The Heart of Healthcare | A Digital Health Podcast

For our first episode of 2026, 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. In this conversation with co-host Steve Kraus, he explains why complexity is one of healthcare’s biggest threats, how public frustration is reshaping policy, and why the path to better health may be far simpler than we think.We cover:🚫 Rejecting the wellness industrial complex📈 Why public frustration will force major policy changes by 2032🧩 How the ACA's success created a huge new flaw🤖 The two biggest bottlenecks that slow down hospital AI implementation💡 How to improve quality and empathy with specialized medical AY systems—About our guest: Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD, is a Vice Provost and Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. An oncologist and world leader in health policy and bioethics, he was instrumental in drafting the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Dr. Emanuel regularly contributes to the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and appears on BBC, NPR, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC and other media outlets. His new book, Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life, is available on January 6. —📍 Connect with us:Heart of Healthcare websiteLinkedInInstagramYoutube —Chapters:00:00:50 Introducing Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel00:06:04 His path to medicine00:09:15 Working on Obamacare - successes and regrets00:11:19 Is healthcare too big to fail?00:14:18 The antidote to the “longevity” movement00:17:18 How to stay mentally sharp00:18:34 AI and job displacement00:22:57 Critique of the “Wellness Industrial Complex”00:25:10 Philosophy on life expectancy and quality00:27:16 Optimism about AI in healthcare00:30:20 Lightning round of questionsSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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. We cover:🏛️ Andew’s idea of “Medicare for all who want it”🤖 How AI is already wiping out entry-level jobs, and why he thinks America is heading toward a “bad men problem”💸 Why he ran on Universal Basic Income which he calls “capitalism where income doesn’t start at zero”🏥 How entrenched players restrict physician supply, shape regulation, and protect revenue even when it hurts patients📵 His new effort to cut phone addiction and why he says parents, schools, and policymakers are waking up to the damage caused by screen-first childhoods—About our guest: Andrew Yang is an entrepreneur, author, philanthropist, attorney, nonprofit leader, and former U.S. presidential and New York City mayoral candidate. After a brief stint as a corporate lawyer, he worked in startups and founded an education company that became #1 in the country. He later launched Venture for America, a national nonprofit that empowered thousands of young entrepreneurs to build careers in cities such as Detroit, Cleveland, and Baltimore. Under his leadership, the organization became a multi-million-dollar charity, and Yang was named a Presidential Ambassador of Entrepreneurship and a Champion of Change during the Obama administration.Motivated by the impact of automation on the American workforce, Yang ran for President in 2017. Centered on a proposed $1,000-per-month “Freedom Dividend,” his campaign raised nearly $40 million and helped mainstream conversations around Universal Basic Income. He later founded Humanity Forward, a nonprofit that has successfully advocated for billions of dollars in federal cash relief.Yang is also an author, CNN commentator, and podcast host. He is the son of Taiwanese immigrants, and holds degrees from Brown University and Columbia Law School.—Chapters:00:2:22 Andrew’s Vision for American Healthcare00:7:27 Healthcare and the 2026 Election00:9:59 AI’s Impact on Employment and Society00:22:35 Universal Basic Income 00:29:14 Regulatory Capture in Healthcare00:31:37 Noble Mobile00:33:57 Children and Phone Addictions00:43:19 Closing Advice for Healthcare Innovators—Pre-order Halle's new book, Massively Better Healthcare. —📍 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.

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.We cover:🩺 What true self-assessment looks like🚀 What clinicians often misunderstand about joining a Series A startup🐈 The “indoor cat vs. outdoor cat” model for modern clinical leadership📉 How to evaluate risk when moving from academic medicine into early-stage companies📊 Why clinician leaders are central to sales, product, and operations in virtual care🤖 How AI is reshaping medical expertise and what future clinicians must be trained for—About our guest: Dr. Reena Pande is a Partner and leads Oxeon’s Clinician Executive search and leadership practice. She is a physician, entrepreneur, and healthcare executive whose career has focused on building innovative solutions to ensure access to evidence-based, and technology-enabled care. For nearly a decade, Dr. Pande served as Chief Medical Officer at AbleTo, a virtual behavioral health provider. During her tenure, she served as a passionate external voice for bridging the gaps between physical and mental health, and also led clinical product, data science, healthcare economics, and outcomes research teams. Dr. Pande saw the organization through numerous fundraising rounds and eventual acquisition by Optum/UnitedHealth Group.Prior to her time at AbleTo, Dr. Pande was an academic cardiologist and clinical researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA and was on the faculty at Harvard Medical School. She earned her undergraduate degree in Biology from Harvard University, her M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and a Masters degree in Epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health. She completed her internship, residency training, and Cardiology fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.—📚Want more? Read The Clinician’s Guide to Breaking Into Digital Health—Women founders, access a lifetime of community-backed growth with Entreprenerustia: https://refer.entreprenista.com/founder —📍 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.

Hemant Taneja believes you can sneeze and reach a billion dollars in healthcare revenue, but that most of that revenue tells you nothing about whether the system is actually getting better.This week, Halle sits down with the CEO of General Catalyst and author of The Transformation Principles to discuss what happens when you stop treating revenue as the primary KPI and start asking harder questions about impact, incentives, and system change. They get into his “health assurance” thesis, what it means for a VC firm to buy a hospital, why “profit-only” capitalism has run its course, and how AI and new payment models could finally bend the cost curve instead of just inflating it.We cover:🏥 How Hemant began investing in healthcare and his “health assurance” thesis📉 Why profit‑only capitalism has run its course and what should replace it💳 The “work tax” in healthcare payments and how AI could free up resources for prevention🤖 Whether AI in healthcare is a bubble or a durable transformation🏥 Why General Catalyst bought a hospital and how they plan to use it —About our guest: Hemant Taneja is the CEO of General Catalyst, and a founder, investor, and author of four books, including The Transformation Principles. His worldview centers on strengthening global resilience through applied AI and partnerships that modernize critical systems. Hemant is an early investor in the leading technology companies of our time including Anduril, Anthropic, Applied Intuition, GitLab (NASDAQ: GTLB), Grammarly, Gusto, Ro, Samsara (NYSE: IOT), Snap (NYSE: SNAP), and Stripe. He is also deeply involved in transforming the US healthcare system, having founded companies like Commure, Hippocratic, Transcarent, Livongo (Sold to Teladoc for $18.5B) and General Catalyst's Health Assurance Transformation Company (HATCo) which helps health systems transform themselves with AI. A global expert on industry transformation, he has led General Catalyst's foray into transforming healthcare, energy, and workforce systems globally. He holds five degrees from MIT.—🙏Thank you to our show sponsor, LookDeep. LookDeep pioneers AI that can see, hear, and respond with care to help hospitals be Ever Present for Every Patient. Learn more at lookdeep.ai/aimee. —📍 Connect with us:Heart of Healthcare websiteLinkedInInstagramYoutubeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Haves & Have-Nots Of 2025 | Threshold Ventures Co-founder Emily MeltonThis 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.We cover: 💸 The widening gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” in health tech 📉 The rise of recaps, down rounds, and investor “bargain-basement shopping” 🏥 Why healthcare’s 5.6-trillion-dollar cost structure can’t be fixed without technology 🧾 How policy incentives and private equity are reshaping M&A activity 💬 What founders need to prove to raise capital in today’s market —About our guest: Emily is a co-founder of Threshold. She is looking for entrepreneurs who are genuinely excited about being agents of change and have an almost irrational drive to make things better. Her portfolio includes BetterUp, Brightline, Daero, Elation Health, Imagen, Livongo (NASDAQ: LVGO), Mendaera, ODAIA, Redfin (NASDAQ: RDFN), Tia, Transcarent, Verge Genomics, Videa, Vital, Viz, and Wellframe (acquired by HealthEdge). Emily served as the chair of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) board of directors for the 2022-23 term. She is also an active founding member of All Raise, a non-profit dedicated to improving access for women and others to start and invest in companies. A Stanford grad with a BA in political philosophy with honors and an MBA, Emily is drawn to disruptive ideas and technologies that have the potential to radically change consumer, enterprise, and healthcare markets.—📍 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.