In a recent interview with KQED, Ezekiel Emanuel, MD, PhD, laughed when he was asked what Silicon Valley can do for healthcare moving forward.
"I do think there is an important role for tech, but I think the role is probably not what many of the startup companies around [Silicon Valley] are thinking of," Dr. Emanuel said. Instead, he advocated for technology that "augments" the work of providers.
A self-proclaimed "techno-skeptic," Dr. Emanuel added that he's "much more skeptical that the computer is going to replace a doctor."
Dr. Emanuel boiled it down to one idea: The problem isn't a lack of information. It's what to do when you have the information. "And there, tech is not going to be the key thing," he said. "Medicine fundamentally is about human interaction. That is really the most important challenge, and I don't think the tech sector has locked onto that part of it."
Click here to listen to Dr. Emanuel's interview with KQED.