Using What’s in the Fridge
I’m not a recipe guy. When I make dinner, I look in the fridge. I look in the pantry. And based on what I see, I’ll figure out how best to use the ingredients I have on hand to make something that I’ll enjoy. I’ve come to see my life in a similar way.
When I look back on my career, I’ve been tremendously fortunate to have accrued an abundance of rich “ingredients”: The experience of having started ClearCanvas many years ago. The recognition of what ClearCanvas has contributed to the world. Years of having led software development teams. A deep network of personal and professional contacts who know healthcare and healthcare technology. The privilege of having worked with truly decent people who also happen to be brilliant. But some of the ingredients have also been bitter: My own experience with cancer when I was in my 20s. And more recently, the passing of two close friends still in their 40s.
This tapestry of experiences has led me to reflect deeply on what I want to do with the balance of my professional life. It moved me to consider how I can use them to, as a friend had put it, “lessen people’s pain”. After Synaptive acquired ClearCanvas back in 2014, I had always left open the possibility that I would start something new again if I had an idea. But it wasn’t until last year that something began to germinate. As you’ll read about in future posts, I’ve heard stories of how friends struggled with navigating the healthcare system and the fragmented nature of our medical records. And so I wondered whether technology might be able to speak to these stories.
To be clear, I am not a techno-optimist. Yes, technology in healthcare has been transformational, but I’m not so naive to believe that it can solve all our problems. Still, my working hypothesis is this:
A piece of well-considered, human-centric technology may help patients better understand their condition, so that they can have better conversations with their care providers–and ultimately receive better care.
That is why I founded CareChorus Health Foundation.
Over the next several months, I’ll be prototyping such a piece of technology, to see if my hypothesis holds water. Is there risk? Absolutely. But to me, the possibility that it can lessen people’s pain, even in some small way, makes it entirely worth it.
