Senior digital health expertise,
from strategy to execution.
You didn’t get into this industry because it was a good market opportunity. You got into this because healthcare is broken in ways you’ve seen up close, and you decided that you won’t wait around for someone else to fix it.
The vision is clear. The urgency is real. What's hard is finding senior expertise that knows the system inside and out, and wants to change it as badly as you do.
Whether embedded in your team or working on a specific project — we've got you. You've got this.
This is the kind of work we do.
The Studio
We believe in people before pixels. Starting with the humans on the other end of any problem yields solutions that actually get adopted and change that sticks. The Studio is where we do that work: discovery, facilitation, and experience design grounded in the reality of the people it's built for.
Mission Control
Some problems can't be solved from the outside. Mission Control brings senior capacity without the full-time hire — embedded strategic leadership working inside your organization across planning, alignment, change management, and execution.
The Codex
The gap between a great idea and real traction is almost always a communication problem. We find the right words for every room — translating complexity, building narrative, and framing the path forward in language that moves people to act.
Choosing Futures Advisory is for you if…
You're building technology that puts people before the business case
You're operating inside a large organization with numerous stakeholders, competing constraints, and a mandate that's harder to execute than it looked on paper
You've been in enough bad consulting relationships to know what you don't want
You're not looking for a vendor — you want a partner who has actually built this stuff and been accountable for it when it shipped and when it didn't
You need an outside voice with the experience to back it up — someone who has done this before and can show it's possible
Working together
We work with a small number of clients at a time — which means when you engage with Choosing Futures Advisory, you get seasoned experts. Not a junior analyst running point while someone senior does a monthly check-in.
Our rates are designed for founders and operators, not Fortune 500 procurement budgets. The first conversation is free. If you’re not sure whether this is what you need, that’s exactly what it’s for.
As seen in
Why Choosing Futures
A NOTE FROM OUR FOUNDER
I founded Choosing Futures after 17 years inside a large health system, long enough to see the incredible impact technology can have on people's lives, and the incredible effort it takes to move a big institution forward. I left because I wanted to go faster, think bigger, and work with the founders, operators, and builders who are literally choosing a different future for how we access and receive care. That's what Choosing Futures is about.
I've been there. I've been the underdog pushing for change, the one scaling that change once it got traction, and the person on the other side of the table deciding what gets adopted and what gets a polite no. I've seen this world from every angle. Our clients need someone who can help them see around corners of every kind.
I'm a strategist with operator credibility, a writer with a scientist's discipline, and someone who genuinely gives a damn whether your idea makes it.
If this strikes a chord, let's talk.
-Emily Kagan, Founder & Principal
“Emily is a rare combination of a scientist and an artist. She is an exceptional poet, and yet so organized and scientific in her approach to life that she ends up being fantastic at execution.”
Elliot Cohen - Co-founder, PillPack (acquired by Amazon)
“Brilliant. A perfect partner. Exactly what you need, even if you don't know what you need. Our work together is not finished — and I couldn't recommend her more to others!”
Jason Ovryn - CEO, Priorly / former Walmart AI
“I have never encountered a person who can so effortlessly switch between operations and vision, executing both flawlessly.”
Abby Kushner - Chief Marketing Officer, NorthStar Anesthesia
“Over the years I’ve worked with a handful of people who are technically exceptional, and a handful of people who are masterful communicators. Emily is a rare combination of both.”
Marian Dezelan - Executive Director, Marketing & Communications,
Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University
“You are an extraordinary talent.”
Dr. Adrienne Boissy - Former Chief Experience Officer, Cleveland Clinic / TED Speaker
Let’s Talk
If something on this page resonated — or if you’re not quite sure yet but something’s pulling you here — reach out. The first conversation is free and there’s no pitch waiting on the other side. Just a real conversation about what you’re working on.
