PULSE

This week on Pulse: Hot Topics, Louise and George race through a very AI-heavy fortnight — from antibiotics and the menstrual cycle to whether "medical AI" is even a category worth defending.AI and Science. A Nature feature on AI accelerating antibiotic discovery (millions of molecules screened in silico, though only a tiny fraction can actually be synthesised), paired with a UK Biobank study mapping 198 proteins that fluctuate across the menstrual cycle — reframing it as a whole-body biological rhythm, not just a reproductive one.Do We Even Need Medical AI? A NYU study finds frontier general models outperforming purpose-built clinical tools like OpenEvidence and UpToDate — with an important caveat that no patient outcomes were measured. Paired with Apollo, Harvard's foundation model trained on 25 billion clinical events to forecast individual patient trajectories.What If AI Makes Healthcare More Expensive? David Brailer argues in Health Affairs that AI won't lower US health costs because it amplifies the incentives already baked into the payment system — accelerating both better care and billing extraction.The AI Equity Divide. A WHO-led initiative (GI-AI4H) and its RISE framework tackle the risk that AI widens global health inequities when governance lags behind deployment.Governing AI — Local and Professional. Victoria's Department of Health sets top-down standards for AI across public health services, while the American Medical Association champions "augmented intelligence" with clinicians at the centre — two very different models of governance.Plus: the robots now account for 57% of internet traffic, and a shout-out to Daniel McCabe's impact on Australian digital health.Resources:AI is taking on antibiotic resistance Link Plasma proteomic signature of the menstrual cycle LinkGeneralist vs clinical LLMs (OpenEvidence, UpToDate) — NYU study (Vishwanath, Oermann et al.) Link APOLLO healthcare foundation model LinkWhy AI Will Accelerate Health Care Inflation — David Brailer, Health Affairs LinkGlobal Initiative on AI for Health (GI-AI4H) and the RISE framework — npj Health Systems LinkAI guidance for Victorian Public Health Services — Pulse+IT LinkAugmented Intelligence in Medicine — American Medical Association LinkIda Tin — global challenge on continuous hormone monitoring LinkVisit Pulse+IT.news to subscribe to breaking digital news, weekly newsletters and a rich treasure trove of archival material. People in the know, get their news from Pulse+IT – Your leading voice in digital health news.Follow us on LinkedIn Louise | George | Pulse+ITFollow us on BlueSky Louise | George | Pulse+ITSend us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.newsProduction by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

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: LinkedInVisit Pulse+IT.news to subscribe to breaking digital news, weekly newsletters and a rich treasure trove of archival material. People in the know, get their news from Pulse+IT – Your leading voice in digital health news.Follow us on LinkedIn Louise | George | Pulse+ITFollow us on BlueSky Louise | George | Pulse+ITSend us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.newsProduction by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

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: LinkedInVisit Pulse+IT.news to subscribe to breaking digital news, weekly newsletters and a rich treasure trove of archival material. People in the know, get their news from Pulse+IT – Your leading voice in digital health news.Follow us on LinkedIn Louise | George | Pulse+ITFollow us on BlueSky Louise | George | Pulse+ITSend us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.newsProduction by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

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 consumersWhy GenAI could become the default digital front door to healthcareHow this shifts power, trust and expectations in the clinician–patient relationshipThe realities (and myths) around privacy, misinformation, regulation and safetyWhat this moment means for healthcare business models, vendors and startupsThis 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 leadersVisit Pulse+IT.news to subscribe to breaking digital news, weekly newsletters and a rich treasure trove of archival material. People in the know, get their news from Pulse+IT – Your leading voice in digital health news.Follow us on LinkedIn Louise | George | Pulse+ITFollow us on BlueSky Louise | George | Pulse+ITSend us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.newsProduction by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

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 LinkGoogle Resources:AI in Action: Accelerating Progress Towards the Sustainable Development Goals LinkTransforming Public Health Practice with GenAI. Health Affairs LinkGoogle Open Health Stack LinkGoogle for StartUps Growth Academy LinkThe Keyword Blog: AI and Health collection LinkThe Check Up with Google Health LinkVisit Pulse+IT.news to subscribe to breaking digital news, weekly newsletters and a rich treasure trove of archival material. People in the know, get their news from Pulse+IT – Your leading voice in digital health news.Follow us on LinkedIn Louise | George | Pulse+ITFollow us on BlueSky Louise | George | Pulse+ITSend us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.newsProduction by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric

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 CareResources:Pulse+IT 2025 Year in Review: Australian digital health LinkPulse+IT 2025 Year in Review: New Zealand digital health LinkPulse+IT 2025 Year in Review: Allied health breaking new ground LinkPulse+IT 2025 Year in Review: Community and Aged Care LinkVisit Pulse+IT.news to subscribe to breaking digital news, weekly newsletters and a rich treasure trove of archival material. People in the know, get their news from Pulse+IT – Your leading voice in digital health news.Follow us on LinkedIn Louise | George | Pulse+ITFollow us on BlueSky Louise | George | Pulse+ITSend us your questions pulsepod@pulseit.newsProduction by Octopod Productions | Ivan Juric