Connectivity was supposed to bring us closer. Instead, it’s exposing a dangerous gap in our healthcare system. The very tools designed to link us have scaled rapidly, but without addressing one of the most urgent and invisible threats to health: loneliness.
Former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy recently delivered a stark reminder: Chronic loneliness carries the same mortality risk as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. His warning hits especially hard in healthcare, where digital relationships are on the rise. As more care and connection shift to virtual platforms, we’re seeing a sharp escalation in isolation, particularly among people managing chronic conditions. Now, new data confirms what many have long sensed: Loneliness isn’t just a symptom — it’s a risk factor. A recent national study, Loneliness and Health Behaviors: A Missing Link in Chronic Care, reveals that 74% of Americans with chronic conditions believe loneliness is actively deteriorating their physical health. Even more concerning, over half say loneliness interfered with taking medications as prescribed, which spikes to 70% for those on specialized medications (prescription drugs that are used to treat complex, chronic conditions).
How We Got Here: The Digital Dependency Trap
Our devices have paradoxically contributed to our isolation. The average American now spends over five hours on their phone each day, often substituting digital interactions for in-person connections. This shift has coincided with a dramatic shrinkage in Americans’ circles of close friends since the 1990s, as reported by the Survey Center on American Life. In 1990, less than one-third of Americans (27%) said they had three or fewer close friends; by 2021, that had increased to nearly half of Americans (49%).
For patients facing a debilitating chronic illness, this erosion of close, in-person relationships has profound consequences. Managing a long-term condition often requires more than clinical interventions. It demands emotional support, encouragement, and practical help that digital interactions rarely provide. Digital tools may offer access, but they can’t replace the kind of human connection that sustains patients through uncertainty, fear, and the daily burdens of chronic disease.
Technology Should Be Seen as a Tool, Not a Replacement
Digital tools have become the default response to emotional and behavioral health gaps, but they’re often like band-aids over an open wound: helpful in a pinch but unable to address the root cause of the issue. While AI and digital platforms hold promise, particularly for isolated, chronically ill populations, they are, at best, partial solutions. Picture a patient confined to their home, navigating complex health needs alone. For them, a virtual support group or late-night chatbot might offer meaningful moments of relief. These technologies can create access where none existed before.
But here’s the reality: Technology can talk, but it can’t truly listen. A chatbot might deliver a timely response, but it can’t offer the emotional presence people need. Simulated conversation isn’t the same as feeling understood. What most patients are searching for isn’t just information or interaction — it’s connection. They want to feel seen, heard, and valued in ways that no algorithm can authentically replicate. As we design the next generation of health tools, we must recognize this gap: Digital platforms can support the transactions of care, but they can’t replace the human experience at its core.
The digital health industry stands at a critical junction. While investments pour into virtual care platforms and AI-powered health assistants, Murthy’s observation highlights a fundamental disconnect — our digital solutions often emphasize breadth over depth. Truly effective healthcare must do more than connect patients to providers or deliver information; it must foster the quality of human relationships that research consistently shows are fundamental to both physical and mental well-being.
The Human as a Force Multiplier
Humans are the force multiplier that transform technology from a potential dependency into a powerful tool for connection. Just as AI systems require human feedback to remain grounded in reality, digital health solutions need human touchpoints to deliver real healing.
Technology’s strength lies in scale — it can reach millions, deliver consistency, and operate around the clock. But scale alone doesn’t create impact. Humans bring what technology can’t: empathy, intuition, and emotional resonance. Where machines optimize efficiency, people bring presence. And when the two are integrated, we unlock a system that is both scalable and soulfully effective.
A Vision for the Future: Humanity at the Heart of Technology
As we integrate technology and AI into healthcare platforms, we have an opportunity to rethink how we design healthcare systems as a sustainable model for the future. The future isn’t about choosing between human or digital, it’s about designing systems where one elevates the other.
We must remember a fundamental truth: Humans can exist without technology, but technology is meaningless without humans. Digital innovations are powerful tools, yet secondary to our innate need for connection.
Distinguished Harvard Medical School faculty member, public health expert, and author of Project UnLonely, Jeremy Nobel, MD, MPH explains: “Think of loneliness as a biologic signal. Just as thirst is a biologic signal you need hydration to survive, there’s compelling evidence we need social contact to survive. And so, loneliness is a biologic signal to connect with other people.”
In healthcare, the true measure of technology isn’t its complexity or scale, it’s the impact on people’s lives. Tools that track medications or monitor symptoms matter only insofar as they support real human well-being. The loneliness epidemic has made this clearer than ever, exposing the limits of purely transactional care. But within that challenge lies an opportunity: to design technology that doesn’t just connect systems but also connects people. When we prioritize tools that foster relationships and trust, we can turn digital health platforms from passive utilities into active channels for support, empathy, and meaningful engagement.
Ultimately, the most advanced technology pales in comparison to the healing power of humans truly seeing, hearing, and caring for one another. The future of how we care for patients must be built on this timeless truth — and with an empathy-first mindset.
About Michael Oleksiw
Michael Oleksiw is a corporate entrepreneur with a deep passion for technology, product development, and creating exceptional user experiences. Throughout his diverse career, he has hand-crafted bicycles, commercialized software for clinical trials, launched groundbreaking CME technologies for doctors, and introduced leading fashion technology products to the world’s top brands. He has also built offshore development centers, and, for over a decade, he continues his mission at Pleio to build frictionless, personalized solutions to address the emotional barriers patients face in their medication journeys.
