Wolf&Grayson EditorialHealthcare delivery continues to evolve with advancing technology, yet the fundamental challenge remains: creating a better experience for both patients and healthcare providers. Dr. Jason La Marca has devoted his career to solving this puzzle through healthcare informatics and strategic operational improvements, working to make medical care more efficient while maintaining the human touch that’s essential to healing.
Making Healthcare More Patient-Friendly
For Dr. Jason, the motivation to improve healthcare systems stems from a simple truth about patient experiences. “Nobody is ever going to go to a party and say ‘Oh my God, I had the best time at the hospital,'” he notes. “Most of the time people are not feeling right. So if we can make this experience for them pleasant, at least bearable and not painful, and we can use cool gadgets that they can see the doctors using, they can get excited about it as well, and the doctors get excited about it because it makes it easier for them to get their work done – that’s the kind of stuff that turns me on.” His approach combines practical solutions with an understanding of healthcare’s human elements. “I like devices, I like software, I like solutions that just streamline things, make the whole experience go quicker and less stuff to do afterward,” he explains.
Realizing the Power to Drive Change
Dr. Jason’s defining career moment came during a steering committee presentation about electronic medical records. “I realized right away when I started to speak that first and foremost my title meant a lot,” he recalls. “The fact that I was a physician talking to them, and there’s a lot of physicians in the room – they listened right away.” This experience revealed his unique position to influence healthcare transformation. “It was obvious to me that wow, I’m actually driving this bus, I’m not a passenger,” he shares. “There is a part of my little world that influences a lot of people.”
When asked about the one thing he would change instantly in healthcare, Dr. Jason doesn’t hesitate: making medical records truly portable and accessible. “How great would it be if it’s as simple as you opening up your cell phone and your entire healthcare record is there from time zero to today?” he suggests. “You can share it with anybody and restrict what you don’t want to give them.” This vision goes beyond convenience. “You can prevent doctors from ordering additional lab tests which you just had a week ago which are still valid,” he explains. “There would be a transparency within healthcare that I think would be very beneficial.”
Enhancing Hospital Rooms with Technology
Dr. Jason is particularly excited about innovations in virtual medicine. He points to companies like Andor that are revolutionizing hospital care: “They basically make every room a kind of telepresence or telehealth environment that all the caregivers can participate in,” he explains. “It allows for you to use staff who aren’t on-premises, and it allows patients to feel connected and not alone.” This transformation extends to making healthcare delivery more efficient. “They have to see upwards of 20, 30, 40 patients in a day,” he notes. “By using tools like ambient AI scribes and solutions like that, which are just listening all the time, they’re creating the notes for you. All you’ve got to do is review it. If you’re happy with it, sign it, done.”
When considering hospital design improvements, Dr. Jason focuses on family comfort. “The patient’s family is often overlooked and they’re always there,” he observes. His solution? “Having the ability for patients to actually sleep comfortably in a hospital with their loved ones would be a massive improvement. Maybe even it would be nice if you just had a hotel next to the hospital.”
Balancing Technology and Humanity
Dr. Jason emphasizes that while automation is crucial for efficiency, human connection remains irreplaceable. “We need people to be around people. Sick people always need someone to hold their hands. They need someone to be patient with them and just be present,” he affirms. “Those things are very important and machines will not replace them.” For aspiring healthcare professionals, he advises gaining diverse experiences early. “Get away from your family when you’re a teenager and young adult, and go out in the real world and get exposure to things that make you very uncomfortable,” he suggests. “When you see the folks that work in healthcare and you see how comfortable they are in every environment, these are people that have been immersed in it.”
His ultimate vision bridges technology and humanity: “We want to make the lives of people better. That includes the patients and the providers,” he concludes. “We don’t want people to ever feel like this is a grind. This needs to be the place they want to be because if you want someone to take care of your wife, you want them to love what they do.”
To connect with Dr. Jason La Marca and learn more about his work in healthcare innovation, visit his LinkedIn profile.
