Breakthrough blood tests that can flag dozens of cancers before symptoms appear are gaining momentum, yet questions remain about accuracy, equity, and how these tools will fit into routine care.

In this episode, Steve talks with Helmy Eltoukhy, co-founder and co-CEO of Guardant Health, a $14 billion publicly-traded precision oncology company. The conversation explores the science behind cell-free DNA, the rise of blood-based cancer screening, and the broader shift toward data-driven diagnostics.

When Eric Lefkofsky’s wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, it exposed how little technology and data were shaping cancer care, pushing the serial entrepreneur to build a different model.

Lefkofsky is the founder and CEO of Tempus, now a $10B publicy traded health tech company, and previously founded Groupon. At Tempus, he’s building a tech-first company applying multimodal data and AI to make diagnostics smarter and treatment decisions more tailored, starting in oncology and expanding across disease areas.

Physicians now face a world where search bars, chat apps, and large AI models are becoming many people’s first stop for health questions, long before they enter a clinic.

Former Google Chief Health Officer and national health IT leader Dr. Karen DeSalvo joins us to unpack what this shift means for clinicians, regulators, and patients, and why 15% of daily Google searches are questions no one has ever asked before.

Physicians now face a world where search bars, chat apps, and large AI models are becoming many people’s first stop for health questions, long before they enter a clinic.

Former Google Chief Health Officer and national health IT leader Dr. Karen DeSalvo joins us to unpack what this shift means for clinicians, regulators, and patients, and why 15% of daily Google searches are questions no one has ever asked before.

It has been said that we don’t have “big data” in healthcare, but instead a large amount of “small data.”

In this episode, Halle speaks with Kyle Armbrester, CEO of Datavant and former CEO of Signify Health (acquired for $8B), about why healthcare data still moves the way it did decades ago and what it will take to modernize it at scale. Kyle reflects on building and leading large health tech companies and explains how fixing data flow could reduce administrative waste, improve security, and make care easier for patients and providers alike.

This week, Steve sits down with Ankit Jain, co-founder and CEO of Infinitus Systems, to talk about why voice-based AI has become one of the most rapidly adopted tools in healthcare operations, what’s actually working in the field, and where the hype still outpaces reality. Ankit shares six years of lessons from building AI agents that handle 35-minute medical calls end to end, plus his predictions on what 2026 and 2027 will really look like as enterprises attempt to build their own agents.

Is 2026 the year that changes everything in healthcare? We’re coming off the most brutal year ever for health plans, massive budget cuts, and providers became some of the fastest adopters of AI.

Steve and Halle sit down with legendary healthcare VC Annie Lamont for their annual predictions episode to dive into 2026 predictions and trends that founders and operators should pay attention to. 

Dr. Ezekiel “Zeke” Emanuel oncologist, bioethicist, architect of the Affordable Care Act, and author of Eat Your Ice Cream joins us to share why he believes the longevity movement is overblown and how real health comes down to simplicity. In his new book, Zeke argues that instead of chasing expensive fads and wellness trends, we should focus on six straightforward habits that make life healthier and more enjoyable.

We’re closing out the year with a candid conversation about where America is headed.

For our final episode of 2025, Halle and Steve sit down with entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang to talk plainly about the forces reshaping American life, from rising healthcare costs and gaps in coverage to AI-driven job disruption and the strain on the social safety net. 

Many clinicians quietly wonder if there's a “next chapter” beyond the hospital walls, and an increasing number are stepping into health tech roles that didn’t exist a decade ago.

Dr. Reena Pande has lived that shift firsthand: from cardiologist at a top academic center, to early employee and CMO at AbleTo, to now leading clinician executive search at Oxeon. She joins us to unpack what it really takes for clinicians to succeed in startups, why these roles matter more than ever, and how AI is reshaping both medical training and leadership.

As millions of Americans hit the road to visit family for Thanksgiving, many will pass through, or return to, rural communities. Nearly 60 million Americans live in these areas, yet many struggle to access even basic healthcare as rural hospitals close at record rates.

This week for our 2025 recap, we’re joined by VC Emily Melton, co-founder of Threshold Ventures. Melton highlights her reflection of 2025, which splits the market into "haves and have-nots" with nothing in between, noting the concentration of venture dollars on "high flyers" and the indifference shown to established companies with respectable revenue.

As millions of Americans hit the road to visit family for Thanksgiving, many will pass through, or return to, rural communities. Nearly 60 million Americans live in these areas, yet many struggle to access even basic healthcare as rural hospitals close at record rates.

On the heels of raising $210 million at a $3.5 billion valuation, OpenEvidence is the fastest-growing physician app in history, now reaching over 40% of U.S. physicians and powers 17 million monthly clinical queries.

A billion-dollar startup. A promise to change healthcare forever. And behind the scenes… a massive lie.

Over 3 million clinicians around the world depend on UpToDate to guide patient care, and now the gold standard in clinical decision support is integrating generative AI. But in a world where AI models often hallucinate, how do you build something that doctors can actually trust?

Most people spend over 30 hours a year dealing with customer service—on hold, repeating account numbers, and navigating endless phone trees. But what if AI could fix that without losing the human touch?

This milestone 200th!!! episode of The Heart of Healthcare Podcast features none other than Dr. Tom X. Lee, the serial physician-founder behind Epocrates (acquired for $293M), One Medical (acquired by Amazon for $3.9B), and now Galileo, a tech-enabled medical group aiming to rewire care delivery from the ground up.

Cancer drugs cost more than ever, yet survival benefits are often modest—and in some cases, patients can’t even access the care that already exists. 

Some founders win support because of their product, others because of their story. In healthcare, where trust is everything, the ability to tell a compelling and authentic narrative can make or break a company.