PULSE

PULSE+IT

PULSE, the podcast, produced by Pulse+IT and hosted by digital health legends Louise Schaper and George Margelis, is an enlightening, entertaining look at global digital health trends and current debates with our hosts’ deep takes on all the latest news in digital health.

  1. 14 hr ago

    To Err Is AI: ChatGPT Meets Epic, the Trouble with Human-in-the-Loop & AI Enters the Operating Theatre

    This week on Pulse: Hot Topics, how much of healthcare are we ready to hand over to AI? Louise and George look at OpenAI's new connection to Epic and what it could mean for the future of the electronic health record; new Australian data showing AI is rapidly becoming a front door to healthcare; and a provocative paper challenging whether keeping a “human in the loop” really makes AI safer. They also explore a very different model of human-AI collaboration, with AI assisting neurosurgeons during brain tumour surgery, and the FDA's authorisation of the first wearable to continuously monitor both glucose and ketones. Plus: why trust and health-data literacy aren't keeping pace with AI adoption, and the FDA's vision for the home as a healthcare hub. Resources: OpenAI — Healthcare organizations can now connect EHR and additional industry data to ChatGPT Link PwC Australia — Voice of the Consumer 2026: Fit and Informed Link Australian Digital Health Agency — My Health Record use surges as Agency improves access for clinicians Link Mitchell, Ghosh & Passi — AI Agents Push Humans Out of the Loop, arXiv Link The Guardian — London neurosurgeons' AI-assisted brain tumour operation Link FDA — Authorizes First Wearable Device That Continuously Monitors Both Ketone Levels and Blood Sugar Link FDA — Home as a Health Care Hub initiative Link Visit Pulse+IT.news to subscribe to breaking digital news, weekly newsletters and a rich treasure trove of archival material. People in the know, get their news from Pulse+IT – Your leading voice in digital health news. Follow us on LinkedIn Louise | George | Pulse+IT Follow us on BlueSky Louise | George | Pulse+IT Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

  2. 27 Aug

    Yay, Humans: A Billionaire Says AI Should Replace Doctors, an AI Scribe Invents a Drug History, and Google's AMIE Nearly Proves Him Right

    This week on Pulse: Hot Topics, could autonomous AI deliver better care than doctors - even doctors using AI? Louise and George examine the provocative new JAMA argument that human oversight may sometimes make medical AI less accurate, before confronting a very real counterpoint: an AI scribe that invented psychedelic mushroom use in an Australian patient’s medical record. They also discuss Australia’s move to connect wearable devices to national digital health infrastructure; new AMA(US) guidance on making wearable data clinically useful; and an international survey exposing major failures in care coordination. Finally, Google’s video-enabled AMIE can now interview, observe and guide simulated patients through elements of a virtual examination. If AI can see, hear and assess the patient, does virtual care still require a human clinician, or a radically different model of clinical governance? Research Opportunities: AI policy vs frontline reality survey (deadline 2 September) Link Resources: JAMA Perspective, "Will Autonomous AI Exceed AI-Aided Physicians as the Best Medical Care?" Link ABC News, "Error by AI scribe during medical appointment leaves patient devastated" Link US AMA, "Here's how to make the most of patients' wearable data" Link Commonwealth Fund, "How Care Coordination Varies Internationally" Link Google Research, "Towards Expert-level Medical AI for Real-time Video Consultations" Link VisitPulse+IT.news to subscribe to breaking digital news, weekly newsletters and a rich treasure trove of archival material. People in the know, get their news from Pulse+IT – Your leading voice in digital health news. Follow us on LinkedIn Louise | George | Pulse+IT Follow us on BlueSky Louise | George | Pulse+IT Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

  3. 20 Aug

    No Budget for a Big Procurement: How That Saved Hong Kong's Health Record, with Dr NT Cheung

    This week on Pulse: Amplify, Louise and George speak with EMR pioneer Dr NT Cheung. Dr NT Cheung joined the Hong Kong Hospital Authority when clinical computing was virtually non-existent, and went on to help build one of the world’s largest integrated, longitudinal electronic patient record systems. NT reflects on Hong Kong’s remarkable 30-year digital health journey, why building its technology in-house proved so valuable, and what other health systems can learn from its clinician-led, incremental approach. They explore the extraordinary opportunity created by three decades of consistently collected patient data, cross-border record sharing with mainland China, and technology’s role in supporting an ageing society. NT also offers a timely warning for the AI era: healthcare is too complex to be transformed by technology alone. AI may be extraordinarily powerful, but it remains a tool, and the goal must be to make every interaction between patients, clinicians and the health system a little smoother and better. Connect with NT on LinkedIn Visit Pulse+IT.news to subscribe to breaking digital news, weekly newsletters and a rich treasure trove of archival material. People in the know, get their news from Pulse+IT – Your leading voice in digital health news. Follow us on LinkedIn Louise | George | Pulse+IT Follow us on BlueSky Louise | George | Pulse+IT Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

  4. 13 Aug

    Transforming healthcare from episodic care models to continuous health intelligence

    This week on Pulse: Hot Topics, Louise and George explore the rapidly shifting boundaries of science, AI and human health. They unpack the extraordinary research using AI to design entirely new, functioning viruses, and the biosecurity questions that follow. Then, turning the discussion to South Australia’s newly announced Royal Commission into AI and whether governance can possibly keep pace with technological change. Then they look at the emerging era of the “continuous human”: Germany’s €40 million push to crack continuous hormone monitoring, and Google’s enormous SensorFM foundation model, trained on more than a trillion minutes of wearable data, which could point towards a future of personalised, continuous health intelligence. Plus, George recommends Paper Guide for scientific research, and we highlight two international opportunities for clinicians to contribute to research on AI in healthcare. Research Opportunities: Clinicians – be part of the research into clinician use of AI, open globally Link AI policy vs frontline reality survey (deadline 2 September) Link Resources: SPRIND Continuous Hormone Monitoring Challenge Link Ida Tin Coined Femtech. Now She's Funding Continuous Hormone Monitoring, Forbes Link SensorFM: Towards a general intelligence and interface for wearable health data, Google Research Link Recommendations: Paper Guide Link Visit Pulse+IT.news to subscribe to breaking digital news, weekly newsletters and a rich treasure trove of archival material. People in the know, get their news from Pulse+IT – Your leading voice in digital health news. Follow us on LinkedIn Louise | George | Pulse+IT Follow us on BlueSky Louise | George | Pulse+IT Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

  5. 30 Jul

    Trust, AI Governance Theatre & the First Big Health AI Lawsuit

    This week on Pulse: Hot Topics, Louise and George explore one question that underpins the future of digital health: how do we build trust? They begin with Australia's latest healthcare cyberattack and New Zealand's response to one of theirs, asking if cybersecurity should be considered a patient safety issue rather than simply an IT problem.  The discussion then turns to the World Health Organization's first AI Readiness Assessment for Europe and what it reveals about the gap between rapid AI adoption and the governance needed to support it safely. The conversation moves to healthcare investment, examining Rock Health's latest funding report, new evidence on the economics of AI, and whether venture capital is backing the innovations that will deliver the greatest value for patients.  Louise and George also discuss how patients are already using AI, drawing on new research from Microsoft and the Commonwealth Fund that reveals where people trust AI, and where they still want human care. Finally, they explore one of the first major lawsuits involving ChatGPT and alleged medical harm, asking how accountability will evolve as consumers increasingly rely on generative AI for health advice. Recommendations: Clinicians – be part of the research into clinician use of AI, open globally Link Athens Digital Health Week, 23–25 February 2027, Royal Olympic Hotel, Athens Link Resources: Action Plan aims to strengthen Health NZ digital security, Pulse+IT (Reesh Lyon) — Link Health NZ Action Plan - Link Partnered Health cyber incident statement — Link WHO Europe statement: Govern AI in health before the gaps become irreversible — Link WHO report: AI is reshaping health systems — state of readiness across the European Union — Link Rock Health H1 2026 Funding and Market Overview — Link A systematic review of economic evidence of artificial intelligence in healthcare, Health Policy (Schmidt, Carter, McGuire, Mossialos, van Kessel) — Link 2025 Global Women's Health Investment Hit A Record, But U.S. Investors Curb Their Enthusiasm, Forbes (Geri Stengel) — Link Global analysis of country-level factors associated with chatbot usage for health, Nature Health — Link Patients' Perspectives on AI in Primary Care, Commonwealth Fund — Link ChatGPT Led to a Man's Near-Fatal Health Crisis, Lawsuit Claims, The New York Times — Link With Thanks to Datacom: Download the Executive Briefing Playbook Link Visit Pulse+IT.news to subscribe to breaking digital news, weekly newsletters

About

PULSE, the podcast, produced by Pulse+IT and hosted by digital health legends Louise Schaper and George Margelis, is an enlightening, entertaining look at global digital health trends and current debates with our hosts’ deep takes on all the latest news in digital health.

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