Where does healthcare need a breakthrough next?

Innovation in healthcare has accelerated rapidly in recent years, yet many practitioners agree that progress remains uneven across specialties. While some fields have seen groundbreaking advancements, others still rely on decades-old approaches that no longer meet the needs of today’s patients.

Below, our community reflects on which areas of medicine are due for innovation, from chronic illnesses to process-related improvements for outpatient care. 

Do you have an opinion on a specialty or disease that needs innovation? Log in or sign up to read the full case, see the consensus, and share your own thoughts. 

Question of the week

Is there an area of medicine you believe is overdue for innovation?

 Consults

Key takeaways about areas in medicine that are due for innovation:  

• Innovation gaps remain in chronic care
  Breakthroughs are needed in chronic and complex conditions like CKD, autoimmune disease, and chronic pain, where current treatments manage symptoms but rarely change outcomes.
  
• Primary care needs systemic innovation
  Progress in primary care must go beyond medicine—tackling workflow inefficiencies, care fragmentation, and burnout to improve both patient outcomes and physician satisfaction.
  
• Faster, smarter diagnostics are in demand
  Outpatient providers need quicker, more precise testing tools to identify infections and guide treatment in real-time, advancing care quality while reducing unnecessary antibiotic use.

Internal Medicine

"Primary care definitely needs more attention, not just in clinical innovation but also in career satisfaction. Innovation needs to focus on improving clinical efficiency of the physicians, improving care coordination to decrease care fragmentation, and decreasing the administrative burden that leads to burnout. Career satisfaction needs to focus on increasing the attractiveness of the primary care career to the workforce pipeline and strategies to increase physician retention in the field."

Oncology/Hematology

"I think we need better treatments for Alzheimer's and rare autoimmune conditions."

Internal Medicine

"I come across CKD cases and would prefer to add medication which can either reverse the course or progression of CKD, since HD or PD is a chronic, debilitating situation, which not only affects the patient but also the family and needs for transport/ care, etc."

Internal Medicine

"Peripheral neuropathy is a painful common problem, likely with multiple pathophysiology mechanisms reflecting diffuse etiologies. We need further research into effective surgical as well as pharmacological intervention."

Internal Medicine

"I think chronic pain management is really overdue for innovation. Many patients don’t get relief from current treatments, and we still rely heavily on opioids or trial-and-error approaches. It would be amazing to have more personalized, effective options that address both the physical and emotional sides of pain.

I also see a need for better tools in mental health and sleep medicine, where care often feels limited or fragmented."

Family Practice

"In my opinion, research and therapy directed at the currently elusive underlying cause(s) of autoimmune diseases remain a critical component of medicine in need of breakthroughs, especially given the amount of widespread debility caused by these conditions."

Internal Medicine

"Rapid test evaluation of respiratory infections in outpatient settings. In order to more vigorously support antibiotic stewardship and support clinical diagnosis, an outpatient 15-minute test similar to how ER and admitting physicians use pro-calcitonin to guide therapies would be nice for the outpatient provider."

Family Practice

"Investing in ultra-rapid inexpensive testing for viruses/URI sx could help patients know exactly what they have and vs "sinus infection" and better direct management and help reduce antibiotic use."

Oncology/Hematology

"I think that lupus, CKD, diabetes, osteoarthritis, drug use disorder, and mental health are very much overdue for landscape-changing treatments."

Hospitalist

"Preventive healthcare in general is in desperate need of innovation, given the lack of funding and ROI on preventive health interventions."

Read all of our community's suggestions for areas that are due for innovation, or share yours, by reading the full post on Healthcasts.