The Heart of Healthcare | A Digital Health Podcast

We don't talk enough about how hard it actually is to build a healthcare startup. Behind SmarterDx's story, now one of the biggest health AI exits to date, were 18 months without a single customer, a pivot that seemed to make no product sense, and two co-founders who went back to working as hospitalists just to get by.In this episode, Steve gets the real story from Dr. Michael Gao and Dr. Joshua Geleris about the challenges they faced and what ultimately unlocked real growth and led to their billion+ acquisition by New Mountain Capital.We cover:Why their first product idea failed and what customer objections actually taught them to build insteadThe counterintuitive workflow that made contingency pricing possibleHow AI translation of clinical notes into billing codes now outperforms the average human, and what that means for coders and nursesWhy "moat" is the wrong metaphor and what a flywheel looks like insteadWhat they'd do differently in the acquisition processAbout our guests:Michael Gao, MD, the CEO and co-founder of SmarterDx. Prior to founding SmarterDx, Dr. Gao was the Medical Director for Transformation at NewYork-Presbyterian, where he led applied AI development, implementation, and strategy for the health system. Dr. Gao holds faculty positions at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. Gao completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian.. He received his M.D. from the University of Michigan and a B.S from the University of California Los Angeles.Josh Geleris, MD, is the Head of Product and co-founder of SmarterDx. Prior to SmarterDx, he was Assistant Professor of Medicine at Columbia University, where he was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense for clinical informatics and data science, and led implementation of Epic for providers. Dr. Geleris completed his MD at the Technion-Israeli Institute of Technology and his Internal Medicine internship and residency at NewYork-Presbyterian. ⸺📍 Connect with us:Heart of Healthcare websiteLinkedInYouTube See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We're on summer break and replaying one of our favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on September 22, 2025.A wearable can collect endless data, but it only matters if people trust it enough to change their behavior.In this replay, Oura CEO Tom Hale joins Steve and Michael to explain how the company combines clinical-grade accuracy with a consumer-friendly product. They discuss why the ring’s form factor makes overnight tracking so powerful, how Oura turns physiological signals into useful guidance, and why the company is being pulled faster than expected into traditional healthcare.We cover:Why sleep data can reveal changes in the body before symptoms appearHow Oura designed a health product that supports users without judging or nagging themWhy accuracy is the foundation for trust, predictions, and behavior changeHow Oura navigates the boundary between wellness products and regulated medical devicesThe company’s expansion into Medicare Advantage, women’s health, metabolic health, and clinical care—About our guest:Tom Hale is the Chief Executive Officer at ŌURA and a member of its board. As the CEO he sets the company’s business strategy and vision to make health a daily practice for members all over the world. He has over 30 years of experience across the technology and consumer product industry.Before joining ŌURA, Hale was president of Momentive where he drove B2B strategy and led product growth. During his time there he was instrumental in taking the company public in 2018, leading the team in key acquisitions, and driving the evolution and rebranding of the company into a multiple SAAS business. Previously, he held leadership roles at HomeAway and Linden Lab as the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Product Officer, respectively, and held executive roles at Macromedia and Adobe.Hale has a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University and sits on the boards of Cars.com, RocketReach, and NoiseAware.—If you're enjoying the show, we would so appreciate it if you left us a review!—📍 Connect with us:Heart of Healthcare websiteLinkedInInstagramYouTubeTikTok See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Every day, roughly 100 Americans die in crashes caused by human drivers. Yet when a self-driving car hesitates at an intersection or makes the news for an unusual mistake, public trust can evaporate.In this special episode, Dr. Jonathan Slotkin reads his latest Noema essay exploring why we demand perfection from machines while accepting human error as inevitable. Drawing on lessons from medicine, psychology, and autonomous vehicles, he argues that the biggest barrier to safer technology is trust.You'll learn:Why humans judge machine mistakes differently than human mistakesWhat healthcare learned about the difference between being safe and feeling safeWhy autonomous vehicles may already be far safer than human driversHow public perception can slow the adoption of life-saving technologyWhat every AI company should learn about transparency and trust —About our guest:Dr. Jonathan Slotkin is Chief Medical Officer for Strategy & Growth at Geisinger, where he drives growth at the intersection of care delivery, insurance, and digital transformation. A practicing neurosurgeon, he previously served as Geisinger's associate chief medical informatics officer.Jon's current research and writing examine safety, trust, and adoption of autonomous systems in public life. His New York Times guest essay on self-driving car safety was entered into the Congressional Record. His writing regularly appears in Harvard Business Review, STAT, and Noema Magazine. He has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed scientific publications.Previously, as co-founder and chief medical officer of Contigo Health, he partnered with the nation's largest employers to reimagine care for their associates. He co-founded Scrub Capital, a clinician-powered venture capital firm, where he serves as a Partner. He completed neurosurgery residency at The Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, where he served as chief resident.—This piece was commissioned, edited, and published by Noema Magazine. Noema publishes longform journalism exploring fresh ideas. To read this piece and others, head to noemamag.com.—📍 Connect with us:Heart of Healthcare websiteLinkedInYouTubeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chris Klomp, Director of Medicare and Deputy Administrator of CMS, and Senior Advisor to HHS Secretary RFK Jr., has big ambitions to reshape how healthcare works in the United States.This week, ​​Steve sits down with Klomp to discuss how his experience as a digital health entrepreneur is guiding his current role overseeing a roughly $2 trillion department. Klomp shares the government's strategy for restoring trust between providers and payers, driving down costs, and addressing a system where approximately 90% of healthcare dollars are still spent in a fee-for-service arrangement. We cover:Why 90% of US healthcare remains fee-for-service after two decades of reform.The intentional design of the new Access model to be deflationary and fuel entrepreneurship among insurgents.The commitment from the payer industry to make prior authorization invisible to patients and providers by 2027.CMS's aggressive stance on data interoperability and funding enforcement against data blocking.How the Most Favored Nation policy is re-wiring global prescription drug supply to lower prices without compromising innovation.—About our guest: Chris Klomp is the Director of Medicare and Deputy Administrator of CMS, and Senior Advisor to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. With extensive experience in healthcare payment reform and data sharing, he built and led Collective Medical, the largest U.S. real-time care collaboration data network, acquired by PointClickCare in 2020. There, he partnered with health systems, plans, providers, post-acutes, and state governments to advance value-based care through enhanced data access and insights.Chris has driven healthcare reform at state and federal levels, focusing on value-based care and interoperable health technology. Through Endurance Companies, a San Francisco-based multi-family office he co-founded with Stanford classmates, he has co-founded, invested in, advised, and served on the board of many innovative healthcare organizations, including Nomi Health, Maven Clinic, InnovaCare Health, and Health Joy. He also served as a Utah Senate-confirmed commissioner of the Utah Digital Health Services Commission, where he focused on leveraging technology for cost-effective, healthier outcomes. Previously, he was Vice President in Bain Capital’s North American Private Equity group and worked at Bain & Company. Recognized as Utah Business’ CEO of the Year and EY’s Mountain Region Entrepreneur of the Year, Chris holds a B.A. with honors in Economics and English from Brigham Young University and an MBA from Stanford.—🙏 Thank you to our show sponsor, Quickstudy PR, story brokers for leading healthcare executives. Learn more about quickstudypr.com.—📍 Connect with us:Heart of Healthcare websiteLinkedInInstagramYoutube See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.