Healthcare Technology: What Can We Learn from Notable Failures?

For pharmacists facing decisions about technology for use in practice, your pharmacy management system vendor should play a key role in discussions and decision-making process. | Technology Corner

by Brent I. Fox, Pharm.D., Ph.D.

We have covered dozens of new and emerging technologies in this column over the years. Those readers who have been around since the beginning will likely recall the early days of the internet and the personal digital assistant, the focus on electronic prescriptions, the national roll out of electronic health records, and the most recent focus on digital health and all things mobile. Across all those years and technologies, we have witnessed many successes and some resounding failures. Across many — if not most — of those technologies, we have witnessed an incredible amount of hype.

Despite the hype we have observed for technologies in the past, generative artificial intelligence (AI) may be the recipient of the greatest amount of hype this millennium. Generative artificial intelligence tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, etc.) share a common, general underlying structure and function. Additionally, the user interacts with these tools in a consistent manner across the various platforms. So, it is fair to think of generative AI as a single technology. It is also fair to wonder about the hype. Is it justified? Does it accurately predict the future — in two years, five years, or 10 years? We will have to wait and see how it unfolds.

A Little History of Technology Failures

Until then, let’s take a look back at some of the most-hyped health technology failures over the last roughly 20 years.