# Keynote Case Study: World Healthcare Innovation & Technology Congress — Healthcare Was Moving From Treatment to Prediction
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In December 2008, I delivered a keynote at the 4th Annual World Healthcare Innovation & Technology Congress in Washington, D.C. Rather than simply list trends, I did something a little different. I projected the audience forward to January 15, 2020, and then looked backward — describing the future of healthcare as if we were already living in it. From that vantage point, the direction was clear. Healthcare was moving away from a model built almost entirely around treating illness after it appeared, toward one built around predicting, preventing and personalizing care. Genomic science was advancing. The body itself was beginning to become a kind of health-data network, generating a continuous stream of information. Wearables and sensors were making everyday monitoring increasingly practical. Care was starting to virtualize, moving beyond the walls of the hospital and clinic. And medical devices were getting smarter. Six themes framed the forward-look: Preventive and Predictive Care. The system was beginning a long shift from fixing people after they became sick toward anticipating and preventing illness. Personalized Medicine. Treatment was moving away from population averages toward the individual. Genomics. Accelerating genetic science was becoming central to diagnosis, treatment and prevention. The Body as a Health-Data Network. The human body was beginning to generate a continuous, connected stream of health information. Wearables and Sensors. Connected devices were making real-time, everyday health monitoring increasingly practical. Virtualized and Smart Care. Smart medical devices and virtualized care were beginning to move healthcare beyond the clinic. What makes this keynote unusually valuable is what happened next. Because I had anchored the forecast to a specific date — January 15, 2020 — I was later able to go back and grade the accuracy of those predictions against what actually happened. That kind of accountability is rare in futurism, and it is exactly the discipline I try to bring to the work. Even in 2008, it was clear that healthcare was being rewired around prediction, personalization and continuous data — and the organizations that understood that early would be the ones that shaped it.

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Source: https://jimcarroll.com/2008/12/keynote-case-study-world-healthcare-innovation-technology-congress-healthcare-was-moving-from-treatment-to-prediction/