Why Healthcare Technology Must Be Treated as a Public Good

As digital infrastructure becomes more deeply embedded in our health systems, the stakes for how we build, govern, and sustain technology have never been higher. From real-time healthcare capacity platforms to AI-assisted care models, healthcare technology is no longer just a commercial product—it’s a critical component of our public health infrastructure.

Yet too often, technology deployment stops at the transaction. A system is installed, users are trained, and the contract ends. But when lives and communities depend on a system's performance, we must ask more of our technology partners—and of the policies and investments that support them.

It’s time we begin treating healthcare technology as a public good—and demanding the ecosystem of support, governance, and accountability that such a designation requires.

Public Good, Not Private Gadget

Healthcare doesn’t function in silos, and neither should the tools that support it. Whether it's a bed availability system during a disaster or a predictive analytics platform in a safety-net hospital, these technologies have a ripple effect across entire communities.

This makes them more than private tools for private gain—they are shared infrastructure that must be maintained, governed, and expanded with the public interest in mind.

For Policymakers: This means directing funding and incentives not just to tech acquisition, but to its responsible implementation, governance, and long-term support.

For Investors: Value creation in healthcare tech is no longer just about velocity or scale—it’s about stewardship, durability, and measurable impact on community health outcomes.

Shared Governance Is Not Optional

Healthcare involves multiple stakeholders—patients, providers, payers, public health agencies, emergency managers—and each one brings a unique perspective to the table. When technology serves this kind of ecosystem, its governance must do the same.

Too often, companies sell into large systems without establishing clear pathways for stakeholder input or collaborative oversight. That’s a recipe for misalignment, mistrust, and underutilization.

Smart companies are investing in governance infrastructure—advisory boards, jurisdictional working groups, and data-use councils—to ensure that tools evolve in partnership with the communities they serve.

Data Without Literacy Is an Empty Promise

A common myth in healthcare technology is that “more data” means better outcomes. But data is only as useful as the user’s ability to interpret and act on it.

Companies that treat implementation as complete once the system is “live” miss a critical opportunity to drive real-world change. Instead, they should offer wraparound services that include:

• Clinical and operational decision support

• Customized analytics training

• Workflow integration tailored to diverse users (nurses, administrators, policymakers)

  
  

For Policymakers: Consider tying funding and certification to training, data governance, and demonstrated stakeholder engagement—not just technical compliance.

Broaden the Benefit Beyond the Buyer

Technology should be a force multiplier for the healthcare ecosystem, not a closed loop. That means creating opportunities for:

• Academic researchers to use de-identified data for public health and policy evaluation

• Public health agencies to receive alerts or dashboards that enhance regional preparedness

• CBOs and local nonprofits to connect with patient populations via open APIs or community data platforms

  
  

When companies build with secondary value in mind, everyone benefits—and the system becomes more resilient, adaptive, and inclusive.

The Bottom Line

Regardless of what role you play along the healthcare technology continuum, the imperative is clear: healthcare technology is no longer just a product; it's a platform for public good. And with that comes the responsibility—and the opportunity—to build systems that are not only technically sound, but also socially sustainable.

Let’s align investment, procurement, and policy to:

• Prioritize shared governance and equity

• Require training and decision support alongside implementation

• Create multi-stakeholder value beyond the initial customer

• Putting the patient, which is all of us, first

  
  

Because when the public bears the risk, the public deserves the reward.