Solving Healthcare Scale with Smarter Tech: Insights from Jason Weshler

Why Smarter Tech—and Smarter Scale—Are Make-or-Break for U.S. Healthcare

Healthcare technology and scale have never mattered more than they do right now. As care delivery in the United States faces mounting pressure from aging populations, workforce shortages, and a constant drumbeat to “do more with less,” organizations are searching for transformative solutions, not just incremental change. Enter outpatient care and smart technology: the two forces quietly reshaping the industry from the inside out.

In our latest podcast, I spoke with Jason Weshler, Vice President of Outpatient Solutions, Networked Care at Siemens Healthineers, who brings over 20 years’ experience leading transformation across biotech, medtech, and health system partnerships. Jason’s journey—from restaurant worker, to MBA, to leading national and international healthcare initiatives—presents a central theme: Scalable, tech-enabled care delivery isn’t a pipe dream. It’s already in motion. But the path is full of hard trade-offs, unexpected wins, and lessons that every executive should internalize right now. Here’s what you need to know.

What’s Broken—and What’s Emerging—in U.S. Care Delivery Models?

Today’s care models are in flux because the market demands it.

“The care model is constantly changing… Today in the United States, we’re seeing two typical models: standalone sites really focused on acute care delivery, and integrated delivery networks, the hub and spoke approach.”

In Jason’s view, this isn’t just a cosmetic shift. It’s the result of deep, persistent pressures:

• Patients want care where and when they need it, not just in hospitals.
• Integrated health networks are fighting to coordinate care across settings.
• Rural and urban divides require tailored solutions.

Key Gaps:

1. Fragmented patient engagement. Many systems struggle to reach patients where they are—especially in underserved communities.
2. Incomplete shift to outpatient. “We’re only partway into the process… it’s being able to better engage patients, bring the right care to the right place at the right time,” Jason emphasizes.
3. Lags in outcomes alignment. As SG2 recently highlighted, only those who “help patients achieve their healthcare goals while being treated for disease” will win in the next decade.

Bottom line: Smart, networked systems are the future. “The more you do that locally in the community, the better care and better outcomes you’re going to be able to deliver.”

When Did Outpatient Care Start Outpacing Inpatient—and Why?

The shift from inpatient to outpatient isn’t new, but it’s accelerating fast—thanks to technology and economics.

“Even in 2010, you started seeing the shift with lab… point of care test, which was fairly limited, to handheld blood analysis, which will do a full metabolic panel in under a minute.”

Imaging, too, has seen rapid democratization, with tools moving from hospitals to clinics and mobile trucks.

The enabling factors:

• Miniaturization and cost reduction (devices are smaller, cheaper, and more accessible).
• Handheld diagnostics that deliver results nearly instantly.
• Mobile screening units for rural or underserved populations.

The upshot?

“Today, we can roll an 18-wheeler up to a community and do breast cancer screening for women who otherwise don’t have access to care… care is really becoming more ubiquitous in the U.S.,” Jason explains.

Executive lesson: Expect more care to move outside the hospital—and prepare for care models that are far more distributed and consumer-centric.

Which Technologies Are Actually Driving the Shift—and How?

Several specific technologies are transforming outpatient care and health system scale:

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI): AI speeds up diagnostics, improves image consistency, and lets clinicians focus on complex cases. “AI is a very powerful tool… it will allow us to image faster, which means increasing capacity. It will allow us to read results more consistently so that clinicians can focus on the 20%…”
2. Sustainable Imaging Equipment: Jason highlights innovations like self-contained MR scanners, using less helium, faster construction, and requiring less physical space. “We’ve gone to self-contained MR scanners where the helium is contained… you can construct faster, need less requirements for a room, and the AI technology is allowing you to do a faster scan.”
3. Point-of-Care and Mobile Diagnostics: Rapid tests and mobile labs bring advanced diagnostics directly to patients—especially critical in rural and underserved settings.
4. Circular Economy and Sustainability: Siemens Healthineers is pushing recyclable parts and system sustainability: “It’s making parts recyclable… focusing on that circular economy so we’re wasting less, making it easier to be environmentally responsible, and more cost-effective.”

Takeaway for leaders: If your technology investments aren’t making care more accessible, sustainable, and scalable, you’re betting on the wrong trends.

Does a Global Perspective Really Matter in U.S. Health System Strategy?

Absolutely. International experience shapes smarter, more sustainable healthcare solutions. Jason credits much of his outlook to global exposure—especially his time in Canada and his role at Siemens Healthineers.

“There’s a lot we can learn by sharing experiences and thinking globally. The challenges in healthcare are more common than we realize.”

Here’s how global learnings benefit U.S. systems:

• Sustainability targets (Siemens aims for 3.3 billion patient touch points worldwide by 2030, a third in low- and middle-income countries).
• Annual forums and best-practice sharing across borders—Jason notes, “An idea that worked really well in British Columbia is equally relevant today in North Carolina.”
• Direct feedback loops between clinicians internationally, helping to crowdsource and refine solutions.

What’s the direct advantage?You get tested playbooks, not just theories.

“When we can share knowledge, we can learn from each other… we’re talking to systems worldwide. That allows us to empower health systems to solve their problems.”

Why Partner with a Tech Leader—Instead of Going It Alone?

Resource constraints make strategic partnerships not just helpful, but necessary.Jason spells it out:

“No matter how large a health system is, everyone is resource-constrained. Being able to partner brings that additional perspective.”

Four clear benefits to partnering with organizations like Siemens Healthineers:

1. Access to international expertise—real-world-tested frameworks, not just theory.
2. Faster innovation cycles—new models and tools developed with global input.
3. Economies of scale—solutions for decentralizing care, even into patients’ homes.
4. Proven collaboration—“The health system saw that we understood their world by bringing in those international perspectives, and then they borrowed it… that’s the ultimate sign of good collaboration, of good learning.”

Bottom line: Don’t reinvent the wheel when global partners can help you leapfrog common challenges.

What’s Next for Outpatient Care and Healthcare Scale in the U.S.?

The future holds both headwinds and hope—but the trajectory is promising. Jason is realistic but optimistic:

“We know we have an aging population, workforce shortages, limited resources… depending on what reports you want to look at, we’ll be out of hospital beds in 2032.”

Key trends to watch:

• Embracing a next-generation workforce—rethinking roles and workflows.
• Remote and distributed care—AI and tech enabling urban-rural connection.
• Smarter triage of clinician effort—let technology manage the routine so humans can focus on the exceptional.
• Value tied to outcomes, not just cost—“Technologies will never be free. There’s always a cost to innovate and develop, but when you can drive value and tie that back to outcomes, there’s immense reason to be optimistic.”

Jason’s advice for providers: Invest in solutions that scale—but also improve outcomes and empower clinicians. It’s not about top quality for a few at everyone else’s expense; it’s about balance, sustainability, and avoiding burnout.

How Do We Prevent Technology from Becoming a Burden for Clinicians?

The lesson of the EHR era is clear: Technology must empower, not encumber, the workforce. I asked Jason directly: How do we avoid repeating old mistakes? He was candid: “Change management becomes paramount.”

Strategies Siemens Healthineers employs:

• Involving clinicians in product development—direct usability and workflow input.
• Focusing on meaningful automation—let machines handle the repetitive; let humans work on what’s impactful.
• Balancing new tech with clinician satisfaction—Jason’s example: “I asked laboratorians, how many people like doing urine dip sticks? Not many. But everyone wanted to do molecular and genetic tests. Point-of-care testing frees them to focus on what matters.”

The success metric: “Moving the overall society forward… We can’t give patients the number one top quality care at the cost of everyone else. It has to be a mix—getting clinicians to not burn out, while also providing good quality care.”

Actionable Takeaway: Outpatient Scale Is Inevitable—Make Yours Smarter

The march toward outpatient, technology-enabled, and globally-informed care is not slowing down. As Jason Weshler puts it, the real question isn’t if care will become more distributed and tech-driven, but how we balance innovation, cost, workforce needs, and patient outcomes. “Healthcare is one industry where systems get bigger, they don’t necessarily get better… We have to innovate to help healthcare systems keep getting bigger while becoming better.”

For U.S. health leaders: The time to invest in scalable, sustainable, clinician-centered tech is now. Look beyond borders for best practices, involve frontline teams in every change, and keep your eye on value—because the only way to survive scale is to get smarter as you grow.