Tomorrow’s Cure – Platform Thinking is Transforming the Future of Healthcare
Mayo Clinic Podcast, August 13, 2025
Host: Kathy Werzer
Live from the Platform Med Conference, June 2025, Minneapolis

Episode Overview

This episode explores how “platform thinking” is revolutionizing healthcare by moving from isolated, physical infrastructure and fragmented care toward global collaboration, data-sharing, and innovation. Through perspectives from Mayo Clinic leaders, clinicians, and global collaborators, the episode illustrates how a platform approach can accelerate breakthroughs, improve equity, and equip clinicians with smarter tools—while maintaining patient trust and privacy.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Limitations of the Traditional Healthcare Model

• Fragmentation and Physical Constraints

  • Historically, healthcare built around buildings and fixed, costly infrastructure led to imbalanced utilization (overcrowded in some places, underused in others) and made innovation hard to scale.
    • “Hospitals could be overcrowded in one region and underutilized in another, and where innovation often struggled.” – Kathy Werzer [01:02]

• Personal Stories Underscore System Gaps

  • Patients slip through cracks: protocols aren’t for individuals but for broad categories.
    • “Do you have a protocol for 50 year old Korean women who are artists and care about their hands function?” – Conference participant [00:34]
    • “Do you have a way of diagnosing stage 4 pancreatic cancer before it’s stage 4?” [00:41]
  • In rural areas or where one provider is the only option, quality and reliability are even more critical.
    • “If we fail, there's nowhere for people to go. We're the only folks in town.” – Dr. Patrick Woodard [03:59]

2. The Rise of Platform Thinking in Healthcare

• What is Platform Thinking?

  • Moving from a “pipeline” (closed-off) model to platforms: shared, open, connected resources and innovation.
    • “Platform thinking is a fresh concept where multiple organizations collaborate to co create greater value for consumers.” – Kathy Werzer [01:39]
    • Platform analogy: “taxis to Uber/Lyft.” Platforms create value by connecting users and resources—not by owning everything. [07:12]

• Mayo Clinic’s Vision

  • Challenge: “Being #1 is not enough; there is responsibility to do something transformative.”
    • “He wanted us to do something much, much more impactful… to help healthcare in a way that has never been done before.” – Dr. Clark Otley on CEO Dr. Gianrico Farrugia’s vision [05:59]
  • Use Mayo’s ethics, experience, and mission as the foundation for global collaboration.

3. Global Collaboration and Data Sharing

• Connecting Underrepresented Populations

  • Building platforms brings more representative data and more precise algorithms, benefiting global and local populations.
    • “This population is underrepresented. We understand that being part of this network will allow not only our population be better represented, but algorithms and new technologies… will be more precise and better serve our own.” – Dr. Rodrigo Demarch, Sao Paulo, Brazil [05:02]

• Necessity of Partnership

  • One institution can’t meet every need; platform enables equity and access across regions.
    • “The future of medicine can't be done alone.” – Dr. Patrick Woodard [19:41]
    • “Bidirectional reciprocity”—every platform participant both gives and receives.

4. Data, AI, and Protecting Trust

• Empowering Clinicians, Not Replacing Them

  • Key theme: AI/tools should free clinicians for ‘empathetic care,’ not diminish their role.
    • “You free up the space for the clinician to do what the human does best... empathetic care, listening, investigating further...” – Dr. Sonja Makhni [13:48]
    • “It’s not about replacing the human, it’s about how can we arm the human…” [13:48]

• Protecting the Doctor-Patient Relationship

  • Managing EHR/data smartly gives physicians more quality interaction time.
    • “The doctor-patient relationship is sacrosanct. The platform enhances that relationship... helps physicians spend more quality time with the patient.” – Dr. Deepak Abraham [14:50]

• AI Needs “Speed of Trust”

  • AI only beneficial if trusted by clinicians and patients. Transparency, permissions, and traceability are essential.
    • “Healthcare moves at the speed of trust. AI will move also at the speed of trust.” – Ashima Gupta, Google [15:46]
    • “It’s not enough just to give an answer. We want to make sure that answer is pointing back to the gold set of rules.” [16:39]

• Best-in-Class Privacy and Data Security

  • Mayo developed de-identification tech: 99.9% accuracy, multiple privacy layers.
    • “We worked with one of our partners to develop technology that de-identified to 99.9% accurate... multiple layers of privacy protection beyond the deidentification.” – Dr. Clark Otley [17:14]
    • Platform Connect now links Mayo's 10 million patients to 50+ million through data sharing [18:31]

5. Platform Thinking in Action: Early Discoveries and Smarter Treatments

• Aggregated Data Informs Future Care

  • Using experience from millions of patients for smarter, earlier treatments, reducing risk.
    • “If we have millions and millions of patients’ experience in the past, should not that guide the care of patients in the future?” – Dr. John Halamka [18:51]

• Scaling World-Class Care Globally

  • Goal: “Enable 50% of global healthcare providers to benefit from Mayo’s knowledge.” [11:12]
  • Example: Hospital-at-home—30% of today’s in-hospital care can be delivered at home via virtual care.
    • “Imagine a hospital having a virtual floor on top of the current building... that virtual floor happens to be in your bedroom.” – Manish Goyal [21:36]

• Collaborate & Compete: The Ecosystem Mindset

  • Platform requires trust, openness, and shared purpose—even among competitors.
    • “When we have partners who would seemingly compete with us join because they see a greater good...” – Manish Goyal [23:02]

• Accelerating & Spreading Innovation Globally

  • Institutions share technology and research in both directions—innovation flows in and out.
    • “How can we bring our technology… to other countries?... It fosters research, it fosters innovation.” – Dr. Demarch [24:01]

6. From Pipeline to Platform: A Shift in Values and Operations

• Values-Guided Openness

  • Platform model: Open, guided by values, embedded scientific accuracy.
    • “Let’s set some rules so things happen with high degrees of accuracy, scientifically based and make sure our values are embedded...” – Dr. Clark Otley [25:18]

• A Moment of Opportunity

  • The current acceleration in healthcare technology makes now a unique turning point.
    • “I have never seen evolution of technology and ideas and businesses happen as quickly as it is now... the only way to do it is partnership and collaboration around platform thinking.” – Dr. John Halamka [26:19]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Being number one is not enough. It's a responsibility to be number one. And we can't just incrementally get a little bit better each year. We need to do something really transformative...”
  – Dr. Clark Otley [05:59]

• “Healthcare moves at the speed of trust. AI will move also at the speed of trust.”
  – Ashima Gupta [15:46]

• “The doctor-patient relationship is sacrosanct... The platform enhances that relationship...”
  – Dr. Deepak Abraham [14:50]

• “If we have millions and millions of patients’ experience in the past, should not that guide the care of patients in the future?”
  – Dr. John Halamka [18:51]

• “Imagine a hospital having a virtual floor ... that virtual floor happens to be in your bedroom.”
  – Manish Goyal [21:36]

• “The future of medicine can’t be done alone... just because you live in western South Dakota doesn’t mean you need to have less equity and less access to care...”
  – Dr. Patrick Woodard [19:41]

• “Let’s open it up to the world. Everybody is just doing their part to contribute in wonderful ways... It really is about the platform. It’s about the ecosystem of people and innovators and technologies...”
  – Dr. Clark Otley [25:18]

• “You’re here to make an impact. You’re here to be part of the global transformation of health care. ...The only way to do it is partnership and collaboration around platform thinking.”
  – Dr. John Halamka [26:19]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:34 – Patient stories illustrating the limits of current healthcare
• 03:59 – Dr. Woodard on being the sole provider in a rural area
• 05:02 – Dr. Demarch on inclusivity and global data sharing
• 05:59 – Mayo Clinic’s challenge: transformation over incremental gains
• 07:12 – Manish Goyal on what a platform is (taxi/Uber analogy)
• 11:12 – Mayo’s platform goal: scale knowledge globally
• 13:48 – Dr. Makhni: platforms empower clinicians, not replace
• 14:50 – Dr. Abraham: platform enhances patient-physician time
• 15:46 – Ashima Gupta: trust is essential for AI in healthcare
• 17:14 – Dr. Otley: world-class privacy and de-identification tech
• 18:51 – Dr. Halamka: learning from aggregate patient data
• 19:41 – Dr. Woodard: shared platforms for equity
• 21:36 – Manish Goyal: hospital-at-home virtual floor
• 24:01 – Dr. Demarch: platform accelerates global/local innovation
• 25:18 – Dr. Otley: values-driven, open ecosystem vs. pipeline model
• 26:19 – Dr. Halamka: now is the moment for platform thinking and collaboration

Conclusion

“Platform thinking” marks a pivotal shift in healthcare, emphasizing openness, shared purpose, rigorous privacy protections, and trust—powered by technology, but grounded in human values and partnerships. Mayo Clinic and its partners believe that by opening healthcare’s data and expertise to a global, collaborative ecosystem, they can accelerate innovation, personalize care, and bring world-class treatments to every corner of the globe. The message: the future of healthcare is not about working alone, but building platforms that lift everyone.