Jagmeet (Jag) P. Singh, MD, MMSc, DPhil, FACC, FHRS is a distinguished professor at Harvard Medical School and a pioneer in cardiology and digital health innovation. As the former Clinical Director of the Cardiology Division at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Founding Director of the Resynchronization and Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics Program, Dr. Singh has spent his career on the cutting edge of healthcare redesign and medical device innovation. A passionate advocate for global health equity, Dr. Singh recently joined DocGo’s Medical Advisory Board to help advance its mission of delivering accessible, technology-enabled care.
How has your global journey shaped your vision of care?
Medicine has taken me all over the world, from India where I grew up and trained as a young doctor, to Oxford for my doctorate, and then to Massachusetts General Hospital. Along the way, the focus of my research has evolved—from device innovation in cardiology to integrating AI-driven solutions into virtual care. In 2023, I wrote Future Care, a book exploring how virtual care—sensor-aided, digitally enabled, and powered by predictive analytics—can revolutionize healthcare. DocGo is leading this technological revolution. They’ve evolved from exclusively providing medical transportation to delivering healthcare at your doorstep.
What inspired you to join the DocGo Medical Advisory Board?
What drew me most to DocGo is their mission to democratize care. By leveraging digital monitoring tools, they are breaking down barriers to access and ensuring that geography or income level is no longer a determinant of care quality. This work aligns deeply with my passion for health equity. The potential is also enormous. With 90% of adults in developed nations and 80-85% in developing nations owning smartphones, we have the infrastructure to deliver life-saving interventions even in remote villages—provided we establish the right care pathways.
In my previous leadership roles, I saw firsthand the inefficiencies in traditional care models. I tried to drive change from within, but resistance often stymied my efforts. Writing Future Care allowed me to advocate for change by reshaping patient expectations, focusing on solutions like virtual care and proactive health monitoring. Now, stepping outside traditional structures, I’ve found people more willing to embrace these concepts. Joining DocGo provides a unique opportunity to implement these ideas—blending cutting-edge technology with a commitment to equitable care delivery—to create meaningful change in practice.
How can we use digital medicine to democratize access to health care?
The objective of Future Care is health equity—making healthcare sensible, affordable, and practical. Growing up in impoverished settings and working in Indian hospitals, I witnessed profound healthcare disparities daily: overcrowded wards with patients and families sleeping on the floor in squalid conditions. These experiences of the disparity of care have shaped my entire career. How do we bridge the gap between those with access and those without? The answer lies in leveraging AI and virtual care.
How does DocGo’s model fit in?
DocGo’s model is a prime example of using Future Care to improve health equity. By arranging for care that is brought directly to patients’ homes and combining it with digital tools like remote monitoring and AI, the DocGo team can reach underserved populations. AI and sensor based approaches will eliminate the need for clinician interactions both in diagnostics, during ongoing care and in transitional care after hospital discharge.
AI-enabled sensors can already predict heart failure exacerbations up to 34 days in advance. Smartwatches can provide surrogate measures for conditions like hypertension, helping millions manage their health with affordable, accessible technology. AI can even use vocal biomarkers to diagnose both physical and mental health conditions. The future cost of diagnostic care will become negligible, leaving therapeutic care as the main cost center.
What obstacles stand in the way of transforming care
The major challenge is the tension between fee-for-service and value-based care models. Many healthcare leaders remain stuck—struggling to balance short-term revenue goals with the long-term vision of value-based care. Leadership in many organizations focuses too narrowly on the next quarter rather than envisioning what care should look like in the next decade. This short-sightedness fuels burnout and prevents systemic progress.
Clinicians, too, can be hesitant to embrace change. Those who have practiced medicine a certain way for decades often resist adopting new technologies or workflows. Regulatory bodies compound these challenges by failing to adapt quickly enough to support innovations like AI or digital health tools.
Finally, we must enhance access without furthering bias. As an example, certain smartwatches weren’t initially tested for darker skin tones, leading to inaccurate oxygen saturation readings. When we develop and deploy technology, we need to do so inclusively, ethically and responsibly.
What will be the tipping point for widespread adoption of future care models?
The shift to value-based care is inevitable. Whether in India or the US, current systems are unsustainable. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is already driving change. Their commitment to making Medicare Advantage fully value-based by 2030 will compel providers to adapt.
Organizations that fail to evolve will find their current models unsustainable. Hiring more staff to handle increasing patient loads will only exacerbate burnout without improving outcomes.
Patient expectations will also play a pivotal role. As people become more familiar with AI, remote monitoring, and other digital tools, they will demand these solutions at scale. Providers will face mounting pressure to meet these expectations.
Institutions like DocGo, which are already at the forefront of future care, will lead the way. By combining innovative technology with a steadfast commitment to health equity, they are setting a new standard for what healthcare can—and should—be.
