There's a (precise) new buzzword on the block

Just as the EMR has now morphed into the electronic health record, the popular term “precision medicine” may be due for a makeover. Stanford Radiology Chair Sanjiv Sam Gambhir is more interested, now, in “precision health,” as he opines for STAT.

Rather than concocting a personalized therapeutic cocktail based on a patient’s genetics and lifestyle, the concept of precision health is broader — and encompasses ways to either prevent disease, on an individual level, or intercept it and treat it earlier.

Devices like the Fitbit, the Apple Watch, and even “smart toilets” are means to monitor individual health and flag potential problems. Early cancer diagnostics, in particular, could have the biggest impact on a patient’s quality of life, Gambhir writes.