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The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more. Healthcare navigation was supposed to be the ultimate guidea GPS for the healthcare maze. Instead its more like an old paper map with half the roads missing. What was meant to simplify care has become just another layer of complexity, dressed up as concierge support but too often steering people based on cost, not quality.At a time when AI, telehealth, and integrated care models are merging and transforming how people experience healthcare, navigation as we know it is becoming obsolete. The riseand fallof Navigation 1.0 Navigation started with a clear, patient-first mission: Remove barriers to care. The concept was pioneered by doctors to improve cancer outcomes for underserved patients who struggled with delays in diagnosis and treatment. The original vision was simple: Get people to high-quality care, faster.But then the industry lost the plot.As digital health took off, the market became flooded with big vision front doorsslick apps that promised convenience but ultimately led nowhere. These platforms were entryways without hallwaysflashy introductions to healthcare that failed to connect people to integrated clinical expertise or personalized support. Instead of providing a pathway to better health, they left people stranded.Then insurers stepped in.They highjacked navigation, repackaging it as a cost-control tool rather than an independent, patient-first service. The incentivesand the experiencewere not the same. Instead of guiding people to the best possible care, insurer-led navigation steered them toward lower-cost providers with little regard for quality or fit. What should have been an unbiased clinical advocate became just another mechanism for network steering.The result? People arent just underserved; some are actively led away from quality care, facing more barriers, more frustration, and worse outcomes. Navigation was supposed to help people get to and through the system, but instead, it became a roadblock.Lets not forget, weve seen this before. Like with the first wave of telehealth, Navigation 1.0 has become an add-on to a fragmented system rather than a real solution. And just like Telehealth 1.0, too many navigation services are now commodity, or more specifically low-value check-the-box offeringsutilization management in disguise. What comes next: A more integrated, person-centric model If Navigation 1.0 is dying, what replaces it?A smarter, all-in-one healthcare modelone that doesnt just point people in a direction, but actually gets them the right care at the right timeproactively, ongoing, and when called upon. Navigation was always meant to simplify healthcare, but that only happens when clinical expertise, advocacy, and technology work together and are deeply integrated to eliminate friction, improve access, and drive better health outcomes. Heres what that looks like: Advocacy, not just guidance People dont need another appthey need someone in their corner. True advocacy means:Fighting billing errors and helping people understand and resolve insurance denials.Connecting people with high-quality doctors, not just network-preferred ones. Helping people navigate treatment decisions and medication costs. Its not about pointing people in the right direction; its about walking beside them. AI + EQ: Smarter, more empathetic care AI assistants and guides are hot topics, but technology alone isnt enough. What people want is AI + EQ = the efficiency of AI-driven experiences combined with real human expertise and empathy.In healthcare, AI should either free up humans to focus on tasks that only humans can accomplish, or provide guidance to humans to help them perform uniquely human roles more effectively. If a system isnt human-centered, its just another version of the problem. At this point in the game, integration cant be vision Navigation without deep clinical expertise, system-wide connectivity, and personalized visibility into an individuals benefits, history, and preferences is about as useful as a tour guide whos never been to the cityhelpful on the surface, but not when you drill down for trusted, known, and proven guidance.For navigation to be effective, it must provide direct access to clinical expertise as part of an integrated teamnot just for finding a doctor. It should go even further to holistically support people across mental and physical health, administrative, financial, and social needs. It must include addressing the unexpected too, such as medication support, in-home care, and a broad range of social determinants of health issues. Smarter, cost-conscious care (not just the latest trend) The GLP-1 drug boom (Ozempic, Wegovy) is a case study in why smarter healthcare decision making matters.These drugs are breakthrough treatments for diabetes and weight lossbut theyre also so expensive that if prescribed indiscriminately, they could bankrupt the system and individuals too.Thats why Navigation 2.0 must be evidence-based, guiding people toward treatments that work, are clinically appropriate, and are informed by a persons benefits and based on what a person can afford short term and ongoing.Better healthcare isnt just about access; its about making smart, data-driven decisions with and for people. The future: Personalized all-in-one healthcare Navigation 1.0 was about helping people wayfind. The next era is about creating a fully connected, advocacy-driven experience that actually improves health, lowers costs, and removes complexity.At Included Health, we call this personalized, all-in-one healthcare. Its not just a replacement for navigationits a new category altogether, one that finally delivers on the original promise of making healthcare simpler, better, and more human.Healthcare navigation, as it exists today, is dying. RIP.Owen Tripp is cofounder and CEO of Included Health.
Category:
E-Commerce
U.S. President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, one of his closest advisers, have mounted a sweeping campaign to slash the size of the 2.3 million-strong federal workforce, firing more than 10,000 employees in an unprecedented effort that shows no sign of slowing. The layoffs were primarily aimed at workers who have been in their current jobs for less than a year, who have fewer job protections than longer-tenured staffers. In addition, about 75,000 workers have accepted buyouts from the Trump administration. The Trump administration has yet to give a total number of how many people it has fired. Here are details on some of the layoffs at federal departments and agencies gleaned by Reuters reporters so far. Department of the Interior Around 2,300 workers were laid off from the Interior Department, sources said, including about 800 people from the Bureau of Land Management, which manages millions of federally owned acres for uses ranging from oil and gas development to timber harvesting, recreation and cultural preservation. Overall, the department employs more than 70,000 people and oversees 500 million acres (202.3 million hectares) of public lands, including dozens of national parks. Department of Energy About 700 workers have been laid off at the Department of Energy, the agency said on Wednesday. Sources have told Reuters that as many as 2,000 workers have been informed they were being laid off and that managers were told to provide evidence for why some of those should be re-hired. On Friday, sources said 325 workers had been sent notice that they had been laid off from the National Nuclear Security Administration, an Energy Department office that manages the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal and secure dangerous nuclear materials around the world. But after a public uproar and a scramble by the administration to hire back some of these employees, fewer than 50 workers from the agency were ultimately purged, the Energy Department said on Sunday. Overall, the Energy Department has about 14,000 employees and 95,000 contractors. Department of Agriculture The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday that it accidentally fired several employees working on the federal government’s response to the H5N1 avian flu outbreak and that it was attempting to rescind those layoffs. The U.S. Forest Service, a division of the Agriculture Department, which manages millions of acres of national forests and grasslands, is firing 3,400 probationary employees, equal to 10% of its workforce, people familiar with the plans said. Workers at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, which supports agricultural science and technology research, and the Economic Research Service, which produces reports and data on the farm economy, have also been fired, sources said. The extent of layoffs across the Agriculture Department, which employs nearly 100,000 people, remained unclear. Department of Health and Human Services About 45% of recently hired employees still considered probationary at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were laid off, a source told Reuters. The Associated Press reported that nearly 1,300 CDC staff members had been fired, comprising one-tenth of the agency’s workforce. At the National Institutes of Health, 1,165 people, mostly probationary employees, were laid off, according to an internal email seen by Reuters. Workers at the Food and Drug Administration were also let go, STAT News reported. The exact number of FDA staff members who lost their jobs was unclear. The Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC, NIH, FDA as well as Medicare and Medicaid, has more than 80,000 employees. Around 5,200 of them have lost their jobs, STAT News reported. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau The independent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which is responsible for consumer protection against banks, debt collectors and other companies in the financial sector, has been largely shuttered after the Trump administration ordered it to halt all activity. Roughly 140 to 200 of the agency’s probationary and so-called term employees have been fired, people familiar with the matter said. Department of Veterans Affairs More than 1,000 workers were let go from the Department of Veterans Affairs, which provides health and other benefits to millions of military veterans. The department employs more than 450,000 people and oversees more than 1,500 healthcare facilities. Office of Personnel Management All probationary employees at the Office of Personnel Management, which handles human resources for the U.S. government, were fired on Thursday in a group call that included around 100 people, sources said. Small Business Administration At least 45 probationary employees at the Small Business Administration were fired in a letter seen by Reuters. The agency, which employs several thousand people, provides support for small businesses and entrepreneurs. Department of Education At least 160 recent hires at the Department of Education have been notified of their termination, according to a letter seen by Reuters. Trump has called for the dissolution of the entire department and its 4,400 employees, though Congress would need to approve. While local and state governments hold sway over most educational issues in the United States, the federal department provides billions of dollars in student loans and grants for higher education as well as funding for students with disabilities and economically disadvantaged students. The department also enforces civil rights laws. General Services Administration About 100 employees at the General Services Administration received termination letters, according to sources. The independent agency, which manages the government’s real estate portfolio and oversees most government contracts, has more than 12,000 workers. Internal Revenue Service Senior executives at the Internal Revenue Service have identified roughly 7,500 out of 17,000 total probationary employees who could be dismissed as part of the administration’s efforts, according to a person familiar with the matter. No layoffs have occurred so far. The 7,500 target excludes workers deemed essential for tax filing season, as well as some employees involved in criminal investigations and security roles, the person familiar with the matter said. Overall, the tax-collecting agency has about 100,000 employees. Federal Aviation Administration The FAA fired more than 300 employees out of its workforce of 45,000, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on X, as questions rise around air traffic safety amid a spate of recent plane accidents. Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency has fired 388 probationary employees. The agency, which enforces laws like the Clean Air Act and works to protect the environment, said the job cuts were made after “a thorough review of agency functions in accordance with President Trump’s executive orders.” Joseph Ax, Reuters
Category:
E-Commerce
President Donald Trump’s initial policy proposals raised concern at the Federal Reserve about higher inflation, with firms telling the U.S. central bank they generally expected to raise prices to pass through the cost of import tariffs, policymakers said at a meeting held about a week after Trump’s January 20 inauguration. Participants at the U.S. central bank’s January 28-29 meeting “generally pointed to the upside risks to the inflation outlook,” rather than risks to job market, according to the minutes from the meeting, which were released on Wednesday. “In particular, participants cited the possible effects of potential changes in trade and immigration policy, the potential for geopolitical developments to disrupt supply chains, or stronger-than-expected household spending.” While still having faith that price pressures will continue to ease, “other factors were cited as having the potential to hinder the disinflation process,” the minutes said, including the fact that “business contacts in a number of (Fed) districts had indicated that firms would attempt to pass on to consumers higher input costs arising from potential tariffs.” Participants also noted that some measures of inflation expectations, a key concern for the Fed, “had increased recently.” Financial markets were little changed after the release of the minutes, with interest rate futures indicating the Fed’s likely first, and perhaps only, rate cut of 2025 would occur in July. Policymakers at last month’s meeting agreed they should hold interest rates steady until it was clear that inflation, largely stalled since the middle of 2024, would dependably fall to the central bank’s 2% target. Fed staff had already changed their outlook at the December 17-18 meeting to show expected slower growth and higher inflation based on “placeholder assumptions” about Trump’s likely actions when he began his second term in the White House. The president started providing details in his first days in office, including proposed 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and a lockdown of the U.S.-Mexico border. The Fed kept its benchmark interest rate in the current 4.25%-4.50% range at its meeting last month, and officials since then have said they are in no rush to cut rates again until they are more certain inflation will decline to the 2% target from current levels around half a percentage point above that level. Understanding the impact of Trump’s policies has become a central part of that debate. Debt ceiling, framework In another sign of how fiscal policy may impact central bank decision-making, the minutes said “various” policymakers noted it may be appropriate to consider slowing or pausing the Fed’s ongoing shrinking of its balance sheet in light of federal “debt ceiling dynamics.” Current federal funding runs out after March 14, and lawmakers will need to act by the summer to raise their self-imposed debt ceiling or risk a default. Fed officials used the January meeting to kick off what’s expected to be a months-long review of the central bank’s policy framework, including potential revisions to the statement’s focus on the risks to the economy when the benchmark interest rate is near the zero level. They also made it clear they would not change their commitment to a 2% inflation goal, or to achieving maximum employment. The review is expected to wrap up by late summer, the minutes said. Howard Schneider and Ann Saphir, Reuters
Category:
E-Commerce
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