The Gist Healthcare Podcast

Artificial intelligence in healthcare is often discussed in terms of what it might do. But, in some areas, it’s already being put to use. In Part 2 of a three-part series, host J. Carlisle Larsen continues her conversation with Dr. Robert Wachter, Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and author of A Giant Leap: How AI Is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future. This episode focuses on AI scribes—one of the first use cases gaining traction across health systems—and what they reveal about how this technology is being adopted in practice. Wachter explains why scribes have emerged as an early success and what they signal about where AI may go next. You can listen to the first half of the conversation here.  

New drug prior authorization rules are under consideration, physician pay rose slightly in 2025, and proposed legislation would count direct-to-consumer drug purchases toward deductibles. Those stories and more on today’s episode of The Gist Healthcare Podcast.

Medicare inpatient pay edges up, measles cases top 1,700, and vaccine confidence slips, on today’s episode of The Gist Healthcare Podcast.

Artificial intelligence is being positioned as the next major transformation in healthcare, but the industry has seen similar waves of technological change before.   In Part 1 of a three-part series, host J. Carlisle Larsen speaks with Robert Wachter, M.D., Chair of the Department of Medicine at University of California-San Francisco and author of A Giant Leap: How AI Is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future, about how to understand this moment in AI.   Drawing on lessons from the rollout of electronic health records, Wachter explains why previous efforts to digitize healthcare often fell short of expectations and what may be different this time. 

Jefferson Health sues Aetna over a so-called Medicare Advantage "down coding" policy, CMS raises MA rates next year, and healthcare affordability tops domestic concerns, on today’s episode of The Gist Healthcare Podcast.

The White House proposes a 12% cut to HHS, insurers report further reductions in prior authorization, and a new study links AI scribes to modest documentation time savings, on today’s episode of The Gist Healthcare Podcast.

Advanced practice providers are a growing part of the healthcare workforce, but many organizations aren’t necessarily seeing the productivity gains they expected. On today’s episode, we examine new Kaufman Hall insights on why traditional physician-APP models often underperform, and how redesigning team roles, incentives, and compensation could yield better outcomes for clinicians and patients alike. Bonnie Proulx, DNP, APRN, PNP-BC, FAAN, Senior Vice President with Kaufman Hall and a member of the firm’s Physician Enterprise practice, joins the podcast to explain more.   You can read Bonnie’s blog post here.   This interview first aired on Monday, January 26, 2026.  

HHS forms a new healthcare advisory committee, the FDA approves Eli Lilly’s oral weight loss pill, and a Senate bill targets insulin price caps in private plans, those stories and more coming up on The Gist Healthcare Podcast.

HHS tightens hospital nutrition standards, ACA marketplace enrollment dips 5 percent, and one in three people turn to AI chatbots for health questions, on today’s episode of The Gist Healthcare Podcast.