Explore every episode of the podcast The Heart of Healthcare | A Digital Health Podcast
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Why Is the World's Most Valuable Company Betting on Healthcare? | NVIDIA's Kimberly Powell | 09 Nov 2026 | 00:43:48 | |
What is the world's most valuable company, best known for making computer chips, doing in healthcare? Quite a lot, it turns out. NVIDIA's technology is helping power everything from medical imaging and drug discovery to AI-powered hospitals and surgical robotics. This week, Michael Esquivel and guest co-host Megan Zweig sit down with Kimberly Powell, NVIDIA's Vice President of Healthcare, who has spent 18 years (!!!) building the company's healthcare business from the ground up. They discuss how NVIDIA became such an important player in healthcare, why AI adoption is accelerating faster than expected, and Powell's ambitious vision for a future where hospitals themselves operate like robots. We cover:
— About our guest: Kimberly Powell is the Vice President of Healthcare at NVIDIA where she spearheads the company's global healthcare product development initiatives in accelerated computing and generative AI platforms for the healthcare and life sciences sectors. Kimberly also leads go-to-market strategies and business development, collaborating and partnering with a global ecosystem to develop innovative applications in drug discovery, genomics, medical devices, and robotic surgery. Before her current position, Powell was Director of Business Development for AI at NVIDIA, where she led an international team focused on expanding into new markets in deep learning, data analytics, and artificial intelligence. She was responsible for identifying new revenue opportunities, defining product market requirements, and launching several strategic evangelism programs such as NVIDIA AI Labs and the NVIDIA Inception program, which now supports over 20,000 AI startup members. Powell's journey with NVIDIA began in 2008 when she took on the challenge of establishing NVIDIA GPUs as the leading accelerator platform for medical imaging instruments. Her early career involved hardware engineering and FPGA design and product management roles in medical imaging and diagnostic display systems at Planar Systems. Kimberly Powell holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Northeastern University. — 📍 Connect with us: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 📣 Digital Health Download: November 2026 | 02 Nov 2026 | 00:30:22 | |
Hello November! AI is getting smarter, healthcare is getting more expensive, and the plot keeps thickening. In this month's Digital Health Download, Steve and Michael break down the month's biggest healthcare headlines, including surprising new evidence about the cost of clinical AI, a White House initiative for women's health, and proposed Medicare reimbursement changes that have digital health entrepreneurs on edge. We cover:
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| How to Fight Back Against a Broken Healthcare System | Dr. Elisabeth Potter & Trina Spear | 26 Oct 2026 | 00:32:36 | |
Speaking out against the healthcare system can cost you your job, your reputation, or even your business. So why do it? This week, Halle sits down with FIGS co-founder and CEO Trina Spear and Dr. Elisabeth Potter, the plastic surgeon who went viral after an insurance rep interrupted her during a breast cancer surgery to question the patient's hospital stay. They discuss the risks healthcare professionals face when speaking out, why a publicly traded scrubs company is investing in political advocacy, and whether businesses can help fill the advocacy gaps left by traditional medical organizations. We cover:
📍 Connect with us: About our guests: Trina Spear is the CEO and Co-Founder of FIGS, Inc. (NYSE: FIGS), the global leading healthcare apparel company. FIGS creates technically advanced products to help healthcare professionals look good, feel good and perform at their best. FIGS revolutionized the healthcare apparel industry by branding a previously unbranded industry, de-commoditizing a previously commoditized product, and building a community around a profession. Trina is also a member of the board of directors of Amer Sports, Inc. (NYSE: AS), a global group of sports and outdoor brands, including Arcteryx, Salomon and Wilson. Trina’s accolades include being named in Fortune 40 Under 40, Goldman Sachs’ 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs, and E&Y’s Entrepreneur of the Year. Her article, “Transforming the Healthcare Experience: Doctors, Nurses, Patients, and Beyond,” was published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology. Prior to launching FIGS, Trina worked in Blackstone’s hedge fund group and in Citigroup’s investment banking and private equity divisions. Trina is a member of the 2018 Class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute. Trina received her BA in Economics from Tufts University, graduating magna cum laude, and she completed her MBA at Harvard Business School. Dr. Elisabeth Potter is a board-certified plastic surgeon specializing in microsurgical reconstruction for breast cancer patients. After a coding change by federal regulators threatened access to advanced reconstructive microsurgeries, Dr. Potter formed a coalition of stakeholders that engaged relevant congressional committees and federal regulators, leading to a successful reversal of the decision. Through advancements in surgical technique and perioperative care, Dr. Potter is advancing flap reconstruction in ambulatory settings. She is the owner and founder of Redbud Surgery Center-- purposefully built, equipped and staffed to offer advanced surgeries in an ambulatory setting. Dr. Potter is passionate about the importance of independent physicians as voices in improving healthcare, and Redbud exemplifies the contributions independent doctors offer to address our cost and access challenges. When an interaction with a major health insurer around a surgical patient’s authorization process gained national attention, Dr. Potter focused the conversation on the impact of administrative and insurance processes on the care experienced by patients. She is the founder of the Bluebird Center for Health Education and Access, a nonprofit organization dedicated to highlighting the importance of independent voices in healthcare and fostering access to advanced treatments in communities. Dr. Potter received her undergraduate degree in Molecular Biology from Princeton University, and her medical degree from Emory University Medical School. She completed an integrated plastic surgery residence from UT Southwestern Medical Center, and a microsurgical fellowship from MD Anderson Cancer Center. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| What It Took to Tell the Truth About Theranos | Whistleblower Tyler Shultz | 21 Oct 2026 | 00:47:28 | |
Speaking up at Theranos meant risking your career, your relationships, and your safety. Tyler Shultz did it anyway. With the release of You Can See Everything, Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s documentary about Elizabeth Holmes, we’re re-releasing our November 2025 conversation with the whistleblower who helped expose Theranos. Tyler has since criticized the film for leaving out important context and challenged Holmes’ account. Halle and Michael sit down with Tyler to discuss how a company built on faulty science won over some of the world’s most powerful people, and what it took to challenge it. Michael, Theranos’ first general counsel, also shares his experience being fired after trying to investigate wrongdoing. We cover:
— About our guest: Tyler Shultz is a scientist at heart, a founder by nature, a whistleblower by accident, a speaker by day, a venture partner by night, and a dad 24/7. His professional life began by exposing unethical practices at Theranos, a revelation that led to the collapse of the $9 billion company and the criminal convictions of its CEO and COO. Since then, he has co-founded two diagnostics companies: a deep tech spinout from Stanford’s Center for Magnetic Nanotechnology and a direct-to-consumer diagnostics and telehealth company. Beyond building companies, Tyler advises startups and venture funds, helping them navigate the technical, commercial, and ethical challenges of scaling groundbreaking ideas. As a speaker, he shares his experiences with audiences worldwide, addressing lawyers, founders, executives, employees, students, investors, board members, regulators, and compliance experts. He explores themes of truth, courage, and integrity, demonstrating how ethical decision-making can be a competitive advantage. — 📍 Connect with us: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| A Nutrition Label for the Air You Breathe | Lution Co-founder David Vivero | 19 Oct 2026 | 00:30:40 | |
We pay close attention to what we eat and drink. But how much do we really know about the air we breathe inside our own homes? This week, Halle is live from the New York Stock Exchange, sitting down with three-time founder David Vivero for the launch of Lution. After discovering extensive mold contamination in his own home, David became obsessed with understanding the connection between our indoor environments and our health, and whether we could make the invisible things around us easier to see and understand. We cover:
Show notes:
*We do not get affiliate fees from sales; however, Halle is an investor in Lution. About our guest: David Vivero is co-founder of Lution, a serial entrepreneur in home and health, and a 2022 Fortune 40 Under 40 honoree. He founded RentJuice, acquired by Zillow, and Amino Health, a consumer healthcare-data navigation company acquired by Capital Rx in 2024. Lution turns in-home sensor data and lab analysis of the dust a home's HVAC filter has already collected into one daily score for the home's air, the Lution Level. — 📍 Connect with us: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Why Healthcare Needs Its Own Foundation Models | Ortet Founder & CEO Kyunghyun Cho | 12 Oct 2026 | 00:41:05 | |
One of the world’s leading AI researchers has big plans for healthcare. And Thoreau just committed $500 million to bring that vision to life. This week, we are the first to sit down with Ortet founder and CEO Kyunghyun Cho to talk about the frontier AI lab for health. After helping shape some of the technologies behind modern AI and selling his last AI startup to Genentech, Kyunghyun is now taking on a much bigger challenge: building a foundation model that can learn across biological, clinical, and operational data to deliver predictably better care. We cover:
About our guest: Kyunghyun Cho is the founder and CEO of Ortet and the Glen de Vries Professor of Health Statistics and a professor of computer science and data science at New York University. Through his AI research, he co-developed the attention mechanism and the gated recurrent unit, both foundations of modern AI technology. Prior to founding Ortet, Kyunghyun built an AI platform for lab-in-the-loop molecular design, co-founding Prescient Design and, following its acquisition, establishing Genentech’s frontier research team. He previously served as a research scientist at Facebook AI Research (FAIR) after completing his postdoctoral fellowship at University of Montreal under the supervision of Prof. Yoshua Bengio. He received MSc and PhD degrees from Aalto University under the supervision of Prof. Juha Karhunen, Dr. Tapani Raiko and Dr. Alexander Ilin. Kyunghyun received the Samsung Ho-Am Prize in Engineering in 2021 and has served as a (co-)Program Chair of ICLR 2020, NeurIPS 2022 and ICML 2022, and also on the boards of ICML and ICLR. 📍 Connect with us: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 📣 Digital Health Download: October 2026 | 05 Oct 2026 | 00:33:48 | |
It’s time for our Monthly Digital Health Download, where we unpack the stories shaping healthcare and technology right now. This month, Steve Kraus and Michael Esquivel try to make sense of a particularly eventful few weeks, with plenty to debate about where healthcare is headed and what it means for founders, investors, clinicians, and patients. In this episode:
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| What Wall Street Gets Wrong About Healthcare | DaVita CEO Javier Rodriguez | 28 Sep 2026 | 00:30:02 | |
Healthcare is full of things that are easy to measure, from costs and outcomes to utilization and, increasingly, AI. But DaVita CEO Javier Rodriguez believes one of the most important parts of healthcare is also one of the hardest to put in a spreadsheet: the human relationship between a caregiver and a patient. This week, Halle sits down with Javier to talk about what he’s learned from three decades in healthcare. They discuss why preventing kidney failure remains so difficult and what it takes to run a public healthcare company while making investments that may take years to pay off. Javier also shares why he believes healthcare has made enormous clinical progress even as frustration with the system has grown. We cover:
About our guest: Javier J. Rodriguez has served as Chief Executive Officer of DaVita Inc. since June 2019. Joining the company in 1998, Mr. Rodriguez has held senior leadership roles of increasing responsibility, with experience across operations, payor contracting, and finance, and has helped shape the company’s transformation in the delivery of kidney care. Prior to joining DaVita, Mr. Rodriguez worked in finance at Baxter Healthcare Corporation. He has served on the board of directors of Gilead Sciences, Inc. since June 2020. Mr. Rodriguez brings deep healthcare expertise, comprehensive knowledge of our business and regulatory landscape, and a proven track record of executive leadership. — 📍 Connect with us: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Can AI Finish What The Quality Revolution Started? | Bunkerhill Health CCO Dr. Azita Hamedani | 21 Sep 2026 | 00:37:28 | |
For decades, healthcare's quality movement gave us checklists, forcing functions, and protocols to catch human error before it reached a patient. It worked, to a point. But as medical knowledge and patient complexity keep outpacing what any human system can track, a new question is emerging: can AI pick up where that movement left off? In this episode, in her first interview since stepping into the role, we talk with Dr. Azita Hamedani, the newly appointed Chief Clinical Officer at Bunkerhill Health, an AI company backed by Sequoia and Khosla Ventures. After nearly her entire career in academic medicine, Azita made the leap to a startup chasing a promise she's been thinking about since medical school. We cover:
About our guest: Azita G. Hamedani, MD, MPH, MBA, is the Chief Clinical Officer at Bunkerhill Health. She joined the company based on the belief that its long-horizon AI agent is the first technology capable of ensuring every patient receives optimal care. She spent 25 years in various leadership roles within large-scale academic health systems. Most recently, she served as President and CEO of UNC Faculty Physicians and Vice Dean for Clinical Affairs at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. Dr. Hamedani also spent nearly two decades at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and UW Health, where she founded the Department of Emergency Medicine and chaired it for over a decade, while also leading system initiatives related to quality and innovation. She completed her emergency medicine training at Mass General Brigham, and completed a fellowship in hospital administration at Massachusetts General Hospital. She holds degrees from Yale University and Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. — 📍 Connect with us: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Anthropic’s Bet on the Future of Healthcare | Healthcare and Life Sciences Lead, Sarah Russell | 14 Sep 2026 | 00:33:02 | |
Sarah Russell picked up a phrase at her new job at Anthropic: a "non-regrettable primitive." It's how she describes the kind of infrastructure she thinks Anthropic should be building in healthcare, and it says a lot about how one of the most closely watched companies in health AI is positioning itself. In this episode, Steve talks with Sarah Russell, MD healthcare and life sciences lead at Anthropic. This conversation comes as Anthropic heads toward what's shaping up to be one of the most anticipated IPOs in years. We cover:
About our guest: Sarah currently works on healthcare and life sciences projects at Anthropic. She is particularly passionate about research that explores how to make Claude safer and less confidently wrong. Prior to Anthropic, she was at Google X, an innovation hub at Alphabet, where she learned to lead teams of smart engineers building ML- and LLM-based products. Seeing the earliest version of Google’s Med-PaLM summarize a patient chart made her excited about healthcare technology all over again. Prior to Google, she was a CMIO in the VA system and a start-up founder. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School, Sarah did her internal medicine residency at MGH and completed an MBA at Wharton. She still practices part-time in Urgent Care at Stanford, where she is an Assistant Professor. ⸺ 📍 Connect with us: If you're enjoying the show, please subscribe and 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. | |||
| Why American Workers Pay So Much for Healthcare | Health Rosetta CEO Dave Chase | 07 Sep 2026 | 00:41:12 | |
Healthcare costs are taking an ever-larger bite out of American workers’ compensation. This Labor Day, we’re revisiting a conversation with Health Rosetta CEO Dave Chase about why healthcare has become so expensive and what employers can do about it. Dave argues that healthcare itself isn’t the problem: clinicians receive only a fraction of every dollar spent, while price gouging, administrative bloat, and middlemen consume much of the rest. He explains how community-owned health plans are rebuilding employer healthcare around primary care, transparency, and better incentives—and how the savings can flow back to workers and their communities. We cover:
⸺ 📍 Connect with us: ⸺ About our guest: Dave Chase is the founder of Health Rosetta and creator of the community-owned health plan (COHP) model, a movement that has helped thousands of employers covering more than 5 million Americans build health plans that deliver better care at 20 to 50% lower cost. In 2024 he launched Nautilus Health Institute, seeded with $4 million in Health Rosetta intellectual property, to publish open-source standards and contracting templates that reset market norms for employers, clinicians, and communities. Dave’s work has reached over 1 million people through bestselling books, including “CEO’s Guide to Restoring the American Dream” and his newest, “Relocalizing Health: Taking Back Healthcare. Rebuilding Communities,” along with TED talks and TV and film appearances. He received the World Health Care Congress’ Lifetime Achievement Award for Health Benefits Innovation. Before Health Rosetta, Dave led Microsoft’s $30 billion healthcare ecosystem and co-founded Avado, later acquired by WebMD/Medscape. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 📣 Digital Health Download: September 2026 | 31 Aug 2026 | 00:22:12 | |
It's our monthly Digital Health Download, and September's stories all circle the same tension: technology keeps promising to fix healthcare's problems, but just as often it moves them somewhere else, or creates new ones entirely. This week, Halle unpacks a news-heavy month, weighing who actually benefits as markets, algorithms, and AI get closer to our health decisions. We cover:
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| From Early Struggles to Billion+ Exit | SmarterDx Founders Michael Gao & Joshua Geleris | 24 Aug 2026 | 00:35:26 | |
We don't talk enough about how hard it actually is to build a healthcare startup. Behind SmarterDx's story, now one of the biggest health AI exits to date, were 18 months without a single customer, a pivot that seemed to make no product sense, and two co-founders who went back to working as hospitalists just to get by. In this episode, Steve gets the real story from Dr. Michael Gao and Dr. Joshua Geleris about the challenges they faced and what ultimately unlocked real growth and led to their billion+ acquisition by New Mountain Capital. We cover:
About our guests: Michael Gao, MD, the CEO and co-founder of SmarterDx. Prior to founding SmarterDx, Dr. Gao was the Medical Director for Transformation at NewYork-Presbyterian, where he led applied AI development, implementation, and strategy for the health system. Dr. Gao holds faculty positions at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. Gao completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian.. He received his M.D. from the University of Michigan and a B.S from the University of California Los Angeles. Josh Geleris, MD, is the Head of Product and co-founder of SmarterDx. Prior to SmarterDx, he was Assistant Professor of Medicine at Columbia University, where he was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense for clinical informatics and data science, and led implementation of Epic for providers. Dr. Geleris completed his MD at the Technion-Israeli Institute of Technology and his Internal Medicine internship and residency at NewYork-Presbyterian. ⸺ 📍 Connect with us: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Training Doctors for the Next 40 Years | Stanford Medical School Dean Dr. Lloyd Minor | 17 Aug 2026 | 00:39:47 | |
It's back-to-school szn, and while some kids are stressing over earlier wake-ups, this year's incoming medical students have a bigger question to answer: how do you train for a career that could still have you practicing medicine in the 2070s, when the tools of medicine are changing so rapidly? For our back-to-school episode, we sat down with Stanford University School of Medicine Dean Dr. Lloyd Minor to talk about how AI is already reshaping what future doctors learn and how they're taught, as well as what's still not working in American healthcare. We cover:
About our guest: Lloyd B. Minor, MD, is a scientist, surgeon, and academic leader. He is the Carl and Elizabeth Naumann Dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine and Vice President for Medical Affairs at Stanford University. Dr. Minor also is a professor of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery and a professor of Bioengineering and of Neurobiology, by courtesy, at Stanford University. As dean, Dr. Minor has had an integral role in setting strategy for the clinical enterprise of Stanford Medicine, an academic medical center that includes the Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Health Care, and Stanford Medicine Children’s Health. With his leadership, Stanford Medicine leads the biomedical revolution in Precision Health. His book, “Discovering Precision Health,” describes this shift to more preventive, personalized health care and highlights how biomedical advances are dramatically improving our ability to treat and cure complex diseases. In 2021, Dr. Minor articulated and began realizing a bold vision to transform the future of life sciences at Stanford University and beyond – a multi-decade journey enabled by Precision Health. In August 2023, Dr. Minor was appointed Vice President for Medical Affairs to lead all matters related to health and medicine at Stanford University. Before Stanford, Dr. Minor was provost and senior vice president for academic affairs of Johns Hopkins University. Prior to this appointment in 2009, Dr. Minor served as the Andelot Professor and director (chair) of the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and otolaryngologist-in-chief of The Johns Hopkins Hospital. With more than 160 published articles and chapters, Dr. Minor is an expert in balance and inner ear disorders perhaps best known for discovering superior canal dehiscence syndrome, a debilitating disorder characterized by sound- or pressure-induced dizziness. He subsequently developed a surgical procedure that corrects the problem and alleviates symptoms. In 2012, Dr. Minor was elected to the National Academy of Medicine. — 📍 Connect with us: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Can Oura Become the Doctor in Your Pocket? | Oura CEO Tom Hale | 10 Aug 2026 | 00:43:29 | |
We're on summer break and replaying one of our favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on September 22, 2025. A wearable can collect endless data, but it only matters if people trust it enough to change their behavior. In this replay, Oura CEO Tom Hale joins Steve and Michael to explain how the company combines clinical-grade accuracy with a consumer-friendly product. They discuss why the ring’s form factor makes overnight tracking so powerful, how Oura turns physiological signals into useful guidance, and why the company is being pulled faster than expected into traditional healthcare. We cover:
— About our guest: Tom Hale is the Chief Executive Officer at ŌURA and a member of its board. As the CEO he sets the company’s business strategy and vision to make health a daily practice for members all over the world. He has over 30 years of experience across the technology and consumer product industry. Before joining ŌURA, Hale was president of Momentive where he drove B2B strategy and led product growth. During his time there he was instrumental in taking the company public in 2018, leading the team in key acquisitions, and driving the evolution and rebranding of the company into a multiple SAAS business. Previously, he held leadership roles at HomeAway and Linden Lab as the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Product Officer, respectively, and held executive roles at Macromedia and Adobe. Hale has a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University and sits on the boards of Cars.com, RocketReach, and NoiseAware. — If you're enjoying the show, we would so appreciate it if you left us a review! — 📍 Connect with us: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 📣 Digital Health Download: August 2026 | 03 Aug 2026 | 00:34:05 | |
This 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:
Links:
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| Why We Demand Perfect Machines Yet Tolerate Human Carnage | Dr. Jonathan Slotkin | 27 Jul 2026 | 00:27:11 | |
Every 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:
— 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: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Shareholder Primacy Is Breaking Healthcare | Eric Ries | 20 Jul 2026 | 00:41:37 | |
Healthcare 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:
About 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: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Can AI Build the First New Pharma Giant in Decades? | Formation Bio CEO Ben Liu | 13 Jul 2026 | 00:43:56 | |
Over 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:
About 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: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Building A Healthcare Unicorn In Three Years | Assort Health Founders Jeff Liu and Jon Wang | 06 Jul 2026 | 00:41:56 | |
They 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:
— 🙏 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: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 📣 Digital Health Download: July 2026 | 29 Jun 2026 | 00:34:19 | |
July 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:
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| Healthcare’s Oppenheimer Moment | Listener Q&A | 22 Jun 2026 | 00:46:00 | |
Back 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:
— Links:
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| How AI Changed Healthcare Fundraising and Venture Capital | 15 Jun 2026 | 00:30:34 | |
Healthcare 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.
— Show notes:
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| What Healthcare Can Learn From Waymo | Qualified Health Founder and CEO Justin Norden | 08 Jun 2026 | 00:34:42 | |
Autonomous 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:
About 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:
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| 📣 Digital Health Download: June 2026 | 01 Jun 2026 | 00:42:34 | |
Healthcare 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:
— Show notes:
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| Investing in “Whole Person Care” | Lance Armstrong | 25 May 2026 | 00:34:57 | |
Most careers don’t follow a straight line. But few require starting over in full view of the public. This week, Halle sits down with Lance Armstrong to discuss how he rebuilt his life and career after multiple turning points, including surviving advanced cancer, and how those experiences shaped his perspective on health, performance, and reinvention. Now, through his venture firm Next Ventures, he backs companies focused on what they call “whole person health” — spanning prevention, wellness, diagnostics, longevity, and healthcare outside the traditional system. We cover:
About our guest: Lance Armstrong is a former professional cyclist, entrepreneur, and investor. After surviving advanced testicular cancer, he founded Livestrong, helping raise more than $500 million to support cancer patients and survivors worldwide. In 2019, he co-founded Next Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on health, wellness, and consumer brands, with investments including Oura, Cofertility, Pair Team, and SteadyMD. Prior to Next Ventures, he was an active angel investor in companies such as Uber, DocuSign, and Athletic Brewing. — 🙏 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: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| How AI Will Finally Make Healthcare Deflationary | Eric Larsen | 18 May 2026 | 00:59:44 | |
AI in healthcare may be entering a new chapter, one where the biggest question is no longer whether the technology works, but who is willing to deploy it, measure it, and take responsibility for the risk. This week, Steve sits down again with Eric Larsen to revisit his predictions from last year’s Webby-winning episode on generative AI in healthcare. Eric argues that the first wave of AI has been inflationary, reinforcing the old payer-provider payment model, but that the next wave could be deflationary as automation moves into revenue cycle, administrative work, clinical reasoning, and drug development. They discuss why incumbents still have a narrow window to co-develop the future, why clinical AI may move faster outside the US, and why liability may become the deciding factor in who wins. We cover:
— 👉Submit your questions! We’re doing a followup episode with Eric. Submit your listener questions here: https://forms.gle/Bu335DkpHAUvygiBA — About our guest: Eric Jon Larsen is President of TowerBrook Advisors and a member of the healthcare leadership team at TowerBrook Capital Partners, a $30 billion AUM investment firm based in New York and London. TowerBrook invests across private equity, structured minority, and growth opportunities, with a strong focus on healthcare, partnering with health systems, payers, and other strategics. Notably, TowerBrook is the first mainstream private equity firm to achieve B Corp certification, reflecting its commitment to responsible business practices. Eric is a nationally recognized healthcare strategist with a global advisory portfolio spanning CEOs and boards of leading healthcare organizations. He spent 25 years at The Advisory Board Company—five of those as President—advancing best practices in healthcare delivery worldwide. Following the firm's 2017 acquisition by Optum (UnitedHealth Group), Eric co-led strategic partnerships and market development efforts at UnitedHealth. He is also a Venture Partner at Thrive Capital and SignalFire, and serves on several digital health boards, including Somatus and Contessa Health. — 🙏 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: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| What It Takes To Scale Care With AI | Akido Labs CEO Prashant Samant | 11 May 2026 | 00:39:33 | |
Medicaid reimbursements are shrinking, providers are pulling back, and vulnerable populations are losing access to care. Akido Labs is betting that AI can expand care capacity fast enough to reverse that trend. This week, Halle sits down with Prashant Samant, co-founder and CEO of Akido Labs, to discuss what it actually takes to scale care with AI. They explore why Akido built a full-stack healthcare company, how its AI operates inside real clinical workflows, and why the hardest patients are the best place to test whether this model works. We cover:
About our guest: Prashant S. Samant is CEO and co-founder of Akido, a healthcare technology company that builds clinical AI and operates a multi-state medical network serving hundreds of thousands of patients. He co-founded Akido in 2015 through USC’s Digital Health Lab. In 2023, he and his co-founders received the EY Entrepreneur of the Year–Greater Los Angeles Award. Samant is also a co-founder and board member of Grid110, a nonprofit accelerator supporting early-stage entrepreneurs. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Washington University in St. Louis. — Show Notes: — 🙏 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: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 📣 Digital Health Download: May 2026 | 04 May 2026 | 00:38:54 | |
AI is everywhere in healthcare, and May's big question is whether it's actually delivering. The money is flowing, the promises are bold, but some cracks are starting to show. Steve and Michael break down the month's biggest stories. We cover:
— Show notes: Rock Health Q1 2026 Funding Report NYT Profile of Medvi + Futurism Investigation Peterson Health Technology Institute: Administrative AI Report STAT News / Undark: BPC-157 and the Peptide Craze Health Affairs Scholar: Kocher & Wachter on the Generalist-Specialist Model Springer Nature / Journal of General Internal Medicine: Epic AI Model Meta-Analysis — 🙏 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: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Is ChatGPT Now the World's Largest Health App? | OpenAI VP of Health Nate Gross, MD | 27 Apr 2026 | 00:46:30 | |
Forty million people use ChatGPT for health-related questions every day, making it one of the most widely used tools for health information in the world. So what is their team doing to maximize impact and minimize harm? For one, they've brought in hundreds of physicians globally to continuously review outputs and shape how the models respond across different scenarios, literacy levels, and edge cases. Second, they've hired my Rock Health co-founder, Nate Gross, MD, as their VP of Health. In this full-circle episode, I sit down with Nate, who also co-founded Doximity (DOCS) and knows a thing or two about building in digital health. We discuss the astonishing speed of AI progress, how models are trained for safety and accuracy, and what this technological evolution means for every part of the healthcare system. Key topics:
— About our guest: Dr. Nate Gross is the VP of Health at OpenAI. He previously co-founded Doximity and Rock Health. He graduated from the Emory University School of Medicine with an MD, Harvard Business School with an MBA, and Claremont McKenna College with a BA in Government. He serves as affiliated faculty for the Clinical Informatics Fellowship at Stanford. — Show notes: — 🏆 Thank you for your votes! We're excited to share that the Heart of Healthcare is a Webby Award Winner for 2026! — 📍 Connect with us: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| The Chaos Of Drug Pricing in the US | GoodRx CEO Wendy Barnes | 20 Apr 2026 | 00:39:35 | |
Nearly one billion prescriptions are abandoned at the pharmacy counter every year, often because patients are blindsided by the cost. This week, co-host Halle Tecco is joined by Wendy Barnes, President and CEO of GoodRx, to discuss the chaos of prescription drug pricing, the murky world of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), and how digital tools are changing patient affordability. They break down the layered system of manufacturers, payers, and pharmacies that creates inconsistent pricing, and explore the current push for greater transparency. We cover:
— About our guest: Wendy Barnes is the President and CEO of GoodRx. She has over 30 years of leadership experience across the pharmacy and medical benefit industry. Most recently, Wendy served as CEO of RxBenefits, where she led the company in providing pharmacy benefit support to more than 2,000 self-insured clients, representing over 3 million lives. Prior to that, she served as President of Express Scripts Pharmacy, overseeing operations for 100 million beneficiaries. Her leadership spans roles at Rite Aid, Premier Inc., and the U.S. Air Force, where she served as a Medical Service Corps Officer. She holds a B.S. degree in Biochemistry from the United States Air Force Academy and an M.B.A. degree from the University of Alaska Anchorage. — 📍 Connect with us: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Building a Health System for “Customers” | Baylor Scott & White Health CEO Pete McCanna | 13 Apr 2026 | 00:41:49 | |
Pete McCanna, CEO of Baylor Scott & White Health, believes that health systems are built around the wrong objective… and he has an ambitious goal to change that. This week, Halle sits down with McCanna to unpack how one of the largest and most successful health systems in the country is shifting from a supply-driven model to one built entirely around the customer. They discuss why legacy systems operate like “walled castles,” what it takes to redesign care around real conditions instead of departments, and how Baylor Scott & White is testing a model that prioritizes access, personalization, and long-term trust over short-term profit. We cover:
— About our guest: As CEO of Baylor Scott & White Health, Peter (Pete) McCanna is focused on empowering customers to live well by reimagining traditional healthcare—offering more convenient, personalized, and informed experiences. He is leading Baylor Scott & White’s customer-centric transformation by bringing together the system’s 59,000 team members around a common goal to keep people healthy and feeling connected and supported. Before becoming CEO, Pete served as the health system’s president. In that role, he drove operational excellence, strengthened clinical alignment, scaled the system’s digital health platform, MyBSWHealth, and deepened academic partnerships to address the critical need for healthcare professionals. Pete has nearly 40 years of industry experience. As executive vice president and chief operating officer at Northwestern Medicine, he exceeded targets for operating revenue, quality, patient experience, and employee engagement, making it one of the top 10 academic health centers in the country. Known as a thoughtful and innovative leader, Pete formerly served as chief financial officer at New Mexico-based Presbyterian Healthcare Services and the University of Colorado Hospital. Passionate about transforming healthcare, Pete was named one of Modern Healthcare’s “100 Most Influential People in Healthcare.” Driven by a deep sense of purpose, Pete currently serves as the inaugural board chair of Longitude Health, an innovative healthcare collaborative, and as a board member of University of Michigan Health, Texas Hospital Association, and Catholic Extension. He holds a master’s degree in Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Michigan. Baylor Scott & White Health is the largest not-for-profit health system in the state of Texas. It includes 55 hospitals, more than 1,300 access points, a health plan, a research institute, and an accountable care organization, plus Levanto—a company offering digitally-enabled health solutions—and 3.5 million customers connected through MyBSWHealth. — Snow notes:
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| 📣 Digital Health Download: April 2026 | 06 Apr 2026 | 00:22:58 | |
We’re back with our monthly rundown of the top headlines in health tech! Today, Halle flies solo to share the biggest stories that shaped Q1, from the rising pressures on PBMs to how consumers are using AI. Stories covered:
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| The Drugstore Cowboy | C.O. Bigelow Owner & Pharmacist Alec Ginsberg | 30 Mar 2026 | 00:44:03 | |
Last year, his independent pharmacy spent $13 million on brand-name drugs for patients processed by the three biggest Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) which earned a profit margin of 0.01%. In this episode, Halle speaks with Alec Ginsberg, owner and fourth-generation pharmacist at C.O. Bigelow, the oldest surviving apothecary–pharmacy in the United States. Alec is fighting against the forces squeezing independent pharmacies and charting a course for the future of the pharmacist. We cover:
— About our guest: Alec Wade Ginsberg is the fourth-generation pharmacist, owner, and Chief Operating Officer of C.O. Bigelow Apothecary, America’s oldest pharmacy, founded in 1838 and still operating in New York City’s West Village. With a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy, Alec bridges the clinical world of pharmacy with the realities of modern consumer culture. At Bigelow, he oversees the brick-and-mortar beauty retail and pharmacy operations, navigating everything from prescription drug shortages to the pressures of today’s PBM-dominated marketplace. Beyond the counter, Alec is the founder and writer of Drugstore Cowboy, a weekly newsletter that dissects the intersection of drugs, business, and consumer culture — making the hidden mechanics of the U.S. healthcare system both understandable and entertaining for thousands of readers. His work has been featured across national media, and he’s become a trusted voice for translating complex pharmaceutical issues — from GLP-1s to compounding to drug pricing — into plain English. Alec’s mission is simple: to make Americans smarter about the pills in their cabinets and the system that puts them there. — Show notes:
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| Where Healthcare Policy Is Headed | Chief Counselor at HHS, Chris Klomp | 23 Mar 2026 | 00:43:41 | |
Chris Klomp, Director of Medicare and Deputy Administrator of CMS, and Senior Advisor to HHS Secretary RFK Jr., has big ambitions to reshape how healthcare works in the United States. This week, Steve sits down with Klomp to discuss how his experience as a digital health entrepreneur is guiding his current role overseeing a roughly $2 trillion department. Klomp shares the government's strategy for restoring trust between providers and payers, driving down costs, and addressing a system where approximately 90% of healthcare dollars are still spent in a fee-for-service arrangement. We cover:
— About our guest: Chris Klomp is the Director of Medicare and Deputy Administrator of CMS, and Senior Advisor to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. With extensive experience in healthcare payment reform and data sharing, he built and led Collective Medical, the largest U.S. real-time care collaboration data network, acquired by PointClickCare in 2020. There, he partnered with health systems, plans, providers, post-acutes, and state governments to advance value-based care through enhanced data access and insights. Chris has driven healthcare reform at state and federal levels, focusing on value-based care and interoperable health technology. Through Endurance Companies, a San Francisco-based multi-family office he co-founded with Stanford classmates, he has co-founded, invested in, advised, and served on the board of many innovative healthcare organizations, including Nomi Health, Maven Clinic, InnovaCare Health, and Health Joy. He also served as a Utah Senate-confirmed commissioner of the Utah Digital Health Services Commission, where he focused on leveraging technology for cost-effective, healthier outcomes. Previously, he was Vice President in Bain Capital’s North American Private Equity group and worked at Bain & Company. Recognized as Utah Business’ CEO of the Year and EY’s Mountain Region Entrepreneur of the Year, Chris holds a B.A. with honors in Economics and English from Brigham Young University and an MBA from Stanford. — 🙏 Thank you to our show sponsor, Quickstudy PR, story brokers for leading healthcare executives. Learn more about quickstudypr.com. — 📍 Connect with us: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Hard Founder Truths in 2026 | Listener Q&A | 16 Mar 2026 | 00:30:28 | |
This week, Halle and Michael sit down for a special in-person listener Q&A to answer a range of founder questions you submitted. Topics include:
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| Can a Simple Blood Test Solve Cancer? | Guardant Health CEO Helmy Eltoukhy | 09 Mar 2026 | 00:38:37 | |
Breakthrough blood tests that can flag dozens of cancers before symptoms appear are gaining momentum, yet questions remain about accuracy, equity, and how these tools will fit into routine care. In this episode, Steve talks with Helmy Eltoukhy, co-founder and co-CEO of Guardant Health, a $14 billion publicly-traded precision oncology company. The conversation explores the science behind cell-free DNA, the rise of blood-based cancer screening, and the broader shift toward data-driven diagnostics. We cover:
— About our guest: Helmy Eltoukhy is the chairman and co-CEO of Guardant Health, a leading precision oncology company he co-founded in 2012. He is also an active investor and is involved in over 30 startup companies across the technology and healthcare sectors. In December 2024, Eltoukhy expanded his ventures into sports ownership by co-leading the acquisition of Sheffield United Football Club through COH Sports of which he is currently co-chairman. Last year, he was named by TIME100 Health as one of the most influential people in global health. He was also on Time Magazine’s inaugural list of the 50 Most Influential People in Health Care and has been recognized by Fortune (40 under 40), the World Economic Forum (Technology Pioneer), and on the list of the Top 50 Healthcare CEOs in 2021. Beyond his entrepreneurial endeavors, Eltoukhy is deeply committed to various philanthropic efforts and serves on the boards of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the SETI Institute (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), and the UCSF Cancer Leadership Council. Prior to founding Guardant Health, Eltoukhy co-founded Avantome in 2007 to commercialize semiconductor sequencing, which was later acquired by Illumina. Eltoukhy is a named inventor on over 100 patents and holds PhD, MS, and BS degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University. — Learn more about the Rock Health CEO Summit at the New York Stock Exchange on March 27th. — 📍 Connect with us: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 📣 Digital Health Download: March 2026 | 02 Mar 2026 | 00:31:06 | |
Pharma ads, biotech IPOs, $1M longevity programs, oh my! This month's Digital Health Download skews towards biotech, which is having a moment. Tune in to hear Halle and Michael cover the latest headlines. We cover:
— Show notes:
— "Halle Tecco wanted to see tech used for better medical services and getting people engaged in their own health. Now, she’s written a book on how she went about it." - The WSJ Massively Better Healthcare is out now! — Rock Health's annual CEO Summit is returning to the New York Stock Exchange on March 27th! Learn more and nominate a CEO to join this invite-only event here. — 📍 Connect with us: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Precision Medicine Is (Almost) Here | Tempus AI CEO Eric Lefkosky | 23 Feb 2026 | 00:40:51 | |
When Eric Lefkofsky’s wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, it exposed how little technology and data were shaping cancer care, pushing the serial entrepreneur to build a different model. Lefkofsky is the founder and CEO of Tempus, now a $10B publicy traded health tech company, and previously founded Groupon. At Tempus, he’s building a tech-first company applying multimodal data and AI to make diagnostics smarter and treatment decisions more tailored, starting in oncology and expanding across disease areas. We cover:
— About our guest: Eric Lefkofsky is the founder and CEO at Tempus, a leader in artificial intelligence and precision medicine. He is the co-founder and General Partner of Lightbank, a private venture capital firm specializing in investments in technology companies. He is also the co-founder of Pathos AI, a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on re-engineering drug development; Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN), a global e-commerce marketplace; Mediaocean, a leading provider of integrated media procurement technology; Echo Global Logistics (NASDAQ: ECHO), a technology-enabled transportation and logistics outsourcing firm; and InnerWorkings (NASDAQ: INWK), a global provider of managed print and promotional solutions. He co-chairs the Lefkofsky Family Foundation with his wife Liz to advance high-impact initiatives that enhance lives in the communities served. Lefkofsky also serves on the board of directors of The Art Institute of Chicago and Northwestern Medicine. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. — 📍 Connect with us: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| A Roadmap for Innovators and A Giant Leap for AI | Dr. Bob Wachter & Halle Tecco | 16 Feb 2026 | 00:34:04 | |
In this episode (recorded live), Halle Tecco speaks with Dr. Robert Wachter, Chair of Medicine at UCSF, about their concurrently released books on healthcare innovation and AI. They share thoughts on the dual challenge of innovation in healthcare and the role of AI, covering:
Plus, a surprise guest from Prenuvo joins us to chime in. Order Halle’s new book, Massively Better Healthcare here Order Bob’s new book, A Giant Leap here — About our guest: Robert M. Wachter, MD is Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Author of 300 articles and 6 books, he coined the term “hospitalist” in 1996 and is often considered the “father” of the hospitalist field, the fastest-growing medical specialty in U.S. history. He is a past president of the Society of Hospital Medicine, past chair of the American Board of Internal Medicine, a Master of the American College of Physicians, and an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. Modern Healthcare magazine has ranked him among the 50 most influential physician-executives in the U.S. more than a dozen times; he was #1 on the list in 2015. His 2015 book, The Digital Doctor: Hope, Hype and Harm at the Dawn of Medicine’s Computer Age, was a New York Times bestseller. His new book is A Giant Leap: How AI is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| The New Care Dyad | Dr. Karen DeSalvo | 09 Feb 2026 | 00:38:55 | |
Physicians now face a world where search bars, chat apps, and large AI models are becoming many people’s first stop for health questions, long before they enter a clinic. Former Google Chief Health Officer and national health IT leader Dr. Karen DeSalvo joins us to unpack what this shift means for clinicians, regulators, and patients, and why 15% of daily Google searches are questions no one has ever asked before. We cover: • Why consumer health search is becoming a powerful entry point into care • How Google built guardrails for safety, quality, and real-time monitoring of emerging risks • What the rise of GenAI “doctor in your pocket” tools could mean • The regulatory tensions ahead as states experiment with AI-driven medical decision support • How global demand, workforce strain, and new data sources (IoT, at-home diagnostics, wearables) are accelerating AI-supported primary care — About our guest: Dr. Karen DeSalvo is a health leader who has committed her career to improving health for everyone, everywhere. She was most recently Google’s Chief Health Officer, where spearheaded a global team of health professionals dedicated to harnessing Google's technology and platforms to help everyone, everywhere live a longer, healthier life. Before Google, Dr. DeSalvo held significant roles in the U.S. government, including National Coordinator for Health Information Technology and acting Assistant Secretary for Health. She was also the Health Commissioner in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, where she led public health recovery efforts. Dr. DeSalvo currently sits on the Boards of Directors for Welltower and CityBlock Health and is a member of the Council of the National Academy of Medicine. — Pre-order Halle's new book, Massively Better Healthcare. — 📍 Connect with us: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 📣 Digital Health Download: February 2026 | 02 Feb 2026 | 00:29:18 | |
We’re back with our monthly rundown of the top headlines in health tech! Today, Halle and Steve sort through the biggest stories shaping the year ahead, from AI prescribing to lawsuits galore. We cover:
Show notes:
— 🙏 Thank you to our show sponsor, Smarter Technologies, the first automation and insights platform for healthcare efficiency. Learn more at www.smartertech.com — 📍 Connect with us: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Building the Largest Health Data Ecosystem in the US | Datavant CEO Kyle Armbrester | 26 Jan 2026 | 00:41:56 | |
It has been said that we don’t have “big data” in healthcare, but instead a large amount of “small data.” In this episode, Halle speaks with Kyle Armbrester, CEO of Datavant and former CEO of Signify Health (acquired for $8B), about why healthcare data still moves the way it did decades ago and what it will take to modernize it at scale. Kyle reflects on building and leading large health tech companies and explains how fixing data flow could reduce administrative waste, improve security, and make care easier for patients and providers alike. We cover:
— About our guest: Kyle Armbrester is Chief Executive Officer of Datavant, a healthcare data platform company with a mission to make the world’s health data secure, accessible, and actionable. Datavant operates the largest and most diverse health data exchange in the U.S., connecting more than 70 percent of the 100 largest health systems, all U.S. payers, and 300 plus real world data partners. Previously, Kyle served as CEO of Signify Health, where he led more than 200 percent revenue growth, took the company public in 2021, and guided its acquisition by CVS Health in 2023 for approximately $8 billion. He later served on the CVS Health executive management team, overseeing healthcare delivery strategy and interoperability. Earlier in his career, Kyle was Chief Product Officer and Head of Corporate Development at athenahealth, where he helped scale revenue from $320 million to $1.2 billion and launched the company’s partnership marketplace. Kyle has served on multiple healthcare boards and holds an MBA and AB from Harvard University. — Chapters: 00:01:20 Introduction to Kyle Armbrester and his journey in healthcare 00:03:58 The impact of Athena Health on healthcare innovation 00:06:20 Datavant: Revolutionizing health data interoperability 00:08:15 The role of Datavant in reducing administrative burden 00:12:20 Understanding Datavant's value proposition across stakeholders 00:14:00 Consumer products and data accessibility at Datavant 00:18:25 The scale and impact of Datavant in healthcare 00:19:35 Cybersecurity challenges in healthcare data management 00:23:57 Bridging the gap in healthcare regulations 00:26:13 Unlocking the value of untapped healthcare data 00:29:25 Challenges of value-based care models 00:33:23 The reality of being a CEO in healthcare 00:37:00 Navigating IPOs vs. Acquisitions 00:39:44 Innovating healthcare incentives for better outcomes — Pre-order Halle's new book, Massively Better Healthcare. — 📍 Connect with us: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Is Healthcare the Ultimate Test for AI? | Ankit Jain | 19 Jan 2026 | 00:32:22 | |
This week, Steve sits down with Ankit Jain, co-founder and CEO of Infinitus Systems, to talk about why voice-based AI has become one of the most rapidly adopted tools in healthcare operations, what’s actually working in the field, and where the hype still outpaces reality. Ankit shares six years of lessons from building AI agents that handle 35-minute medical calls end to end, plus his predictions on what 2026 and 2027 will really look like as enterprises attempt to build their own agents. We cover:
— About our guest: Ankit Jain is the co-founder and CEO of Infinitus Systems, the agentic healthcare communications platform that automates high-stakes clinical and administrative conversations at scale. Under his leadership, Infinitus supports 44% of the Fortune 50, and many of the largest healthcare organizations in the US. A serial entrepreneur, advisor, and investor, Ankit has built companies and guided innovation at the intersection of technology and AI. He founded Quettra (acquired by Similarweb), helped launch Google Play and the search engine Cuil, and went on to co-found and manage Gradient Ventures, Google’s AI-focused venture fund. His background in building distributed systems and safety-constrained AI, combined with hands-on experience scaling products in regulated environments, gives him a pragmatic perspective on how to design trustworthy AI that earns adoption in healthcare. Ankit frequently works with industry leaders on governance, education, and integration strategies that make automation safe, approachable, and scalable. — Chapters: 00:01:38 Introduction to Ankit Jain and Infinitus Systems 00:02:54 The journey into healthcare entrepreneurship 00:03:55 Inspiration behind Infinitus and its mission 00:04:55 Evolution of AI in healthcare communications 00:08:12 Navigating competition in the AI healthcare space 00:10:30 Defensibility and product development insights 00:14:00 AI's role in enhancing healthcare accessibility 00:15:20 Go-to-Market strategies and lessons learned 00:17:52 Deepening engagement in healthcare workflows 00:19:33 Competitive dynamics in healthcare AI 00:20:42 Addressing industry concerns and challenges 00:22:14 The need for industry self-regulation 00:23:40 Navigating consumer privacy and AI interactions 00:25:27 The future of jobs in healthcare AI 00:28:30 The evolution of healthcare AI 00:29:37 Lessons for entrepreneurs in healthcare — Pre-order Halle's new book, Massively Better Healthcare. — 📍 Connect with us: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| 🔮 2026 Digital Health Predictions | Annie Lamont | 12 Jan 2026 | 00:35:47 | |
Is 2026 the year that changes everything in healthcare? Steve and Halle sit down with legendary healthcare VC Annie Lamont for their annual predictions episode to dive into 2026 predictions and trends that founders and operators should pay attention to. We cover: 📉 Why 2025 was "the most brutal year ever" for health plans 🏥 Why providers outpaced payers in AI adoption and where the next wave of enterprise software will land 💸 Where she’s spending her time in 2026 (and what space she’s avoiding) 🔮 What she expects for IPOs and M&A in 2026 ⚖️ How regulation, interoperability, and national AI policy could shape the next decade — About our guest: Annie Lamont co-founded Oak HC/FT in 2014. Prior to founding Oak HC/FT, Annie spent 28 years at Oak Investment Partners, where she served as a Managing Partner and led the healthcare and fintech practices. Over the course of her career, she has invested in category-defining companies across the healthcare and financial services industries, including Aspire Health, athenahealth, CareBridge, Devoted Health, iHealthTechnologies (which became Cotiviti), NetSpend, OneMedical, and VillageMD. — 📍 Connect with us: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| The Antidote to the “Industrial Wellness Complex” | Zeke Emanuel | 05 Jan 2026 | 00:35:40 | |
For our first episode of 2026, Dr. Ezekiel “Zeke” Emanuel, oncologist, bioethicist, architect of the Affordable Care Act, and author of Eat Your Ice Cream joins us to share why he believes the longevity movement is overblown and how real health comes down to simplicity. In his new book, Zeke argues that instead of chasing expensive fads and wellness trends, we should focus on six straightforward habits that make life healthier and more enjoyable. In this conversation with co-host Steve Kraus, he explains why complexity is one of healthcare’s biggest threats, how public frustration is reshaping policy, and why the path to better health may be far simpler than we think. We cover: 🚫 Rejecting the wellness industrial complex 📈 Why public frustration will force major policy changes by 2032 🧩 How the ACA's success created a huge new flaw 🤖 The two biggest bottlenecks that slow down hospital AI implementation 💡 How to improve quality and empathy with specialized medical AY systems — About our guest: Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD, is a Vice Provost and Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. An oncologist and world leader in health policy and bioethics, he was instrumental in drafting the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Dr. Emanuel regularly contributes to the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and appears on BBC, NPR, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC and other media outlets. His new book, Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life, is available on January 6. — 📍 Connect with us: — Chapters: 00:00:50 Introducing Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel 00:06:04 His path to medicine 00:09:15 Working on Obamacare - successes and regrets 00:11:19 Is healthcare too big to fail? 00:14:18 The antidote to the “longevity” movement 00:17:18 How to stay mentally sharp 00:18:34 AI and job displacement 00:22:57 Critique of the “Wellness Industrial Complex” 00:25:10 Philosophy on life expectancy and quality 00:27:16 Optimism about AI in healthcare 00:30:20 Lightning round of questions See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Former Presidential Candidate Gets Real About America's Future | Andrew Yang 🧢 | 29 Dec 2025 | 00:46:11 | |
We’re closing out the year with a candid conversation about where America is headed. For our final episode of 2025, Halle and Steve sit down with entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang to talk plainly about the forces reshaping American life, from rising healthcare costs and gaps in coverage to AI-driven job disruption and the strain on the social safety net. We cover: 🏛️ Andew’s idea of “Medicare for all who want it” 🤖 How AI is already wiping out entry-level jobs, and why he thinks America is heading toward a “bad men problem” 💸 Why he ran on Universal Basic Income which he calls “capitalism where income doesn’t start at zero” 🏥 How entrenched players restrict physician supply, shape regulation, and protect revenue even when it hurts patients 📵 His new effort to cut phone addiction and why he says parents, schools, and policymakers are waking up to the damage caused by screen-first childhoods — About our guest: Andrew Yang is an entrepreneur, author, philanthropist, attorney, nonprofit leader, and former U.S. presidential and New York City mayoral candidate. After a brief stint as a corporate lawyer, he worked in startups and founded an education company that became #1 in the country. He later launched Venture for America, a national nonprofit that empowered thousands of young entrepreneurs to build careers in cities such as Detroit, Cleveland, and Baltimore. Under his leadership, the organization became a multi-million-dollar charity, and Yang was named a Presidential Ambassador of Entrepreneurship and a Champion of Change during the Obama administration. Motivated by the impact of automation on the American workforce, Yang ran for President in 2017. Centered on a proposed $1,000-per-month “Freedom Dividend,” his campaign raised nearly $40 million and helped mainstream conversations around Universal Basic Income. He later founded Humanity Forward, a nonprofit that has successfully advocated for billions of dollars in federal cash relief. Yang is also an author, CNN commentator, and podcast host. He is the son of Taiwanese immigrants, and holds degrees from Brown University and Columbia Law School. — Chapters: 00:2:22 Andrew’s Vision for American Healthcare 00:7:27 Healthcare and the 2026 Election 00:9:59 AI’s Impact on Employment and Society 00:22:35 Universal Basic Income 00:29:14 Regulatory Capture in Healthcare 00:31:37 Noble Mobile 00:33:57 Children and Phone Addictions 00:43:19 Closing Advice for Healthcare Innovators — Pre-order Halle's new book, Massively Better Healthcare. — 📍 Connect with us: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| The Rise of Clinician Innovators | Dr. Reena Pande | 22 Dec 2025 | 00:36:40 | |
Many clinicians quietly wonder if there's a “next chapter” beyond the hospital walls, and an increasing number are stepping into health tech roles that didn’t exist a decade ago. Dr. Reena Pande has lived that shift firsthand: from cardiologist at a top academic center, to early employee and CMO at AbleTo, to now leading clinician executive search at Oxeon. She joins us to unpack what it really takes for clinicians to succeed in startups, why these roles matter more than ever, and how AI is reshaping both medical training and leadership. We cover: 🩺 What true self-assessment looks like 🚀 What clinicians often misunderstand about joining a Series A startup 🐈 The “indoor cat vs. outdoor cat” model for modern clinical leadership 📉 How to evaluate risk when moving from academic medicine into early-stage companies 📊 Why clinician leaders are central to sales, product, and operations in virtual care 🤖 How AI is reshaping medical expertise and what future clinicians must be trained for — About our guest: Dr. Reena Pande is a Partner and leads Oxeon’s Clinician Executive search and leadership practice. She is a physician, entrepreneur, and healthcare executive whose career has focused on building innovative solutions to ensure access to evidence-based, and technology-enabled care. For nearly a decade, Dr. Pande served as Chief Medical Officer at AbleTo, a virtual behavioral health provider. During her tenure, she served as a passionate external voice for bridging the gaps between physical and mental health, and also led clinical product, data science, healthcare economics, and outcomes research teams. Dr. Pande saw the organization through numerous fundraising rounds and eventual acquisition by Optum/UnitedHealth Group. Prior to her time at AbleTo, Dr. Pande was an academic cardiologist and clinical researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA and was on the faculty at Harvard Medical School. She earned her undergraduate degree in Biology from Harvard University, her M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and a Masters degree in Epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health. She completed her internship, residency training, and Cardiology fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. — 📚Want more? Read The Clinician’s Guide to Breaking Into Digital Health — Women founders, access a lifetime of community-backed growth with Entreprenerustia: https://refer.entreprenista.com/founder — 📍 Connect with us: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| Soul-Driven Healthcare Investing | General Catalyst CEO Hemant Taneja | 15 Dec 2025 | 00:30:10 | |
Hemant Taneja believes you can sneeze and reach a billion dollars in healthcare revenue, but that most of that revenue tells you nothing about whether the system is actually getting better. This week, Halle sits down with the CEO of General Catalyst and author of The Transformation Principles to discuss what happens when you stop treating revenue as the primary KPI and start asking harder questions about impact, incentives, and system change. They get into his “health assurance” thesis, what it means for a VC firm to buy a hospital, why “profit-only” capitalism has run its course, and how AI and new payment models could finally bend the cost curve instead of just inflating it. We cover: 🏥 How Hemant began investing in healthcare and his “health assurance” thesis 📉 Why profit‑only capitalism has run its course and what should replace it 💳 The “work tax” in healthcare payments and how AI could free up resources for prevention 🤖 Whether AI in healthcare is a bubble or a durable transformation 🏥 Why General Catalyst bought a hospital and how they plan to use it — About our guest: Hemant Taneja is the CEO of General Catalyst, and a founder, investor, and author of four books, including The Transformation Principles. His worldview centers on strengthening global resilience through applied AI and partnerships that modernize critical systems. Hemant is an early investor in the leading technology companies of our time including Anduril, Anthropic, Applied Intuition, GitLab (NASDAQ: GTLB), Grammarly, Gusto, Ro, Samsara (NYSE: IOT), Snap (NYSE: SNAP), and Stripe. He is also deeply involved in transforming the US healthcare system, having founded companies like Commure, Hippocratic, Transcarent, Livongo (Sold to Teladoc for $18.5B) and General Catalyst's Health Assurance Transformation Company (HATCo) which helps health systems transform themselves with AI. A global expert on industry transformation, he has led General Catalyst's foray into transforming healthcare, energy, and workforce systems globally. He holds five degrees from MIT. — 🙏Thank you to our show sponsor, LookDeep. LookDeep pioneers AI that can see, hear, and respond with care to help hospitals be Ever Present for Every Patient. Learn more at lookdeep.ai/aimee. — 📍 Connect with us: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||
| The Haves & Have-Nots Of 2025 | Threshold Ventures Co-founder Emily Melton | 08 Dec 2025 | 00:45:11 | |
The Haves & Have-Nots Of 2025 | Threshold Ventures Co-founder Emily Melton This week for our 2025 recap, we’re joined by VC Emily Melton, co-founder of Threshold Ventures. Melton highlights her reflection of 2025, which splits the market into "haves and have-nots" with nothing in between, noting the concentration of venture dollars on "high flyers" and the indifference shown to established companies with respectable revenue. We cover: 💸 The widening gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” in health tech 📉 The rise of recaps, down rounds, and investor “bargain-basement shopping” 🏥 Why healthcare’s 5.6-trillion-dollar cost structure can’t be fixed without technology 🧾 How policy incentives and private equity are reshaping M&A activity 💬 What founders need to prove to raise capital in today’s market — About our guest: Emily is a co-founder of Threshold. She is looking for entrepreneurs who are genuinely excited about being agents of change and have an almost irrational drive to make things better. Her portfolio includes BetterUp, Brightline, Daero, Elation Health, Imagen, Livongo (NASDAQ: LVGO), Mendaera, ODAIA, Redfin (NASDAQ: RDFN), Tia, Transcarent, Verge Genomics, Videa, Vital, Viz, and Wellframe (acquired by HealthEdge). Emily served as the chair of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) board of directors for the 2022-23 term. She is also an active founding member of All Raise, a non-profit dedicated to improving access for women and others to start and invest in companies. A Stanford grad with a BA in political philosophy with honors and an MBA, Emily is drawn to disruptive ideas and technologies that have the potential to radically change consumer, enterprise, and healthcare markets. — 📍 Connect with us: See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. | |||