Technology is a Tool, not a Solution

I once had a boss that regularly said "a fool with a tool is still a fool." Meaning if you don't have the right skills, structure or process in place, no tool is going to solve your problem. Solutions solve problems and tools help implement solutions.

It is why technology is not a silver bullet for healthcare problems. No matter how many use cases, features or well documented results it has, technology is still a tool. I strongly agree with this MobiHealth article, regarding technology in primary care:

"...we think of technology as a way to get the barriers out of place so people can interact..."

In this quote from Jason Montgomery on his hospital's ImagineCare program, the solution is human interaction. Using technology as a means to change your structures and process or remove barriers can clear the path for truly transformative solutions, but technology alone will not create change.