If you only read the headlines, you might think our healthcare system here in the U.S. is all problems … too expensive, too confusing, too broken to fix. While there’s truth in those challenges, that’s far from the whole story. What often gets overlooked is just how much it has transformed over the years, and how many lives have been improved because of it.

From major medical breakthroughs to everyday tools that make care easier and more personal, the progress we’ve made is actually pretty incredible. I’ve seen it firsthand in my work and in my personal life. When I step back think about it, I’m reminded of something we don’t appreciate enough: our healthcare system isn’t perfect, but it’s one of the most innovative in the world.

You don’t have to look too far to see just how much has changed. When my dad was my age, healthcare looked a lot different. For most of his adult life, you usually only went to the doctor when something felt wrong, not for prevention. Everything was done on paper, so there wasn’t an easy way to track your full health history or share it between doctors. Medical advancements were much more limited too, with fewer screening tools, fewer specialists, and hardly any access to your own health information.

Today, the experience is completely different. I can hop on a virtual appointment from home, check my heart rate on my watch, pull up lab results on my phone, and even get alerts if something looks off. I track how I sleep, how much I move, and I can look up anything I’m curious about. And beyond just having access, I’m expected (and empowered) to play an active role in managing my health.

Tools like MyChart and other patient portals allow people to view their test results, message their doctors, schedule appointments, and manage prescriptions all in one place. Wearable devices and at-home monitors give real-time feedback about everything from heart rhythms to glucose levels. And mobile apps let us set medication reminders, track symptoms, and even connect with support groups.

Today, we have access to drugs and surgeries that are more targeted, with the ability to repair damaged body parts using synthetic materials and perform surgeries and diagnostics in some of the most delicate, hard-to-reach areas of the body. It’s a testament to the incredible research and innovation driven by our physicians and scientists, pushing the boundaries of what medicine can achieve.

One of the biggest changes we’ve seen in modern healthcare is the rise of the consumer. Healthcare isn’t just something that happens to you anymore, it’s something you’re actively part of. We’re making more decisions about our health, staying informed, and taking a bigger role in how we manage it. I like to think of it as “knowledgeable aging,” staying curious and engaged as we move through life.

None of these changes happened overnight. They’re the result of decades of steady progress, much of it unfolding quietly before making a visible impact on our daily lives.

For example, in the early 1900s the focus was on public health. Vaccines, antibiotics, and improved sanitation helped combat deadly diseases like polio and tuberculosis. At the time, access to care was mostly limited to those who could afford it or had private insurance. Then in 1965, Medicare and Medicaid came along and changed everything. Suddenly, millions of Americans who couldn’t afford care before finally had a way in.

By the ’70s and ’80s, medical imaging had changed how we diagnosed disease. CT scans, MRIs, and ultrasounds gave us a clearer view inside the body. Life-saving medications, organ transplants, and less invasive surgeries followed.

The Human Genome Project, completed in 2003, revolutionized sequencing, bioinformatics, and molecular biology, creating the foundation that proved critical years later. When SARS-CoV-2 emerged in early 2020, scientists were able to decode its full genome within days, something unthinkable just a decade earlier. That rapid decoding made it possible to design mRNA vaccines in record time, turning genetic insights into lifesaving shots. An incredible demonstration of progress.

At the same time, we’ve seen big leaps in how care is delivered. Telehealth had been around since the 2010s, but COVID accelerated its adoption almost overnight. Today, it’s not just an alternative but an expected and often preferred option for office visits.

Around the late 2000s, doctors’ offices and hospitals started moving from paper charts to digital records thanks to government incentives. It wasn’t perfect but it made it easier for providers to share information and helped patients get more involved in their own care. That digitization laid the groundwork for interoperability, the sharing of data across healthcare and consumer platforms that’s now setting the stage for the biggest shift yet: AI.

Thanks to better data sharing, doctors can now get a fuller picture of their patients’ health and catch issues earlier. It’s an exciting time in healthcare because innovation is moving fast and it’s changing how care will be delivered for years to come. AI is already helping out in big ways by spotting problems sooner, supporting better decisions, and cutting down on paperwork so doctors can spend more time with their patients. Tools like ChatGPT are part of this shift too, giving people a way to dig into their health questions, understand what’s happening, and walk into appointments more prepared. Clinicians are also using these tools to stay up-to-date on research, spot patterns, and deliver better care.

AI has a lot of promise when it comes to moving healthcare forward. To me, it feels like the next step in finally putting all the digital health data we’ve been collecting to good use. There’s so much happening in this space right now. In my next post, I’ll get into more of it like how AI can help make sense of the mountains of data in our systems, personalize care, and take some of the load off doctors by making their daily work simpler.

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It’s easy to get caught up in what’s broken. But if that’s all we focus on, we miss the progress that’s been made. We’re living longer, staying healthier, and have more tools and information at our fingertips than any generation before us. And more than ever, healthcare is becoming more personalized, more connected, and more responsive to what each of us needs.

When I think about how different my life is from my dad’s at this same age, I feel thankful. I can take a more active role in my health, get care when and where I need it, and benefit from innovations that are improving lives every day. It’s allowed me to expand my healthspan, the quality of my life, not just my lifespan, the number of years I live. I’m grateful to be in this chapter of history.

Sure, our healthcare system can be confusing and frustrating at times. But it’s also pretty incredible and one of the most powerful innovation stories in America. The best part … the story is still unfolding. I hope you’re as optimistic as I am about what’s ahead.