Future of Health

Tijdens een studiereis met een groep Belgische ziekenhuis IT specialisten naar Dubai, had ik meerder conversaties met Jo vander Schueren, de CEO van Jarviss. Een van die gesprekken ging over de uitdagingen in dit tijdperken AI, worden de dreigingen groter, of -met hulp er van- beter ? We deden dit dunnetjes over eenmaal terug in eigen land. Jarviss is een bedrijf wat veel zorgorganisaties in België helpt, en nu ook in Nederland actief is, die ik op hun verzoek ondersteun de zorgmarkt nog beter te begrijpen.

Nurses : notes in your pocket, trailing messages & colleagues, a thousand tasks to fill and three phones in your scrubs. Sounds familiar èh.With the ever-increasing number of programs, screens and systems handling during shifts did not get easier, there are growing places to interact with and find info. In my travel and speaking activities I came across a program of Microsoft with a name that (growing up in acute healthcare) caught my attention, #MSFrontline which kind of promised a solution for just that. Never heard about it and they explained it to me as kind of one place where it all comes together, pulling data from the different systems and giving you a multi-communications platform. Yeah, I know heard that one before... But in my work helping solve healthcare’s challenges, like clinicians getting more satisfaction out of their work, I thought it made sense to have a brief conversation over here about it. Particularly when they started to explain to me what they've done to other 'frontlines' like airlines.Join me for a brief 20-minute explanatory conversation during which I'm curious to hear from you if this is what we were waiting for, with Tulsi Keshkamat of Microsoft, not for a sales pitch! (Disclosure: they do compensate for my time.)

Myriam Fernández Martín, Healthcare lead AWS :💙 I became a nurse to care for people. I moved to the cloud to make sure millions more could be cared for too.That's the lens I carry with me. Every single day.I sat down with Lucien Engelen and Jessica Workum on the ICT&health Global Podcast to explore a question that keeps me up at night:How do we build resilience into healthcare without losing its soul?Here's what I believe 👇1️⃣ 🏥 The cloud isn't cold infrastructure, it's the backbone of healthcare systems that can bend without breaking2️⃣ 🤖 AI doesn't replace the clinician's instinct, it sharpens it. Early detection. Pattern recognition. Precision that saves lives3️⃣ 🌍 Europe is writing the next chapter leading with values, sovereignty, and innovation that puts patients first4️⃣ 💙 Behind every data point is a heartbeat, a diagnosis, a family waiting, a life that matters. That's the compassThe question isn't if healthcare goes digital. It's whether we have the courage to make it human-first.Because sooner or later, we all become patients. And when that moment comes, the system we built should be ready, resilient, compassionate, and worthy of trust.

We roepen vaak dat de zorg moet veranderen, maar in de praktijk blijven we vaak hangen in oude patronen. In de nieuwste ICT&health Podcast spreekt @Marjolein Heemels klare taal over de noodzakelijke transitie in de zorg.Marjolein Heemels en Eugène Waterval vertellen over het magnetmodel: een accreditatieprogramma dat onderzoekt waarom verpleegkundigen in sommige ziekenhuizen blijven en in andere vertrekken. Het geheim zit in professionele autonomie, zeggenschap over praktijkhandelen en een cultuur waarin verpleegkundigen voorop staan bij zorginnovatie.

Breaking habits, not foundations. Jeroen Tas."Changing the healthcare sector is not a sprint, but a marathon against the current. In the latest podcast with Lucien Engelen for @ict & Health, Jeroen Tas shares how we can use AI for better patient outcomes and why we must dare to let go of control a little."

This is the first essay sharing my thoughts about the transformation needed around AI, and is at ground level, establishing the foundational principles and clarifying why healthcare must treat AI as infrastructure rather than as departmental software. The second essay I'm developing will dive more deeply into the how-to, how we transition from operational implementation to strategic transformation, addressing the ecosystem approach that extends beyond individual organizations. That second essay (probably in a series of 3-4) will also explore a critical shift in perspective: how we ourselves become an integral part of this infrastructure, rather than merely being passive users of it. But first, let's take a clear-eyed look at what is happening now, at the current state of AI implementation in healthcare, why well-intentioned efforts are struggling, and what the actual barriers and opportunities are. 

During the ⁠ICT&health World Conference⁠, ⁠Lucien Engelen⁠ sat down with Amber Vodegel. Why does the best tech talent end up at TikTok instead of healthcare? Amber sold her company to Philips and took a year off. But sitting still wasn’t an option. Inspired by Rutger Bregman’s ‘Moral Ambition’, she decided to put her talent where it truly matters. The result is 28X, a femtech app for cycle tracking that does everything differently. No subscription to log your own health, no data sales, no ads. Amber explains why venture capital is bad news for consumer health apps and how she’s building a model that puts the user first.Recorded at the @ict&health world conference 2026 Maastricht.

Predicting the next Pandemic with Dr. Larry Brilliant.The next pandemic will not be a virus. During the ICT&health World Conference, Lucien Engelen sat down with epidemiologist Larry Brilliant for a focused conversation on what he sees as the real global threat: a worldwide pandemic of chronic disease that is shortening healthy life expectancy and quietly destabilising healthcare systems and economies.Brilliant draws a sharp line between living longer and living healthier. The widening gap between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy is, in his view, the defining challenge of our time. Prevention is no longer a public health slogan. It is a strategic imperative.For ICT&health Global, this conversation goes to the heart of healthcare transformation. Technology, AI and data matter. But only if they help extend healthy years, strengthen prevention and support system level redesign. Brilliant also reflects on the eradication of smallpox and what true global leadership and coordination can achieve when urgency meets collaboration.For policymakers, health leaders and innovators shaping the future of care, this is essential listening.Listen to the episode and join the global conversation on prevention, leadership and sustainable healthcare systems. SummaryIn this engaging podcast episode, Dr. Larry Brilliant discusses his remarkable journey in public health, including his pivotal role in eradicating smallpox and his insights on pandemics, healthspan, and innovations in healthcare. He emphasizes the importance of communication in public health and the need to address the growing healthspan-lifespan gap. Dr. Brilliant also shares his thoughts on overcoming barriers in public health and the collaborative efforts that led to the success of the smallpox eradication program.Dr. Larry Brilliant played a crucial role in eradicating smallpox.The movie 'Contagion' was inspired by the H1N1 pandemic.Life expectancy has doubled, but healthspan has not kept pace.The U.S. ranks poorly in healthspan compared to other countries.Chronic diseases are a growing concern in public health.Preventable diseases account for a significant portion of health issues.Innovative strategies are needed to improve health outcomes.Communication is key in public health messaging.Collaboration was essential in the smallpox eradication effort.The success of smallpox eradication serves as a model for future public health initiatives. sound bites"Fiction is a better communicator than facts.""We need to find a way to solve that.""We did it and we sent the tire."Chapters00:00 The Journey of Dr. Larry Brilliant04:36 Pandemics: Past, Present, and Future09:25 The Healthspan-Lifespan Gap12:31 Innovations in Healthcare and Longevity16:22 Overcoming Barriers in Public Health22:42 The Eradication of Smallpox: A Triumph of Collaboration

How can we improve physician, nurse and care team collaboration?Interprofessional collaboration, patient engagement, healthcare innovation, nursing, AI in healthcare, patient education, healthcare culture, simulation training, self-care, and healthcare barriers. An episode moderated in December 2025 by Lucien Engelen with Alessio Morley-Fletcher, MD, MMSc, Marjolein Heemels (RN, MSc, MHA) Heemels and Dave deBronkart (e-Patient Dave) deBronkart.This conversation explores the critical theme of interprofessional collaboration in healthcare, emphasizing the roles of patients, nurses, and physicians. The discussion highlights the importance of patient engagement, the impact of AI, and the need for cultural shifts within healthcare systems. Key insights include the necessity of shared governance structures, the value of simulation training, and the call for proactive patient involvement in their care. The participants share their experiences and perspectives on overcoming barriers to collaboration and improving healthcare delivery.Takeaways:-Interprofessional collaboration is essential for effective healthcare delivery.-Patients should be seen as active partners in their care.-AI can augment decision-making but should not replace human collaboration.-Cultural shifts are necessary to improve healthcare systems.-simulation training enhances communication and teamwork among healthcare professionals.-Self-care initiatives empower patients to manage their health.-Governance structures can facilitate better collaboration in healthcare.-Reducing cognitive load can improve patient and provider experiences.-Healthcare professionals need to be trained together to foster collaboration.-Engaging patients in their care leads to better outcomes.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Interprofessional Collaboration06:16 The Role of Nurses in Healthcare09:28 Patient Involvement in Healthcare Decisions12:28 Physician Perspectives on Collaboration15:13 Cultural Barriers in Healthcare16:12 AI's Role in Patient Care20:15 Patient Academy: Empowering Self-Care23:54 Motivating Patients and Nurses27:29 The Importance of Communication in Healthcare31:02 Moving from Healthcare to Well-Care32:44 Interprofessional Collaboration in Healthcare Training35:46 The Role of Simulation in Medical Education38:22 Technology and Human-Centered Design in Healthcare41:17 Patient Participation and Shared Governance44:11 Tangible Actions for Improving Collaboration47:04 Building Governance Structures for Better Care49:04 Navigating Healthcare Access and Patient Empowerment

The viral video of Will Smith eating spaghetti became a shorthand for how fast generative AI can improve. From awkward and unreliable to almost flawless in a year. At the @ICT&health World Conference in Maastricht, Daniel Kraft, MD used that moment to explain what we are now seeing in healthcare AI.Early systems struggled with hallucinations and narrow use cases. Today, AI supports medical imaging, cardiology, diagnostics and clinical workflows, from second readers in radiology to AI scribes that reduce administrative burden and improve the patient conversation. According to Kraft, this is not linear progress but exponential change, invisible for years and suddenly impossible to ignore.That shift echoes what Lucien Engelen described years ago as a Copernican moment in healthcare, moving from professional centred systems to patient centred care. AI accelerates that transition, enabling earlier detection, continuous monitoring and more personalised care, far beyond hospital walls.Yet the article also makes a crucial point. Technology grows exponentially, people and systems do not. Adoption, trust, equity and human judgement remain decisive. AI should amplify intelligence, not replace it. The real risk is not that AI moves too fast, but that healthcare systems move too slowly to translate what is already possible into daily practice. Podcast hosts Lucien Engelen⁠ and Jessica Workum.

Interprofessional collaboration, patient engagement, healthcare innovation, nursing, AI in healthcare, patient education, healthcare culture, simulation training, self-care, healthcare barriers. An episode moderated by Lucien Engelen with Alessio Morley-Fletcher, MD, MMSc, Marjolein (RN, MSc, MHA) Heemels and Dave (e-Patient Dave) deBronkartThis conversation explores the critical theme of interprofessional collaboration in healthcare, emphasizing the roles of patients, nurses, and physicians. The discussion highlights the importance of patient engagement, the impact of AI, and the need for cultural shifts within healthcare systems. Key insights include the necessity of shared governance structures, the value of simulation training, and the call for proactive patient involvement in their care. The participants share their experiences and perspectives on overcoming barriers to collaboration and improving healthcare delivery.TakeawaysInterprofessional collaboration is essential for effective healthcare delivery.Patients should be seen as active partners in their care.AI can augment decision-making but should not replace human collaboration.Cultural shifts are necessary to improve healthcare systems.Simulation training enhances communication and teamwork among healthcare professionals.Self-care initiatives empower patients to manage their health.Governance structures can facilitate better collaboration in healthcare.Reducing cognitive load can improve patient and provider experiences.Healthcare professionals need to be trained together to foster collaboration.Engaging patients in their care leads to better outcomes.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Interprofessional Collaboration06:16 The Role of Nurses in Healthcare09:28 Patient Involvement in Healthcare Decisions12:28 Physician Perspectives on Collaboration15:13 Cultural Barriers in Healthcare16:12 AI's Role in Patient Care20:15 Patient Academy: Empowering Self-Care23:54 Motivating Patients and Nurses27:29 The Importance of Communication in Healthcare31:02 Moving from Healthcare to Well-Care32:44 Interprofessional Collaboration in Healthcare Training35:46 The Role of Simulation in Medical Education38:22 Technology and Human-Centered Design in Healthcare41:17 Patient Participation and Shared Governance44:11 Tangible Actions for Improving Collaboration47:04 Building Governance Structures for Better Care49:04 Navigating Healthcare Access and Patient Empowerment

What 6 Surprising Insights Everyone Gets Wrong About Health Tech. Six surprising Insights of Edition #6-2025 of ICT & Health magazine that also will be discussed, debated and explored at the ICT & health World Conference January 27-29, 2026 in Maastricht .Healthcare is often portrayed as a technological solution to its problems. AI, big data, and digital transformation are seen as the silver bullets that will address issues like rising costs and staff shortages. The promise is a future of seamless, data-driven, and efficient care. However, the leaders, clinicians, and technologists building this future are learning that the greatest challenges are human. They’ve discovered that meaningful progress requires empathy, communication, and a clear moral compass, not just better algorithms. This article reveals six counter-intuitive lessons from the vanguard of health innovation. These insights challenge our assumptions about technology’s role in care and point toward a more surprising and human future. 

This report from the RN2Blend consortium presents findings from a five-year study on differentiated nursing practices in Dutch hospitals. The research explores how hospitals are implementing varied roles for nurses, the challenges they encounter, and the effects on professional development, care quality, and cost-effectiveness. The study demonstrates that differentiated working leads to increased nurse involvement in policy and quality improvement, and can improve nurse retention, but requires the engagement of various stakeholders and ongoing investment. It highlights the necessity to consider historical contexts, power dynamics, and the diversity of nurses’ ambitions when implementing differentiated practices, emphasising that it is not a one-size-fits-all solution and that the effects depend on the context. The study concludes that while there have been positive steps, further support is needed to ensure the sustainable embedding of new roles, enhanced nurse empowerment, and improved team collaboration.

NotebookLM version of my essay (soon to be published on my LinkedIn page)  in which I examine the evolving role of Human Resources (HR) in healthcare, emphasising its transition from an administrative function to a strategic driver of organisational success. The chapters outline several of HR's new responsibilities concerning clinician retention, engagement, and satisfaction, as well as its growing role in facilitating organisational change, including digital transformation and innovation. Key strategies involve adopting data-driven approaches, prioritising employee well-being, fostering a culture of innovation, and aligning HR strategy with organisational goals. Despite these advancements, HR encounters challenges such as workforce shortages, burnout, regulatory compliance, resistance to change, and resource constraints. The essay underscores the necessity for HR to proactively tackle these challenges to enhance workforce stability and improve patient care delivery.

In this episode, an audio extract of Lucien Engelen’s lecture at the Majlis Mohammed bin Zayed in November 2024, discusses the future of healthcare delivery. We examine the healthcare crisis marked by workforce shortages and systemic pressures. Lucien presents innovative views on how technology and retail integration can transform healthcare, highlighting that interventions make up only 6% of health outcomes while consuming 90% of budgets. We explore solutions like self-measurement kiosks and digital humans and discuss preventive health’s economic implications. This episode is crucial for healthcare professionals, policymakers, technologists, and anyone interested in healthcare’s future.

In this posting, I argue that training doctors and nurses separately can be problematic, leading to challenges in teamwork, communication, and understanding each other's roles. It outlines six key reasons why separate training is problematic: it reinforces role silos, hinders communication, creates a lack of understanding of each other's roles, inhibits patient-centred care, increases the risk of errors, and creates a barrier to healthcare system improvements. The excerpt then highlights the benefits of interprofessional education (IPE), where doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals train together on shared competencies, leading to enhanced collaborative skills and better preparedness for a more cohesive, effective, and responsive healthcare system.

Recent studies challenge the notion of radical life extension, suggesting we may be approaching biological limits. Analysis of mortality rates from 1990-2019 shows a slowdown in life expectancy growth across most populations. Only South Korea and Hong Kong briefly achieved the 0.3-year annual increase considered 'radical'. Experts estimate less than 15% of females and 5% of males may reach 100 years old this century without significant breakthroughs in aging biology. However, hope remains in emerging fields like geroscience and AI. As humans have historically overcome limits, the quest for extended lifespans continues, balancing scientific skepticism with technological optimism.

A groundbreaking report by WHO and ITU reveals that a modest investment of $0.24 per patient annually in digital health tools could save over 2 million lives from noncommunicable diseases in the next decade. These digital interventions, including telemedicine and mobile messaging, could also prevent 7 million hospitalizations. While 60% of countries have digital health strategies, integration remains challenging. The report emphasizes the need for resources and collaboration to unleash the full potential of digital health. With NCDs causing 74% of global deaths annually, this digital revolution offers a cost-effective solution to combat preventable diseases and transform healthcare delivery worldwide.Sources:https://www.who.int/news/item/23-09-2024-boosting-digital-health-can-help-prevent-millions-of-deaths-from-noncommunicable-diseaseshttps://www.who.int/publications/b/71552https://uniatf.who.int/about-us/news/item/23-09-2024-new-task-force-report-going-digital-for-noncommunicable-diseases-the-case-for-actionhttps://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/ICT-Applications/Pages/Publications.aspxhttps://primaryhealthcare4people.org/publication/going-digital-for-noncommunicable-diseases-the-case-for-action/

I had Google NotebookLM create a podcast about two important documents, "The Boston Paradox" and "Healthy People in a Healthy Economy,  A Blueprint for Action in Massachusetts", both from 2007 and 2009. All of this is still relevant and at the forefront of what we should do to create sustainable health(care), everywhere in the world. Something I coined our "Plumbers problem": we wait till something goes wrong, and then we start fixing the holes in the wall where the water gusts out, instead of somebody going into the basement, closing down the tab a bit (more). 

Within 5 minutes, one can create a narrated podcast version of an article, presentation or even a book with Google's NotebookLM. I've used my 2018 book "Augmented Health (care), The End of the Beginning" in this example. In a 10-minute podcast the essence of my book (even though the algorithm had to make some choices ;-)  

Tjeerd Bosklopper was appointed CEO Netherlands Non-life, Banking & Technology on 1 June 2020. In this role, Tjeerd is responsible for the Dutch Non-life, Banking business segments, and Customer & Commerce. He also remains responsible for innovation, digital transformation, and IT in the Netherlands.#virtualcoffee: Dialogues about the Future of Health including innovation, the new era of digital-first, physical next, and reflections from outside of healthcare. Brief conversations, as if it were in a barista-café, always realistic but with a positive outlook. There are enough pessimistic channels out there already.I’m your host, my name is Lucien Engelen: Assisting organizations, corporates, and governments worldwide to make a soft landing into the future. 40 years of healthcare experience: in Ambulance-services, dispatch centers, University Medical Center, and Singularity University. All mainly on the innovation intersection of technology and patient empowerment. As a global keynote speaker and as an Edge fellow for Deloitte’s Center for the Edge, I support healthcare organizations, governments, corporates, and healthcare professionals in my role as a Global Strategist Digital Health, next to being faculty at SingularityU's Exponential Medicine. I started during the COVID pandemic, checking in with friends, colleagues, and experts about topics that matter to them, and to me.Distributed through Linkedin Live, Youtube, and Facebook with video and through Spotify, Apple podcast and other audio platforms or via my website www.transform.health https://lucienengelen.com/category/podcast/virtual-coffee/ 

I had a great #virtualcoffee with Jarno Duursma, who wanted to interview me for his podcast. We combined our mission to share knowledge and did a podcast and a #virtualcoffee on Linkedin LIVE into one session.

#VirtualCoffee with Dominique van Seggelen and Randy Jagt about oppertunities on the intersection of the Future of Food and the Future of Health

Audio version Virtual Coffee with Dave de Bronkhart aka ePatientDave

Virtual Coffee with Daniel Kraft about the impact of COVID-19 on innovation in healthcare and beyond. Video of this LinkedIn LIVE session on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Obzmr5blbp4&t=13s

Exploring the issue of fighting both cyber and biological viruses: what are the points of connection and similarities?Sir Rob Wainwright and Lucien EngelenIn this episode, we talk about how responsible businesses can think through rare or unusual incidents in the healthcare space by drawing analogies. Are there similarities in the challenges faced in healthcare on the one hand, and in cybersecurity on the other?Our host, Sir Rob Wainwright, has decades of experience dealing with international global cyberattacks as the former head of Europol, the EU’s law enforcement agency. He led the establishment of the European Cybercrime Centre, which has become the focal point for all major cybercrime investigations across Europe. Our guest is Lucien Engelen. He brings years of insightful experience in healthcare. He advised the Board of Directors at Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, he’s lead some of Singularity University’s initiatives on innovation in healthcare & medicine, Edge Fellow for the Deloitte Centre for the Edge. And has published the book “Augmented Health(care): the end of the Beginning”.  "Social distancing is similar to network isolation techniques in the cyber world". Lucien Engelen —

Virtual Coffee with Steven van Belleghem about user experience, and how "digital'  is changing society during this COVID pandemic for customers and for patients and professionals. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cup-coffee-becomes-virtual-lucien-engelen/

Innovation Talks with Lucien Engelen (EN)In this podcast for Deloitte's GOV-lab podcast, we talk with Lucien Engelen about innovation in health. Lucien worked the past 11 years as an innovator for Radboud Medical Center in Nijmegen and is now Edge Fellow Digital Health. Daniel Charité interviewed Lucien 

Dr Louise Schaper is an innovator and a change agent who doesn’t sit still and whose passion and enthusiasm for health informatics is shaping a new future for HISA (the Australian Digital Health Community). Her appointment as CEO came on the back of 10 years of experience in, and applied passion for, health informatics. With a background as an occupational therapist and a PhD on technology acceptance amongst healthcare professionals, Louise is a world leader in allied health informatics and is intimately connected to Australia’s substantial health reform efforts, where e-health is a key enabler to achieving high quality, safe, sustainable and patient-centred care. I sat down with her prior to her HIC19 conference in Melbourne Australia, see twitter hashtag #hic19 for a flavour of the 3-day conference.  

40 degrees celsius, sitting outside with my long friend Deepak Kaura in an awesome coffee-bar in Scheveningen (The Hague) hé actually pointed mé out to (he’s a coffee-freak) talking about innovation,and recording my next episode for my Future of Health podcast. From his role as chair within the CMA (Canadian Medical Association) of the innovation-department Joule, about his role as CMO of 1Qbit (advanced computation including quantum-inspired and quantum computing) and about why frontline staff in healthcare (physicians and nurses) should claim and take on their role in innovation. Deepak on twitter.A pediatric radiologist who has started several technology companies, Deepak Kaura brings a range of experience and leadership skills to the role of Board Chair. Passionate about improving health through the use of technology balanced with personalized human touch, Deepak is dedicated to innovation, building teams and has a keen interest in Artificial Intelligence.Deepak has recently returned to Canada from five years in Qatar to join 1QBit, a quantum computing software company, as its Chief Medical Officer. In Qatar, as Executive Chair of Sidra’s Foundational Clinical Services Management Group, he played a critical role in setting up and establishing new standards in patient care at a 400-bed children and women’s hospital and creating Imagine, an innovation framework that produces intellectual property by crowdsourcing ideas. Prior to this he was the Head of Diagnostic Imaging at the Alberta Children’s Hospital.Deepak earned his medical degree at the University of Manitoba, is a Diplomat of the American Board of Radiology, a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Certification of Canada and has a Master of Business Administration from HEC Paris.   Listen and subcribe via Apple Podcast (NL & ENG) , Spotify (NL & ENG) and many other platforms. 

A conversation with Aimee (in a crowded lobby) about how training an AI could impact the carbon footprint, how we need to think about the difference between a human touch of a doctor versus a robot, and why we need to talk NOW in stead of waiting till we have the problems in our backyard. Aimee van Wynsberghe has been working in ICT and robotics since 2004. She is Assistant Professor in Ethics and Technology at TU Delft in the Netherlands. She co-founded the Foundation for Responsible Robotics and on the board of the Institute for Accountability in a Digital Age.  She is author of the book Healthcare Robots: Ethics, Design, and Implementation. More to read on Wikipedia. She is a colleague of mine as Edge fellow at the center for the edge @deloitte

Conversations about innovation, technology and (upcoming) change in health. A podcast by Lucien Engelen: Guiding toward a soft landing in the future of health(care). CEO Transform, Health, Edge Fellow Deloitte Center for the Edge; Global Strategist Digital Health, Faculty Exponential Medicine; Singularity University USA and NL.