to allow computers to perform specific tasks. "It's one of the most powerful technologies we have at our disposal," said David West, CEO and founder of Proscia, which uses AI to identify patterns on pathology slides.

Artificial intelligence is set to revolutionise tourism, on all scales -- robotic doormen at hotel entrances, rooms that customise themselves depending on the occupant tastes, virtual visits of touristic sites before going there in real conditions -- despite some impediments. Let's deal with this ongoing revolution! This is mostly how our brain works when we take an umbrella before leaving home as the sky is covered in large grey clouds. The most spectacular application of artificial intelligence is obviously robotics. We imagine even more easily what it could lead to, as we are nourished by'Star Wars', or at least what it already does in the hotel industry -- a robot-doorman to welcome us right after we get out of the cab, catch our luggage and guide us to our room inquiring about our travel vagaries and our schedule for the upcoming days.

If you need to see a doctor, you'd better plan ahead. A 2017 survey found 24 days was the average wait time in 15 of the largest cities to schedule a physician appointment.The long waits are a result of a growing shortage of primary care physicians, along with an aging population requiring more health care. But you can jump that line -- if you're willing to go online for your medical visit. Major health care players like, UnitedHealth, Aetna and Kaiser Permanente, are increasingly using virtual care or telehealth for primary care appointments and follow-ups. Another option is "virtual visit" via a smartphone app.

Understanding changes in patient experiences is an important facet towards enhancing patient engagement and centricity. It's clear that new digital devices and AI are changing the way that patients search for medical information on the internet, based on discussions at the recent PanAgora's Pharma Customer Experience Summit in New Jersey. Voice is the new digital experience. With the rise of novel Voice User Interface (VUI) household products, such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home and VUI integration in smart devices, Murray Izenwasser, VP of Digital Transformation and CMO of AAJ Technologies, discussed the big opportunity such devices offer to better connect patients with the biopharmaceutical industry. Izenwasser demonstrated that VUI device adoption has seen a faster market penetration rate compared to smart phones, TV, radio, and the Internet.