“Sisyphus,” by Titian, painted in 1549.

Alexandra B. Kimball, M.D., Kristen C. Corey M.D.,  Joseph C. Kvedar, M.D., write in Medical Economics say that in  ”healthcare, we continue to insist on human resource-intense solutions. However, the proportion of a provider organization’s cost borne by human resources is 56%, and healthcare workers are generally less productive than those in other sectors. A staff-heavy plan of action is doomed to fail.”

They say that a mix of more patient engagement and technology can address the mounting pressures on physicians’ time and energy that stem from payers’  mandates to somehow decrease costs and improve outcomes.

Among the partial solutions they recommend:

* Online appointments.

* Previsit check-ins.

* Online visits

* Remote monitoring programs.