A vision of the e-healthcare era

A vision of the e-healthcare era is developed using scenarios from today and for the future. The future of e-healthcare is based on empowering individual patients with current information about diagnosis and treatment for personal decision-making about their health without ever visiting a healthcare facility. Empowering the patients is made possible with a futuristic personal medical device (PMD). The PMD is a "black box", which works in conjunction with the internet and locally stores expert system programs. The PMD has various accessories available to help with diagnosis besides voice and image capabilities. The article develops greater in-depth concepts to help the patient learn more on his/her own.