How Founders Who Nail Interoperability Win Bigger, Faster, and Smarter

You’ve got the product. You’ve got the users. You’ve even got pilot results showing early traction.

So why is everything still stuck?

Because if your innovation doesn’t align with how people actually work—or how they heal—it doesn’t matter how sleek your interface or powerful your backend. It won’t scale.

In this interview, I spoke with Philip Beckett , Executive Director of the Texas Health Services Authority, to unpack the real reasons interoperability continues to fail—and what it truly takes to build a healthtech solution that lasts. Phil has spent decades bridging the gap between science, data, and public policy, and what he’s learned should challenge how every founder thinks about tech, systems, and care delivery.

We covered everything from patient-matching failures and neonatal name mix-ups to predictive AI models that simulate the health of entire communities. Phil’s journey—from studying protein metabolism in cows to building data models in public health—is as unconventional as it is inspiring.

But what stuck with me most was this: resilience in healthcare doesn’t start with funding. It starts with alignment—of humans, data, and trust.

Let’s break down the takeaways that matter most for founders building scalable, sustainable, and equitable solutions.

🧩 6 Hard-Earned Lessons for Founders

1. Interoperability Isn’t a Tech Problem—It’s a Human One

Phil said it best: we’ve had the technical tools for years. The real blockers are misaligned incentives, legal restrictions, inconsistent workflows, and cultural resistance. Interoperability is only as strong as the trust behind it.

Whether it’s a physician hesitant to use external data or a system that doesn't benefit from sharing, most barriers are behavioral and institutional—not digital. If you’re only solving for data movement, you’re solving the wrong part of the problem.

2. Proactive Care Requires Proactive Infrastructure

One of the biggest shifts we discussed was the need to move from reactive, transactional medicine to a truly proactive, longitudinal care model.

This isn’t just about chronic condition management. It’s about treating patients as whole people—factoring in physical, mental, behavioral, and even spiritual wellness. If your tech can’t support this level of integration, it’s not future-proof.

3. Empowerment Starts with Clarity

Too many patient portals overwhelm users with raw, unfiltered lab data. Red flags everywhere. No context. No education.

Phil pointed out that patients don’t want to interpret elevated lymphocyte counts—they want to know, “Is my mom going to be okay?”

As founders, we have a responsibility to design tools that communicate clearly and compassionately. That’s where real empowerment begins—not with access, but with understanding.

4. Preventive Economics Is the Next Innovation Frontier

This might have been my favorite part of the conversation. Phil described building SimCity-style predictive models that allow communities to simulate the impact of various health investments—vaccination rates, food access, care coordination, you name it.

Imagine if mayors, payers, and planners could project 5-, 10-, or 20-year outcomes from current health investments. That’s where we move from chasing cost savings to designing community wellness. And that’s where the next wave of HealthTech will thrive.

5. Data Is Only Useful When It’s Used

You can have perfect interoperability and still fail—if no one uses the data.

From duplicate CT scans to mismatched baby names, Phil gave real examples of how poor integration wastes resources and erodes trust. Usability, not just availability, must be your north star.

Whether you’re designing for patients, caregivers, or clinicians, your data must show up in the right context, at the right time, inside existing workflows.

6. Sustainability > Pilot Wins

Here’s the truth: grant-funded pilots don’t scale. Flashy demos don’t last. If your business model relies on short-term funding without long-term integration, you’re not building resilience—you’re building risk.

Phil emphasized the importance of funding models that treat community health workers as central—not as afterthoughts. These are the people who close care gaps, build trust, and create continuity. Ignoring them isn’t just inequitable—it’s bad economics.

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💬 Question for You:

If your startup had to prove ROI based on long-term community health outcomes—not just MRR—how would your pitch change?

Let’s talk about it. Drop a comment, reply, or send me a DM. I’d love to hear how you’re thinking differently.

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