This episode of the Digital Health Transformers podcast features Loren Larsen, CEO and Co-Founder of Videra Health and former CTO of HireVue, discussing how artificial intelligence can extend behavioral healthcare beyond episodic, in-office interactions. The conversation focuses on maintaining a continuous provider-patient connection through AI-driven video check-ins without increasing clinical workload.
Loren explains how Videra Health uses AI to monitor verbal and nonverbal signals between visits, allowing clinicians to identify risk earlier and intervene when it matters most. He shares a real-world case in which an AI check-in identified emotional distress in a high-risk adolescent after hospital discharge, enabling timely provider outreach that likely prevented self-harm.
The discussion also addresses the limits of general-purpose AI tools in behavioral health, emphasizing the need for safety guardrails, escalation protocols, and human oversight. Loren highlights how responsible AI can reduce provider burnout by enabling targeted attention rather than constant manual monitoring.
Ethics, fairness, and data privacy are central themes, informed by Loren’s experience building AI systems at scale. He outlines the importance of transparency, bias testing, and strong security controls in earning trust. The episode concludes with a forward-looking view of AI as a continuous health monitoring layer, supporting earlier detection, better outcomes, and more equitable access to behavioral care.
Key Moments
Reframing Behavioral Health Beyond Episodic Care
- Introduction of Loren Larsen as CEO and Co-Founder of Videra Health
- Discussion on the limitations of visit-based behavioral healthcare
- Need for continuous provider-patient connection outside clinical settings
AI-Powered Monitoring and Clinical Visibility
- Use of AI-driven check-ins between appointments
- Analysis of verbal and non-verbal cues to assess mental state
- Continuous visibility into patient status without added clinician workload
Early Intervention and Real World Impact
- Case study involving a high-risk adolescent after psychiatric discharge
- AI detection of emotional distress and medication non-adherence
- Timely provider intervention enabled through automated alerts
Human Oversight and Limits of General Purpose AI
- Risks of off-the-shelf AI tools in behavioral health use cases
- Importance of escalation protocols and clinician involvement
- AI positioned as clinical decision support rather than therapy replacement
Ethics, Fairness, and Data Protection
- Bias testing and fairness informed by experience at HireVue
- Transparency in AI use to build trust
- Strong privacy, security, and access controls for patient data
The Future of AI-Enabled Behavioral Healthcare
- AI as a continuous health monitoring layer using multimodal signals
- Shift toward earlier detection and prevention
- Long-term potential to expand access and improve outcomes globally