The clipboard isn’t the problem — corporate control is I’ve long argued that combining wearables, electronic medical records, and AI offers the fastest, most humane path to reducing patient suffering and cutting healthcare costs—especially in the U.S., where expenses are unsustainable. I made this case recently in a piece on Microsoft’s “medical superintelligence” and the essential role of state-run health systems in ensuring abundant, universal, and secure data. That’s why the latest White House announcement is so alarming: a “patient-centered healthcare ecosystem” launched under the Trump administration via the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, backed by Palantir, Amazon, Apple, Google, OpenAI, and over sixty other tech giants. The plan claims to “break down digital walls,” deploy modern identity systems, and use AI to “kill the clipboard” while managing chronic conditions like diabetes and obesity. But what’s truly troubling is that more than sixty corporations are eager to centralize our sensitive medical data on private servers—putting profit-driven interests, not public health, at the heart of America’s medical future.

The clipboard isn’t the problem — corporate control is. For years, I’ve argued that the convergence of wearables, electronic medical records, and artificial intelligence represents the fastest and most humane path to reducing patient suffering and lowering the soaring costs of healthcare—especially in the United States, where the system is economically unsustainable. I laid out this vision recently in an article about Microsoft’s “medical superintelligence” and the essential role of publicly run health systems in ensuring that health data is abundant, universally accessible, and rigorously protected. That’s why the latest White House announcement is deeply troubling. It unveils a “patient-centered healthcare ecosystem” being piloted under the Trump administration’s banner, led by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and backed by a coalition of tech giants including Palantir, Amazon, Apple, Google, OpenAI, and more. The plan claims to “break down digital walls,” implement modern digital identity systems, and deploy AI tools that will “kill the clipboard”—a reference to the outdated practice of manually transferring patient information between providers. On the surface, these promises sound promising: better coordination, smarter disease management for conditions like diabetes and obesity, and a more seamless patient experience. But the real concern lies beneath the glossy messaging. Over sixty technology companies are now poised to “dump” vast amounts of sensitive medical data onto private servers, operating under proprietary systems and commercial incentives that prioritize profit over privacy, equity, and public good. This isn’t about modernizing healthcare. It’s about privatizing it. By allowing private corporations to control the infrastructure and data flows of the nation’s health system, we risk creating a fragmented, profit-driven ecosystem where access to care depends on who owns the data—and who can afford to pay for it. The promise of AI-powered health innovation is real, but only if it’s built on a foundation of public stewardship, transparency, and accountability. The real danger isn’t the clipboard. It’s the unchecked expansion of corporate power over our most intimate personal information. If we don’t demand that health data remain a public good—managed by democratically accountable institutions, not Silicon Valley conglomerates—we’ll end up with a system that’s efficient for shareholders but deeply unequal for patients.