Another attendee expressed concern over the vast amount of data that would be generated and then require analysis. "How far are we going to go before we get to the point where we need a different layer besides the physician, the nurses, the PAs? If you are going to swamp us with this much data, there is no way a busy doctor seeing 20 heart patients a day, going to the cath lab, can possibly figure out so much data, what’s important, what’s not," he said.
Recently, the venture capitalist Vinod Khosla put forth a paper calling for fewer doctors and more algorithms, Dr. Albert replied. "I don’t think we will disenfranchise physicians, but I do believe the power of big data will become more and more important for all of us in the management of all our patients," he predicted.
"Apps will be in our pockets as professionals; they will be in our patients’ pockets. And we must figure out how to utilize them to help us deal with major health care issues of the day."
Dr. Albert disclosed that he is member of the board of directors of, a full-time salaried employee of, and an equity shareholder in AliveCor.