A trend on the horizon of healthcare with the technology expected to be ready by 2050 but is ready for some things is the 3-D printer which is being adapted to now be used for the printing of body organs. These will be able to use a patient's existing cells to print off a human organ with the promising capability of being an exact match without having the normal waiting period required for finding a matching donor (Builtin, 2024). Now it will be easier to find matches for those with less rare or less documented body types as the cells come directly from the patient's own body. This is good news especially for minority groups who often end up having to rely on majority information, but this is continuing to improve.
Clinical trials have begun in creating simple organs such as ear prosthetics for humans. Also one bladder was successfully printed and transplanted in a human in 1999. A windpipe was also created for a cancer patient. Most researchers say that complex organ printing should be available in 20-30 years, while some are optimistically expecting them to be ready in the next decade (Builtin, 2024).
Another trend of Health IT as it relates to information systems and helpful for Minorities is based on the awareness of disparities in medical data. Healthcare organizations and their staff need to be aware of ingrained and unintentional bias in them and their AI including where the majority of their information is coming from. Ene-Obong was one who recognized that most medical information available was from the majority culture–especially as it related to drug development, since Caucasians made up 80% of participants in human genome research, creating blind spots. His start-up 54Gene is changing that by getting volunteers from across Africa to source genetic material, therefore, making drug research and development more equitable (Time, 2019).
More recently, First Report Managed Care stated that inequity in healthcare is still a stark reality in 2025. As value based payments continue to become important, equitable options will need to keep improving. Consequently, innovative bio-psychosocial approaches, integrating data science, technology enablement, and social determinants of health services will thrive ensuring that even the historically under-served will also benefit.
The multiplication of data is also being interpreted from generative AI and remote wearable technology. This will also assist in offering access to all, as well as being part of the process in adding data on minority races. With this information on groups who have been overlooked in the past, an equitable future for healthcare is on the horizon (First Report Managed Care, 2025).
To conclude, these trends are just a small sampling of what is to become of healthcare. It is promising as 3-D printing and the processing of minority information will both contribute to the savings of lives and money. The ones who could not find a match for their unique body type will now be able to get an exact match without a waiting period. Now minorities who have less common body types will benefit also. Minorities who have had to be examined with only majority culture research and outcomes to inform their physicians will now be able to get a more clear, personal diagnosis and knowledge of preventative habits depending on their profiles as compared with other minority information. It's looking better for minorities who will soon be outnumbering Caucasians in the U.S.
References
Builtin. (2024). 3D-printed organs: Are we close? https://builtin.com/articles/3d-printed-organs
First Report Managed Care. (2025). Equitable healthcare for 2025: Experts share a vision for inclusive and accessible care. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.hmpgloballearningnetwork.com/site/frmc/commentary/equitable-health-care-2025-experts-share-vision-inclusive-and-accessible-care%3famp
Time. 12 innovations that will change healthcare in the 2020’s. https://time.com/5710295/top-health-innovations/
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