Innovation: The Path of Progress

JUST A CENTURY ago, most people could never have imagined that today we would almost double their average life expectancy of 47 years. Or, that we would have computers that could connect wirelessly to the other side of the world, allowing us to share massive amounts of data with just a push of a button. Or, that we would have modern acute-care hospitals all over the world employing medical advances that save millions of lives every year. But, these incredible innovations achieved in such a relatively short time are just a few of innumerable examples of science’s path to alter the field of medicine.

For instance, a fear of death and the undesirability of looking old spurred scientists to begin exploring the causes of aging in the 1930s and 1940s. Since then, we’ve come a long way in our understanding of not just how the body ages, but how to slow the aging process and increase life spans. In our article “From Here to Immortality: Anti-Aging Medicine,” we look at how regenerative medicine may one day rejuvenate an individual to live to the age of 130; how there soon may be a new crop of drugs to significantly extend human life spans; and how stem cell transplants show promise to reverse the aging process.

Of course, scientific progress relies upon our ability to share data. Computers and the Internet have opened up astonishing amounts of information to the world. Still, it’s how we are able to use that information that will enable further progress. Right now, the new field of medical informatics is exploring the many ways in which data can be collected and organized to improve healthcare quality. Our article “Medical Informatics: Mining Data to Improve Healthcare” highlights how metadata registries and organizations like the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality are standardizing data supplied by healthcare organizations all over the U.S. to help improve patient care, prevent medical errors and reduce costs. This revolutionary way of mining data has opened up an all-new medical specialty that is predicted to create thousands of jobs in the coming years.

While innovative progress typically results in hard-won successes, a byproduct of these advances can be adverse consequences.

Such is the case for today’s acute-care hospitals, urgent care clinics and many other types of healthcare facilities that have become breeding grounds for an increasing number of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). With Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimating that some two million people contract an HAI each year, it is a serious issue. Our article “The Serious Threat of HAIs” takes a look at these types of infections and how to combat them. Through innovative efforts, more than 11,000 medical facilities in the U.S. are being tracked for infections, and CDC has implemented detailed and multi-pronged plans that have already resulted in lowered rates of infection.

Just as it was impossible for previous generations to predict today’s scientific and technological advances, we are similarly challenged when looking to the future. But, as these articles illustrate, the path to progress begins with innovation. And, in the past 100 years, we’ve made amazing strides.

As always, we hope you enjoy this issue of BioSupply Trends Quarterly and find the content educational and insightful. We welcome your comments.

Helping Healthcare Care,

Patrick M. Schmidt

Publisher