Vikram Narayan, MD, on embracing thoughtful tech adoption

Emory’s health care system recently made a shift to Apple products in an effort to reduce burnout from excessive screen time and improve face-to-face interactions with patients.¹ In a recent interview with Urology Times®, Vikram M. Narayan, MD, FACS explains that institutions may be hesitant to move forward with similar investments because of the risk of unforeseen barriers.

“We've all been conditioned to somewhat be leery of new technology for that reason, because [of the] unknowns,” he said. “What makes this project exciting and really meaningful is that for the first time in a really long time, we have new tools and new technology that actually makes our lives better and allows us to do our jobs in a way that I think is meaningfully better.”

Narayan is a urologic oncologist at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

When asked about his advice for institutions that are considering similar investments, Narayan emphasized: Just try it out.

He noted, “A lot of what I hear is ‘let's not fix what's not broken’. But to me, that's a mistake. I would argue that you may not think it's broken, but it is.”

He also recommended that institutions integrate this technology in a stepwise approach, starting with a small group of clinicians and scaling up from there.

Narayan also added, “What I would not do is take the approach that everything that we have is fine, because you don't know what you don't have until you give it a try. That would be my overarching take-home message.”

You can read more about Emory’s use of these tools from this Apple article and this Apple video.

REFERENCE:

1. Improving physician work-life balance with Mac. Apple. Accessed July 30, 2025. https://www.apple.com/healthcare/success-stories/#modal-emory