Let's be brutally honest for a moment.
Health tech startups have always had a fundamental product-market-fit problem. They're building solutions for doctors without actually being doctors. And it shows.
The Domain Knowledge Gap Nobody Wants to Talk About
Here's how it typically works: A founder raises money to build healthcare technology. They have zero experience treating patients. Zero understanding of clinical workflows. Zero comprehension of what it actually feels like to be drowning in EHR documentation at 11 PM while your family sleeps.
So what do they do? They hire a physician advisor. Maybe two. Pay them a few thousand dollars for a handful of conversations and call it "domain expertise." Then they wonder why their product collects dust.
It's nearly impossible to explain to someone who has never treated a patient how to build technology that actually helps doctors treat patients. Yet this has been the playbook for digital health companies for 20 years.
But the post-mortems tell the same story over and over. Founders shut down their startups and finally admit: "Healthcare is hard. Domain knowledge matters."
No kidding!
The Graveyard of "Innovative" Health Tech
Carbon Health built incredible technology but couldn't reconcile being a tech company with the realities of operating private practices. Forward Health raised nearly $600 million while boldly claiming their solution would replace doctors entirely. Then they shut down overnight. Even massive corporations couldn't crack it. Walgreens failed. Walmart failed. Haven, backed by JPMorgan, Amazon, and Berkshire Hathaway, failed spectacularly.
Healthcare is hard. We keep making the same mistake: treating doctors as part of the puzzle instead of the designers of the puzzle itself.
The "Lucky" Ones Who Make It to Market
Let's say a startup actually gets lucky. They build an MVP that functions well enough for real testing with real users. Now comes the harder part: selling it. They have to convince doctors or health systems to not just use their product, but pay real money for it. And here's the dirty secret of healthcare technology: the best product doesn't win.
Just look at Epic. Not everyone can afford to hire lobbyists in Washington to change laws that require doctors and health systems to buy your product. But Epic could. And did.
Most startups don't have Epic money. But they have funding. So they keep building and building, using investor capital to float them along until eventually some company agrees to buy them or buy their product. Which is usually just another startup desperate to keep their own business alive. (we just speak the facts)
Digital health is the epitome of a solution looking for a problem. Because the people building solutions don't understand what problems actually need solving or how to solve them.
The Real Barrier to Innovation
If it isn't obvious by now: keeping doctors in the role of consumers is what's holding back innovation. Not regulation. Not HIPAA. Not the AMA, like VCs love to claim.
Regulation actually started this problem. And VC investment dollars kept doctors stuck as renters of technology they don't control. You can't profit off a problem for decades, make billions of dollars, and then suddenly claim that same problem is now blocking you from making more billions.
But that's exactly what's happening with AI in healthcare right now.
We have investors and non-physician founders claiming that doctor-led professional organizations are blocking "autonomous AI" where algorithms can independently treat, manage, and bill patients without physician oversight.
Let that sink in. They want AI to practice medicine autonomously so they can bill for it. Meanwhile, doctors are stuck renting technology chosen by administrators who've never seen a patient, built by EHR companies who have also never seen a patient.
The Partnership Lie
The Partnership Lie
You've heard this for 20 years. It's the same tired messaging. We don't need partnerships. We need doctors to build.
Here's why this matters: when you build the technology yourself, you don't have to convince anyone else to adopt it. You don't need to hire consultants to explain problems you experience every single day. You don't need advisors to tell you what's broken in your workflow.
You live it. You wake up thinking about these problems. You go to bed still thinking about them. What we actually need is for these tech bros and investors to step aside and let doctors build for their patients.
The Data Backs This Up
Studies show that healthcare startups with physician CEOs have significantly higher success rates than those without. They understand the problem space. They know what doctors will actually use. They can speak the language of both technology and medicine. But the current system keeps doctors perpetually stuck as buyers. Or more accurately, as renters of technology they have no control over.
In consolidated health systems, doctors don't even get a say in what technology their employer chooses. Someone in administration who hasn't touched a patient in years decides what EHR you'll use, what documentation tools you'll adopt, what AI scribe you'll test.
This is why real innovation isn't happening.
A Different Path Forward
What if you could build exactly what you need? Not what a startup thinks you need. Not what a VC-backed company promises will revolutionize healthcare. What you actually need for your patients and your practice.
Custom intake forms that capture information relevant to your specialty. Documentation templates that match how you actually think. Patient communication tools that work the way you work, not the way some product manager imagines you work.
This isn't a pipe dream. The technology exists right now.
Vibe-coding platforms let you build software by describing what you want in plain language and often times in one-shot. No computer science degree required. No engineering team needed.
But here's the catch: most vibe-coding platforms aren't built for healthcare. They're not HIPAA compliant. They're not EHR-native. They can't access patient data or integrate with your existing workflows. That's the problem Cline solves.
Doctors as Builders, Not Buyers
Cline is an EHR-native vibe-coding platform where doctors like you can build custom apps, websites, and agents for your patients and practice. Independently. Without software engineers.
You describe what you want. The Cline CTO agent builds it. Inside your secure EHR environment. HIPAA compliant by default.
Want a custom triage tool for your pediatric practice? Build it.Need a specific workflow for your longevity medicine patients? Build it. Frustrated with generic patient portals that nobody uses? Build your own.
This is the shift that needs to happen. Doctors moving from consumers to creators. From renters to builders. From people who adapt to broken technology to people who create technology that actually works.
The Controversial Truth
This take will make some people uncomfortable. Investors who've poured billions into health tech that doesn't work. Founders who've spent years building solutions nobody asked for. Consultants whose entire business model depends on doctors staying dependent.
But let them be uncomfortable. Because while they've been profiting off the problem, you've been living with it. Every day. Every patient. Every late night finishing charts. You know what needs to be built. You know what would actually help. You know what your patients need. So build it.
The tools exist. The technology is ready. The only question is whether you're ready to stop being a customer and start being a builder.
Ready to become a builder?
Cline's EHR-native vibe-coding platform puts you in control. Build custom solutions for your practice without needing developers or designers. Just you, your expertise, and technology that finally works the way you work.
Because the future of healthcare technology isn't built by startups in Silicon Valley. It's built by doctors in exam rooms who are tired of adapting to broken software.