In recent months, we’ve seen an influx of new AI-powered health apps promising to help people better manage their health. Platforms like Verily’s new consumer health app highlight just how quickly the conversation around “patient empowerment” is evolving. As a physician and patient, I’m encouraged to see technology companies investing in experiences that help people better understand and manage their health. As a technologist, I’m equally aware of the responsibility that comes with holding and interpreting something as intimate as personal health information.

When patients entrust us with their data, they’re not merely sharing a spreadsheet of numbers or lab results - they’re sharing their stories. That exchange deserves transparency, respect, and balance. In many ways, the health data economy is still in its infancy, and the choices we make now will shape the level of trust patients have in technology for years to come.

A Defining Moment in Patient Empowerment

With CMS’s groundbreak pledge to create a more patient-centric ecosystem and its intent for patients to be able to use their health data to drive their care, there’s a growing consensus that data access & transparency is the foundation for better healthcare and health. But the question remains: who should hold the keys? Is it institutions? Is it patients? individuals have historically been secondary actors in this space, and HealthEx’s efforts center on putting patients in control of their health records. 

Now, as AI further empowers patients and consumers, how data is handled and managed as apps gain access to patient data is a key question we have to answer. For too long, patients and consumers have been asked to trade access to their health information for limited, surface-level value - a nudge, a reminder, or a generic insight. We can do better. True empowerment isn’t about what patients give up; it’s about what they gain - understanding, agency, and the ability to make informed decisions about their care and their data.

The health industry stands at a crossroads. On one path, data flows into centralized systems designed to make insights “accessible” but ultimately controlled by corporations and intermediaries. On the other, data flows directly to patients, who decide how, where, and for what purpose it should be used. The second path is harder. It requires infrastructure built around consent, security, and transparency - but it’s also the only one that builds lasting trust.

Technology as a Partner, Not a Gatekeeper

At HealthEx, we believe technology should amplify human potential. AI can help a patient see patterns in their health journey that might otherwise go unnoticed. It can empower physicians to act faster and more precisely. How that data is used once rec’d should be made clear to individuals: many, many people would be fine with their data being used to power future discovery and insight, but how their data is being used must be transparent. Options around privacy must be clear. The fine print approach needs to evolve to a plain language, clear, and concise framing that ensures that all end users are aware of how their data is being handled.

I fundamentally believe that the future of healthcare is one in which patients and consumers have far greater agency and control: Imagine a world where every person can access their complete medical record in one secure place, pair it with AI to generate personalized insights, and decide where to flow their data so that the right  clinicians, researchers, and apps can use that data to support the individual in their care. That’s not just convenience - that’s progress toward a healthcare system that truly revolves around the individual.

The Shifting Landscape of Regulation and Trust

Policy is beginning to align with this vision. Recent regulations on interoperability, information blocking, and TEFCA participation are all designed to give patients more access and control. The infrastructure is finally catching up with the intent of the law - that health data belongs to the person it describes. The next step is cultural: technology companies, payers, and providers must work together to make patient-directed access the norm, not the exception.

Trust will be the defining currency of this new ecosystem. Companies that treat data stewardship as a responsibility & a shared partnership with the individual, not just a compliance checkbox, will earn that trust. Those that build transparency into their architecture will lead. And those that partner with patients, rather than simply extracting from them, will ultimately create the most enduring value.

A Better Balance

The goal isn’t to slow down innovation - it’s to guide it with purpose. Every technological leap should bring us closer to a world where patients can see, understand, and decide how their health data is used. When data flows freely to the patient, rather than simply through them, we unlock something far more transformative than predictive models or risk scores: we restore agency.

Health data is among the most personal information we have. It deserves protection, but also activation - in the right hands, under the right conditions. We believe those hands belong first and foremost to the patient.