The Health Technology Podcast

Cardiac arrest remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide, striking without warning and demanding urgent emergency response. In this episode of The Health Technology Podcast, we spotlight cardiac arrest prevention, portable defibrillator innovation, and next-generation AED technology featuring Sameer Jafri, CEO and co-founder of Avive Solutions.

From his early days volunteering at cardiac screenings to founding a nonprofi...

What happens when a heart surgeon sees too many patients discharged too soon, with no clear way to monitor their recovery? For Dr. James Mault, MD, it sparked a 25-year journey to reshape the future of healthcare. From operating rooms in Denver to boardrooms at Microsoft and Qualcomm, James’s mission has remained the same: bridge the gap between hospital care and home through continuous, remote patient monitoring.

Today, as Founder...

Picture a hospital room late at night, the soft hum of machines in the background. A family gathers quietly around their loved one, unsure how to navigate the complexities of end-of-life care. It’s a scene playing out every day across the country, highlighting a crucial yet often neglected part of healthcare—the way we care for people as their lives near an end.

Joining me today is Ira Byock, a renowned physician, author, and passi...

Think of a mother living in a remote village in Alaska. It’s a cold morning, temperatures well below freezing, and she needs urgent medical care for her child—but there’s no road connecting her village to any hospital. Her only hope is a plane or a boat, neither of which might arrive in time. Across America, thousands of Native Americans face similar hurdles every day—lack of access to basic healthcare,...

It’s late at night. You’re in a hospital room, holding the hand of a loved one just diagnosed with a serious illness. The doctor has explained the treatment options. However, the weight of the diagnosis still feels overwhelming.

You ask yourself: How do we make the most of the time we have? How do we ensure they’re comfortable, supported, and able to live well—despite what lies ahead?

This...

Managing medications shouldn’t be this hard. For millions of people, it’s a daily struggle—juggling prescriptions from multiple doctors, refilling at different pharmacies, and trying to keep track of what to take and when. Copays are confusing, refill schedules don’t align, and the stress of managing it all often falls on caregivers. This isn’t just an inconvenience—it’s a crisis. Missed doses, medication errors, and the sheer admi...

Imagine this: a patient arrives in the ER, their life hanging in the balance. The clock is ticking, and the pressure is overwhelming. But here’s the thing—it’s not just about having the right knowledge or tools. It’s about how a team, often strangers to each other, can come together in seconds to deliver the right care at the right moment. This “last mile” problem—getting critical care to the patient when and where it’s needed—is o...

Every day, in many communities without enough resources, millions suffer from blindness that could be prevented. A lack of proper eye care, old training methods, and few modern tools leave many in the dark. In places where a simple cataract surgery could bring back both sight and hope, big challenges and a shortage of new ideas block the way.

Inspired by these problems, an amazing journey spans continents and changes lives. Born in...

When patients leave the hospital, they often face a dangerous gap in care—a system where outdated methods and heavy paperwork leave them at risk for complications, repeat visits, and needless stress. Every day, many worry about returning home without the clear, compassionate support they need, and the burden falls on both patients and overworked care teams.

In this episode, we highlight a leader who turned personal loss into a miss...

Meeting Jason McKeown was like watching someone quietly change the future of healthcare. I first met him through the Rosenman Innovators program—where his company, Neurovalens, was honored in 2022—and it quickly became clear that his vision goes beyond ordinary medicine. A UK-trained doctor with a PhD in non-invasive neurostimulation, Jason is not only a doctor or a researcher; he’s a forward-thinking leader who has spent more than...

Note: This episode was recorded on December 17, 2024, and reflects the policy landscape and political context of that time.

When Krista Drobac arrived in Washington, D.C., fresh out of college, she had no car, no connections, and no clear path—just a determination to make a difference in politics. What began as a leap of faith quickly turned into a lifelong mission to transform healthcare policy. Today, as a founding ...

When I first spoke with Dr. BJ Miller, I felt the weight of his experiences transform into something unexpectedly hopeful. BJ is a palliative care physician and he’s also a storyteller of life’s hardest truths, a triple amputee who turned personal tragedy into a mission to redefine how we approach suffering, dignity, and mortality. Years ago, I watched BJ Miller’s TED Talk on What Really Matters at the End of Life, I...

The obesity epidemic demands solutions that go beyond temporary fixes or single-medication approaches. While drugs like GLP-1 agonists dominate headlines, lasting change requires reimagining care delivery, addressing systemic inefficiencies, and tackling root causes. Enter Sloan Saunders, a former investment banker turned healthcare innovator, whose company FlyteHealth is pioneering a holistic model for obesity treatment—one that m...

Joanna Strober, Founder & CEO of MIDI Health, is a trailblazer in women’s health innovation. With a career marked by resilience and vision, Joanna has consistently driven meaningful change across industries. From her early days in venture capital to founding Kurbo Health—a digital therapeutic for childhood obesity that served tens of thousands of adolescents worldwide before being acquired by Weight Watchers in 2018—Joanna has ...

Dr. Matthew Lungren’s journey is a testament to the transformative power of empathy, curiosity, and innovation. Starting as an English major, his career took a pivotal turn while volunteering at a Kosovo refugee camp, where he discovered the profound impact of combining knowledge, data, and compassion to address healthcare challenges—particularly in underserved communities.

Dr. Lungren earned his MD and ...

Dr. Sanjeev Arora’s quiet determination and profound sense of purpose shine through in everything he does. A renowned liver disease specialist and visionary social entrepreneur, Dr. Arora has spent over 30 years creating innovative solutions to address some of the most critical gaps in healthcare.

As the Founder and Executive Director of Project ECHO, he has transformed healthcare equity with a revolutio...

Imagine a healthcare experience where doctors spend less time on hold with insurance companies and more time connecting with their patients. In “How AI is Freeing Up Your Doctor,” we sit down with Ankit Jain—founder of Infinitus—to explore how advanced AI automation is streamlining the communication channels that underpin our healthcare system.

Ankit’s story reflects a career defined by innovation. He dr...

What does it take to transform an entire industry? Dr. Vin Gupta, a distinguished leader in public health and healthtech, shares his remarkable journey from medical training at Columbia and Harvard to his impactful service in the United States Air Force Medical Reserve Corps. As the Chief Medical Officer of Amazon Pharmacy, Dr. Gupta spearheads clinical strategy and innovation, leveraging technology to redefine pharmacy services an...

Our guest today is Dr. Diana Thiara, the medical director of the UCSF Weight Management Program. She also serves as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCSF, and the Program Director of the UCSF Obesity Medicine Fellowship. Dr. Thiara specializes in internal medicine, focusing on obesity and weight management. Her work integrates innovative patient programming, culinary medicine, and virtual curriculums for obesity patie...