When it comes to health and technology, language matters.

Chrissy Farr of CNBC during WWDC: ”Quick note that it’s 2 hours in and Apple has not used the term “digital health.” Perhaps only an internal thing?”

I suggested that maybe ‘digital health’ is now just health again.

Wendy Sue Swanson countered with the idea that the digital health designation is key in helping to establish trust with leaders in healthcare organizations reticent to change.

Today Jay Parkinson came in with the idea that digital health really should be caretech.

Why “caretech?” Because “care” implies the process of laypeople working with actual human health professionals to truly solve medical problems. And “tech” implies that the primary emphasis of the experience is digital/virtual instead of physical. There’s precedent here with “fintech,” “biotech,” and “insuretech.” Calling this space “caretech” allows us to differentiate our offering from WebMD, AI chatbots, and the rest. We are a fundamentally different thing.

Once all care is technologically-mediated I suspect it becomes care again.

Either way, I love how Jay thinks. And check out his amazing company, Sherpaa