Software Is About to Eat Chronic Disease and Save Us

Changes are coming. Unprecedented access to data about providers, results of procedures and quality of hospitals and other care giving institutions will be expanding in amazing ways as electronic health records legislation ripples through the industry. The BlueButton Health project is a great example and this is just the beginning. Open data enables fundamental shifts in the way patients manage their health and it will influence trillions of dollars in annual spend.

The start-ups that most deeply engage consumers around this data – the ones that help them understand it, consume it and make it actionable — will have the most influence – and will create the most value.

Last July I talked about how the coming revolution in healthcare would be consumerized but I didn’t realize how fast this was happening. The US healthcare machine is massive, measured in $trillions. As with any big, heavy object, there is a ton of inertia, but it is moving – accelerating – and if you are an entrepreneur who wants to change the world, you should jump directly in its path. NOW. We have already made a couple investments in the space that are yet to be announced, and I am really excited to be focused here and to work with entrepreneurs in this world...