Healthcare innovation is advancing rapidly, yet the benefits are unevenly distributed. Joe Kiani, Masimo and Willow Laboratories founder, has emphasized throughout his career that innovation must serve patients broadly, not selectively. Funding often flows toward high-profile technologies that cater to wealthier, urban populations, leaving rural communities and marginalized groups behind. The result is a widening gap between those who can access cutting-edge solutions and those who continue to rely on outdated systems. Addressing this imbalance is critical if health technology is to achieve its promise of improving outcomes for everyone.
This disparity is not only a moral issue but also an economic one. A healthcare ecosystem that leaves behind large portions of the population ultimately creates higher long-term costs through preventable hospitalizations, untreated chronic conditions, and increased emergency care. Equitable investment helps build more sustainable systems that benefit both individuals and society as a whole.
Overlooked Areas of Innovation
Many underserved areas of healthcare remain chronically underfunded. Maternal health, for instance, continues to face high mortality rates in parts of the United States, yet attracts far less venture capital than digital fitness or lifestyle platforms. Similarly, rural telehealth services often struggle to secure the investments necessary to scale, despite their proven ability to reduce access barriers. Funding models that overlook these essential areas perpetuate inequity in outcomes.
There is also a tendency for investment to favor consumer-oriented products that appeal to wealthier markets rather than essential tools for preventive or community-based care. This imbalance not only limits the reach of innovation but also stifles opportunities for groundbreaking work in fields where it is most urgently needed. By broadening the scope of investment priorities, healthcare leaders can redirect capital toward areas that will have the most substantial impact on public health.
Policy as a Driver of Equity
Public policy plays a powerful role in shaping how investment is distributed across the healthcare sector. Regulations and incentives can either reinforce inequities or push the system toward more balanced outcomes. Policies like federal support for rural broadband have demonstrated how targeted measures can directly expand access to telehealth. Similar strategies can be applied to ensure funding flows into maternal health, chronic disease prevention, and community-based services.
At the same time, governments can establish accountability frameworks to measure whether investments are reaching underserved groups. Transparent reporting on where health tech dollars are directed would help policymakers and the public track progress toward equity. In this way, policy becomes not just a background factor but a critical lever for achieving fairer healthcare outcomes.
The Importance of Inclusive Design
Even when funding is available, the design of health technologies determines whether they truly serve diverse populations. Too often, products are created with limited input from underrepresented groups, leading to solutions that are ill-suited for broad adoption. Inclusive design processes that involve patients, clinicians, and community representatives from the start help ensure technologies are usable and trusted across different populations.
This approach reflects the long-term, patient-centric philosophy championed by leaders like Joe Kiani, Masimo founder. His work has focused on building systems that are more humane and capable of serving people at every stage of life. By focusing on prevention and inclusive design, innovators can create products that address health needs before crises occur, building solutions that work for all.
Measuring Equity as a Success Metric
Returns, market share, or technological sophistication have traditionally been measured in healthcare investment. While these metrics are valuable, they overlook the societal impact of innovation. Integrating equity as a key success metric would encourage investors and innovators to prioritize projects that close health gaps rather than widen them. Tools such as impact assessments and equity audits can make this measurable and transparent.
Embedding equity in evaluation frameworks also reframes innovation as not just a technological endeavor but a moral one. By explicitly linking success to the distribution of benefits, funders send a signal that equitable outcomes are central to the value proposition of healthcare technology. It creates a feedback loop in which equity drives investment, which in turn drives more equitable innovation.
The Role of Public–Private Partnerships
No single actor can close the equity gap in health tech investment. Collaboration between governments, non-profits, and private companies is essential. Public–private partnerships can de-risk investments in underserved areas, making them more attractive to private capital. Programs that co-fund telehealth expansion or subsidize maternal health innovations illustrate how this model can work in practice.
Partnerships also enable knowledge-sharing across sectors, bringing together diverse expertise to tackle persistent health challenges. When companies, policymakers, and communities collaborate, solutions are more likely to be scalable, sustainable, and inclusive. The combined resources of public and private entities can ensure innovations are not just created but also deployed in ways that reach those who need them most.
Equity as Innovation’s True Test
In the end, the measure of health technology is not just its novelty or profitability but its capacity to improve lives across all populations. Equity must be seen as the true test of innovation, ensuring that advancements do not simply replicate existing disparities under a more advanced guise. It requires a shift in mindset among investors, policymakers, and innovators alike.
Leaders like Joe Kiani, Masimo founder, champion an approach to healthcare innovation that is both inclusive and preventive. His career has shown that when innovation is matched with purpose and a deep commitment to patient safety, it has a lasting and humane impact. By ensuring capital flows toward underserved communities and overlooked areas of healthcare, the system can unlock innovation’s full potential.
A Future Built on Equity
Healthcare technology has the potential to transform care, but only if its benefits are shared broadly. Achieving this vision requires a deliberate focus on equity in both investment and design. By prioritizing underserved populations, embedding inclusive processes, and measuring success through societal impact, healthcare leaders can chart a more balanced path forward.
Equity is not a secondary consideration, but the foundation upon which sustainable healthcare innovation must be built. When investments align with this principle, the result is not just better technology but a fairer, healthier world.