🌱 January 28, 2026
Welcome to the latest edition of Re-Humanizing HealthTech, where we amplify and connect voices bringing humans back into healthcare.
The first issue of the year comes to you after a relaxing and family-filled end of 2025 in New Zealand, followed by an invigorating start to 2026 with JPM Health Week back in San Francisco.
This secluded cove was the site of our kiwi christmas lunch
Table of Contents
✏️ Editorial notes
Taking a pause over the end of the year has only left me with greater conviction that this healthcare system is not enough.
We deserve better.
We have extraordinary technology, troves of scientific research and data, an enormous budget — almost a 1/5 of US GDP is healthcare expenditure, and it’s growing — yet healthcare outcomes continue to trend in the wrong direction.
Rather than dwelling on what hasn’t been done, I intend to focus on opportunities.
Opportunities where we can move the needle with what we already have. Spaces where attention and innovation are welcome. Underserved areas hiding in dust-ridden basements that are ripe for an empathetic re-imagining of what the future could look like.
There’s no silver bullet that will fix this. We need change from within, from without, and from every perspective.
Where could a combination of fresh and expert perspectives take us?
What might this look like?
Researchers, clinicians, academics, and MPH-ers collaborating with artists, creatives, and storytellers to get their work out of journals and into the day-to-day narrative. What studios, agencies, or organizations are making waves here?
Domain experts in payers and health plans pairing with Product and Engineering folks to explore prototypes, test out new workflows, and add leverage to those who know the system best. Sometimes, the solution is technically simple. Adoption, however, is often another story.
Designers reassessing customer (patient) journeys from the ground up. None of the existing flows makes sense. None. The patient is treated as a set of distinct body parts, and the journey reflects that view. What does a beatific patient experience look and feel like? What, specifically, is wrong with the current one? What do we need to fill that gap? Toss out the status quo and let’s imagine what the future could hold.
Educators, training institutions, and schools working hand-in-hand with experience designers, L&D experts, and gaming creators. Our care providers need help. They’re let out into the world without almost no ongoing training plan, and usually zero “how to run a healthcare business” background. Is there a “business-in-a-box” plan for clinics, or for LTC workers? Is there a “Gong for providers” that shares feedback relative to clear metrics? Would transparent metrics allow us to stop pretending that the patient is at the heart of our current system, or would they cement the existing misaligned behavior?
Our unpaid and under-recognized caregivers for seniors (often in the sandwich generation, but frequently younger) are speaking up about the burden they’re carrying and what that means for their work productivity, not to mention their ongoing stress levels and future health risk factors. Support is made real through policy coordination.
Finally, we need to agree on our goals. I’d argue the system is working as designed, currently.
Are we satisfied with a system of sickcare that intervenes only to stop people dying? Or are we willing to build healthcare: a system designed to keep people healthy?
Here’s one fabulous idea:
Take a former hospital CFO who sweated the negative ledger items building up on the books from the wildly inefficient patient discharge process. Add a dash of “how might we be better” thinking, a dollop of re-centering the patient in this journey, and a game plan to fix the misaligned multi-stakeholder interactions.
Our featured founder is determined to change this jarring, inhumane, and costly process. Read more below.
In optimism,
Katie
🛠️ Meet the builder
Meet Lindsay. She’s building BedConnect, a healthcare coordination platform designed to fix one of the most broken moments in care: the hospital discharge. BedConnect replaces fragmented discharge planning with a structured, transparent system that connects hospitals, post-acute providers, patients, and families. BedConnect reduces delays, restores trust, and improves outcomes when people are at their most vulnerable.
Why did you choose this path?
I didn’t set out to build a healthcare company. I followed a problem that wouldn’t leave me alone. I saw firsthand how discharge decisions are often rushed, opaque, and shaped more by system pressure than patient need. Families are left confused, providers are overloaded, and case managers are forced to operate inside tools that weren’t designed for the reality of their work.
What struck me most was how normalized the dysfunction had become. Everyone could see the cracks and they were amplified by the realities of modern healthcare. Reimbursement models that reward speed, fragmented information flows, and constant operational pressure forces people to adapt to a system that can work against patients and providers alike.
I chose this path because it sits at the intersection of systems design, ethics, and human impact. Healthcare is complex, regulated, and slow to change, but that’s exactly why it matters. If you can improve one of the most stressful transitions in a person’s life, you don’t just save money or time you restore dignity. That felt worth building for.
What are the missing pieces for you right now?
For me, the missing pieces are less about ideas or capital and more about proof and alignment.
📈 I’m working toward the kind of traction that turns belief into inevitability. True real-world validation that this approach improves outcomes for patients, families, and care teams at scale (which all of our data is pointing to a resounding yes, we are improving the process for all parties!).
🤝 I’m also seeking partners who are willing to move beyond pilot thinking and commit to long-term change, even when it’s uncomfortable.
⚖️ Finally, I’m constantly balancing speed with responsibility, making sure we move fast enough to matter, but thoughtfully enough to earn trust in a space where mistakes carry real human consequences.
What gives you hope?
The clinicians and case managers who keep pushing for better tools, even when the system makes it hard.
The growing willingness, especially post-COVID, to admit that “the way we’ve always done it” is no longer acceptable.
Seeing families ask smarter questions and demand transparency.
The belief that small structural changes, applied at the right moment, can ripple outward in meaningful ways.
At the end of the day, I’m hopeful because healthcare is still made of people and when systems support the mission rather than obstruct it, doing the right thing becomes the easiest thing.
🧑🤝🧑 Out & about in SF
2026 kicked off in exciting fashion, with thousands of healthcare folks descending upon San Francisco. To it’s credit, SF put on some wonderful weather for our out-of-town visitors.
I can’t fit them all in, but selected highlights from the week follow!
The Slow Salon: NovaScale Advisory
Designed to be a respite from the energizing, but chaotic week in SF, The Slow Salon was an intimate space for curated conversation and Michelin-starred nibbles, as well as time for breathwork and room for futuring.
The inaugural event received fantastic feedback, so we’ll definitely be back for JPM 2027. In the meantime, I’m exploring the next tentative locations in LA or NYC in spring. Reach out if you want to collaborate on a future Slow Salon.
A cozy respite from the hectic back-and-forth outside
Women’s Health Advocates & AoA Dx
This was a standing-room-only event (with the overflow room in action) showcasing the release of a new report underscoring the depth and breadth of exits in women’s health.
Hint: they’re accelerating. It’s just the beginning for a new era of healthcare that leaves “one size fits all” in the dust.
As a Steering Committee member of WHA (reach out if you’re curious about more information), I was happy to help facilitate this SF-based event and have an excuse to say hello to everyone as they arrived!
Who knew that 8am events could be this fun! Cameos from Jen Marples and Amanda DePalma, plus Liz Powell opening the show.
Medicines 360 & WellcomeLeap
A celebratory atmosphere surrounded the guests at this event, focusing on what has been accomplished in women’s health and what will be. WHA members were strongly represented, and I loved unexpectedly running into some members of the Council.
"Together, we can change the trajectory of pregnancy outcomes for women worldwide, while prioritizing access from day one.”
A happy meetup with Rachel Tsui and Pam Scott.
💡In case you missed it
📍Meet me in real life
January 2026: Virtual
Thursday, January 29: Join me in discussing how to work with fractional / consultant / advisor / part-time experts. We’ll explore what works, what doesn’t, and how to make the most of outside expertise without overcomplicating your team.
I’ll be chatting with Shawn Ramirez, CEO & Founder of Healthcare AI company eloraHQ, and the panel will be moderated by Fieldwork Partners, who build and guide data and engineering teams.RSVP here.
February 2026: San Francisco
Friday, February 1: Celebrate Black History Month and Big Game week in the Bay with Golden State Valkyries’ very own Tiffany “Tip” Hayes.
Alongside co-founder Mariah Cooks, Tip is bringing Living on Purpose to life for a night of purpose, style, and community.
RSVP here.
✨ Let’s build together
I help HealthTech & AgeTech founders through Pre-Seed —>Series A build the business muscle that matches their financial aspirations.
At the moments that matter for your company’s future, I’m your fractional Chief Business Officer (fCBO) or Executive Coach.
Reach out if you’re tackling gnarly problems.
