Risk Never Sleeps Podcast

Episode #171: The Case For A Blockchain-Powered Healthcare Internet
Guest: Jose Macion, Founder and CEO, GenOp Health
Host: Ed Gaudet (with Co-Host)
Date: December 19, 2025

Episode Overview

In this lively, insight-packed episode, Ed Gaudet and his co-host sit down with Jose Macion, founder and CEO of GenOp Health, to discuss his vision for a blockchain-powered healthcare internet. The discussion weaves together Jose’s personal story, entrepreneurial journey, and technical leadership, with deep dives into interoperability, security, and the potential for AI-driven healthcare transformation. While delivered with the hosts’ trademark humor and accessibility, the conversation is grounded in real-world challenges and solutions for patient data management and healthcare innovation.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Meet Jose Macion: Background and Origin Story

• Transition to Entrepreneurship
  • Jose started GenOp Health during COVID while working as a data scientist for Keck Medical Center of USC.
  • Motivated by a "COVID career shift" (02:50) and his consulting experience with organizations like Kaiser and HealthNet (03:26).
• Personal Journey
  • Grew up in Los Angeles with a close-knit Filipino family who immigrated for better opportunities (13:38).
  • Overcame challenges of poverty and worked hard to avoid repeating those circumstances:
    • “I completed it because I didn’t want to be poor anymore. Like, I wanted to make some money.” — Jose (13:28)

2. What is GenOp Health? The Vision for a Blockchain Healthcare Internet

• Core Mission
  • “We built a blockchain healthcare internet, which is powering and powered by artificial intelligence.” — Jose (02:08)
• Why Blockchain? Why Now?
  • Blockchain chosen for its security, transparency, and ability to ease real-time, standards-based data exchange between providers, payers, and patients (06:09).
  • “With blockchain, you can produce these blocks...and it's transactional. And it's the most democratically inclined security system that we currently have.” — Jose (07:54)
• Interoperability as Foundation for AI
  • Strong emphasis on interoperability providing comprehensive, real-time, quality data required for mature, intelligent AI in healthcare.
    • “Interoperability should be the foundation of truly intelligent AI...in order to encourage AI to grow and nurture itself, you need to supply it with real-time, comprehensive, quality data.” — Jose (06:54)

3. Bootstrapping the Startup: People, Persistence, and Lumpia

• No Outside Investment
  • Jose bootstrapped GenOp, starting with his cousin-in-law as first team member, working for shares and food (09:53, 10:00).
• Building with Family and Community
  • “I started off just giving them food. Shares of the company. Food. Oh, and food. Yeah, 'cause they love Filipino food.” — Jose (10:00)
• Maintaining Motivation
  • Persistence rooted in a sense of responsibility for his family and a drive to improve lives, both for patients and healthcare workers.

4. The Tech: AI, "Apes," and the Patient Identity Problem

• GenOp’s AI Solution: Artificially Intelligent Patient Search Engine (APES)
  • A proprietary model designed to resolve fragmented patient identification.
  • “We actually created our own AI model, which is the artificially intelligent patient search engine. Apes we created.” — Jose (15:00)
• Why It Matters:
  • US healthcare lacks a national patient identifier.
  • APES cross-references social security and demographics across health systems, correlating multiple medical record numbers securely via blockchain (17:45–18:22).
• Security and Privacy First
  • “So it'll look for that on the blockchain.” — Ed (18:31)
  • “On the blockchain.” — Jose (18:34)
  • “So it's all secure?” — Ed
  • “Yes.” — Jose (18:35)

Memorable Quotes & Lighter Moments

On Startup Life & Motivation

• “Did you build it with a quantum computer?” — Ed (02:18)
• “No, that's next.” — Jose (02:26)
• “I completed it because I didn’t want to be poor anymore. Like, I wanted to make some money.” — Jose (13:28)

On Team Building

• “I started off just giving them food. Shares of the company. Food. Oh, and food. Yeah, 'cause they love Filipino food.” — Jose (10:00)
• “You're Filipino?...You got this lumpia stuff.” — Ed (10:06, 10:22)

The APES Model

• “We actually created our own AI model, which is the artificially intelligent patient search engine. Apes we created.” — Jose (15:00)
• “You're not very good at these naming things, are you? Apes and GenOp...” — Ed (15:18)

Musical Tastes & Pop Culture Banter

• Desert Island Records:
  • “AC/DC Man!” — Jose (18:49)
  • “NWA.” (18:52)
  • “Coldplay...Snoop Dogg...Michael Jackson.” (19:21, 19:44, 20:10)

Notable Timestamps

• [02:08] – Jose introduces GenOp Health and its blockchain-AI mission
• [06:54] – Deep dive into why interoperability matters for AI-driven healthcare
• [07:54] – Explains blockchain’s unique attributes for healthcare data management
• [09:53] – Story of bootstrapping the company, working with family and food as equity
• [15:00] – Introduction of APES, the AI patient search engine
• [17:45–18:22] – Technical breakdown of how APES resolves patient identification
• [18:31–18:35] – Reassurance on blockchain data security
• [18:49–20:10] – Fun segment: Jose’s desert island music picks
• [21:03–21:25] – Favorite movies and comedic influences

Final Reflections & Takeaways

• Jose’s Personal & Professional Resilience:
  • From overcoming challenging beginnings (“When we first came here to Los Angeles, it was just my mom and I...we lived out of...it was tough growing up.” — Jose, 13:38), to starting GenOp with no outside investment and family by his side, Jose’s journey is one of grit, innovation, and giving back.
• Technological Vision:
  • GenOp Health stands as a case study in blending cutting-edge technology (blockchain & AI) with practical, real-world experience in the trenches of US healthcare.
• Broader Impact:
  • Solving interoperability and the patient identity crisis isn’t just a tech problem; it’s foundational to safer, smarter, and more equitable healthcare.

Best Quote Summing Up the Episode

“Interoperability should be the foundation of truly intelligent AI...in order to encourage AI to grow and nurture itself, you need to supply it with real-time, comprehensive, quality data.”
— Jose Macion (06:54)

For episode notes, resources, and more, visit censinet.com.