When External Forces Drive Change in Established Systems
- Allie K
- 23 hours ago
- 3 min read
Significant disruption rarely comes from inside the system being disrupted.
Systems create gravity. The longer you're inside one, the harder it is to imagine it working differently — let alone building something that proves it can.
I spent years in senior health policy leadership. I've seen what the public system does beautifully. I've also seen how competing priorities and layers of approval can crowd out the most important question: what do people actually need (and want)?
I've also navigated a branch of administrative law as a self-represented litigant. For me, that experience revealed how important it is to keep pushing for innovative solutions that improve B2C solutions for individuals navigating their legal journey.
Two things I keep coming back to:
In health
Canada is spending serious money on health. According to CIHI, total health spending was projected to reach $399 billion in 2025 — roughly $9,626 per Canadian — representing about 12.7% of GDP. That's among the highest ratios in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The question that number demands is not 'are we spending enough?' It's 'are we spending it in a way that reflects what patients and citizens actually need and want?'
Innovation has largely centred on clinicians and institutions. That makes sense. But if we're going to get real value from that $399 billion, the people who use the system — patients, caregivers, private sector leaders, every day citizens — need to be shaping its future, not just navigating whatever they're handed.
There is encouraging work happening here. Dr. Tara Kiran's OurCare initiative — Canada's largest public engagement effort on the future of primary care — heard from thousands of people across the country and is directly influencing policy discussions across Canada's provinces and territories. That kind of citizen-led co-design should be the norm, not the exception.
But OurCare, as powerful as it is, focuses largely on strengthening the existing public models. We also need people building entirely new solutions— and building them fast — that keep pace with what's being built elsewhere.
The Canada Health Act was never meant to be a ceiling on innovation. It was meant to be a floor — a commitment to equity that the private sector can and should build on, not around.
What's being built outside Canada
Consider what Function Health has done in the United States: a membership-based platform giving consumers access to 160+ biomarker lab tests, AI-generated health insights, and full-body imaging for $365 a year. It has over 200,000 members, completed more than 50 million lab tests since launching in 2023, and was valued at $2.5 billion in late 2025. The premise is simple and radical: you shouldn't need to wait for symptoms to understand your own health.
In Abu Dhabi, the government is doing something equally ambitious at the population level — building an AI-powered preventive health infrastructure that integrates genomics, real-time health records, and population-wide data. In 2025, Abu Dhabi became the first health system in the world to launch comprehensive genomic screening for newborns covering more than 800 preventable conditions. The World Economic Forum recognized it that same year as a rising global benchmark.
In China, the national Healthy China 2030 initiative has explicitly shifted the country's policy focus from treating disease to preventing it — a 'health-first' strategy backed by major investment in AI, digital platforms, and community-based care models at a scale most countries can only observe.
These aren't fringe experiments. They're signals of where the next generation of health systems is heading. Canada has the values, the talent to build seriously in this space.
But only if we make room for it — urgently.
Future post will focus on levers I think are needed to make this happen, based on my years working in the system and more importantly as a patient.
In law
Powerful tools are being built to help lawyers serve clients better. That's essential/valuable. And there's an enormous, underserved population who will never have a lawyer — who need solutions built specifically for them.
Canada has the talent, the need, and the values to lead in both spaces.
That's the work I'm in now — helping innovators find their voice, communicate their value, and get seen by the people who need what they're building.
I'll keep sharing my thoughts in this blog. If something interests you, don't hesitate to reach out: hello@healthyfoundation.ca
— Allie K
Founder, Healthy Foundation
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