December 16, 2021

Maverick's Update

Only What Matters In Health Information Policy

It is that time of year where people put out “best of” lists - like Slate’s Best Movies list, the Wall Street Journal’s Best Theater list, and Rolling Stones’ Best Songs list. A different best songs of 2021 list caught our eye -- three music critics at the New York Times each published their own list -- and all three of them would make anyone born before 1999 feel old. But there is one song (rated as #1) that we can relate to: Prince’s posthumously-released Welcome 2 America with its eerily appropriate lyrics for 2021, despite being written in 2010. With lyrics like “information overload” and “distracted by the features of the iPhone -- got an application for each situation” -- one wonders if Prince could actually see into the future.

Here are other futuristic news items:

• According to a Deloitte report, investments in the health technology sector are growing in value, with the aggregate expansion-stage deal value more than doubling between 2019 and 2020, and are happening earlier, with the median age of a health tech company at the time of its expansion-stage lowering to 7.4 years.

• In a recent report from McKinsey, CIOs are frustrated with the disconnect between the board and their departments, with some CIOs wishing that their CEOs understood the value of tech, understood the limitations of tech, and would work to attract top tech talent.

• A study published in JAMIA showed that EHR use generally decreased for clinicians at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but has since risen to prior levels or higher, suggesting that policymakers should be aware of EHR time demands when considering integrating telemedicine into post-pandemic workflows.

One Thoughtful Paragraph

Unlike Prince, who was an intellectually-curious musical genius, we cannot see into the future and then write an amazing song about it. Almost anyone, however, can see that the future of the healthcare system is being transformed by digital technology. Helpfully, CB Insights just published its third annual list of the top companies using digital technology to transform healthcare. Announcing its “Digital Health 150” at the Future of Health event, an executive said the list was its most expansive, with 16 categories including virtual care, workflow automation, and home health tech. Since 2016, these companies have collectively raised almost $15 billion across 522 deals. For comparison, we invested only $10 billion to see more of space with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope that is set to launch next week -- and unlike the health tech tools, it can fold up like origami. We are looking forward to the day when all of these great digital health solutions take flight and transform the healthcare system. Like Prince says in Welcome 2 America: “Transformation happens deep within, yes or no?”