How AI, logistics, and thoughtful design are reshaping the humanity of care

This week’s Wish I Thought of That digs into a part of healthcare most people never see: the admin. Clinicians today spend 30–50% of their time documenting, coding, chasing insurance forms or navigating clunky digital systems — a staggering shift that’s reshaping both patient care and contributing to clinician burnout. In this episode, we explore why this burden has grown, what it means for the human experience of medicine, and how a new generation of tools is quietly changing the story.

We break down three emerging layers of “clerk-class” health tech: AI scribes like Voize that turn speech into structured documentation, practice OS platforms like Nelly that streamline onboarding and paperwork, and Uber-like logistics tools that coordinate in-home care more efficiently. Together, these products aren’t replacing clinicians — they’re giving them time back. And they raise a bigger question: what happens to clinical judgment, empathy and connection when the system finally reduces its drag?

Along the way, Tom and Hiba examine the design principles behind tools that actually make healthcare more human, not less. From “don’t make me think” UX to contextual workflows, they explore why empathy has to be engineered into the invisible moments of care, not sprinkled on top. They also look at how structured admin data fuels early-detection tools like C the Signs, which has already helped detect over 65,000 cancer cases by spotting patterns in the data.

This episode asks a simple but consequential question:
If we redesign the admin layer of healthcare, do we unlock better medicine — or risk turning care into an industrial process?

If you work in health, design, or tech, or you’ve ever felt processed instead of cared for in a clinic, this one will resonate.

Key themes

• The 30–50% admin burden and how it reshapes care

• The rise of AI scribes, practice OS tools and care-logistics platforms

• Designing tools that reduce cognitive load, not empathy

• “AI as the clerk-class”: freeing humans for human work

• Why context matters more than features in clinical UX

• Structured admin → early detection → life-saving outcomes

• Making healthcare more human through better systems, not shinier apps

Links

Hiba on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hibaganta/
The Needful is Hiba’s newsletter on cultural intelligence for sharper, human-led product decisions. It’s for indie founders and small teams who want clarity without the AI hype. Expect pragmatic strategy, mental models, and cultural research that lift your team’s thinking. Hiba reads features, stories, and signals in one go — from product to org culture — so you can ship with craft, protect user trust, and keep real judgment in the loop.

Tom on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-horak/
Tom is the founder of All Shapes, a design and product studio working with founders, scale-ups and innovative enterprises to build meaningful digital tools that last. All Shapes blends craft, culture and human clarity — helping teams move from early concepts to high-performing, values-aligned experiences.Subscribe for more conversations at the intersection of culture, values, and technology.

Subscribe for more conversations at the intersection of culture, values, and technology.