Health Systems, Health Care and Big Tech--It's (Really) Complicated

With recent news from Apple and Google on their restructuring of significant health related initiatives, there’s been a lot of buzz around ‘big tech bailing on health care’. The reactions from health system leaders I’ve bumped into after those announcements were in the vein of “I guess they’re finding out health care is hard.” It was the same reaction after Haven was wrapped up.

As an industry, we’re on an unsustainable trajectory. Poor customer experience is still the norm, not the exception. There are more manual processes than I have ever seen in any industry and there are significant barriers to data liquidity. We’re using technology that, in the case of EMR, is encumbered by old core technology and massive technical debt. It’s driving away patients who are used to far more digital convenience in the rest of their lives and burning out our clinicians that care for them. The list is long. We need the help.

If some of the most well-resourced, determined companies on the planet, employing some of the smartest people are retreating, what does that mean for the overall healthcare industry? Furthermore, is that good?