New eBook: "The Creative Destruction of Medicine" Heralds Biggest Shakeup in Health Care

Innovator, medical pioneer Dr. Eric Topol predicts consumer revolution in new eBook launched today

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The way medicine is currently practiced will be fundamentally transformed by a new consumer revolution, predicts renowned cardiologist and visionary Dr. Eric J. Topol in his new eBook released today.  The Creative Destruction of Medicine: How the Digital Revolution Will Create Better Health Care is now available for purchase wherever eBooks are sold, including Amazon, iBookstore, Barnes & Noble, and Google eBookstore.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20111205/DC16569)

Topol is an innovator and pioneer in the fields of wireless medicine and genomics.  He currently serves as vice chairman at the West Wireless Health Institute (WWHI), a nonprofit medical research organization with the sole mission of lowering health care costs. In addition, he is the Director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute and Professor of Genomics at The Scripps Research Institute.

As revolutionary as the past twenty years in personal technology and medicine have been, Topol makes it clear in The Creative Destruction of Medicine that we haven't seen anything yet. With an optimism matched only by a realism gained through 25 years of frontline experience as a clinician, he proves the ideal guide to the medicine of the future—medicine he is deeply involved in creating.

Topol explains how bringing "big data" to the clinic, laboratory, and hospital, along with wearable sensors, smartphone apps, social networks, and whole-genome sequencing will provide the tools for a revolution.  He argues that combining all of the data generated by those tools will create a complete and continuously updated picture of every patient, changing everything from the treatment of disease, to the prolonging of health, to the development of new treatments.

"We now have the extraordinary, innovative tools to digitize human beings and prevent diseases and conditions that otherwise would occur. However, the only way this can move forward is through a consumer revolution—the reason I wrote the book," said Topol.

"Health care is at a crisis point as costs rise to almost $2.5 trillion annually in the U.S. alone," said Don Casey, CEO of WWHI.  "Dr. Topol translates both his vision and his practical experience as a doctor and researcher and offers an extraordinary path forward.  He is engaging us in the right conversation, by shining the light on both revolutionary and every day advances that will transform health care delivery and ultimately lower the cost of delivering care."

The eBook release coincides with the opening 2011 mHealth Summit keynote session with presentations by Topol and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius.

For more information about The Creative Destruction of Medicine, visit http://www.creativedestructionofmedicine.com/. The Basic Books hardcover edition will be released on January 31, 2012.

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR THE CREATIVE DESTRUCTION OF MEDICINE

Atul Gawande, M.D., author of The Checklist Manifesto

"Dr. Eric Topol is an extraordinary doctor. He's started a leading medical school, identified the first genes to underlie development of heart disease, led major medical centers, and been a pioneer of wireless medicine. But he is also a remarkable communicator—one of the few top-flight scientists in medicine to be able to genuinely connect with the public. He was, for example, the first physician researcher to question the safety of Vioxx—and unlike most who raise safety questions, actually succeed in bringing the concerns to public attention. I have known and admired Dr. Topol for a long time. I recommend him highly."

Mehmet Oz, M.D., Professor and Vice-Chair of Surgery, NY Presbyterian/Columbia University

"Eric Topol outlines the creative destruction of medicine that must be led by informed consumers. Smart patients will push the many stakeholders in health to accelerate change as medicine adapts to a new world of information and technology."

Steve Case, co-founder, AOL, and founder of Revolution LLC

"Health care is poised to be revolutionized by two forces—technology and consumerism—and Dr. Eric Topol explains why. One-size-fits-all medicine will soon be overtaken by highly personalized, customized solutions that are enabled by breakthroughs in genomics and mobile devices and propelled by empowered consumers looking to live longer, healthier lives. Fasten your seat belts and get ready for the ride—and learn what steps you can take to begin to take control of your health."

ABOUT ERIC J. TOPOL, M.D.

Dr. Eric Topol is an innovator and pioneer in the fields of wireless medicine and genomics. In addition to his serving as Vice Chairman of the West Wireless Health Institute, he is the Director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute, a National Institute of Health funded program of the Clinical and Translational Science Award Consortium. He is also Professor of Genomics at The Scripps Research Institute; Chief Academic Officer and holder of the Gary and Mary West Chair of Innovative Medicine at Scripps Health; and, a Senior Consultant cardiologist practitioner at Scripps Clinic.

Dr. Topol formerly served on the faculty of Case Western University as a professor in genetics, chaired the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Cleveland Clinic for fifteen years, and founded the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. His work in the genomics of heart attack led to discovery of key genes which were recognized as American Heart Association Top 10 research advances in 2002 and 2004.

Dr. Topol has been elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, named as one of the 12 "Rock Stars of Science" in GQ, Top 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare in 2011, and is recognized by the Thomson-Reuters Institute of Scientific Information to be in the Top 10 cited biomedical researchers in medicine in the past decade.

SOURCE West Wireless Health Institute