In the near future, medical care will shift from the current emphasis on treating disease to preventing it, as the health care industry increasingly turns to getting people to modify their behavior. So said a range of health care experts brought together by The Atlantic magazine on Tuesday in Phoenix, Arizona. Moderated by Steve Clemons, the magazine’s Washington editor, “Inventing the Future of Health” examined the latest breakthroughs in the field and revealed what’s coming next.

Some Highlights:

Dr. Daniel Kraft, executive director of Exponential Medicine, described the rise of digital health and mobile technology. Health care is moving from hospitals to homes, as patients use wearable devices to test and track many conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease. These devices can easily transmit the information to a doctor. People now download health care apps to their smartphones.

Computers are still changing health care. With social media and smartphones, patients can track their health information, sharing it both online and with their doctors. Crowdfunding is becoming an additional way to fund the development of new medical technologies. 3D printing will inexpensively mass produce medical devices and helicopter drones will provide transportation for patients. He also mentioned that gene therapy is increasing, allowing patients and their doctors to pinpoint their ailments and future ailments.

Dr. Oliver Kharraz, CEO of ZocDoc, explained how his company puts people in touch with doctors within 24 hours. Currently in the U.S., it takes an average of 19 days to see a doctor after calling to schedule an appointment, and in Boston it’s 66 days. He described the trend toward “evidence-based messaging,” which means figuring out which message works best with patients to change their behavior. This also can mean getting doctors to change their behavior. In the future, expect to see robotic doctors.

Richard Boals, president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, said eventually it will become routine for doctors to look at every patient’s genome. Their wearable mobile devices will reveal what behavior they need to change, as the focus moves to health and wellness instead of treating disease. It will also become commonplace to reproduce organs.

Matthew Hawkins, president of Sunquest Information Systems, Inc., which makes laboratory and diagnostic information systems for the medical industry, said the person’s traditional role as a passive patient is changing to one of an actively involved consumer. Precision medicine using the individual’s genome to tailor his or her care is on the rise, reducing the need for drugs and lowering the cost of care. Through knowledge of individual genomes, diseases will be discovered when someone is still a child.

Karen Amstutz, CEO for Magellan Health, Inc., said the medical industry is seeing a convergence of behavioral and physical health care. Treating behavioral health costs two to three times more than treating physical symptoms, so there is now a push to get people to change their behavior in order to eliminate some of the extra treatments, like those for depression and diabetes. Unlike Medicare, Obamacare covers wellness visits 100 percent, in an attempt to shift people to cheaper preventative care and get them started early on with healthy habits. Also expect changes to the built environment, he said, such as more sidewalks so people will walk more.

Dr. Victor Trastek, school director and Professor of Practice in the School for the Science Health Care Delivery at Arizona State University, compared the failure of patients to modify their behavior to driving your car off the road repeatedly. He also noted that there is less money for research now, so organizations will need to collaborate more.

Dr. Wyatt Decker, chief executive officer of the Mayo Clinic in Arizona and vice president of the national Mayo Clinic, said the use of telemedicine — remote consultation by video — is increasing, especially in rural areas. It’s already been very helpful for stroke care, because patients need treatment quickly or risk brain damage or death. Instead of taking a long flight to a hospital with a stroke doctor, a stroke victim can go to the nearest clinic and consult the doctor remotely.

Another innovation — which actually uses a 75-year-old technology — is freezing tissue from patients while they are being operated on, so it can be biopsied immediately without requiring them to come back a second time for surgery. Decker got the biggest laugh from the audience when he said that colonoscopies are being replaced with a painless do-it-yourself kit at home called “Cologuard.”

Summary

Although the moderator asked the speakers about the effect of Obamacare, none of the health care executives present dared to respond. At least a couple seemed uncomfortable when the moderator indicated that Obamacare would eliminate some of their companies.

Oddly, there was no discussion of the correlating loss of privacy that comes with this expansion of information. Increased knowledge of the individual genome and a person’s lifestyle could lead to denial of insurance coverage. It should have been included. While most of the forthcoming developments were exciting and positive, it remains to be seen whether many Americans will give up their couch potato lifestyles and become health nuts wearing gadgets that report what they do to their doctor.