The Patient Will See You Now: The Future of Medicine is in Your Hands

The Patient Will See You Now is a nice reference book for patients and physicians. It is an exhaustive study by Eric Topol focused on the digitization of medicine, which he claims will have the “Smartphone as the hub.” The book is filled with technical information, but is lightened and made readable by numerous case histories that Topol describes. The book is mostly text, and few readers will take the time to immerse themselves and read the entire book. Physicians are more likely gain an in-depth view of how the digital age alters medicine, and even medications. The rather verbose, technical text is broken up by meaningful graphs, charts, and small photos, but there is simply far too much information here. Topol touches on any and most parts of medicine and its practices, and attempts to predict what the future will hold for us. For example, he compares the Guttenberg press with Smartphones for information delivery, and using today’s numerous apps to diagnose and inform your doctor without actual visits. There are many fascinating new inventions that Topol discusses, like a cheap paper microscope that fits into your pocket. This is a scholastic volume with subscripts referring to fifty-eight pages of references.