Listen: Is There Too Much Tech in Healthcare?
Episode 2 of Inflect’s Podcast, For Startups, By Physicians Is Now Live
For those of you that missed the news, Inflect Health recently launched its very own podcast, For Startups, By Physicians, with the goal of exploring exciting topics in healthcare through conversations with industry thought leaders. In our pilot episode, I connected with Inflect CEO and Vituity Chief Transformation Officer Rick Newell MD and Inflect President Andrew Smith.
Today we’re proud to bring you the second installment of the show, titled “Building for Health”, where I speak with Inflect Health Director of Clinical Transformation Dr. Bobbie Kumar and Cat Sartin, VP of Operations for Outpatient Medicine at Inflect parent company Vituity.
We discuss what’s on the mind of many in healthcare –- in the mad dash to innovate, health tech is rapidly growing. Is there now too much tech in healthcare?
“From the physician perspective, I feel that [there is],” says Dr. Kumar. “Physicians don’t have the opportunity to see what’s actually out there and available for them to use… We don’t have the time to vet out every single piece of technology that can serve us best. So yes, there’s an overload and there’s also a very strong underutilization of these products.”
Yet when considering the huge healthcare hurdles such as reducing costs to care and improving overall satisfaction for both patients and providers, perhaps there isn’t quite enough technology.
According to Cat Sartin, the healthcare industry is really only on the cusp of significant technological breakthroughs.
Dr. Kumar, Cat and I dive into this conversation from all sides. The primary focus on consumers in healthcare technology often leaves the clinicians out of the picture. Of course building better technology that suits patient needs is a priority — but what happens when that same technology makes things more difficult for clinicians. How do we bridge the gap?
For healthtech startups, there is no easy answer. As the healthcare industry further adopts technology more issues are sure to arise. Multifaceted approaches are surely a requirement in order to address the myriad of roadblocks and bottlenecks that make the system difficult for patients and providers alike. One thing is for certain: The best solutions must consider both patients and providers.
If you’re a healthtech founder, we think this episode is a must-listen: Tune in here for the latest episode of For Startups, By Physicians.
And if you’re not already following Inflect Health online, be sure to visit us at InflectHealth.com and keep up to speed on our latest insights on the healthcare industry and our portfolio of healthtech companies via Medium, LinkedIn and Twitter. We’d especially love your feedback on the podcast!
About For Startups, By Physicians host Lindsay Kriger, MPH
For Startups, By Physicians host Lindsay Kriger, MPH is the Director of Operations at Inflect Health, Vituity’s Transformation and Innovation Division, where she oversees all components of new program development efforts, including the financial viability of all early stage investments.
Lindsay previously worked at the California Department of Public Health and UCSF, and earned a Bachelor of Science and Master’s degree in Public Health from Indiana University. Her passion for patient care and healthcare innovation are what inspire her to engage emerging healthtech startups and share their stories with podcast listeners.
