A conversation with Dr. David Feinberg
Over the last half-century, health care has consistently trended toward automation. Gone are the days of house calls and handwritten prescriptions. Now, health care involves a complex system of tech tools. Patient records are digitized, diagnoses hinge on algorithms and patients tune into their check- ups on Zoom. Technology is taking over. But how can we streamline health care without losing the human touch? According to healthcare executive and Chairman of Oracle Health Dr. David Feinberg, the answer is simple: keeping human connection at the center of every interaction. He believes that at its core, health care is about people taking care of people. That, Dr. Feinberg says, should be the industry ’ s “ true north. ” In a space “ focused on the latest and greatest, ” this perspective is refreshingly grounded and geared toward lasting change. What set you on your path in medicine, and why did you specialize in pediatric psychiatry? I initially thought I would be a pediatrician because I loved hanging out with kids and wanted to help them, but after my psychiatry rotation, I was left with more questions than answers. It was the one part of medicine that I couldn ’ t figure out, and I wanted to learn more. This led me to specialize in child and adolescent psychiatry.
David Feinberg, MD, Chairman, Oracle Health
You shifted from “ one patient at a time ” medicine to health system and company management. What was the impetus for that change?
Early in my training, I ran a child and adolescent psychiatry clinic. My mom said: “ Why are you becoming an administrator? You ’ ll take care of fewer patients. ” I told her that I could actually take care of more patients if I helped the doctors on my team improve the care they delivered. Today, in my role at Oracle Health, we develop tools and systems to make it easier for patients and their families to have a clearer understanding of what ’ s going on with the patient ’ s disease and the care being delivered. It ’ s been great to do this for more than just one patient at a time. I also believe it is critical to develop and share authoritative information with the public. This is something we accomplished during the pandemic when I was at Google. Our YouTube COVID-19 information page on vaccine access and symptom management got over 50 billion impressions. Now, it has over 80 billion. It feels good to be able to share information at that scale on such important topics that could impact so many lives. What is your biggest concern in health care today? The biggest concern for me is the inequity in care. We ’ re too focused on the latest and greatest, while some people don ’ t even have neighborhoods they can walk in, can ’ t access healthy food, suffer from community violence and are surrounded by terrible substance use and cigarette smoking. We know these situations and behaviors lead to the biggest costs in health care. But often, we are hyper-focused on esoteric new medications that keep people alive for a few weeks longer. I ’ m not saying this is unimportant, but depending on where you live in the U.S., you could be separated by two stops on the L in Chicago or live on two sides of the city in Palo Alto, see the same doctor and your life expectancy will vary by 25 years. That ’ s unconscionable to me. “ Inequity in the ability to have years in your life and life in your years is terrible. ” That ’ s what keeps me up at night. I always say: “ Choose your parents wisely. It leads to good outcomes. ” Obviously, no one gets to pick their parents. Wouldn ’ t it be great if that didn ’ t matter? What if every child could get support, food and a good education; feel safe and have hope and role models that look like them? If you really want to fix health, fix education. As you get smarter or more educated, you get healthier. Dr. David Feinberg presenting at the Lake Nona Impact Forum in 2023. Dr. Feinberg is a thought leader in health care, having previously led Google Health, Cerner as well as UCLA Health and Geisinger Health systems
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