# Why tech giants keep failing at healthcare

> A Zocdoc CEO explains why disruption playbooks don't work in medicine, and what actually does.
- Title: Why tech giants keep failing at healthcare · Fortune
- Summary: A Zocdoc CEO explains why disruption playbooks don't work in medicine, and what actually does. Healthcare can't be disrupted from outside; it can only be…
- Keywords: healthcare disruption, zocdoc, amazon haven, walmart health, ibm watson health, babylon health, healthcare innovation, healthcare systems, healthcare technology, healthcare incentives, healthcare reform, tech
- Source: Fortune — https://fortune.com/2026/09/17/why-healthcare-disruption-fails-zocdoc-ceo
- Author: Oliver Kharraz
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: healthcare disruption, zocdoc, amazon haven, walmart health, ibm watson health, babylon health, healthcare innovation, healthcare systems, healthcare technology, healthcare incentives, healthcare reform
## The disruption graveyard
Amazon-Berkshire-JPMorgan's Haven shut down after 2.5 years. Walmart closed all 51 health clinics in 2024. IBM sold Watson Health at a massive loss. Babylon Health filed for bankruptcy.

> How long until they discover healthcare does not yield to disruption playbooks?
## Healthcare isn't a tech problem
Healthcare is a complex systems and incentives problem with trillions in capital, hospitals, insurers, and regulations all interconnected. You can't reinvent one part and expect the rest to adapt.

> Healthcare is not a technology problem. It is a complex systems and incentives problem.
## The brownest of fields
Healthcare isn't a greenfield startup opportunity. Decades of incentives, tens of thousands of institutions, and trillions in infrastructure won't reorganize around a new company's vision.

> Healthcare is not a greenfield; it is the brownest of fields.
## Building around vs. building within
Companies that build outside the core of healthcare create niche products but remain on its fringes. Real scale requires working within existing systems, not trying to replace them.
## Zocdoc's unglamorous approach
Instead of disrupting health systems, Zocdoc connected to over 200,000 providers, 10,000 insurance plans, and built 175 calendar integrations. It required bridges, not walled gardens.

> We did not expect them to adapt to us.
## Inside out, not outside in
Healthcare can only be fixed from the inside out by working with existing incentives and infrastructure. Outside-in disruption consistently fails because the system won't reorganize.

> Healthcare can only be fixed from the inside out, not disrupted from the outside in.
## Slower, harder, smarter
Building bridges instead of walled gardens is slower and harder, but it's not anti-innovation. It's anti-delusion and actually drives meaningful change at scale.

> It is slower. It is harder. But it is not anti-innovation; it is anti-delusion.
## What patients actually want
Patients wait 31 days for appointments, struggle with insurance, and repeat paperwork. They don't want disruption; they want a system that works. That requires fixing real problems, not chasing moonshots.

> Patients do not want disruption in and of itself. They want what disruption promises.
## Ambition redefined
Thirty years in health tech changed what counts as ambitious. Real ambition is making things better for patients on Earth, not building colonies in space.

> Thirty years in health tech didn't make me less ambitious, but it has changed what I consider ambitious.
## Key takeaway

Healthcare can't be disrupted from outside; it can only be fixed from inside by working with existing systems, not against them.