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

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

From PULSE by PULSE+IT

March 5, 2026 · 35 min · Episode 58

About this episode

The episode discusses significant developments in digital health, including a major acquisition, an AI hackathon success, and challenges with new health technologies.

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…

People in this episode

Hosts: Louise, George

Topics covered

  • digital health
  • AI in healthcare
  • telehealth
  • healthcare innovation
  • clinical documentation
  • health technology

Keywords

  • Eucalyptus
  • Hims & Hers
  • AI hackathon
  • NHS
  • health technology
  • telehealth
  • clinical documentation
  • emojis in health records

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Eucalyptus, Hims & Hers, NHS, Mary Martin Bookshop

Places: Brussels, Melbourne

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