Futurist Joseph Coughlin sees a time in the not-so-distant future when healthcare information technology systems will be used not only to collect data, but also to make consumers accountable for their own health.

Coughlin, founding director of AgeLab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, spoke in Washington, D.C., recently on a panel of futurists who discussed technology and its likely impact on the future of healthcare.

Clem Bezold, president of the Institute for Alternative Futures, agreed with Coughlin. With a move toward outcomes-based medicine, healthcare providers and payers will be looking more closely at behaviors, he said. There will be a shift to accountability of consumers.

"Yes, and it's probably a good thing," said Jonathan Peck, vice president of the Institute for Alternative Futures. The conversation will shift from "right to care" to "responsibility for yourself."

A number of tools are coming out to help consumers decide what to eat and when to eat it, Coughlin, said, and that, in turn, "will give us the political ability to say, 'look, we gave you 40 to 50 years of choices'."

"Ethics will become increasingly dominant," said Norman Ornstein, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy. "When do you deny people insurance?" he asked. "We'll have to move more to a model of rationing," he said.

The panelists agreed that the entertainment industry would play an increasing role in healthcare, for instance, in helping children with diabetes better manage their condition. They also forecast that much of healthcare's focus would move away from treatment to an emphasis on prevention.

Coughlin predicted a transfer of technology "from white coats to users – the empowerment of consumers."