If you followed healthcare news this week, one thing became abundantly clear: the news is full of promises. But after listening to this week’s discussions and reflecting on a recent healthcare experience of my own, I’m left with a familiar question: Are we solving the right problem? Let’s dig in.
CMS Is Driving Change, But Are We Rethinking the Process?
This week, CMS leadership, including Dr. Mehmet Oz and Amy Gleason, shared their vision for accelerating healthcare transformation. Across the industry, many are echoing the same message: healthcare needs modernization. But modernization is not the same as transformation. Digitizing inefficient workflows or layering AI onto disconnected information may improve pieces of the process, but it does not solve the challenge clinicians face every day: getting the right information when they need it. For years, healthcare has talked about “killing the clicks” and reducing the screens, forms, and endless scrolling that contribute to burnout and leave patients without one complete, accessible medical record. Maybe we are still aiming at the wrong target. Companies like Phreesia have already helped improve the check-in process. The bigger opportunity now is not to rename or relocate the burden. It is to eliminate it.
AI Governance Is Becoming Just as Important as AI Innovation
Another theme this week was the growing focus on responsible AI. Healthcare organizations are no longer asking whether AI belongs in healthcare, they’re asking how to deploy it safely, transparently, and responsibly. That’s an encouraging shift. We have seen that AI can summarize records, identify trends, assist with documentation, and support clinical decision-making. But every one of those capabilities depends on one thing: having complete, accurate, and accessible information. Otherwise, AI is making decisions on only partial, or missing information. The quality of AI will always depend on the quality and availability of the data behind it.
We Still Have Bigger Issues
This week, I experienced that reality firsthand. During a visit with my cardiologist, he needed results from testing that had been completed at another office within the same health system. The information existed—but it wasn’t readily available during my appointment. I added the context as an “oh, by the way,” on the way out the door. It was an important element of my plan, so I was asked to log into my patient portal, on my phone, and access the tests I referred to. Think about that for a minute. The data wasn’t missing . It wasn’t in another country or another state .It wasn’t even in another health system. In fact, they used the same EHR. It was simply missing, and unable to be found. For all of the progress we’ve made with electronic health records, interoperability initiatives, and digital transformation, patients are still acting as the bridge between offices, departments, and care teams. That’s not a technology problem. It’s an access problem. It wasn’t available for the right provider, in the right system. Its been 20+ years of the same dysfunction!
The Future of Healthcare Depends on More Than Better Technology
This week’s headlines point to an exciting future. AI will continue to evolve. CMS will continue driving regulatory initiatives. Healthcare organizations will adopt new tools and new ways of working. Epic will continue to dominate the EHR market. But if clinicians still have to ask patients to retrieve information from a portal during an office visit, we’ve missed the target. In fact, we are aiming in the wrong direction. Healthcare doesn’t just need smarter systems .It needs complete information that follows the patient, is available at the point of care, and can be trusted by every member of the care team. That’s the kind of transformation that improves care, reduces clinician burden, and creates a better experience for patients.As we continue investing in the future of healthcare, perhaps the next rallying cry shouldn’t simply be “Kill the Clipboard,” It should be:”Give patients their data.” Let them share it with whomever they choose, wherever they go, instantly.”
One Record. Every Visit. Any Provider. That’s MedKaz® .It’s simple, it works alongside any system, with or without internet connectivity. Just instant access to complete patient information, so physicians can focus on what matters most – patient care. The bigger question is, why aren’t we using it?
