The Heart of Healthcare

In this episode, Halle Tecco talks to Vinod Khosla— visionary venture capitalist, tech entrepreneur, and healthcare investor. Vinod shares his vision for using AI to enable a hundred touchpoints every hundred days with a patient. We discuss making healthcare more accessible, enabling personalized care, and what he worries could go wrong.

We cover:

• Revisiting his 2012 prediction that AI could replace 80% of what doctors do and more
• How AI will enable computers to learn and adapt to humans, not the other way around
• The potential for AI to replicate expertise, reduce misdiagnosis, and guide patients to the most effective treatments
• How changing billing codes is key to AI adoption in healthcare
• Real-world examples of AI in action, from mental health intake interviews to cardiac MRI analysis
• The importance of guardrails and being vigilant about unintended consequences as AI advances rapidly
• Advice for healthcare founders on solving hard problems in healthcare

Show notes:

• Vinod’s 2012 article “Do We Need Doctors Or Algorithms?”
• Vinod’s recent TED Talk: 12 predictions for the future of technology
• WSJ article mentioned: Insurers Pocketed $50 Billion From Medicare for Diseases No Doctor Treated
• Follow Vinod on X.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Marketing and communications play a critical role in securing investment and driving product and service adoption in digital health. In this special two-part episode, Steve Kraus explores the art of storytelling in healthcare with two industry experts: Chrissy Farr, a veteran digital health journalist turned venture capitalist and advisor, and Kate Cronin, Chief Brand Officer at Moderna. They discuss:

• What makes for a great story in digital health
• The importance of including setbacks and challenges in company narratives
• The undervaluing of marketing and communications roles
• Strong digital health brands such as Livongo, PillPack, and Bobbie
• Chief Brand Officers vs. Chief Marketing Officers
• Lessons learned from rapidly scaling Moderna's brand during the COVID-19 pandemic
• The importance of internal communications

🎂 Please help us celebrate three years of the podcast by leaving us a review!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Celebrating three years of The Heart of Healthcare, Halle and Steve dive into the latest news and trends in digital health for July 2024.

July highlights include:

• A new Peterson Institute report on digital treatment outcomes for musculoskeletal conditions
• The FDA's guidance on improving diversity in clinical trial enrollment
• The economic impact and legal battles surrounding GLP-1 drugs for obesity
• Walgreens' pullback from healthcare services and concerns about the sustainability of the current pharmacy model
• A Washington state study on utilizing pharmacists to treat minor illnesses
• The U.S. Surgeon General's advisory on social media's effects on youth mental health

Show notes:

• Mural Health effort to increase diversity in clinical trials
• The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Social Media and Youth Mental Health

🎂 Please help us celebrate three years of the podcast by leaving us a review!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, Halle Tecco talks to Emily Oster— health communicator, health economist, and bestselling author. Emily shares her journey from academia to becoming an influential health communicator, advocating for data-driven decision making and empowering individuals to make informed choices about their health.

We cover:

• Her non-didactic approach to helping people make their own best decisions
• Her least favorite types of panic headlines, and how no one would thrive on Doritos® dust
• Pros and cons of the Open Access movement
• Combating publication bias
• Speaking up on controversial topics
• Advice for building trust, combating misinformation, and improving health communication

Emily is on a mission to empower parents by providing the data and tools they need to make confident decisions. After getting a PhD in economics from Harvard, she went on to pursue research in health economics and is now a professor of economics at Brown University. As a mom of two, Emily was inspired by her own pregnancy and the lack of clear information to guide her decisions. She decided to use her expertise in reviewing and analyzing data to help other parents navigate these topics. She is a New York Times best-selling author, whose books include Expecting Better, Cribsheet, The Family Firm and The Unexpected.

Follow Emily Oster on Instagram and X.

Subscribe to the Heart of Healthcare and leave us a review! Got an idea for a show? Visit heartofhealthcarepodcast.com.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The U.S. Surgeon General's office recently published an advisory report stating "social media can have a profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents." In this episode, we revisit our conversation with Frances Haugen, former Facebook product manager and internationally recognized whistleblower.

Frances provides an inside look into how tech giants prioritize profits over public safety. Her journey from Meta's inner workings to testifying before world parliaments sparked a global conversation about social media's role and regulation - a dialogue now echoed at the highest levels of public health.

This episode explores the pressing issues of our digital era that are now receiving official recognition. Learn about the impact of social media on young people's mental well-being, providing context to the Surgeon General's warnings. Frances shares critical concerns and her ideas for safeguards for young people. This is a must listen for anyone with children in their lives!

Follow Frances Haugen on Twitter

Follow host Halle Tecco on Twitter

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, Glen Tullman reflects on the biggest changes he's seen in healthcare during his 40-year career in the industry. Glen is the founder and CEO of Transcarent, former founder and CEO of Livongo, and managing partner at 7wireVentures. He discusses:

- His early days revolutionizing e-prescribing and electronic health records at Allscripts

- Building Livongo into an $18.5 billion digital health success story

- Lessons learned as a serial entrepreneur and investor with 7wireVentures

- His vision for Transcarent as a consumer-directed healthcare navigation platform

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, Zach Reitano, CEO and co-founder of the direct-to-patient healthcare company Ro, talks to host Halle Tecco about the flaws in our traditional healthcare model and how Ro is innovating to make care more convenient and focused on patient goals.

We cover:

• Why the current healthcare system does not incentivize building for patients
• How he ranks the priorities of cost, quality, and access
• How the healthcare system is obsessed with quality, but not equally obsessed with scaling that quality
• Why we can't equate healthcare quality and time spent, and the role of technology to increase access to the highest quality products

Are you enjoying the show? Please leave us a review 🙏

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, Halle Tecco and Steve Kraus cover the latest digital health stories for June 2024, including:

• Cancer drug dosing and pricing challenges
• The new South Park movie on obesity
• The shortage of K-12 school counselors and telehealth startups’ role
• The failure of SPAC deals in digital health, and the path forward
• Pharma's DTC marketing efforts, including Pfizer's new platform and updated FTC advertising rules
• Flaws in the media coverage of declining total fertility rates

NOTE: July will be the 3 (not 2) year anniversary of the show! If you're enjoying listening, please leave us a review!

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Clinical notes are one of the more tedious parts of doctors’ day-to-day lives—so much so that they’re often called “pajama time,” since physicians spend 2-3 hours writing them at night. In this episode, Steve Kraus sits down with Dr. Shiv Rao, co-founder and CEO of Abridge, an AI-first healthcare company that’s been in the spotlight for solving this problem. Abridge uses advanced machine learning to structure and summarize medical conversations, creating clinical documentation and structured data while reducing clinician burnout.

Shiv traces his journey from a skateboarding rebel to a cardiologist, professor, healthcare investor, and now founder of a pioneering digital health startup. He shares how his passion for scalable impact and exposure to cutting-edge research at Carnegie Mellon led him to start Abridge in 2018.

Steve and Shiv discuss:

• How Abridge differentiated itself early on through AI technology and go-to-market (GTM) strategy
• The company’s ROI and anti-burnout metrics, like note quality, pajama time, and cognitive load
• Clinician-AI collaboration vs. direct-to-consumer applications
• The surprising parallels between managing an ICU and running a startup
• The habits and mindsets that keep Shiv grounded while leading a fast-growing, mission-driven company

Are you enjoying the show? Please leave us a review 🙏

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month!

In this episode (a replay from Closing Time), David Ko, CEO of Calm, discusses the mental health challenges founders and their teams face. We discuss practical strategies for building resilience, managing the relentless pressure, and why destigmatizing mental health is crucial for startup success. David shares how leaders can champion well-being, creating a workplace where mental health support is the norm, not the exception. This episode is a must-listen for anyone who believes building a thriving business starts with a healthy mindset.

We cover:

• How resilience is built through learning from mistakes and taking risks
• Where stress comes from and if you can really eliminate it
• How to lead by example and create a supportive work environment
• Generational shifts in the conversation around mental health
• Why mental health should be normalized throughout the year and not just during Mental Health Awareness Month

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.