PULSE

The Data Patients Are Already Giving Us – Microsoft, Reddit, Apple and the Fourth Wave of Wearables

PULSE+IT — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 06:07:27 +1000

This week on Pulse: Hot Topics, Louise and George explore five major developments shaping the future of healthcare.

Microsoft Opens the Lid on How the Public Uses AI for Health — A new Nature Health paper analysing over 617,000 de-identified Copilot health conversations shows nearly one in five are personal health queries, they spike at night when traditional care isn't available, and one in seven are asked on behalf of someone else.

Reddit as a Pharmacovigilance Signal — University of Pennsylvania researchers mined 400,000+ Reddit posts from people taking GLP-1s like Ozempic and Wegovy, surfacing side effects not well captured in trials or drug labelling and revealing a real-time, patient-generated pharmacovigilance system hiding in plain sight.

Apple Walks Into the Radiology Reading Room — Apple's new Studio Display XDR has received FDA clearance for diagnostic radiology at roughly a third of the price of traditional diagnostic monitors, fundamentally changing the economics of building and scaling reading rooms.

US Digital Health VC — AI Is Now the Operating Environment — Silicon Valley Bank and Rock Health data show AI captured nearly half of all healthcare investment in 2025, with Rock Health retiring its "AI deal" tracking category because AI is now table stakes.

The Fourth Wave of Wearables — Bioforecasting — A small study in the European Heart Journal — Digital Health used smartwatch data to predict vasovagal syncope minutes before it happened, signalling a shift from wearables that measure the present to wearables that anticipate what's coming.

Resources:

Microsoft Copilot Health Queries Study, Nature Health Link
Reddit GLP-1 Side Effects Study, Nature Health Link
Apple Studio Display XDR Announcement Link
Apple White Paper: Reimagining Medical Imaging Link
SVB 2026 Healthcare Investments & Exits Report Link
Rock Health Q1 2026 Funding Overview Link
Prediction of Vasovagal Syncope using AI-enabled Smartwatch PPG, EHJ — Digital Health Link
Digital Health Workforce Census (opens 1 May, ANZ) — 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.

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Nurture Your Mental Fitness: AI, Coaching Culture, and the Clinician of the Future, with Dr Kudzai Kanhutu

PULSE+IT — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 06:00:00 +1000

Welcome to Pulse: Amplify, where we sit down with the leaders and changemakers shaping the future of health.

In this episode Louise and George sit down with Associate Professor Kudzai Kanhutu to explore one of the most profound questions facing healthcare today: what happens to clinician identity, power, and learning when AI becomes part of the team?

We discuss:

Why clinician identity is the real conversation behind AI adoption
What a coaching culture actually requires in a hierarchical, time-poor health system
The gap between compliance-driven AI and genuinely personalised clinical decision support
Kudzai's vision for AI as a 360-degree professional mirror - drawing on real outcomes data, not vibes
The COVID lesson: creativity flourishes when compliance is no longer enough
Why C-suite AI decisions need to be prefaced with a standing invitation to say "you got it wrong"
Final thoughts: the world doesn't have to end in AI

Connect with Kudzai: LinkedIn

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

AI Safety, Ireland and Apple Get Serious, and the NHS and FEDIP Make History

PULSE+IT — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 06:13:36 +1000

This week on Pulse: Hot Topics, Louise and George unpack a rapidly shifting healthcare landscape, where AI is no longer theoretical, but already embedded in patient behaviour, clinical risk, and global policy responses. And a big win for the UK’s digital health workforce!

Ireland’s AI Strategy for Health - Ireland releases a national AI for Care strategy, positioning AI as core infrastructure for healthcare delivery, with strong emphasis on governance, workforce integration, and data readiness. A rare example of a country moving beyond pilots into system-wide planning

AI Named #1 Patient Safety Risk - ECRI ranks AI-driven diagnostics as the top patient safety concern for 2026, highlighting risks like automation bias, poor integration, and lack of governance, reframing AI as a clinical safety issue, not just a technology one.

Apple Forces Health Apps Into Regulation - Apple mandates that health apps declare whether they qualify as medical devices, signalling a major shift from platform neutrality to accountability, and potentially reshaping trust, compliance, and developer behaviour globally

Patients Are Already Using AI - New research from KFF, NEJM AI, and The Lancet shows that consumers are actively using AI for health advice, often before seeing a clinician, with evidence that AI is influencing real-world behaviour and reshaping care pathways

NHS Recognises Digital Health Workforce - The NHS formally recognises its digital, data, and technology workforce as a professional group, a major milestone that elevates digital health roles and signals their critical importance to patient outcomes.

Resources:
Horizon Europe Grants Link

Ireland’s AI for Care Strategy 2026-2030 Pulse+IT Link

ECRI 2026 Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns report Link

KFF poll on consumers use of AI in health Link

ESSENCE study, published in the NEJM AI Link

Sara Riggare and Charlotte Blease in Lancet Primary Care Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

The Other 8,765 Hours - with Sara Riggare

PULSE+IT — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 07:40:21 +1100

Welcome to Pulse: Amplify, where we sit down with the leaders and changemakers shaping the future of health.

Dr Sara Riggare has spent more than a decade challenging one of healthcare’s most deeply embedded assumptions - that patients are passive recipients of care. Living with Parkinson’s disease and trained as a chemical engineer, she has built a body of work that reframes patients as active producers of knowledge.

In this episode, Sara shares her journey from diagnosis at age 32 to completing a PhD in ‘personal science’, where she studied her own condition to generate new insights into Parkinson’s. Her now-iconic “1 vs 8,765 hours” concept highlights just how little time patients spend in the healthcare system, and how much of their lives, and data, exist outside it.

We explore why healthcare systems still struggle to recognise patient-generated knowledge as valid, and how this creates an epistemic gap at the heart of modern medicine.

This is a powerful discussion about power, knowledge, and what it would take to truly design healthcare around the people who live with disease every day.

Resources:

Patients Are Not Waiting For Permission Lancet

Connect with Sara Riggare: LinkedIn

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

AI Everywhere: In Your Pocket, on Your Wrist, in the Clinic, and Inside the Cell

PULSE+IT — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 06:00:00 +1100

This week on Pulse: Hot Topics, Louise and George explore the rapid emergence of AI health assistants from Big Tech, unpack the growing role of consumer wearables as research-grade medical tools, examine how AI scribes are evolving into multimodal and physical devices, and zoom out to a groundbreaking scientific achievement—simulating a living cell.

AI health assistants from Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Perplexity signal a shift from standalone tools to a persistent, orchestrating layer across patient data, raising urgent questions about trust, ownership and the future role of the health system.

A new partnership between Verily and Samsung could turn consumer smartwatches into research-grade data sources, unlocking new possibilities for decentralised trials, digital biomarkers and real-world evidence at scale.

AI scribes are evolving beyond software, with vision-enabled systems dramatically improving accuracy and new purpose-built hardware like Heidi Remote signalling a move toward AI as embedded clinical infrastructure.

And in a remarkable scientific breakthrough, researchers have simulated an entire living cell at the molecular level—opening the door to a future of in silico experimentation and personalised medicine at unprecedented depth.

Resources:
AI Scribe gets eyes npj Digital Medicine Link

Cell Simulation Link

EOI for the Chatbot User Guide for Patients Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Startup Lessons from Guy Tsafnat & Decoding Healthcare’s Data Matrix

PULSE+IT — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 06:00:00 +1100

Welcome to Pulse: Amplify, where we sit down with the leaders and changemakers shaping the future of health.

Guy Tsafnat joins Pulse to unpack why healthcare is “data rich but evidence poor,” and what it really takes to turn messy clinical data into something usable at scale.

He shares hard-earned lessons from building multiple startups, including why sales is harder than technology, how founders should think about co-founders, and why asking for help matters more than perfect pitch decks.

The conversation explores why healthcare data is fundamentally different to other industries, why most data projects stall before delivering value, and what needs to change to make evidence-based care actually work in practice.

Guy also gives a pragmatic take on AI in healthcare—why “rubbish in, rubbish out” still applies, where ambient AI is showing real promise, and why simply layering AI onto poor data won’t change clinical practice.

Finally, he reflects on the realities of building a global health startup from Australia, including the challenges of selling innovation locally and the advantages of lower development costs and strong R&D support.

Connect with Guy Tsafnat: LinkedIn

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

The ChatGPT Health controversy: what the viral Nature Medicine study missed with David Fraile Navarro

PULSE+IT — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 07:59:04 +1100

Welcome to Pulse: Amplify, where we sit down with the leaders and changemakers shaping the future of health.

A recent Nature Medicine study went viral after reporting that ChatGPT Health under-triaged more than half of emergency cases when tested using clinician-written scenarios. The finding raised serious concerns about whether consumer AI tools are safe for medical triage.

But researchers from Macquarie University’s Australian Institute of Health Innovation took a closer look at the study design and suspected the results might reflect the evaluation format rather than the AI’s clinical capability.

In this episode of Pulse Amplify, Louise and George speak with David Fraile Navarro about their follow-up study testing five frontier AI models across more than a thousand trials. Their research suggests that when AI systems are evaluated using more natural, patient-style interactions rather than exam-style prompts, triage performance improves significantly.

The discussion explores why prompt structure, forced answer formats, and restrictions on clarifying questions can dramatically alter model behaviour, and why designing realistic evaluation methods is essential as millions of people begin using AI for health advice.

The conversation also examines broader questions:
How should AI triage tools be evaluated?
What role should clinicians play in AI-mediated care?
And what do patients need to know before trusting AI with health decisions?

References

Ramaswamy A. et al. (2026). ChatGPT Health performance in a structured test of triage recommendations. Nature Medicine.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04297-7

Fraile Navarro D, Magrabi F, Coiera E. (2026). Evaluation format, not model capability, drives triage failure in the assessment of consumer Health AI. Zenodo.
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18975048

Connect with David Fraile Navarro: LinkedIn

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

The Eucalyptus Exit, an AI Hackathon Cardiologist, and Why Good Tech Still Fails

PULSE+IT — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 07:41:38 +1100

This week on Pulse: Hot Topics, Louise and George break down…

One of the biggest exits in Australian digital health history sees Sydney-founded telehealth company Eucalyptus acquired by U.S. platform Hims & Hers in a deal worth up to $1.6 billion, raising questions about the rise of global consumer health infrastructure and what it means for the future of care delivery.

A cardiologist in Brussels places third in Anthropic’s global Claude AI hackathon after building a patient follow-up tool in just seven days, highlighting how domain expertise combined with generative AI tools could dramatically accelerate healthcare innovation.

A massive NHS trial of an AI-enabled “tricorder-style” stethoscope shows the technology can dramatically improve detection of heart failure and atrial fibrillation — but poor workflow integration meant many clinicians simply stopped using it.

Finally, a curious new study finds emojis appearing in electronic health records, prompting a light-hearted but serious discussion about clinical documentation standards, data quality and what happens when modern communication habits collide with medical records.

We are on tour!

Charlotte Blease of #DrBot book fame and Louise are hitting the road together. The Sydney event was fantastic, it’s not too late to catch the Melbourne book launch.

Melbourne: Tuesday 10th March 6.30pm, Mary Martin Bookshop, Southbank. Get tickets here

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Jordi Piera Jimenez on Interoperability Theatre and Building Digital Health on Stone, Not Sand

PULSE+IT — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 06:00:00 +1100

Welcome to Pulse: Amplify, where we sit down with the leaders and changemakers shaping the future of health.

Jordi Piera Jiménez joins Pulse to unpack the foundations of digital health.

Fresh from stepping down as Director of Digital Health Strategy at the Catalan Health Service, Jordi reflects on what most health systems are still getting wrong: interoperability that’s more theatre than reality, AI built on poorly structured clinical data, and the dangerous confusion of digital transformation with IT procurement.

We explore why public health systems should own their digital infrastructure, how procurement can be a powerful lever for change, and why clinicians must be better supported to understand that documentation is the core of modern healthcare.

Jordi shares a bold vision for the next decade: true digital public infrastructure, genuine patient agency over data, and platform economies that drive innovation without vendor lock-in.

A thoughtful, systems-level conversation about infrastructure, governance, ethics — and getting the foundations right.

Connect with Jordi: LinkedIn

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Two AI Healthcare Futures? Australia Builds Medicine Infrastructure and China Scales GenAI to Billions

PULSE+IT — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 06:00:00 +1100

This week on Pulse: Hot Topics, Louise and George tackle big shifts in medicines safety and the accelerating global AI race in healthcare.

Australia moves toward a National Medicines Record

The Federal Government announces reforms requiring medicines prescribed via online platforms to be uploaded to My Health Record — including clinical context. With medication-related harm accounting for around 250,000 hospital admissions annually, is this the safety infrastructure Australia has needed for decades?

AI predicts 130 diseases from one night of sleep

A new Nature Medicine study claims a sleep foundation model trained on 585,000 hours of data can predict future risk of more than 130 diseases. Breakthrough preventative medicine — or promising science with important caveats.

China’s AI healthcare surge

China’s Ant Group health chatbot reaches 30 million monthly users, embedded inside Alipay’s super-app ecosystem. Meanwhile, China announces a $2–3 billion national AI healthcare strategy targeting population-scale deployment by 2030. Are we witnessing two divergent AI healthcare futures — cautious and regulated versus centralised and scaled?

We are on tour!

Charlotte Blease of #DrBot book fame and Louise are hitting the road together. Come see them in person and get your booked signed by Charlotte!

Sydney: Tuesday 3rd March 6pm, Gleebooks, Glebe. Get tickets here

Melbourne: Tuesday 10th March 6.30pm, Mary Martin Bookshop, Southbank. Get tickets here

Resources

Dr Sara Riggare’s Checklist and Resources for Meaningful Engagement of Patients Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Grahame Grieve on the Politics of Interoperability, Community & the Disruption We’re Not Ready For

PULSE+IT — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 08:34:18 +1100

Welcome to Pulse: Amplify, where we sit down with the leaders and changemakers shaping the future of health.

In this episode of Pulse Amplify, Louise and George sit down with Grahame Grieve, creator of FHIR and one of the most influential global figures in digital health.

What followed was a wide-ranging conversation on community, leadership interoperability, and the impact of AI on healthcare. This episode moves beyond interoperability and into systems thinking, societal change, and the legitimacy of healthcare institutions in the age of AI.

Connect with Grahame: LinkedIn

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Predictions and The To-Do List You Need Now to Respond to the GenAI Announcements

PULSE+IT — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 06:00:00 +1100

Dr Louise Schaper and Dr George Margelis are back with part 2 of their discussion to unpack the biggest healthcare story of the moment: Big Tech’s decisive move into generative AI for health.

January alone saw major announcements from OpenAI, Anthropic and Amazon One Medical, signalling that healthcare is no longer a side experiment for AI companies — it’s a core vertical.

Today we will dive into enterprise impacts, predictions, and provide a practical to-do list for health leaders.

We are on tour!

Charlotte Blease of #DrBot book fame and Louise are hitting the road together. Come see them in person and get your booked signed by Charlotte!

Sydney: Tuesday 3rd March 6pm, Gleebooks, Glebe. Get tickets here

Melbourne: Tuesday 10th March 6.30pm, Mary Martin Bookshop, Southbank. Get tickets here

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Did AI just become the default digital front door to healthcare?

PULSE+IT — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 06:00:00 +1100

In our first Hot Topics episode of 2026, Dr Louise Schaper and Dr George Margelis unpack the biggest healthcare story of the moment: Big Tech’s decisive move into generative AI for health.

January alone saw major announcements from OpenAI, Anthropic and Amazon One Medical, signalling that healthcare is no longer a side experiment for AI companies — it’s a core vertical.

In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, Louise and George explore:

What ChatGPT Health and Claude for Healthcare actually mean for consumers
Why GenAI could become the default digital front door to healthcare
How this shifts power, trust and expectations in the clinician–patient relationship
The realities (and myths) around privacy, misinformation, regulation and safety
What this moment means for healthcare business models, vendors and startups

This is a wide-ranging, honest and occasionally provocative discussion about where healthcare is heading — whether the system is ready or not.

🎧 Part 2 will dive into enterprise impacts, predictions, and a practical to-do list for health leaders

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Pulse Summer: Dr Alain Labrique from WHO, on Building Global Digital Health Systems That Serve Countries, Community, and People

PULSE+IT — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 06:00:00 +1100

Welcome to Pulse Summer 2026, where Louise and George revisit the Pulse Pod archives to bring you a curated set of interviews which will challenge and inspire.

Today, we revisit our chat with friend of Pulse, Dr Alain Labrique, Director for the Department of Digital Health and Innovation at the World Health Organization. We chat about the transformative role of digital health on a global scale.

Follow Alain on LinkedIn

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Pulse Summer: Dr Karen DeSalvo, Chief Health Officer at Google, on Trust, AI and Patient Care

PULSE+IT — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 06:00:00 +1100

Welcome to Pulse Summer 2026, where Louise and George revisit the Pulse Pod archives to bring you a curated set of interviews which will challenge and inspire.

Back in late 2024, we were joined in the studio by Dr Karen DeSalvo — Chief Health Officer at Google, former US National Coordinator for Health IT, public health leader, clinician, and one of the most thoughtful voices globally on how technology, policy and equity intersect in healthcare.

We covered a lot of ground in this conversation — from Karen’s journey as a physician and public health leader, to why patient access to their own health information still matters deeply; from AI’s role in drug discovery and clinical practice, to how generative AI could transform public health, prevention, and global health equity at scale.

“Dr Google”, herself personifies what it means to be human and to put people first in everything she does.

Follow Karen on LinkedIn Link

Google Resources:

AI in Action: Accelerating Progress Towards the Sustainable Development Goals Link

Transforming Public Health Practice with GenAI. Health Affairs Link

Google Open Health Stack Link

Google for StartUps Growth Academy Link

The Keyword Blog: AI and Health collection Link

The Check Up with Google Health Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Pulse Summer: Liz Salmi on What Happens When Patients Get Test Results Before Doctors

PULSE+IT — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 06:00:00 +1100

Welcome to Pulse Summer 2026, where Louise and George revisit the Pulse Pod archives to bring you a curated set of interviews which will challenge and inspire.

Louise & George talk with Liz Salmi, Communications & Patient Initiatives Director for OpenNotes at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in the US about her research and patient advocacy work, and what happens when patients get bad health news from reading it in online first

Paper: When Bad News Comes Through the Portal

Keynote: Getting Ready for Open Everything, MedInfo 2023

Follow @TheLizArmy on LinkedIn | BlueSky

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Pulse+IT 2025 Year in Review: Bonus Show

PULSE+IT — Fri, 02 Jan 2026 06:00:00 +1100

Welcome to Pulse: Year in Review, where Louise and George unpack the big stories from Pulse+IT’s 2025 Year in Review series.

Segment 3: AI and the rise of Virtual Care

Resources:

Pulse+IT 2025 Year in Review: Australian digital health Link
Pulse+IT 2025 Year in Review: New Zealand digital health Link
Pulse+IT 2025 Year in Review: Allied health breaking new ground Link
Pulse+IT 2025 Year in Review: Community and Aged Care Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Pulse+IT 2025 Year in Review: Part II

PULSE+IT — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 06:00:00 +1100

Welcome to Pulse: Year in Review, where Louise and George unpack the big stories from Pulse+IT’s 2025 Year in Review series.

Segment 1: Aged Care’s Digital Reckoning

Segment 2: Allied Health’s Breakthrough Year

Resources:

Pulse+IT 2025 Year in Review: Allied health breaking new ground Link
Pulse+IT 2025 Year in Review: Community and Aged Care Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Pulse+IT 2025 Year in Review: Part I

PULSE+IT — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 06:00:00 +1100

Welcome to Pulse: Year in Review, where Louise and George unpack the big stories from Pulse+IT’s 2025 Year in Review series.

Segment 1: AI goes mainstream

Segment 2: Modernisation, Standards, and the Path to Integration

Segment 3: Risk, Governance & its Relationship to Innovation

Resources:

Pulse+IT 2025 Year in Review: Australian digital health Link
Pulse+IT 2025 Year in Review: New Zealand digital health Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Healthcare’s Trust Paradox: AI Scribes, Augmented Humans, and the Rise of “Influencer Medicine”

PULSE+IT — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 06:00:00 +1100

Welcome to Pulse: Hot Topics, where Louise and George unpack the big shifts shaping healthcare right now - from billion-dollar hype to human-level trust.

Are AI Scribes The Billion-Dollar Burnout Band-Aid?

Doctors adore them, investors can’t stop funding them - We dig into the paradox of technology that makes clinicians happy but might not be improving productivity—and why transparency is becoming urgent as these tools expand into agentic workflows.

Chatbots in Therapy: When AI Joins the Session

From therapists secretly using ChatGPT mid-session, to patients uploading their medical records for advice, and one founder shutting down his AI therapy app over safety fears — can AI-mediated care ever truly be therapeutic?

New Zealand’s Digital Déjà Vu

After a tough 2024, New Zealand’s back with a 10-year digital health plan, a new Centre for Modernisation, and a promise of one innovation a month. But with no funding announcement and an election looming, is this genuine commitment or just another round of hopeful planning? Tender watch is on.

MIT’s Top 10 Breakthrough Technologies

MIT Technology Review’s annual list has brain–computer interfaces voted readers’ #11 pick. Are BCIs about to finally enter their translation era? And would George drill a hole in his head for the tech?

The BMJ vs. TikTok Medicine

What happens when money, marketing, medicine, and misinformation collide? Raffael Heiss can tell you as he’s mapped it. Spoiler alert: it’s not god. Tina Purnat argues we can't regulate this away—we need to recognise the information environment as a determinant of health.

Resources:

AI Scribes paper, NEJM AI Link
NZ DH Strategy, Pulse+IT Story Link
MIT Technology Review’s Breakthrough Tech List Link
Public health challenges of ‘medical influencers’ BMJ Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

You, Me & AI. David Fraile Navarro on triadic care in the clinical consultation

PULSE+IT — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 06:00:00 +1100

Welcome to Pulse: Amplify, where we sit down with the leaders and changemakers shaping the future of health.

What happens when AI becomes a valued third party in the clinical consultation between a clinician and the patient? George and Louise sit down with author and postdoctoral research fellow Dr David Fraile Navarro to discuss the British Medical Journal special on generative AI in the clinical encounter.

Resources:

Connect with David on LinkedIn Link
BMJ special on Generative AI and the Clinical Encounter Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Elon’s promise of surgical robots, nanobots, D2C blood tests: innovation, hype and health equity

PULSE+IT — Fri, 28 Nov 2025 06:00:00 +1100

Welcome to Pulse: Hot Topics, where Louise and George unpack the big shifts shaping healthcare right now.

From Elon Musk’s claim that Tesla’s Optimus robot will soon have superhuman surgical skills, to scientists who are quietly making real breakthroughs with microscopic nanorobots, we separate spectacle from science.

We look at the rise of at-home blood testing, unpack OpenAI’s accelerating push into healthcare, and celebrate Rahma Health’s double win at the Telstra Business Awards.

Along the way, Louise and George explore what’s hype, what’s helpful, and what’s actually happening behind the headlines — with their usual blend of sharp analysis, laughter, and a touch of existential dread about superhuman AI.

Resources:

Microscopic medical robots Nature article
At home blood tests, Dr Bertalan Mesko Medical Futurist article
Rhama Health innovation win Pulse+IT article
TGA Digital mental health survey Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Dr Bhavesh Patel on the AI Avatar Surgeon: Reimagining Patient Communication in Paediatric Care

PULSE+IT — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 06:00:00 +1100

Welcome to Pulse: Amplify, where we sit down with the leaders and changemakers shaping the future of health.

What happens when a paediatric surgeon who grew up programming on green-screen computers decides to create an AI version of himself? In this fascinating episode, George and Louise sit down with Associate Professor Bhavesh Patel, a senior paediatric surgeon in Brisbane who isn't waiting for AI to transform healthcare—he's actively building it

Resources:

Connect with Bhavesh on LinkedIn Link
Bhavesh’s website Link
See Bhavesh’s AI Avatar in action YouTube Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

ChatGPT Loses Its Medical License & NHS Digital Safety Scandal

PULSE+IT — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 06:00:00 +1100

Welcome to Pulse: Hot Topics, where Louise and George unpack the big shifts shaping healthcare right now.

Australian MedTech Innovator Wins PM’s Prize
A Perth-based researcher-engineer-pathologist wins the Prime Minister’s Prize for New Innovators with two real-world solutions — one that makes finding veins as easy as using a stud finder, and another putting “heart health in a box.” Proof that Australian innovation is alive, practical, and personal. Congrats Dr Nikhilesh Bappoo!

ChatGPT Loses Its ‘Medical License’
OpenAI has clipped ChatGPT’s wings, banning personalised medical advice after legal and ethical backlash. We unpack what really changed, the mental health controversies driving the decision, and whether we’re throwing out the baby with the bathwater when it comes to AI in healthcare.

AI Drug Development: Promise, Progress, or Just Hype?
Billions have poured into AI-driven drug discovery — yet the much-touted pipeline of miracle medicines still hasn’t arrived. We look at why biology keeps humbling the algorithms, why hype outruns results, and what needs to change before AI truly delivers its pharmaceutical revolution.

Femtech: The Oura Ring’s Pregnancy Breakthrough
A study of over 10,000 pregnancies using data from the Oura Ring gives us the most detailed physiological map of pregnancy ever — all from wearable tech. We explore what this means for women’s health, early warning signs, and whether constant monitoring brings comfort or anxiety.

NHS AI Blueprint: Regulation Before Revolution

The UK’s NHS unveils a new AI regulation blueprint promising safer, faster adoption of AI across the health system. We discuss whether the world’s most-watched health service has found the right balance between innovation and accountability.

NHS Digital Safety Scandal

A jaw-dropping study finds that more than 70% of digital health tools in the NHS have no documented safety assurance. We break down what that means for patients, why safety can’t be optional, and what other countries — including Australia — should learn from this wake-up call.

Resources:

Prime Minister’s Science Prize Winner Pulse+IT story link
Dr Nikhilesh Bappoo LinkedIn
AI Drug Development – turns out it’s hard! Sick Economics article
FemTech: Oura Ring & Pregnancy study Research Paper
NHS Digital Safety Crisis study: JMIR link
Global Health Connector Online Summit 18-19 November. FREE to register Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

The case for social prescribing integration into electronic medical records

PULSE+IT — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 06:00:00 +1100

Welcome to Pulse: Amplify, where we sit down with the leaders and changemakers shaping the future of health.

In today’s show George and Louise chat with Professor Peter Brooks (clinician academic, health systems & workforce policy), Dr Claire Smith (retired GP; social & environmental determinants advocate), and Dr Frank Nicklason (geriatrician, Tasmanian Health Service) on how social prescribing can be integrated into electronic medical records and why this could be a game changer for clinicians and individuals.

Resources:

A call to integrate social prescribing into health reforms: Croakey article
Social prescribing: bringing community back to health? Link
A comparison of social prescribing approaches across twelve high-income countries Link
Effectiveness of Social Prescribing for Mental Health Across Care Intensity Needs: A Pre-Post Evaluation in Australia Link
The Whitehall Studies and Michael Marmot Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Measuring What Matters: Maturity Tests, Miracle Blood Tests, and the Great Health Data Grab

PULSE+IT — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 06:00:00 +1100

Welcome to Pulse: Hot Topics, where Louise and George unpack the big shifts shaping healthcare right now.

Digital Health Maturity: Measuring What Matters
Is your health system truly digitally mature — or just good at buying software? We dig into the global frameworks that could finally separate progress from PR.

Verily Me: Google’s Bid for Your Health Life
A free app that knows your medical history, interprets your blood tests, and gives you health advice — what could possibly go wrong?

The GLP-1 Economy: From Gold Rush to Ground Game
The weight-loss drug boom is cooling — but who’s cashing in next? Inside the business model pivot reshaping obesity care and chronic health.

Melanoma Risk Calculator: Precision Prevention Down Under
An Australian tool predicts your personal skin-cancer risk.

Galleri Blood Test: The 50-Cancer Promise
A single blood draw that could detect 50 cancers — miracle of modern medicine or the next overhyped moonshot?

Resources:

Global Digital Health Partnership Maturity Assessments Link
Melanoma Risk Calculator: Pulse+IT link
Joe McDonald’s book, FHIR and Loathing in Las Vegas – Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Joe McDonald on why “Too Big To Fail” Health IT projects are destined for failure

PULSE+IT — Fri, 24 Oct 2025 06:00:00 +1100

Welcome to Pulse: Amplify, where we sit down with the leaders and changemakers shaping the future of health.

Today we have a frank and fun conversation with UK author Professor Joe McDonald who has just released a book –FHIR and Loathing in Las Vegas: Collected Essays on the Sociology, Anthropology, and Psychopathology of Big IT.

Joe’s anthology of essays, written over a 13 year timespan track the highs, the lows, the optimism, the realities, the struggles, of the digital transformation of the NHS. George and Louise talk with Jo about some of those learnings, his thoughts on AI, data standards, the future of healthcare, and his advice for others who are passionate about changing the system for the better.

Follow Joe on LinkedIn

Resources:

Joe’s book, FHIR and Loathing in Las Vegas – Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

No Surgeon, No Physio, No Problem? The Future of You

PULSE+IT — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 06:00:00 +1100

Welcome to Pulse: Hot Topics, where Louise and George unpack the big shifts shaping healthcare right now.

AI Physio: No Humans Required? An AI physiotherapist just earned regulatory approval to diagnose and treat patients entirely on its own. Europe says it’s safe — but would you trust an algorithm with your rehab?

Remote Surgery Goes Real. A Canadian team has completed the world’s first fully remote neurointerventional procedure — the surgeon wasn’t even in the same hospital. Star Trek, or the start of a new era in emergency care?

The Evidence to Shift from Patients to Partners. The Society for Participatory Medicine is done with preaching and ready to prove it. Their new CHAMP initiative aims to measure collaboration in care — because “nice idea” isn’t enough anymore.

The NHS ‘Online Hospital’. The UK calls it a “bold new model of care” a national virtual hospital launching in 2027. Louise calls it “telehealth 2.0.” Is this progress, politics, or déjà vu with better branding?

AI That Predicts Your Future Health. A model in Nature says it can forecast your risk of 1,000 diseases decades ahead; another in GigaScience claims to predict any health event, any time. Would you want to know when you’re going to die?

Resources:

Society for Participatory Medicine CHAMP Initiative Link
AI Prediction Model, Delphi-2M Published in Nature Link
AI Prediction Model, ETHOS Published in GigaScience Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Rohan Mead & the Business Council of Australia on why Australia needs a bold vision, underpinned by technology, to fix healthcare

PULSE+IT — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 06:00:00 +1100

Welcome to Pulse: Amplify, where we sit down with the leaders and changemakers shaping the future of health.

Today we’re thrilled to be joined by Rohan Mead, chief author of the Business Council of Australia’s Health and Care Blueprint, Chair of the BCA Health and Care Services Committee and Australian Unity chief executive.

Across 140 recommendations in 6 reform pillars, the Business Council of Australia’s Health and Care Blueprint lays out a bold vision: to modernise our fragmented system, boost productivity, and unlock billions in savings through digital transformation, smarter use of data, and the safe adoption of AI.

Together, we unpack:

Why BCA wrote the Blueprint, what’s the sense of urgency around health reform
The demographic trends impacting health
Why digital transformation is key
Why it’s time to centre healthcare around the consumer
Investing in interoperability and role of governments
Changing the power dynamics of healthcare
How we build new business models for healthcare
The clinical demarcation changes needed to help fix healthcare
AI, regulation and consent – what’s the right model?

Resources:

Supporting a Healthy and Productive Nation, Business Council of Australia – Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

The True Cost of Misinformation and Australia's Time HealthTech Moment

PULSE+IT — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 06:00:00 +1000

Pulse has a brand-new format — Hot Topics only! Louise and George dive straight into the biggest stories shaping digital health right now.

The cost of lies: From the US President’s paracetamol claim to Tina Purnat’s new Lancet paper, we explore why misinformation isn’t just a trust issue but a global operational and financial burden.

Wearables grow up: A fresh NEJM survey shows wearables are moving from gimmicks to clinical tools — but will insurers, EHRs, and workflows catch up?

Aussie pride: Nine Australian companies make Time’s 2025 Top HealthTech list. From AI to aged care, we unpack how local innovators are scaling globally.

Why doctors hate their EPRs: A new UK survey confirms what many clinicians already know — clunky systems slow care. But implementation may matter more than the software itself.

One scan, two diagnoses: Australian researchers unveil an AI that predicts cardiovascular risk from mammograms — doubling the impact of routine screening.

Resources:

Gerontology conference in Hong Kong Link

Navigating information space: the role of health-care providers — The Lancet Primary Care Link

The information environment as a determinant of health Link

Wearable Health Technologies Are on the Rise — NEJM Catalyst

Time’s World’s Top HealthTech Companies of 2025 Link

UK EPR Usability Survey Report Link

Australian-developed AI algorithm predicts cardiovascular risk using mammograms —Pulse+IT

ADHA Digital Health Adviser roles. Applications close 16 October Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Dr Charlotte Blease on how our humanness undermines the delivery of healthcare and how AI could help

PULSE+IT — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 06:00:00 +1000

In this episode of Pulse, we launch our new alternating format with a deep-dive interview. Louise and George are joined by Dr Charlotte Blease, Associate Professor in Health Informatics at Uppsala University and researcher in Digital Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, to discuss her newly released book Dr Bot: Why Doctors Can Fail Us and How AI Could Save Lives.

Charlotte argues that our very humanness—the biases, blind spots, and emotional complexities of both clinicians and patients—can undermine the delivery of healthcare. Through a mix of anthropology, psychology, and digital health insight, she explores how AI could play a role in improving consultations, reducing information asymmetry, and supporting both patients and clinicians in making better decisions.

Together, we cover:

Why Charlotte wrote Dr Bot and why it matters now
How our nature as humans shapes (and sometimes limits) care delivery
The role of technology in empathy, bias, and knowledge management
Patients’ stories, from everyday encounters to high-profile examples like Lisa Marie Presley and Serena Williams
Whether we can truly remodel healthcare around the patient
The promises and pitfalls of big tech, surveillance capitalism, and regulation in health
How AI could shift the culture of medicine, super-charge research, and reimagine the future of healthcare

Whether you’re a clinician, innovator, or simply curious about the intersection of medicine and technology, this conversation will get you thinking about the future of care.

Resources:

Dr Bot: Why Doctors Can Fail Us and How AI Could Save Lives – available now, releasing in Australia on 11 October (pre-order available)
Follow Dr Charlotte Blease on LinkedIn
To win a copy of Dr Bot: rate and review the pod in your app of choice, send us a screenshot at pulsepod@pulseit.news

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

ACDC, AI Fertility, Apple Health Tech & Robot Caregivers | Guest: Dr Eric Topol (Part 2)

PULSE+IT — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 06:00:00 +1000

Interview: Dr Eric Topol (Part 2)
In the second half of our conversation, Dr Eric Topol discusses AI’s promise in reducing clinician burnout, forecasting disease, and reshaping prevention. He also reflects on 13 years since The Creative Destruction of Medicine, shares his favourite transformative tools, and offers advice for clinicians seeking creative careers

Australian CDC – the data angle
Australia is finally moving ahead with its own Centre for Disease Control, promising better national coordination and public health data sharing. But will it deliver transparency and timely insights—or just more bureaucracy?

AI & Fertility – SpermSearchAI delivers first UAE pregnancy
An AI tool developed in Australia, by NeoGenix Biosciences, has achieved its first pregnancy in the UAE. The technology speeds up and improves IVF outcomes, showing how Australian health innovation is going global.

US Information Blocking Enforcement
The US Department of Health and Human Services will finally enforce penalties for health providers and IT vendors who block patient access to their own records. A big step for patient rights, and a reminder of how far Australia still has to go.

Apple’s Health Tech Push
Apple’s new Watch Series 11 now measures blood pressure and the latest AirPods can track heart rate. These updates blur the line between wellness gadgets and medical devices, raising big questions about accuracy, equity, and data overload.

Eli Lilly’s AI Drug Discovery Giveaway
Pharma giant Eli Lilly is making its drug discovery language models publicly available through “Lilly TuneLab.” It’s part open-science, part strategic play—accelerating research while still funnelling insights back to Lilly.

Australian Robotics – Abi the Care Robot
Melbourne startup Andromeda has raised $23m to scale Abi, a friendly robot designed for aged care and children’s hospitals. Founder Grace Brown, just 25, has quickly become one of Australia’s standout young innovators.

Resources:

Dr Eric Topol’s book SuperAgers Link
Dr Eric Topol’s podcast & substack Ground Truths Link
Medicine and the Machine podcast with Dr Abraham Verghese and Dr Eric Topol Link
Book recommendation: The AI Valley, Gary Rivlin Link
Recommended FREE course: AI in Healthcare from RCSI Link
Recommended FREE course: Patient Insights Masterclass by Savvy Corporate Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

SuperAgers, Big Tech & The Human Side of Interoperability | Guest: Dr Eric Topol

PULSE+IT — Fri, 05 Sep 2025 06:00:00 +1000

Interview: Dr Eric Topol (Part 1)

We’re joined by Dr Eric Topol—cardiologist, scientist, author, and global digital health leader. In part one, Eric shares his journey from clinician to digital health pioneer, his vision for “SuperAgers,” and why genomics and personalised medicine could redefine how long—and how well—we live

Chatbots for Patients

We discuss the Wall Street Journal’s bold claim that chatbots could become part of the medical team. From spotting errors to translating lab results and reminding patients about medications, can they really serve as low-risk, always-on companion? Questions remain around accuracy, empathy, and whether they truly add value or just more noise.

The Human Side of Interoperability

Inspired by Amy Gleason’s LA Times op-ed, we look at the personal impact of fragmented health systems. Her daughter’s care journey shows how disconnected records hinder outcomes—and how AI uncovered a hidden opportunity. Should we lean into more personal stories to communicate to a wider audience?

Meta & Who Owns Your Health Data?

A San Francisco jury found Meta guilty of illegally harvesting data from millions of Flo app users—menstrual cycles, ovulation, even pregnancy intentions. The ruling highlights urgent questions: Who really owns health data, and what rights do patients have when tech giants treat it like ad fuel?

Patient Consent in the Age of AI

Consent forms are broken—static, outdated, and unfit for the AI era. We unpack Y. Tony Yang’s American Journal of Bioethics piece arguing for “dynamic consent,” accountability frameworks, and real patient understanding. Without rethinking consent, healthcare risks losing trust as AI tools grow more influential

Black Box for Aged Care

What if aged care had a “black box,” like aviation? Sensors, AI, and monitoring systems could flag risks before crises hit. A Pulse+IT blog argues for shifting from reactive to proactive care, but business models and adoption lag behind. We debate whether the sector can finally move from inquiry to prevention

Resources:

Louise’s LinkedIn poll on gen AI use for health research Link
Dr Eric Topol’s book SuperAgers Link
Y. Tony Yang’s American Journal of Bioethics Article on Patient Consent Link
Aged Care’s Black Box in Pulse+IT Link
Amy Gleason’s parental perspective on the need for health data interoperability Link

From Telecare's Big Exit to ChatGPT-5: Healthcare's Transformation Accelerates with the Commoditisation of AI Scribes

PULSE+IT — Fri, 22 Aug 2025 06:00:00 +1000

Telecare Acquisition by Teladoc: US telehealth giant Teladoc Health acquires Australian virtual care clinic Telecare in a rare successful exit for the local digital health startup scene. The hosts discuss implications for Australia's startup ecosystem and the significance of this $2.57 billion company's investment in local innovation.

Boots At-Home Test Kits: UK pharmacy chain Boots launches 13 at-home testing kits that integrate with the NHS app, raising questions about clinical utility, health equity, and the transformation of retail healthcare. The discussion explores whether consumer demand justifies bypassing traditional healthcare pathways.

BUPA Genetic Testing Initiative: Health insurer BUPA rolls out a £300 genomic health toolkit offering medication response testing and disease risk assessment. The hosts debate whether this signals the arrival of personalised medicine or represents another way to monetise the "worried well."

FDA-Approved AI Wearable for Essential Tremor: The Felix Neuro AI wristband receives FDA approval as the first AI-powered device to treat essential tremor through real-time electrical pulse therapy. The technology demonstrates promising results with potential applications for other neurological conditions.

AI Scribes Market Consolidation and Regulation Epic's entry into the AI scribe market is the biggest signal yet of the commoditisation of AI Scribe technology, while regulatory challenges emerge around patient consent, medical device classification, and clinical responsibility. The hosts explore how market consolidation could concentrate control among big tech players.

ChatGPT-5 in Healthcare OpenAI launches ChatGPT-5 with explicit healthcare applications, featuring training from 250 physicians and patient testimonials. The discussion examines the potential for disrupting information asymmetry between patients and clinicians while addressing concerns about bias and hallucinations.

Resources:

TGA guidance on when scribes are medical devices Link

ACSQHC Pragmatic advice for clinicians on using AI Link

Department of Health, Disability and Ageing Safe and Responsible Artificial Intelligence in Health Care – Legislation and Regulation Review: Final Report Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Bringing Joy to Medicine with Participatory Medicine. Guest: Dr Danny Sands (Part 2)

PULSE+IT — Fri, 08 Aug 2025 06:00:00 +1000

GenAI as Therapist A New York Times op-ed explores how people are using ChatGPT for therapeutic conversations and emotional processing, raising questions about whether AI companions represent innovative digital self-care or a concerning workaround for unmet mental health needs.

USA's "Make HealthTech Great Again" Pledge The White House hosted a summit with 60+ tech companies to sign a HealthTech Ecosystem pledge promoting data interoperability and AI in healthcare, though questions remain about whether this represents genuine reform or just encourages data sharing with private platforms while healthcare infrastructure gets decimated.

Australia Gets Tough on De-Identification Australia's Privacy Commissioner issued new guidance clarifying that supposedly "de-identified" health data used for AI training may still qualify as personal information, potentially ending the era of inadequately anonymised data sharing and pushing the industry toward synthetic data or on-premise learning.

OpenAI's Kenya Study: Clinical Copilot in Action OpenAI's real-world study with Penda Health in Kenya showed their GPT-4o clinical copilot reduced diagnostic errors by 16% and treatment errors by 13% across 40,000 patient visits, demonstrating measurable improvements when AI is properly integrated into clinical workflows.

George and Louise chat with Dr Danny Sands - Pioneer of participatory medicine, discusses the origins of the e-patient movement and participatory medicine, from early email communication with patients and exploring how to maintain human connection while embracing technological advancement

Connect with Danny on LinkedIn

Resources:

NY Times I’m a Therapist. ChatGPT Is Eerily Effective Link

Australian Privacy Commissioner ruling Link

Sands (2025) From Internet to Artificial Intelligence (Al) Bots: Symbiotic Evolutions of Digital Technologies and e-Patients Link

Shout outs to: Liz Salmi, ePatientDave, Danny Sands, Ian Opperman, Gavin Andrews, Dr Amit Thacker Africa Health Business

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Participatory Medicine and the Power of “I don’t know”. Guest: Dr Danny Sands (Part 1)

PULSE+IT — Fri, 25 Jul 2025 06:00:00 +1000

George and Louise chat with Dr Danny Sands - Pioneer of participatory medicine discusses the origins of the e-patient movement and participatory medicine, from early email communication with patients and exploring how to maintain human connection while embracing technological advancement

Connect with Danny on LinkedIn

Amazon launches Pathology - Amazon enters the healthcare diagnostics space with at-home blood testing services in India, leveraging their logistics expertise to challenge traditional healthcare providers.

UK Biobank - The world's largest human imaging project completes scanning 100,000 volunteers over 11 years, with AI analysing data that would have taken thousands of years to process manually.

Wearables and Regulation - The US FDA warns Whoop about their unapproved blood pressure insights while both UK and US governments push for widespread wearable adoption, highlighting the blurred lines between wellness devices and medical equipment.

OpenEvidence & Bias in Medical Research - The AI medical platform used by 40% of US doctors raises $210M but faces criticism for perpetuating gender bias, particularly around hormone replacement therapy misinformation.

AI in Everyday Healthcare - South Australian aged care provider ECH dramatically improves care plan accuracy from 35% to 92% using AI, while Monash Health seeks AI clinical coding solutions to improve efficiency and address workforce pressures.

Shout Out:

Complete the Australian Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Survey and contribute to help shape the national AI agenda

Resources:

Wired (2010) The Blood Test Gets a Makeover Link

George Gouzounis’ AI in Aged Care Newsletter Link

Dr Danny Sands (1998) Clinical E-Mail Guidelines Link

Dr Tom Ferguson’s (2007) whitepaper e-Patients: How they can help us heal health care Link

Journal of Participatory Medicine Link

The Whole Early Catalog Link

Sands (2025) From Internet to Artificial Intelligence (Al) Bots: Symbiotic Evolutions of Digital Technologies and e-Patients Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

UK's Digital Health Utopia vs Australia's Allied Health Reality. Guest: Anita Hobson-Powell, Australia’s Chief Allied Health Rockstar

PULSE+IT — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 06:00:00 +1000

George and Louise break down the hot topics of the day, including:

AI Scribes now regulated as medical devices in the UK - all pilots must cease until MHRA approval
UK Government announces £10 billion digital health investment and AI Early Warning System
NHS 10-Year "Fit to the Future" Plan - three major shifts including analogue to digital transformation
Cybersecurity failures at WA's PathWest and UK's Synnovis directly impacting patient safety?
Positive AI developments: FDA approves breast cancer risk prediction tool, Australian chemotherapy dosing AI

How does Australia go about integrating 300,000+ allied health professionals into the national digital health strategy? That topic and more are covered in the chat with our guest Anita Hobson-Powell, the inaugural Chief Allied Health Officer at the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.

Connect with Anita on LinkedIn

Resources:

NHS 10 year health plan for England. Fit to the Future Link
National Allied Health Digital Uplift. Responses due 20 July Link
Health Connect Australia Strategy, Architecture and Roadmap to enable health information exchange Link
ANU Study on the Future of Digital Health EOI Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

When the Doctor Becomes the Patient, with Dr Amandeep Hansra

PULSE+IT — Fri, 27 Jun 2025 06:00:00 +1000

Special episode: Today on Pulse, we’re doing something a little different. We’re joined by one of Australia’s most respected voices in digital health — Dr Amandeep Hansra. Amandeep is a GP, a health tech leader, an investor, and a long-time advocate for innovation in healthcare. She is the founder of Australian Medical Angels investment syndicate and Creative Careers in Medicine – a community for clinicians who support each other as they explore ‘creative’ ways to practice medicine differently.

But earlier this year, the tables turned. In a sudden and deeply personal twist, Amandeep found herself not behind the stethoscope, but on the other side — as a patient, facing a series of debilitating symptoms that landed her in hospital. Within mere weeks she was back living her best life, but answers are still elusive.

Today, Amandeep is generously joining us to share her journey — not just as a doctor, but as someone navigating the complexities, gaps, and opportunities in our health system firsthand. This is a story about communication, access, digital innovation, and what happens when the doctor becomes the patient.

Connect with Amandeep on LinkedIn

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

AI Agents Take the Ward: Virtual Care Meets Reality

PULSE+IT — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 06:00:00 +1000

On today’s show, George and Louise delve into:

Has China really built the world’s first an AI-Agent Hospital?

Royal Melbourne Hospital in Melbourne has built a machine learning model to predict likely wait times in the emergency department, complete with a public-facing dashboard – how cool is that!

Whoops, the US FDA’s AI, Elsa, has problems coming out of the starting gate

Australian regulator the TGA has approved sleep apnoea tech on smartwatches. Is this the relationship saving tech everyone will want?

Congrats to the Bluegum Health Transformation team in Tassie for their early progress in transforming the state’s health system, enabled by digital and data.

Is there a fundamental mismatch between the goals of interoperability and monolith EMRs?

OpenAI’s all listening, all seeing, all dancing AI companion. What could be the applications and implications for healthcare?

And Louise chats with Julia Conway at the Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority on pricing virtual care and what’s needed to make virtual a part of everyday healthcare

Connect with Julia on LinkedIn

Resources:

RMH Emergency Wait Times Dashboard Link

Overview of smartwatches & sleep apnoea detection Link

China’s AI Agent Hospital Research Paper Link

Bluegum Health Transformation Homepage Link

Dr Yousseff Aboufandi’s OpenAI LinkedIn post

IHACPA Virtual Care Project Final Report Link

ePatientDave’s Substack #PatientsUseAI Link

JAMIA paper how patients with brain tumours use LLM Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Aussie Govt Updates, Silicon Valley, & Mother of FemTech Ida Tin

PULSE+IT — Fri, 30 May 2025 09:55:57 +1000

George and Louise dive into a roundup from the Australian Digital Health Festival, key government presentations and reports from the Commonwealth, Victoria and New South Wales

We cover some of the big stories coming out of Silicon Valley – there’s a lot to talk about!

Plus we chat with the Queen herself, Mother of FemTech, Ida Tin on “women’s health as societal infrastructure”

Connect with Ida on LinkedIn | Join the Book Waitlist

Resources:

Halle Tecco on the Growth-Stage Cliff Plaguing Women’s Health Startups Link

John Carreyrou’s book Bad Blood, Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Shifting populations & shifting priorities, Part 2 with demographer legend Bernard Salt AM

PULSE+IT — Fri, 16 May 2025 06:00:00 +1000

On the show today is part 2 of George and Louise’s talk with Bernard Salt AM, Founder of The Demographics Group. They have a conversation on shifting populations, shifting priorities and what that means for the health sector.

Australia’s election delivers a result no pundits foresaw.

The FDA is mandating the use of AI for their scientific reviews. What could this mean for stakeholders?

Friend of Pulse Rachael Dunscombe suggests healthcare’s complexity means that for AI governance to be successful we need to adopt principles espoused by cybernetics guru Stafford Beer in the 1950s.

UK Q1 VC funding report stats are in and the results are not what you’d expect.

George & Louise give a run-through of the 6 Megatrends impacting the health sector, according to a new report by NSW Health and CSIRO.

Connect with Bernard on LinkedIn | Instagram | The Demographics Group

Resources:

What is Digital Health? Whitepaper by David Rowlands Link

Health Megatrends Report, NSW Health & CSIRO Link

Call for Disclosure when using AI for patient comms Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Government announces virtual-first telehealth service, and Part 1 of our extended chat with demographer legend Bernard Salt AM

PULSE+IT — Fri, 02 May 2025 06:00:00 +1000

Listen for your chance to go the Digital Health Festival on us – with thanks to the DHF team. #Muchlove💗

On the show today George and Louise talk with Bernard Salt AM, Founder of The Demographics Group. We have a conversation on shifting populations, shifting priorities and what that means for the health sector. Part 1 drops today and part 2 will be in our next episode.

A virtual first telehealth service has received bipartisan support in the Australian election. Woo-hoo! Is this going to change things or will it turn out to be just a rebrand? What does this mean for consumers and our health sector?

Friend of Pulse Dr Tina Purnat is back with her take on the social media paradox for young people getting their health information from non-health experts.

Global health interoperability rankings are in. How does your country rate?

Connect with Bernard on LinkedIn | Instagram | The Demographics Group

Resources:

Dr Tina Purnat & The Social Media Paradox Link

Health Systems Interoperability Ranking Link

Acquired Pod covers Epic Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Getting rid of the stupid stuff in healthcare. Guest: Jill Tomlinson

PULSE+IT — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 06:31:39 +1000

On the show today George and Louise talk with AMA Victoria President Dr Jillian Tomlinson on the GROSS initiative to get rid of stupid stuff like waste and duplication in healthcare.

Can AI help researchers advance our understanding of dementia and potentially prevention, delay and treatment?

The worlds of consumer tech and medical grade tech are merging. George and Louise discuss the opportunities and implications of this with examples of the femtech pregnancy research Oura Ring is embarking on, the EpiWatch app for seizure monitoring.

What does the future hold for the health app ecosystem, given Apple’s Mulberry project?

What does the closure of NHS England mean for the digital health workforce? George and Louise discuss the announcement of the formation of the Health Data Research Service. Should other jurisdictions also start to think of health data as a national asset?

Connect with Jillian on LinkedIn

Resources:

Learn more about GROSS and sign the petition: Link

ANDHealth's Rising Giant Report: Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Adoption and scale requires technical + service + business model innovation, with Guest: Janette Hughes

PULSE+IT — Fri, 04 Apr 2025 11:10:35 +1100

Guest of Pulse is Janette Hughes, Director of Planning and Performance at Scotland’s Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre (DHI). Janette joins our hosts to discuss personal data stores – giving patients not just access but putting them in control over their own data.

Bill Gates is predicting AI will replace doctors. Do George and Louise agree with him?

The liquidators have moved into 23andMe and millions of customers are rushing to delete their data. What are the lessons learned on protecting personal health data from the personal genomics company's collapse?

Research shows 1 in 5 Australians skip specialist appointments due to cost concerns. Will the Australian Health Minister mandating that 11,000 medical specialists are transparent with their fees help?

A new meta-analysis of 83 studies shows AI and doctors perform similarly in diagnosis. Bu George wants the comparisons to stop already!

The cost of not using AI in healthcare. Will we soon see arguments, regulations and legislation mandating the use of AI in the name of patient safety?

Connect with Janette on LinkedIn

Resources:

Allied health $10K grant Link

Nature Digital Medicine paper AI vs Drs Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Bringing Joy Back to Medicine, with Guest: Dr Karen DeSalvo

PULSE+IT — Fri, 21 Mar 2025 06:00:00 +1100

Bringing you Part 2 of our chat with Dr Karen DeSalvo, Chief Health Officer at Google. We cover designing systems that align with the needs of clinicians and patients; the sustainable development goals and preventative health, use cases for AI in public health, resources for healthcare start-ups and others.

Follow Karen on LinkedIn Link

George has just wrapped up the ECH Alliance conference in Barcelona, and the IT in Aged Care Conference in Melbourne.

Louise is in London where everyone is talking about NHS England getting ‘doged’.

Telemedicine from 40,000 feet, coming to an Emirates flight near you soon.

OECD Health System strategies review – who came out on top?

Advanced analytics for chronic disease

And, allied digital health is so hot right now.

Google Resources:

AI in Action: Accelerating Progress Towards the Sustainable Development Goals Link

Transforming Public Health Practice with GenAI. Health Affairs Link

Google Open Health Stack Link

Google for StartUps Growth Academy Link

The Keyword Blog: AI and Health collection Link

The Check Up with Google Health Link

When a Nobel Prize is only one of your achievements. Guest: Dr Karen DeSalvo

PULSE+IT — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 10:11:31 +1100

Google's Impact on Health Report 2025 reveals the company's extensive influence on global digital health, including their Nobel Prize-winning AlphaFold 2 AI system.

The value of watches that detect falls and raises the alarm just got a significant upgrade with Google receiving FDA clearance for "loss of pulse detection" technology for wearables that can identify sudden cardiac arrest signs remotely.

New Australian study finds social media influencers driving demand for unnecessary health tests with limited clinical evidence. Commercialisation, misinformation and the rise in health equity gaps. Reporting by Pulse+IT.

Tina Purnat’s BMJ Opinion Piece is a must read for those interested in the proliferation of misinformation

Was Chris Longhurst right years earlier than he predicted – the US has proposed legislation that would classify AI as a "practitioner licensed by law" with prescription capabilities, raising significant ethical and regulatory questions.

The UK is exploring implementation of a single digital patient record system across health and social care, promising better continuity but facing logistical challenges. Will they pull this off?

Check out the Global Digital Health Partnership’s digital health repository Link

Our guest of Pulse is Dr Karen DeSalvo, Chief Health Officer at Google. Part 1 of our chat covers Karen’s impressive career trajectory and personal motivations, AI, and how Google is focused on getting correct health information into the hands of everybody.

Follow Karen on LinkedIn Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Apple Cider Vinegar & Misinformation, Guest: Tina Purnat

PULSE+IT — Fri, 21 Feb 2025 06:00:00 +1100

Disinformation and misinformation is the topic of the moment – join George and Louise as they discuss these issues with Dr Tina Punat, consultant in global health and digital public health (ex-WHO).

Find Tina at her website on LinkedIn and say hello when she visits Australia in June for the Communicable Diseases & Immunisation Conference

We also celebrate Australia’s Share by Default Legislation being passed by parliament and the Act coming into play. Yay!

An update from New Zealand – will a law suite against the government save Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora’s Data and Digital Directorate?

We round up the state of investor funding for start-ups in Australia and the US.

Resource Links

Dr Purnat in the BMJ Link

Kara Swisher: Burn Book Link

Future AI International Consensus BMJ Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

The commoditisation of AI is upon us! & Part 2 of our chat on global health with guest Dr Alain Labrique, WHO

PULSE+IT — Fri, 07 Feb 2025 06:00:00 +1100

So it turns out that 2 weeks is a long time in the world of AI. Louise and George break down a heap of key stories and developments. AI is quickly becoming a commodity, but it will still be some time before it becomes old news.

The European Health Data Space legislation is coming into force. What does that mean for the health sector, clinicians and citizens throughout Europe?

And we bring you part 2 of our chat with special guest of Pulse, Dr Alain Labrique, Director for the Department of Digital Health and Innovation at the World Health Organization for an exploration of the transformative role of digital health on a global scale.

Follow Alain on LinkedIn

Resource Links:

European Health Data Space Legislation Pulse+IT

New Zealand’s Public Service AI Framework Pulse+IT

PatientSeek built on DeepSeek Pulse+IT

OpenNotes Guidelines for Patient-Centered Documentation in the Era of Open Notes Link

JAMA+AI Link

NEJM+AI Link

The Lancet Digital Health Link

Nature Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Spiders, viruses & proteins get the AI treatment and Global Digital Health with guest Dr Alain Labrique, WHO

PULSE+IT — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 06:00:00 +1100

In this episode, hosts Louise Schaper and George Margelis dive into the latest advancements in health and biomedical sciences, exploring how artificial intelligence is transforming our understanding of viruses, proteins, and more. Key stories include AI-driven viral evolution predictions, groundbreaking research on the human proteome-phenome atlas, and the role of AI in designing life-saving antivenoms.

The hosts also discuss global telehealth developments, patient engagement strategies, and highlight the inherent challenges of direct-to-consumer health tests.

Special guest of Pulse is Dr Alain Labrique, Director for the Department of Digital Health and Innovation at the World Health Organization for an exploration of the transformative role of digital health on a global scale.

Follow Alain on LinkedIn

Resource Links:

Plasma Proteome atlas Link

AI and virus evolution Link

Ai and anti-venom Link

Christchurch telehealth pilot Link

AI and predicting breast cancer Link

Action Plan for the Digital Patient have Link

Direct to consumer tests Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Pulse+IT’s Year in Review Issue. 2024, Part 2

PULSE+IT — Fri, 10 Jan 2025 07:16:19 +1100

Join Louise and George as they run through some of the hot stories in the Australian and New Zealand health sector this year.

01:31 Virtual Care and Telehealth

15:08 The biggest topic of the year - AI

24:40 New Zealand Year in Review

References for Pulse+IT 2024 Year in Review:

New Zealand Year in Review

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Pulse+IT’s Year in Review Issue. 2024, Part 1

PULSE+IT — Fri, 27 Dec 2024 06:00:00 +1100

Join Louise and George as they run through some of the hot stories in the Australian and New Zealand health sector this year.

04:16 2024 Pulse+IT Year in Review

07:02 Digital Front Doors & EMRs

18:50 Business Deals & Telstra Health

23:32 Government in Action

44:36 Cybersecurity Stuff Ups

49:00 Aged Care Innovation

References for Pulse+IT 2024 Year in Review:

New Zealand Year in Review

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Role of AI in health insurance: a battle of good vs evil? Guest: Mark Brommeyer

PULSE+IT — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 06:00:00 +1100

Guest Co-Host: Dr Michael Bainbridge
George is on holiday so joining Louise at the mic this episode is Michael Bainbridge, Clinical Architect for Leidos Australia.

Follow Michael Bainbridge on LinkedIn

Special Guest: Mark Brommeyer
Mark Brommeyer shares insights from his research on overcoming organisational barriers to digital transformation, focusing on practical strategies for health service managers.

Follow Mark Brommeyer on LinkedIn

The Role of AI in Health Insurance
Louise and Michael explore the ethical and operational challenges of AI in the insurance sector, reflecting on the controversial use of AI to deny claims and the broader implications for health systems.

PatientsLikeMe Launches AI Assistant Ella
PatientsLikeMe, a leading patient community platform, developed an AI assistant focused on women's health, highlighting the growing trend of personalised digital health tools and femtech opportunities.

Political Shifts in Ireland Impact Digital Health
The team discusses the loss of Ireland’s Health Minister and its potential to disrupt the nation's digital health momentum.

Collaboration in Irish HealthTech
Ireland’s new agreement between the Health Service Executive and HealthTech Ireland is set to enhance innovation, with lessons for global health tech integration and collaboration.

NHS Marketplace: A Digital Revolution?
The UK’s NHS Marketplace promises to streamline app development and foster innovation. Will it deliver on governance, interoperability, innovation and start-ups?

Visit Pulse+IT.news to learn more, engage in this rapidly growing sector, and 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.

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

The Ouroboros Effect: How AI Threatens Human Intellect. Guest: Prof Blackford Middleton

PULSE+IT — Fri, 29 Nov 2024 06:00:00 +1100

Prof Blackford Middleton joins us in the PulsePod studio to discuss his philosophising on the intersection of AI and healthcare, and his new publication The Ouroboros Effect: How AI Threatens Human Intellect. Link

In this episode of Pulse, Louise and George explore the hottest topics in digital health, from groundbreaking AI diagnosis studies to the collapse of a high-profile health startup, and news from UK, AU and NZ. Here’s what we cover:

Professional Identity: When Machines Outperform Doctors

We revisit a JAMA study showing ChatGPT outperformed doctors in diagnosis, even when clinicians had access to the tool. The debate heats up as commentary pours in, questioning professional identity, training gaps, and the cultural impact on medicine. Link

‘Doc in a Box’ Fails: Lessons from Forward Health’s Collapse

Forward Health, a $650M-backed US health startup, closed abruptly, leaving patients and employees in limbo. We discuss the pitfalls of tech-first healthcare models, investor errors, the importance of clinician and patient advisory roles, and the future of primary care.

NZ Sets a Goal for Digital Care

New Zealand aims for 10% of care delivered digitally by mid-2025. The timing is ambitious, but is the target?

Health Data as National Infrastructure: The UK’s Vision

A new report calls for treating health data as critical national infrastructure. We delve into its recommendations for a national health data strategy, governance, and patient benefit, reflecting on global implications for health data ecosystems. Link

ShareByDefault: Australia's Health Data Revolution

Australia’s Health Minister introduces a bill mandating the sharing of pathology results and imaging through MyHealthRecord. What does this mean for patients and clinicians?

Finally: Independent Evaluation of Generative AI

In the US the Healthcare AI Challenge Collaborative has been established to comparing the efficacy of generative AI tools for healthcare. They will produce public rankings of 9 commercial tools before Xmas.

Follow Blackford Middleton on LinkedIn

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Information Foraging: Crowdsourcing 4AI & Cancer-Killing Tech. Guests: Dr Robin Mann & Dr Honor Magon

PULSE+IT — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 06:00:00 +1100

Elon Musk’s Grok and Crowdsourcing Medical Data – Elon Musk invites the public to submit medical images to his AI, Grok, raising serious privacy concerns and questions about AI’s role in medical diagnostics.

Australia’s Workforce Report on Healthcare Professionals – Louise and George discuss whether the Australian government’s workforce report is reductive in its vision for the role of tech.

Health Technology in Conflict Zones – Health technology innovations are transforming care in war zones, with tools like telemedicine and AI bridging gaps in access and resources for conflict-affected populations.

The First Wearable to Kill Cancer Cells – A new FDA-approved wearable device uses electric fields to target and kill cancer cells without harming healthy cells, marking a significant step forward in digital cancer treatments.

The results of the US election are in. What might be the impact on global health and digital innovation in health?

Remote monitoring in the islands off Ireland gives Kate a trip down memory lane.

World-Class Health Information Exchange – We welcome Dr. Robin Mann and Dr. Honor Magon, co-authors of a popular Pulse+IT opinion piece, to discuss the vision for a world-class Health Information Exchange and its potential impact.

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

What happens in digital health stays in digital health

PULSE+IT — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 06:00:00 +1100

Contrary to the campaign slogan ‘what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’, George asks Louise to spill on how she found the HLTH Conference in Las Vegas.

Samsung Health’s New Features: From medication tracking to meal logging, Samsung’s health app upgrades are enhancing preventive care and consumer engagement. What does this mean for the future of health apps?

Virtual Health Disconnect: Deloitte's survey results highlight a growing divide between consumer demand for virtual health and health systems' priorities.

The fallout from New Zealand’s digital health budget cuts – what happens when you cut $500 million from a transformation program?

How is the UK government’s open consultation on fixing the NHS going? Is comedy going to be the only outcome?

Virtual hospitals and hospital in the home programs are hot right now. How does that compare with primary care telehealth consultations?

Guest: Fay Flevaras, Chief Digital and Information Officer, Department of Health and Aged Care shares insights on the monumental task of digitally enabling Australia’s aged care sector. Her team’s work promises to bring much-needed innovation and support to a vital sector, impacting the lives of many Australians.

Follow Fay Flevaras on LinkedIn

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

“AI is what it eats” Rachel Dunscombe says you can quote her!

PULSE+IT — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 18:49:48 +1100

Joining us in the Pulse Pod studio this week is Rachel Dunscombe, CEO of OpenEHR International and Director at the ECHA Alliance. Rachel is a key figure in advancing digital health systems globally, working with governments all over the world to advance their digital health agendas. She recently addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York, on the topic of "Leveraging AI for Global Healthcare Delivery".

It's a longevity, healthspan, preventative health focused data week on the pod. George and Louise discuss:

Are governments spending enough of their health budget on preventative health? Are we taking advantage of digital health to enable a proactive and healthspan focused approach to healthcare?

Have humans already maxed out our expected longevity? What happens with our aspirations don’t align with the science?

The Commonwealth Fund ranks the performance of health systems in 10 countries. Where did Australia land? What happens when you look under the hood of the headlines? Which country ranked the worst?

We predict that AI will revolutionise patient triage. The question is not will it, but when will it? What does this mean for consumers, patients, clinicians and the broader workforce?

Two thirds of Australian GPs reckon they are innovators and early adopters.

The Aussie government is making waves in aged care and charging ahead in digital health, including measuring digital maturity in primary care and residential aged care.

Follow Rachel Dunscombe on LinkedIn

Resources:

Study on public health funding of preventive health. Link

Nature Ageing study on life expectancy limits. Link

Diagnostic accuracy study. Link

Commonwealth Fund report. Link

AI and patient triage at UK GP practice. Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

#PatientsUseAI – Do you?

PULSE+IT — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 06:46:53 +1000

Our special guest of Pulse is known online as e-Patient Dave. Dave Debronkart is a leading light of determined patient advocacy for individual access to their own health information. Dave joins us in the PulsePod studio to explore a new movement he is championing - #PatientsUseAI

OpenAI's Transformation and AI Transparency

OpenAI's shift from a non-profit to a for-profit corporation raises concerns about AI transparency, accountability, and the concentration of power in tech. How does this impact healthcare?

ChatGPT Use in Healthcare

A recent UK study reveals that 20% of surveyed GPs use generative AI tools in clinical practice, highlighting the need for education on both benefits and risks.

Patient Data Sharing Controversy

Australia's largest medical imaging lab, i-Med, faces scrutiny for sharing patient scans with AI startup Harrison AI. Is this all a bit overblown?

AI Consultation in Australia

The Department of Health and Aged Care is running a public consultation on Safe and Responsible AI, with healthcare as a priority area for reform. Listeners are encouraged to participate in the consultation and attend the upcoming webinar hosted by the Australian Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare (AAAiH).

Epic vs Particle: Interoperability & Patient Access to Records

A lawsuit between EMR provider Epic and data integration company Particle Health highlights the ongoing debate about patient access to health information and interoperability. The outcome of this case could significantly impact the future of health data sharing and the balance between data protection and patient empowerment.

Real World Testing of AI-enabled General Practice

Hunter, New England and Central Coast Primary Health Network has launched a new project to test and trial AI tools in 10 of its practices and act as a showcase for these tools.

Resources:

Follow ePatientDave on LinkedIn | X | Substack

Govt AI consultation: Submissions link & Webinar link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Apple & Google, are you listening? (spoiler alert… yes, they are!)

PULSE+IT — Fri, 20 Sep 2024 07:07:37 +1000

Matthew Holt, Founder of The Health Care Blog and resident Silicon Valley digital health expert, joins us in the PulsePod studio to talk about the US election, what’s happening in health start-ups and venture capital; and what other countries can learn from the US’s experiments in the retailisation of healthcare.

George and Louise discuss Apple’s big health updates - not only is Apple listening, they are helping us hear! Google is experimenting with bioacoustics - by listening to us, can they diagnose respiratory illnesses?

Do you live in a country where insurers can discriminate against you on the basis of your genetics? Thankfully, in Australia that is no longer the case.

Louise experiments with AI to do an analysis of Lord Darzi’s report into the NHS.

The Australian government has a plan to keep older people at home for longer. How will technology enable this?

Resources:

Follow Matthew Holt on LinkedIn | X | The Health Care Blog

Follow Keith Grimes on LinkedIn & play with his Custom GPT here

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Drugs, sex and aged care – AI is everywhere

PULSE+IT — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 06:00:00 +1000

We are living in the future! AI generated drug development is here. George and Louise discuss the significance of this development.

There’s lots of stuff happening in the aged care sector – from clinical information system standards to virtual nurses.

Would you form an intimate relationship with a chatbot? We introduce the topic of sextech on the pod.

The British Medical Journal Open has published a study on life expectancy in high income English-speaking countries. Guess which country comes out on top, and which one comes in dead last?

Our special guest of Pulse is Dr Chris Longhurst, the Chief Clinical and Innovation Officer at UC San Diego Health. Chris is a leader in transforming the way AI is integrated into medicine and how we make healthcare smarter and more compassionate. Follow Chris on LinkedIn

Resources:

BMJ Open Life Expectancy Link
Kate McDonald’s article on Dr Chris Longhurst, ‘Pyjama time, generative AI and the rise of the chief health AI officer’ Link

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Daniel McCabe Part 2: Consumers want access to their health information and Daniel McCabe wants to make it happen

PULSE+IT — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 06:00:00 +1000

Today’s episode features part 2 of our extended interview with Daniel McCabe, First Assistant Secretary for the Medicare Benefits and Digital Health Division at the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care. We dissect the government’s ambitious agenda and their determination to put patients/consumers in the centre of healthcare innovation.

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Consumers want access to their health information and Daniel McCabe wants to make it happen

PULSE+IT — Fri, 23 Aug 2024 06:00:00 +1000

Today’s episode features part 1 of our extended interview with Daniel McCabe, First Assistant Secretary for the Medicare Benefits and Digital Health Division at the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care. We dissect the government’s ambitious agenda and their determination to put patients/consumers in the centre of healthcare innovation.

Louise tries to convince George they should join the Ozempic gold rush. Will George consent?

The British Medical Journal has published a piece entitled “Patients need access to their medical records—now”, adding a loud voice to the move to share by default health records with patients.

What should be the role of tech in treating mental health conditions? The government is under fire for spending precious budget dollars on the wrong things.

Now you can get a blood pressure test while you shop for DIY items and munch down on a sausage sizzle. Will the vegans invade that oh-so-precious Australian institution of a sausage in the Bunnings car park?

Patient portals are not yet universal in Australia, but they will be if Kath Feely, Chief Allied Health Information Officer across Melbourne’s Parkville hospital precinct has anything to do with it. (Go allied health!)

Medical AI scribes are getting traction - can they be used to effortlessly create a version of the clinical note for patients? What do Pulse+IT readers think?

And yay to our friends in Canada who have launched the first patient-mediated International Patient Summary in North America. It’s kind of a big deal! Will Australia be following their lead?

Be a Sparked Founding member and join government, healthcare providers, established big software companies and some startups too. Join up before 30 August to be considered a Founding Member. More info here.

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

What happens when patients get test results before doctors?

PULSE+IT — Fri, 09 Aug 2024 06:00:00 +1000

The PulsePod team are in Brisbane Australia for the annual HIC conference, where there are a number of announcements from large software companies, plus the future of interoperability seems to be FHIR all the way baby!

What does Rock Health’s latest report tell us about US investor sentiment in digital health startups?

Investing in women founders is so rare, should we refer to that as the real unicorn in start-up land?

US based personal genomics company 23andMe – from highs to lows, what’s next for personal genomics?

It’s all about the patient! Simple things like the convenience of online patient appointment booking are still a rarity in the land of medical specialists – one guy is wanting to change that!

A visit into the Pulse+IT archives: Kate McDonald wrote about Chris Longhurst and Mike South’s HIC2018 keynote on why clinician burnout related to the EMR is not as prevalent a problem in Australia vs US.

Louise & George talk with Liz Salmi, Communications & Patient Initiatives Director for OpenNotes at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in the US about her research and patient advocacy work, and what does happen when patients get bad health news from reading it in online first

Paper: When Bad News Comes Through the Portal

Keynote: Getting Ready for Open Everything, MedInfo 2023

Follow @TheLizArmy on LinkedIn | X

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Modernising our digital health infrastructure

PULSE+IT — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 06:00:00 +1000

Oh the irony – a software tool designed to offer cyber protection against systems going down, causes the biggest cyber outage the world has ever seen. Healthcare was not except. The conspiracy theorists think it could be the start of SkyNet. Good grief!

Australia and the US making moves to improve cybersecurity in health.

Will Tony Blair convince Labor it can save the NHS by creating a new national purpose around leading the biotech revolution? Tony Blair Institute report ‘A New National Purpose: Leading the Biotech Revolution”

Sharing is caring - Love to our friends in Ireland progressing a legislative agenda around sharing health information.

Our friends head to Canberra to convince politicians we need rules and regulation to ensure patient safety is paramount in the development of use of AI.

Louise & George talk with Peter O’Halloran, Chief Digital Officer, Australian Digital Health Agency ADHAon the exciting announcements around modernising Australia’s digital health infrastructure.

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

How many strategies does a digital health plan make?

PULSE+IT — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 06:00:00 +1000

Unless EMRs have become sentient and we missed the memo, humans are ultimately the cause of an ‘EMR error’ South Australia Health is currently investigating.

What’s required to save the NHS? There’s a new sheriff in the town that is the United Kingdom and he’s a big fan of tech. Can he course correct the NHS?

Should we be worried about life expectancy numbers going in the wrong direction? George and Louise discuss longevity science and healthspan and the role of digital, data and where the Kardashians sit on the hype curve.

Our guest today is Catherine de Fontenay, Commissioner at the Productivity Commission discussing their newly released report Leveraging Digital Technology in Healthcare.

Tis the season for all things strategy! This week Pulse+IT Editor in Chief, Kate McDonald has an update on the plethora of digital health strategies across the planet, including a pretty good one on aged care by the Australian government.

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

What’s Ozempic got to do with digital health?

PULSE+IT — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 06:16:00 +1000

Well it’s finally here! George and Louise managed to coordinate their calendars to bring you this inaugural episode of Pulse. They lift the lid on a range of hot topics, from AI, Ozempic, the telehealth wars and even Southpark gets a mention. They also share their own career journeys that led them to digital health – they might have been younger, but their passion for all things health and innovation has only grown stronger! This week they are joined by Pulse+IT Editor in Chief, Kate McDonald.

Link to the IMF Report discussed

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

Louise and George explain what happens on Pulse

PULSE+IT — Sat, 04 May 2024 19:40:51 +1000

Two Australians who’ve been at the heart of digital health since before it was called digital health - Dr Louise Schaper and Dr George Margelis, join forces to bring you Pulse. Pulse lifts the lid on all things innovation and tech in healthcare. With expert analysis, breaking news, and some idle banter, you’ll feel at home tuning in to hear these digital health legends and their friends discuss the key stories that are happening today, which will have profound impact on the health system of tomorrow.

Follow us on LinkedIn Louise | George | Pulse+IT

Follow us on X Louise | George | Pulse+IT

Send us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.news

Production by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric