Our Take
A healthcare executive's vision statement is not a strategy; without specifics on which technologies work, which gaps close, and at what cost, this remains aspiration rather than instruction.
Why it matters
Ambulatory care capacity and patient access remain structural bottlenecks in U.S. healthcare. Operators like Ozuah shape which bets (digital triage, scheduling systems, telehealth integration, clinic network design) actually move the needle.
Do this week
Healthcare IT leaders: map your three largest ambulatory bottlenecks (wait time, no-show rate, referral lag) and audit whether your current tech stack targets them or optimizes for billing throughput instead.
A healthcare CEO on technology and access
Phil Ozuah, president and CEO of Montefiore Einstein, spoke with McKinsey about the role of technology in healthcare delivery, with a focus on expanding ambulatory care capacity and closing gaps in patient access. The interview also covered his own path to the C-suite.
Ozuah leads one of the largest health systems in New York, operating hospitals, clinics, and community-based care sites across the Bronx and surrounding regions. Montefiore serves a population with significant barriers to care: low income, high disease burden, and historically fragmented service delivery.
Ambulatory care is the bottleneck healthcare systems actually fight over
Most health systems still organize around inpatient capacity and emergency department flow. Ambulatory care—primary care clinics, urgent care, specialty visits—sits lower on the priority list, despite being the entry point for most patients and the lever that reduces downstream cost and avoidable ED utilization.
Ozuah's focus on accessibility in ambulatory settings signals a shift in priorities at large, mature systems. The gap he's addressing is real: patients in underserved neighborhoods often travel further for appointments, face longer wait times, and are more likely to skip visits due to friction. Technology can reduce some friction (scheduling, transportation coordination, remote monitoring), but only if it targets the specific bottleneck, not just the tool.
Without published metrics from Montefiore on which interventions moved the needle (appointment availability, walk-in capacity, travel time, no-show rates), this remains a statement of intent rather than proof of execution.
What to extract from a leader's vision
When a major health system CEO talks about technology and access, the implied roadmap is worth reverse-engineering. Ozuah is flagging that ambulatory care—not AI diagnostics, not precision medicine—is where Montefiore is concentrating effort. That tells you where capital and staff attention will flow, and where vendors will find attention (and budget) in the market.
For practitioners inside health systems: use this as a mandate to audit your own ambulatory workflows. Where is your technology spend actually going? Is it solving patient friction (appointment booking, transportation, visit coordination) or optimizing back-office revenue? The two are not the same.
For vendors selling into health systems: the Montefiores of healthcare are now listening to access pitches. But they will demand proof that your tool reduces a measurable bottleneck in their specific population and footprint, not just a feature release or a vendor-reported benchmark.