Podcast
The Heart of Healthcare | A Digital Health Podcast
Hosted by Massively Better Healthcare · EN
🏆 2026 Webby Award-winning podcast.
Join us every Monday for conversations with the biggest names in healthcare. Hosted by health tech veterans Halle Tecco, Michael Esquivel, and Steve Kraus.
Learn more and submit your ideas for the show at the Heart of Healthcare website.
32episodes
Episodes
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📣 Digital Health Download: August 2026
Yesterday00:34:05Tap to summarizeThis month is about the gap between what a system offers and what people actually get from it: drugs that work better with support nobody's paying for, AI that's already answering more medical questions than most doctors ever will, and a labor market where staying healthy can mean staying stuck. Halle and Michael break down the stories reshaping digital health in August.We cover:Why GLP-1 funding is shifting from prescribing platforms into "companion" ecosystemsThe FDA panel vote that opens a legal pathway for six unapproved peptides, and what this could meanOur thoughts on OpenAI's new ChatGPT Health product, now available to every US adultThe Florida pastor's lawsuit against OpenAIWhy nearly one in four US workers are staying in jobs they'd rather leave, just to keep their health insuranceThe healthcare argument buried inside the bill to make daylight saving time permanentLinks:Rock Health, H1 2026 digital health funding recapHalle's research piece, Virtual GLP-1 startups: Pill mills or the future of obesity care?RAPS, FDA advisory committee backs six peptides for compounding listTechCrunch, OpenAI makes ChatGPT Health available to all US usersCBS News, ChatGPT's medical advice nearly killed a Florida man, lawsuit claimsGallup, One in four US employees locked in jobs for health insuranceThe Hill, House passes Sunshine Protection Act— 📍 Connect with us:Heart of Healthcare websiteLinkedInYouTube See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Why We Demand Perfect Machines Yet Tolerate Human Carnage | Dr. Jonathan Slotkin
1w ago00:27:11Tap to summarizeEvery day, roughly 100 Americans die in crashes caused by human drivers. Yet when a self-driving car hesitates at an intersection or makes the news for an unusual mistake, public trust can evaporate.In this special episode, Dr. Jonathan Slotkin reads his latest Noema essay exploring why we demand perfection from machines while accepting human error as inevitable. Drawing on lessons from medicine, psychology, and autonomous vehicles, he argues that the biggest barrier to safer technology is trust.You'll learn:Why humans judge machine mistakes differently than human mistakesWhat healthcare learned about the difference between being safe and feeling safeWhy autonomous vehicles may already be far safer than human driversHow public perception can slow the adoption of life-saving technologyWhat every AI company should learn about transparency and trust —About our guest:Dr. Jonathan Slotkin is Chief Medical Officer for Strategy & Growth at Geisinger, where he drives growth at the intersection of care delivery, insurance, and digital transformation. A practicing neurosurgeon, he previously served as Geisinger's associate chief medical informatics officer.Jon's current research and writing examine safety, trust, and adoption of autonomous systems in public life. His New York Times guest essay on self-driving car safety was entered into the Congressional Record. His writing regularly appears in Harvard Business Review, STAT, and Noema Magazine. He has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed scientific publications.Previously, as co-founder and chief medical officer of Contigo Health, he partnered with the nation's largest employers to reimagine care for their associates. He co-founded Scrub Capital, a clinician-powered venture capital firm, where he serves as a Partner. He completed neurosurgery residency at The Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, where he served as chief resident.—This piece was commissioned, edited, and published by Noema Magazine. Noema publishes longform journalism exploring fresh ideas. To read this piece and others, head to noemamag.com.—📍 Connect with us:Heart of Healthcare websiteLinkedInYouTubeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Shareholder Primacy Is Breaking Healthcare | Eric Ries
2w ago00:41:37Tap to summarizeHealthcare companies are built to improve patients' lives. So why do so many prioritize shareholders over the people they're meant to serve?This week, Halle sits down with Eric Ries, author of Incorruptible, to unpack the rise of shareholder primacy, what it is, and why he believes it's at the root of many of society’s biggest challenges. They discuss the surprising history of corporate governance, the lessons behind Novo Nordisk's century-long success, and what founders can do today to keep their companies aligned with their mission as they grow.We cover:Why shareholder primacy reshaped corporate America (and where we go from here)How Novo Nordisk's unusual ownership structure may have saved GLP-1 researchThe simple governance change that could preserve your company's mission for decadesHow boards, investors, and acquisitions can slowly pull companies away from their original purposeThe founder mistakes that make mission drift almost inevitableAbout our guest:Over the last two decades, Eric Ries’s ideas about continuous innovation, long-term thinking, governance, and market reform have reshaped company building and management practices. He is the creator of the Lean Startup method, and the author of two New York Times bestsellers The Lean Startup and Incorruptible; The Leader’s Guide; and The Startup Way. As a founder, he has put his own ideas into practice with The Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE); Answer.AI, an AI R&D lab; Virgil, a legal services startup; and IMVU. On The Eric Ries Show, he talks with world-class technologists, thought leaders, and executives building for the long-term. Check out his book, Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad…and How Great Companies Stay Great—🙏 Do you like this podcast? An easy and free way to help keep the show going is to leave us a review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you're listening.—📍 Connect with us:Heart of Healthcare websiteLinkedInYouTubeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Can AI Build the First New Pharma Giant in Decades? | Formation Bio CEO Ben Liu
3w ago00:43:56Tap to summarizeOver the last decade, the number of drug candidates entering development has doubled, yet the number of successful drug approvals remains flat at ~50 per year.This week, we sit down with Formation Bio founder and CEO Ben Liu. His company has raised more than $600 million to build what he hopes will become the first new enduring pharmaceutical company in decades, powered by AI. Ben explains why he believes clinical development, not drug discovery, is becoming the industry's biggest bottleneck, and how AI could fundamentally change the economics of bringing new medicines to patients.We cover:Why there hasn't there been a big pharma company created since the 1980sWhich drug categories Ben believes could become the next GLP-1s and reshape healthcareWhy Formation Bio chose to become a pharmaceutical company instead of selling softwareThe real bottleneck in bringing medicines to patientsBen's roadmap for how AI will transform drug development over the next 10 to 20 yearsAbout our guest:Ben Liu is the co-founder and CEO of Formation Bio. He received his DPhil at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, leveraging machine-learning, AI, and big-data to develop diagnostics and therapeutics for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. During his graduate work, he observed the way clinical trials bottlenecked the development of new treatments for patients, compelling him to start Formation Bio.Before Formation Bio, Ben graduated from Yale where he was awarded the college’s highest honor at graduation and received his MPhil with distinction in Computational Biology from the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Cambridge as a Paul Mellon Fellow. Ben also serves as an Advisor to Harvard Business School’s MS/MBA Program in Biotechnology.— 🙏 Do you like this podcast? An easy and free way to help keep the show going is to leave us a review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you're listening.— 📍 Connect with us:Heart of Healthcare websiteLinkedInYouTubeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Building A Healthcare Unicorn In Three Years | Assort Health Founders Jeff Liu and Jon Wang
4w ago00:41:56Tap to summarizeThey built a $1.2 billion healthcare AI company in under three years, but they say the hardest part of healthcare AI isn't the AI.This week, Halle sits down with Assort Health co-founders and co-CEOs Jeffery Liu and Jon Wang, whose company reached a $1.2 billion valuation in under three years. They discuss why building great healthcare AI takes far more than good models, how they scaled from 15 employees to nearly 250 in a year, and what they've learned from more than 190 million patient interactions. They also share why voice AI is harder than it looks, how they're thinking about building durable moats in the age of foundation models, and why helping patients navigate the healthcare system may be one of AI's biggest opportunities.We cover:The AI role suddenly showing up at every healthcare startupThe surprising demographic that gives AI voice agents the highest satisfaction scoresHow healthcare AI is shifting from single-purpose tools to platforms that remember patients across every interactionWhy the biggest moat in healthcare AI may not be the model itselfThe biggest misconception investors have about moats in healthcare AIHow to triple your team without losing the culture that made the company successful— 🙏 Do you like this podcast? An easy and free way to help keep the show going is to leave us a review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you're listening.— 📍 Connect with us:Heart of Healthcare websiteLinkedInYouTube See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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📣 Digital Health Download: July 2026
Jun 2900:34:19Tap to summarizeJuly marks five years of The Heart of Healthcare, and we're grateful for every listener who's tuned in. If you've enjoyed the show, please show your love by leaving us a review!This month, Steve and Halle take stock of an industry where capital is concentrating, incumbents are making big bets, AI is moving from promise to early proof points, and a public health crisis is quietly building in the background.We cover:The digital health funding numbers that just dropped, and what they reveal about where the money is really goingA $12 billion deal that has the RCM world buzzingThe Nature study that has clinical AI companies on edgeA new entrant into medical imaging that nobody saw comingThe public health crisis that sports betting built, and why healthcare isn't talking about it enoughEarly data out of Utah that could change how we think about AI in clinical settingsLinks:IPO Watch List: https://halletecco.substack.com/p/the-digital-health-ipo-watchlistEnsemble Health / Thoreau deal: https://hitconsultant.net/2026/06/18/thoreau-makes-strategic-investment-in-ensemble-health/Nature Medicine AI study: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04431-5Midjourney Medical: https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/952011/midjourney-medical-ai-ultrasound-scanDoctronic pilot outcomes: https://commerce.utah.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Doctronic-Outcomes-May-2026.pdf— 📍 Connect with us:Heart of Healthcare websiteLinkedInYouTube See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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Healthcare’s Oppenheimer Moment | Listener Q&A
Jun 2200:46:00Tap to summarizeBack by popular demand, 3x Heart of Healthcare guest Eric Larsen joins Steve to answer listener questions on healthcare's AI revolution. Drawing on the ideas behind his latest essay, Healthcare's Oppenheimer Moment, Eric argues that healthcare may be approaching a once-in-a-generation inflection point, and discusses what leaders need to understand before it's too late.We cover:Whether foundation models will eventually outperform healthcare-specific AI companiesWhy healthcare remains stuck in AI pilot projects while the technology races aheadThe biggest obstacle to clinical AI adoptionWhy liability may be the most important (and least discussed) issue in healthcare AIEric's controversial take on how AI will reshape the healthcare workforce—Links:Eric's essay is available here — 🙏 Do you like this podcast? An easy and free way to help keep the show going is to leave us a review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you're listening.— 📍 Connect with us:Heart of Healthcare websiteLinkedInYouTube See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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How AI Changed Healthcare Fundraising and Venture Capital
Jun 1500:30:34Tap to summarizeHealthcare AI funding is booming, but the money is flowing to fewer companies than ever before. As investors pour capital into a small group of breakout winners, founders are navigating a fundraising environment where expectations seem to change every quarter. Based on interviews with 24 healthcare founders and a dozen healthcare investors, Halle breaks down what is actually happening in the market today, from pitch meetings and diligence processes to the growing debate over whether AI has fundamentally changed venture capital itself. Why healthcare AI fundraising has become a tale of two marketsThe two questions dominating investor meetings in 2026The metrics VCs are looking for todayThe debate over whether investors should abandon traditional ownership targetsWhy high valuations can be both a gift and a trap for founders —Show notes:Submit questions for our Eric Larsen healthcare AI Q&A here Part I: AI ate digital health (and what that means for fundraising)Part II: Convicted or disciplined: How healthcare VCs are split on investing— 🙏 Do you like this podcast? An easy and free way to help keep the show going is to leave us a review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you're listening.— 📍 Connect with us:Heart of Healthcare websiteLinkedInYouTube See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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What Healthcare Can Learn From Waymo | Qualified Health Founder and CEO Justin Norden
Jun 800:34:42Tap to summarizeAutonomous vehicles may be the closest real-world example of AI operating in life-and-death situations at scale. Justin Norden believes healthcare has a lot to learn from how that industry approached safety, testing, adoption, and trust. This week, Michael and Halle sit down with the founder and CEO of Qualified Health, fresh off the company’s $125 million Series B, to discuss why healthcare organizations need to think differently about deploying AI. Justin shares how his experience at Stanford, Apple, Waymo, and in healthcare investing shaped his view that health systems need AI infrastructure, governance, and workforce buy-in, not just another point solution.We cover:What healthcare can learn from Waymo’s approach to safe AI deploymentWhat founders need to understand about building around EpicWhy health systems need to treat AI as a CEO-level priority, not an innovation projectHow Qualified Health is helping systems deploy, monitor, and measure AI workflowsWhy governance, safety, and ROI matter as much as model performanceWhy clinicians are right to be skeptical about AI liabilityAbout our guest:Justin Norden, MD is Co-Founder and CEO of Qualified Health building the trusted platform for health system AI. Additionally, he has been an Adjunct Professor at Stanford Medicine in the Department of Biomedical Informatics Research where his research and teaching focused on AI in medicine and digital health where he founded and still teaches courses on digital health and generative AI in medicine. Previously, Dr. Norden was Co-Founder and CEO of Trustworthy AI, a company focused on algorithm safety and trust, which was acquired by Waymo (Google Self-Driving). He was a Partner at GSR Ventures leading investments in healthcare and AI, worked on the healthcare team at Apple, and helped start the Stanford Center for Digital Health. Dr. Justin Norden received an MD and MBA from Stanford University, an MPhil in Computational Biology from the University of Cambridge, and a BA in Computer Science from Carleton College.— 🙏 Do you like this podcast? An easy and free way to help keep the show going is to leave us a review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you're listening.—Show notes:The Data on Self-Driving Cars Is Clear. We Have to Change Course. Dr. Jonathan Slotkin op-ed in the NYT— 📍 Connect with us:Heart of Healthcare websiteLinkedInYouTube See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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📣 Digital Health Download: June 2026
Jun 100:42:34Tap to summarizeHealthcare is simultaneously propping up the US economy and facing one of its most uncertain moments in years.This month, Halle and Steve unpack the growing contradictions shaping digital health right now: healthcare jobs are driving nearly half of US job growth while provider bankruptcies surge, AI is flooding into healthcare faster than regulators can keep up, and Washington continues to send mixed signals on the future of healthcare policy and innovation.We cover:Why healthcare jobs are now carrying the US labor market and what Medicaid cuts could mean for the economyThe surprising comeback of wearables and how companies like Whoop, Oura, and Google are building massive subscription businessesCMS’s new ACCESS model and the debate over whether AI-driven care can actually lower costs without sacrificing qualityThe lawsuit against Character.AI and what it reveals about the growing demand for AI mental health toolsWhy investors are pouring billions into AI drug discovery despite huge unanswered questions about clinical developmentMarty Makary’s resignation from the FDA and what ongoing instability means for biotech, pharma, and healthcare innovation—Show notes:Forget Tech and Hollywood. California Is Powered by Healthcare Jobs. (WSJ)Oura Debuts Ring 5, Ahead of Potential IPO (WWD)Whoop Raises $575 Million at $10.1 Billion Valuation (Whoop)Fitbit Ditches the Screen With Its New $99 Whoop Rival (PC Mag)Why big digital health players are missing from Medicare’s chronic care experiment (STAT)Character.AI Lawsuit (PA.gov) Marty Makary out as FDA chief (Axios)— 🙏 Do you like this podcast? An easy and free way to help keep the show going is to leave us a review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you're listening.— 📍 Connect with us:Heart of Healthcare websiteLinkedInYouTube See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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