The Heart of Healthcare | A Digital Health Podcast

Massively Better Healthcare

🏆 2026 Webby Award-winning podcast. Join us every Monday for conversations with the biggest names in healthcare. Hosted by health tech veterans Halle Tecco, Michael Esquivel, and Steve Kraus. Learn more and submit your ideas for the show at the Heart of Healthcare website.

  1. 2d ago

    Can AI Build the First New Pharma Giant in Decades? | Formation Bio CEO Ben Liu

    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: Why there hasn't there been a big pharma company created since the 1980sWhich drug categories Ben believes could become the next GLP-1s and reshape healthcareWhy Formation Bio chose to become a pharmaceutical company instead of selling softwareThe real bottleneck in bringing medicines to patientsBen's roadmap for how AI will transform drug development over the next 10 to 20 years 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: Heart of Healthcare website LinkedIn YouTube 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
  2. Jul 6

    Building A Healthcare Unicorn In Three Years | Assort Health Founders Jeff Liu and Jon Wang

    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: The AI role suddenly showing up at every healthcare startupThe surprising demographic that gives AI voice agents the highest satisfaction scoresHow healthcare AI is shifting from single-purpose tools to platforms that remember patients across every interactionWhy the biggest moat in healthcare AI may not be the model itselfThe biggest misconception investors have about moats in healthcare AIHow to triple your team without losing the culture that made the company successful—  🙏 Do you like this podcast? An easy and free way to help keep the show going is to leave us a review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you're listening. —  📍 Connect with us: Heart of Healthcare website LinkedIn YouTube  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
  3. Jun 29

    📣 Digital Health Download: July 2026

    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: The digital health funding numbers that just dropped, and what they reveal about where the money is really goingA $12 billion deal that has the RCM world buzzingThe Nature study that has clinical AI companies on edgeA new entrant into medical imaging that nobody saw comingThe public health crisis that sports betting built, and why healthcare isn't talking about it enoughEarly data out of Utah that could change how we think about AI in clinical settings Links: IPO Watch List: https://halletecco.substack.com/p/the-digital-health-ipo-watchlistEnsemble Health / Thoreau deal: https://hitconsultant.net/2026/06/18/thoreau-makes-strategic-investment-in-ensemble-health/Nature Medicine AI study: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04431-5Midjourney Medical: https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/952011/midjourney-medical-ai-ultrasound-scanDoctronic pilot outcomes: https://commerce.utah.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Doctronic-Outcomes-May-2026.pdf—  📍 Connect with us: Heart of Healthcare website LinkedIn YouTube  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
  4. Jun 8

    What Healthcare Can Learn From Waymo | Qualified Health founder and CEO Justin Norden

    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: What healthcare can learn from Waymo’s approach to safe AI deploymentWhat founders need to understand about building around EpicWhy health systems need to treat AI as a CEO-level priority, not an innovation projectHow Qualified Health is helping systems deploy, monitor, and measure AI workflowsWhy governance, safety, and ROI matter as much as model performanceWhy clinicians are right to be skeptical about AI liability 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: The Data on Self-Driving Cars Is Clear. We Have to Change Course. Dr. Jonathan Slotkin op-ed in the NYT—  📍 Connect with us: Heart of Healthcare website LinkedIn YouTube  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    What Healthcare Can Learn From Waymo | Qualified Health founder and CEO Justin Norden
  5. Jun 1

    📣 Digital Health Download: June 2026

    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: Why healthcare jobs are now carrying the US labor market and what Medicaid cuts could mean for the economyThe surprising comeback of wearables and how companies like Whoop, Oura, and Google are building massive subscription businessesCMS’s new ACCESS model and the debate over whether AI-driven care can actually lower costs without sacrificing qualityThe lawsuit against Character.AI and what it reveals about the growing demand for AI mental health toolsWhy investors are pouring billions into AI drug discovery despite huge unanswered questions about clinical developmentMarty Makary’s resignation from the FDA and what ongoing instability means for biotech, pharma, and healthcare innovation— Show notes: Forget Tech and Hollywood. California Is Powered by Healthcare Jobs. (WSJ)Oura Debuts Ring 5, Ahead of Potential IPO (WWD)Whoop Raises $575 Million at $10.1 Billion Valuation (Whoop)Fitbit Ditches the Screen With Its New $99 Whoop Rival (PC Mag)Why big digital health players are missing from Medicare’s chronic care experiment (STAT)Character.AI Lawsuit (PA.gov) Marty Makary out as FDA chief (Axios)—  🙏 Do you like this podcast? An easy and free way to help keep the show going is to leave us a review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you're listening. —  📍 Connect with us: Heart of Healthcare website LinkedIn YouTube  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: June 2026
  6. May 25

    Investing in “Whole Person Care” | Lance Armstrong

    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: Why he chose to become a VC, and what he likes (and dislikes) about the jobHow his experience as a patient shapes how he evaluates companiesWhy preventive care is growing outside the traditional healthcare systemWhat he looks for in founders building across the care continuumWhat it takes to rebuild trust and start over 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: Heart of Healthcare website LinkedIn YouTube  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

    Investing in “Whole Person Care” | Lance Armstrong
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About

🏆 2026 Webby Award-winning podcast. Join us every Monday for conversations with the biggest names in healthcare. Hosted by health tech veterans Halle Tecco, Michael Esquivel, and Steve Kraus. Learn more and submit your ideas for the show at the Heart of Healthcare website.

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