For too long, the healthcare system has been reactive, focused on treating illness after it occurs rather than anticipating and preventing it. At the same time, consumers have come to expect personalized, seamless experiences in every part of their lives, including healthcare.
To deliver higher quality, more affordable, and more connected care, the industry must “shift left” – moving from reactive to proactive health management – while having the mindset to keep the consumer at the center of what we do. The key to making that shift possible lies in digital technologies, particularly data-driven platforms and artificial intelligence (AI), which enable earlier insights, more personalized engagement, and more coordinated action across the care ecosystem.
Shifting left helps companies operate on a day-to-day basis while keeping their mission top-of-mind. In the case of Elevance Health, this strategy helps to focus on proactive prevention and enhancing the consumer experience. Built on Elevance Health’s data platform, Health OS, and the company’s AI foundation, shifting left enables earlier detection, faster decision-making, and more connected member experiences.
What It Means to “Shift Left” in Healthcare
Borrowed from technology disciplines, “shifting left” means identifying and resolving issues earlier in the process. In healthcare, that translates to engaging patients earlier, detecting risk sooner, and intervening earlier, rather than reacting to it.
Traditionally, care begins when someone feels unwell or seeks help. In a shifted-left model, engagement starts long before symptoms appear, when subtle patterns in data reveal early indicators of risk. This proactive approach is powered by digital technologies that continuously analyze data from across the healthcare landscape and gives patients, care providers, and other stakeholders insights to take action.
Consistent with relevant privacy and security standards, AI can sift through massive datasets, from electronic health records and pharmacy claims to wearable device data, and social drivers of health data, to uncover insights. These technologies can help identify who may be at risk for diabetes, heart disease, or other chronic conditions and help drive timely intervention. The result: better health outcomes and a healthcare experience that feels more personal, accessible, and supportive.
Keeping the Consumer at the Center
Consumers must remain the central focus. The ultimate goal of “shifting left” is not to automate healthcare; it’s to make it more personalized and more responsive to individual needs.
Consumers expect healthcare to fit their lives, not the other way around. They want transparency, convenience, and engagement that feels intuitive. AI-powered personalization and digital engagement tools – with the appropriate level of human and clinical oversight – make that possible, delivering the right message and action at the right time through the right channel.
Every minute gained through earlier alerts and/or actions may help improve health outcomes. Shifting left may reduce the lag between insight and action, helping to prevent avoidable health issues, readmissions, missed follow-ups, and medication errors that compromise a person’s health.
For instance, predictive analytics can help identify when a consumer is most likely to engage in preventive screenings and tailor outreach accordingly. Virtual assistants can answer benefit questions or guide consumers to appropriate care settings 24/7. In collaboration with clinical professionals, remote monitoring and digital coaching apps can provide continuous support between visits.
Digital Collaboration: Payers and Providers Working Together
A successful shift left also depends on collaboration, particularly between payers and care providers. Digital transformation and AI-driven insights are creating new opportunities for these stakeholders to work together in ways that enhance each person’s healthcare experience.
By sharing real-time data and predictive intelligence, payers and providers can jointly identify patients who would benefit from early interventions. This shared visibility leads to more coordinated, proactive care that helps people lead healthier lives.
Moreover, digital interoperability and automation can help streamline claims and reduce administrative burden, improving timeliness, accuracy, and affordability. AI-powered tools can flag potential issues before they delay claims and ensure documentation accuracy.
For consumers, these innovations mean more personalization, less friction, fewer delays, and more confidence that their care is both effective and affordable. For the industry, they mean a more efficient, connected ecosystem where every stakeholder is aligned around proactive care.
Data Interoperability: The Foundation for Proactive, Personalized Care
To fully realize the promise of shifting left, healthcare must invest in data-driven infrastructure and interoperability, enabling seamless, bi-directional data exchange among payers, providers, and consumers.
When information flows securely and appropriately across systems, AI and analytics can deliver a unified view of each person’s health journey. This holistic perspective allows care teams to anticipate needs, personalize interventions, and close gaps in care. This approach also helps care providers identify risk factors – from medication non-adherence to food insecurity to mobility barriers – that traditional models may miss.
Just as important, interoperability further empowers consumers. Giving individuals increased real-time access to their health data, and more tools to interpret and act on it, gives them more opportunities to engage in their healthcare. Additionally, consumers can more actively take part in their healthcare when data transparency meets digital engagement.
The Human Touch in a Digital World
As healthcare becomes more digital, maintaining the human touch is essential. Digital technologies should amplify empathy, not replace it. For example, digital tools can help free clinicians from administrative tasks, allowing them to spend more time with patients. Predictive insights can help care managers reach out with the right message, personalizing care.
By combining the power of technology with the warmth of human connection, healthcare organizations can create experiences that are both intelligent and compassionate.
A More Connected, Proactive, and Human Future
Shifting left and centering around the consumer are not competing goals; they are two sides of the same transformation. Digital technologies and AI make it possible to move care upstream, while a consumer-first mindset ensures that the transformation remains meaningful and relatable.
Together, these principles build a healthcare system that anticipates rather than reacts, collaborates rather than fragments, and empowers rather than dictates.
When we use data to understand people more deeply, technology to act more swiftly, and human empathy to connect more authentically, we move healthcare toward its highest purpose: helping people live healthier, fuller lives.
Ratnakar Lavu serves as EVP and Chief Digital Information Officer at Elevance Health
Ashok Chennuru serves as Chief Data & Digital Transformation Officer at Elevance Health
