Reimagining patient care in the era of digital health innovation

• To strengthen patient-clinician relationships, digital health tools must be designed with trust, empathy, and clinician well-being in mind, ensuring they support providers and enhance patient experience
• As healthcare becomes increasingly reliant on digital tools, cybersecurity and privacy protections are critical to rebuilding patient trust (via privacy-by-design) and ensuring responsible use of personal health data through ethics-by-design
• Startups play a critical role in driving digital health innovation, especially when they collaborate with established organizations to solve real problems, address health impacts, and improve cost transparency and patient empowerment

While digital health innovation has the potential to reshape patient care, healthcare leaders are still encountering barriers to adopting and scaling new technologies.

How do we integrate advancements in a way that preserves trust, enhances patient-clinician relationships, and protects privacy – which together would inspire greater patient collaboration and engagement? How can we harness the power of digital health innovation while ensuring it serves both patients and clinicians effectively?

In this interview with Jane Sarasohn-Kahn, we explore key strategies for healthcare executives to navigate this new terrain, from leveraging digital tools to empowering patients and fostering meaningful partnerships with startups.

HT: Digital health tools have the potential to transform the patient-clinician relationship. How can hospitals incorporate these tools in a way that enhances trust and strengthens the partnership between clinicians and patients?

Sarasohn-Kahn: Trust is really at the core of this conversation. Before we dive into technology, we need to acknowledge that trust and empathy are the foundation of any successful relationship between patients and clinicians. Without those human elements, it’s hard to drive true engagement.

In the U.S., nurses, pharmacists, and physicians consistently rank as the most trusted professions. Gallup has run its annual “Honesty and Ethics” survey for over 20 years, and nurses perennially top the list, with pharmacists and physicians close behind.¹ These frontline professionals are the heart of the healthcare system. But according to qualitative studies, if you ask them whether they feel respected in their work today, the answer is often, “no.”²

Clinician burnout is a serious issue that puts the sustainability of the health care system at risk. As we push forward with digital health innovations, we need to ensure that digital health tools aren’t adding to that burden, and are instead supporting and enhancing the clinician-patient relationship.

This is where design thinking comes in—putting people first and central in the development of digital health tools. Digital tools should be designed to elevate the work clinicians do and create meaningful, shared decision-making experiences between patients and providers. That’s what healthcare professionals entered the field for–to care for their patients. Technology should help them do that, not detract from it.

If we apply the principles of design thinking and focus on what’s called the “Quintuple Aim”—improving patient outcomes, reducing per capita costs, improving the health care experience, advancing healthcare access, and enhancing clinician well-being—we can create digital tools that truly serve both clinicians and patients. The goal is to make these tools a win-win: reducing clinician burnout while giving time back to that crucial relationship between patients and their healthcare providers – which further builds on trust.

Ultimately, when digital health tools are thoughtfully designed, they can strengthen this relationship and support the sustainability of the healthcare system.

HT: The increasing reliance on technology in healthcare raises concerns about privacy. What steps can be taken to protect patients’ personal health data?

Sarasohn-Kahn: Privacy has always been a concern, especially when it comes to health engagement for many patient populations. But recently, with the widespread use of digital tools and mobile apps, the conversation has shifted to data leakage. This is especially true in the U.S., where HIPAA, the healthcare privacy law, doesn’t cover data collected through smartphones—things like GPS data, retail habits, or social media activity, unless the party with the data has signed a business associate agreement with a HIPAA covered entity.³ By contrast, Europe’s GDPR offers much stronger consumer (read: patient) protections across all personal data types. In the U.S., a few states like California and Washington have passed their own privacy laws, but overall, it’s a patchwork approach that leaves many gaps.

Beyond privacy, cybersecurity is a huge challenge in healthcare. Healthcare is now the number one target for cybercriminals because patient data is more valuable than even bank account data.⁴ Electronic health records contain personal details like social security numbers and other sensitive information, making them a prime target for data breaches and data “hostaging.”⁵

We’ve seen a rapid increase in cybersecurity incidents. One of the most recent large-scale breaches involved Change Healthcare, part of the UnitedHealthcare ecosystem, impacting millions of patients.⁶ This kind of event erodes trust in the healthcare system even further.

To close this trust gap, there needs to be significant coordination across all healthcare stakeholders. It’s no secret that healthcare is fragmented, with silos across hospitals, insurers, and other providers. But there is growing recognition that we must bolster cybersecurity defenses.⁷ Hospitals, health plans, and other organizations are starting to invest more in this area, and the role of the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) is becoming increasingly important in healthcare.

This is a necessary investment, even though it may take funds away from other areas. Without strong cybersecurity, we can’t rebuild trust in the system, and without trust, we can’t have true patient engagement. Both clinicians and patients are feeling the anxiety around privacy and security right now, so addressing these concerns is crucial to moving forward.

HT: The appropriate use of self-diagnostic tools is a growing concern as more patients take control of their health. What guidelines or frameworks should be in place to ensure these tools are used responsibly, both by patients and healthcare providers?

Sarasohn-Kahn: In this case, the technology has evolved much faster than our ability to regulate it or even understand its full impact. We’ve seen rapid growth in direct-to-consumer testing—things like home kits for colon cancer screening. While these offer convenience, they’re not always appropriate for every patient. For example, a colonoscopy, though invasive, often provides a more accurate diagnosis than many at-home tests.⁸ But there’s this consumer demand and a desire for empowerment that’s driving the adoption of these tools. People want to take control of their health, just like we saw with the rise of ancestry and DNA testing through companies like 23andMe and Ancestry.com.⁹

The challenge is balancing consumer autonomy with the healthcare system’s responsibility and regulators’ role in protecting consumer rights and privacy. There’s a tension between patients wanting to self-direct their care and the healthcare system’s role in ensuring those decisions are informed and appropriate. It brings up the concept of “privacy by design” and “ethics by design.” We need to consider what is appropriate to place in patients’ hands, ensuring that these tools are safe, reliable, and used responsibly.

I believe the solution lies in rebuilding trust between patients and healthcare providers, and technology developers embedding consumers’ voices and preferences into applications. When we can foster a true partnership, patients will be more likely to seek guidance from clinicians, and clinicians will be more open to engaging in shared decision-making. This is what we call “participatory healthcare”—where patients and clinicians co-create care plans and work together as partners. It’s about mutual respect and collaboration on both sides. And doing so can bolster health outcomes for individuals and population health in broader communities.¹⁰

If we don’t get this right, we risk creating a healthcare system that is fragmented and driven largely by actors that don’t have patients’ or clinicians’ best interests at the heart of their actions. That could lead to further misinformation, scams, and a lack of coordination between patients and providers, which would be disastrous. The key is bringing people together in an omnichannel approach—where patients can access care how and where they need it, and clinicians can use digital tools to support that care in a way that’s satisfying and effective for both sides.

In the end, this is about rebuilding trust, and that’s going to require everyone’s involvement—clinicians, patients, technology developers and designers, and healthcare leaders. We need all hands-on deck, and hearts in it, too.

HT: What role can startups play in the future of digital health innovation? Can collaborations between large healthcare companies and startups drive meaningful changes in cost transparency and patient empowerment?

Sarasohn-Kahn: Absolutely. Small businesses, including startups, are the engine of economic growth—not just in healthcare, but across industries. As an economist, I see startups as a critical part of that ecosystem, especially when they’re innovating in ways that truly respond to the needs of patients and clinicians. What we don’t need are startups that simply repackage old solutions. We need startups to bring genuinely new ideas to the table, and while that’s challenging, it’s certainly possible.

As mentioned earlier, the guiding framework I use when evaluating the potential of a startup is the “Quintuple Aim.”¹¹ It focuses on five key areas: reducing per capita costs, creating a positive experience for all healthcare stakeholders, improving population and individual health outcomes, addressing healthcare access and inclusion, and supporting clinician well-being. If a startup can hit two or three of these goals, they’re likely onto something impactful.

At the core, it’s about solving real problems—whether that’s making healthcare more accessible, enhancing privacy and data rights, or rebuilding trust between providers, patients, and other stakeholders like pharma, insurers, employers, and government. Trust has been eroded globally, as shown by the Edelman Trust Barometer, but startups have the potential to play a big role in restoring it with solid design principles for privacy and ethical behavior.¹²

Collaboration between startups and larger healthcare companies can really accelerate innovation, particularly around cost transparency and patient empowerment. Large companies have the infrastructure and reach to help scale, while startups can bring fresh ideas and agility. When they come together, they can create solutions that benefit individuals, communities, and ultimately, the whole healthcare system. This Quintuple Aim is a roadmap for whole health—mind, body, and spirit, and financial as well—and it’s where startups can make a true, meaningful impact.