JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Investors, entrepreneurs, healthcare pundits, and venture capital firms all agree that the healthcare sector is an antiquated beast awaiting a digital disruption. Technology adoption in healthcare occurs at a glacial pace but this has not prevented bullish investments in digital health solutions in the past 10 years. Steven Case predicted a “third wave” of innovation in 2016 that would leverage big data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to transform medicine and finally achieve the reduced costs and improved outcomes demanded by the public. Academic health systems already have the infrastructure needed by digital health entrepreneurs to innovate, iterate and optimize technology solutions for the major pain points of modern medicine. With implementation scientists, large patient panels, strong research programs, and multidisciplinary providers, academic health institutions have the ability to assess new digital solutions with mentored testing, feedback at the point of care and clinical validation. The largest hurdle for academic health systems is the intolerance for financial risk when investing time and money into start-up ideas which have a high likelihood of failing fast. The bottom line of academic health systems does not support these endeavors but the need for change is evident and now is the opportunity to change how medicine will be practiced for the next 50 years. This is a call upon academic institutions and the nation’s clinical leaders to lead the “third wave” of innovation and truly optimize care delivery, improve patient outcomes, and bend the cost curve.