
How AI Will Finally Make Healthcare Deflationary | Eric Larsen
From The Heart of Healthcare | A Digital Health Podcast by Massively Better Healthcare
May 18, 2026 · 60 min · Episode 231
About this episode
Eric Larsen discusses the potential for AI to transform healthcare from an inflationary to a deflationary model.
AI in healthcare may be entering a new chapter, one where the biggest question is no longer whether the technology works, but who is willing to deploy it, measure it, and take responsibility for the risk. This week, Steve sits down again with Eric Larsen to revisit his predictions from last year’s Webby-winning episode on generative AI in healthcare. Eric argues that the first wave of AI has been inflationary, reinforcing the old payer-provider payment model, but that the next wave could be deflationary as automation moves into revenue cycle, administrative work, clinical reasoning, and drug development. They discuss why incumbents still have a narrow window to co-develop the future, why clinical AI may move faster outside the US, and why liability may become the deciding factor in who wins. We cover: Why healthcare is still the sector most exposed to AI-driven change How AI has reinforced fee-for-service dynamics so far, and why that may soon reverse What makes some healthcare work more automatable than others Why liability may determine how fast clinical AI gets adopted Which health systems, payers, and life sciences companies are moving fastest What will change across…
People in this episode
Host: Steve
Guest: Eric Larsen
Topics covered
- AI in healthcare
- deflationary healthcare
- automation in healthcare
- clinical AI
- healthcare payment models
- liability in healthcare
Keywords
- AI
- healthcare
- deflationary
- automation
- clinical reasoning
- drug development
- liability
- health systems
- payers
- life sciences
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: TowerBrook Advisors, Webby
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