Health Tech Needs More Cost Plus Drugs-esque AI Innovation

Innovation in health technology continues at a rapid pace, yet much of it remains concentrated on product development rather than addressing cost. As companies compete to embed AI into diagnostics, engagement platforms, and virtual care solutions, few are interrogating the economic frameworks these tools rely on. Meeting patient needs requires more than digital sophistication. It requires structural clarity and a willingness to confront affordability directly.

The approach taken by Cost Plus Drugs underscores what meaningful innovation can look like. Rather than inventing new technologies, the company restructured essential processes with pricing, supply chain logistics, fulfillment, and transparency. This allowed automation to serve patients rather than inflate complexity. The result is a model in which AI supports access rather than conceals cost.

Digital health companies now routinely depend on pharmacy services to scale. From GLP-1 weight loss programs to contraceptive subscriptions, virtual prescribing and delivery are core components of many platforms. Yet, despite their modern interfaces, many still rely on opaque pricing models and reimbursement structures that have historically excluded patients. Aesthetics cannot substitute for accessibility. Technological refinement is not synonymous with health system progress.

AI can enhance care delivery when deployed with discipline and purpose. At Cost Plus Drugs, AI is used to forecast inventory, optimize fulfillment, and improve customer service operations. These are not promotional features but essential functions that reduce friction and generate measurable savings. Analysts have estimated that we could save billions annually by adopting similar pricing strategies for generics.

Too often, AI is positioned as the innovation rather than as a means to support operational reform. Efficiency is not inherently virtuous if it reinforces profit without addressing patient burden. Personalization and automation are useful, but they are insufficient if they exist within systems that remain opaque, fragmented, and extractive. We need structural innovation, models that prioritize transparency, accountability, and shared value.

Health tech leaders can commit to pricing structures that patients understand before being asked to pay. They can design AI applications that reduce administrative waste rather than enable new forms of billing. They can collaborate with pharmacies, payers, and health systems to build infrastructure that supports adherence, continuity, and cost transparency. They can tie compensation to outcomes rather than volume.

The original promise of digital health was never merely convenience and access, yet tons of founders highlight those benefits. We should be working to build a more equitable, intelligent, and patient-centered system. That future remains possible, but only if affordability becomes a shared responsibility, not an afterthought. We do not need more products. We need better priorities.

Not a Cautionary Tale (Too few words...)

Typically, I have been been highlighting organizations that have been doing things well or others that alternatively may have a cautionary tale for us to learn from ini healthtech. Today, I have to acknowledge the legislation that was passed to cut Medicaid and Medicare, amongst other things. Those in healthcare know that this will devastate so many. Lives will be lost. Hospitals will close. Emergency departments will be overutilized. Diagnoses will be made at later stages. This will impact more than the millions of people that will lose their healthcare access. It had been projected in the4 past that healthcare disparities cost $450 billion. Now, that number will be unimaginable. Now as we go into the long weekend based on the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness, we must reflect on whether health is included in that?

How is your organization prepping for the changes ahead?