Melek Somai, MD, MPH, VP, Chief Technology & Product Officer, Inception Health – the innovation arm of ThedaCare-Froedtert Health, argues that healthcare’s cost and access pressures cannot be solved by staffing alone; they require technology-led redesign of how care is delivered. In a wide-ranging interview, he described why his organization is putting technology at the clinical “front door,” rebuilding workflows with a product mindset, and aiming digital tools at the practical levers of access, scale, and clinician cognitive load.

“Our view is that technology is a tool and capability to drive outcomes,” he said, adding that the objective is measurably better access, quality, and cost.

Technology as the Front Door

According to Somai, the access problem must be confronted directly. Wisconsin faces a primary care retirement wave in the coming decade while patient cost-sharing continues to rise—conditions that suppress demand and strain capacity. He said simply bolting on scheduling widgets or messaging tools will not fix a supply-demand mismatch; if the earliest appointment is 18 months away, a slick interface will not help.

He outlined Inception Health’s answer: lead with digital channels and build the operational infrastructure—people, processes, and platforms—behind them. “We took a model where technology is the front door of the health care service delivery,” he said, noting this flips the traditional pattern in which IT sits behind operations providing support rather than shaping service design. The ambition is anytime, anywhere access that meets consumer expectations without compromising clinical standards.



He emphasized that technology and process cannot be designed separately. Rather than pushing tools into existing clinics, the organization embeds clinicians, clinical informaticians, engineers, and UX researchers on the same product teams to co-develop both workflows and software. Somai said this product orientation differs from time-boxed projects: the work evolves continuously based on outcomes and user feedback.

He added that the approach grew out of early virtual-care attempts that overloaded clinicians—asking them to jump between in-person visits and video or chat, juggling headphones and logins. The friction signaled a process, not a technology, failure. In the product model, care protocols, staffing models, and digital interfaces are engineered together so that the “right” behavior is the easiest one to execute.

Managing Cognitive Load and Change

Somai said sustained adoption hinges on reducing cognitive load for both clinicians and patients. One of his main operating principles is: “Make the right thing easy.” He pointed to preventive care as a test case—if a self-enrollment pathway into evidence-based digital therapy is clinically appropriate, do not require an extra visit to unlock it. Instead, design a one-click path and let the care team monitor progress.

He added that large language models are being tested as assistive layers to suggest appropriate protocols in context and then get out of the way. Early lessons reinforced that “more information” is not inherently helpful; surfacing fewer, more relevant cues can be the better safety and quality strategy. On the patient side, he said the least utilized resource in healthcare is the patient’s own time and motivation. Digital tools should empower patients to complete routine steps at home and reserve appointments for what truly requires human expertise.

According to Somai, the digital-first operating model pushes primary care beyond one-to-one relationships. The vision is a 24/7, team-based service in which technology routes each request—medication refills, preventive care tasks, acute triage—to the right professional at the right time. He said this makes access more convenient, scales scarce clinician capacity, and reduces the “gatekeeper” inefficiencies that force patients through unne...