Healthcare is at the end of its MS-DOS era

"You feel it the moment you try to understand your lab results. Instead of something you can scan and absorb, you get a dense, clinical PDF full of acronyms and numbers, usually without any explanation of what they mean or what to do next). No context. No clarity. It's like receiving an email in binary code and needing a doctor to translate."

"Most people don't go back to their doctor for clarity. According to a new national survey from my firm Cactus, 71% of patients turn to WebMD after a diagnosis. Nearly half now use AI tools like ChatGPT to make sense of their care. One in four say those tools help them understand their health better than their own doctor does."

American healthcare remains trapped in outdated, MS-DOS-era interfaces despite powerful backend systems. Patients routinely receive opaque, jargon-filled lab results and clinical PDFs that lack explanations, context, or actionable next steps. Seventy-one percent of patients consult WebMD after a diagnosis; nearly half use AI tools like ChatGPT to interpret care, and one in four say those tools improve their understanding more than their doctors. High trust in clinicians coexists with significant confusion: over one in four patients leave appointments more confused. Fragmented systems, overwhelming delivery, and poor communication create a widespread comprehension crisis affecting patients, providers, and health systems.

Read at Fast Company