With extensive experience driving innovation in medical technology, Faisal Zain has a unique perspective on the intersection of device manufacturing and clinical workflows. He specializes in how digital tools can be thoughtfully integrated into the healthcare ecosystem not just for efficiency’s sake, but to fundamentally reduce the cognitive burden on clinicians. This conversation explores the power of a micro-app strategy, the evolution of interoperability standards, and how targeted technology can ultimately lead to more compassionate, patient-centered care.
Clinicians often navigate multiple systems and data sources, which can increase their cognitive burden. How does a micro-app strategy specifically reduce this fragmentation, and could you share a real-world example of an app simplifying a complex daily workflow for a nurse or physician?
The core of the problem is that our clinicians are forced to become human data integrators. They’re toggling between the EHR, a separate imaging portal, a lab system, and more, all while trying to hold a coherent picture of the patient in their mind. A micro-app strategy directly attacks this fragmentation by creating a single, purpose-built lens for a specific task. Instead of asking the clinician to pull data from five places, the app does it for them and surfaces only the necessary insights right when they’re needed. Imagine a nurse on a busy med-surg floor. A “Sepsis Alert” micro-app could be embedded in their workflow. When a patient’s vitals and lab results cross a certain threshold, the app doesn’t just send a generic alert. It pulls the relevant data from multiple sources, synthesizes it into a clear dashboard, and presents the recommended care protocol directly within the patient’s chart, eliminating the need to hunt for information and allowing for immediate, decisive action.
The integration of apps into EHRs often relies on standards like FHIR. Could you walk us through the practical difference between a ‘SMART on FHIR’ approach and the next evolution, ‘SMART and FHIR’? What new capabilities does this unlock for a care team on the ground?
Think of ‘SMART on FHIR’ as the foundational first step. It’s like being able to securely plug a specialized tool directly into the EHR. The app can read and write data from that single source, which is incredibly powerful. For example, a growth chart app can pull pediatric data and visualize it without the clinician ever leaving the EHR. But ‘SMART and FHIR’ is the true paradigm shift; it’s about creating a networked ecosystem. These new apps aren’t just interoperable with the EHR; they are interoperable with one another. This means an app can pull data from the hospital EHR, synthesize it with information from a patient’s wearable device, and cross-reference it with data from a specialty pharmacy platform. For a care team managing a patient with chronic disease, this unlocks a truly holistic view, enabling proactive adjustments to care based on a complete and current data picture, not just one piece of it.
Developing these apps is often described as lighter and faster than waiting for full EHR partner support. What does the development and deployment process look like, and how do you ensure these solutions are scalable and sustainable across a large health system with different EHR applications?
The speed and agility come from building on a solid foundation that’s already been laid. Thanks to government-catalyzed standards from programs like the 21st Century Cures Act, we have a common language—FHIR—that most systems now speak. So instead of a massive, multi-year project to build a new feature into a core EHR, we can develop a small, focused micro-app that solves one specific problem very well. The process is iterative; we identify a high-friction workflow, build a targeted solution, and deploy it. Sustainability and scalability are baked in because we’re using those standardized building blocks. An app built to work with one major EHR can be adapted to work with another because they share that common FHIR framework. This prevents us from being locked into a single vendor and ensures our innovations can be leveraged across the entire enterprise, making the investment far more effective over time.
This type of innovation is positioned as having a measurable impact beyond just technology. What key metrics do you use to evaluate an app’s success in streamlining workflows, and how do you directly tie its use to tangible improvements in patient care or outcomes?
We have to move beyond just tracking logins and clicks. True success is measured by the friction we remove from a clinician’s day. We look at metrics like a reduction in time-to-documentation for a specific task or a decrease in the number of screens a nurse has to navigate to confirm a medication order. These are tangible workflow improvements. We then tie that directly to patient care. For instance, if a micro-app for managing hypertension streamlines data review, we can measure if that leads to a higher percentage of patients reaching their target blood pressure. The link is direct: by making it easier for the clinician to do the right thing, we see a corresponding, measurable improvement in the patient’s clinical outcome. It’s not innovation for innovation’s sake; it’s innovation with a clear and measurable purpose.
By reducing time spent on administrative tasks, clinicians can focus more on patients. Can you describe a specific scenario where implementing a micro-app led to a more compassionate or effective patient interaction? What was the tangible change in the clinician-patient dynamic?
I recall a scenario with a complex oncology patient who had a long and varied treatment history. Previously, before a consultation, the physician would spend 10 to 15 minutes with their back to the patient, clicking through endless tabs in the EHR to piece together the timeline of different chemotherapies, radiation treatments, and lab results. We implemented a micro-app that presented this entire history on a single, visual timeline. The change was immediate and profound. The physician could now sit facing the patient, tablet in hand, and collaboratively review the journey. They could point to a specific treatment on the timeline and ask, “How did you feel during this period?” The conversation shifted from a data-entry session to a genuine human interaction. That reclaimed time and mental energy were converted directly into more focused, empathetic, and compassionate care, strengthening the patient-physician relationship at a moment when it matters most.
What is your forecast for platform-level interoperability in healthcare?
My forecast is one of accelerated, ecosystem-driven innovation. We are moving away from the old model where monolithic EHRs were the sole source of truth and innovation. The future is a federated one, where the EHR serves as a powerful hub, but it’s surrounded by a network of specialized, ‘SMART and FHIR’ enabled applications that talk to it and to each other. This will create a truly fluid data environment where insights can be surfaced from any connected source—be it a hospital system, a remote monitoring device, or a genomic sequencing lab—and delivered directly into the clinician’s workflow. This emerging paradigm of platform-level interoperability will finally allow us to build a healthcare system that is as dynamic, responsive, and interconnected as the human bodies it is designed to care for.
