S2E7: The First On-Device Medical LLM | HealthTech2Care Podcast With Bert Fernandez

HealthTech2Care (HT2C) Podcast featuring Stephen Rouse, Co-Founder and Head of Growth at Savva.AI Stephen Rouse  In this episode, Stephen Rouse shares how his experience building one of the earliest FHIR apps shaped Savva's approach to consumer health technology. We unpack why multi-year hospital buy cycles pushed the team to build directly for patients, how the ONC Cures Act unlocked large-scale access to health data, and why Savva chose to build the first on-device medical LLM to prioritize privacy and security.  We also cover how Savva connects to nearly 300,000 care sites through 110+ EHRs, why keeping medical AI off the cloud matters, how Apple Health enables aggregation across wearables and devices, and how caregiver and clinician access could become a stepping stone toward real-world care escalation. This conversation explores what it truly means for patients to own their health data and why this moment feels like a turning point for consumer-driven healthcare. Timestamps:  00:00 Intro 01:17 Lessons from Protocol First and why hospital sales cycles pushed a consumer-first approach 03:44 How Savva unlocked scale through the ONC Cures Act and FHIR access  05:42 What it means to be an on-device medical LLM and why privacy drove that decision 08:51 How Savva aggregates wearable and Apple Health data into one experience 12:30 The caregiver and clinician vision for real-world care delivery 16:41 Beta strategy, early traction, and what's next for Savva 🔑 Highlights: - Why four-year hospital buy cycles pushed Savva to build for consumers - How the ONC Cures Act enabled third-party access to EHR data at scale - What makes an on-device medical LLM different from cloud-based AI - How Savva aggregates wearables, apps, and devices through Apple Health - The role of caregivers and clinicians in turning raw data into action (Guest): 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rousestephen 🌐 Website: https://www.savva.ai 📺 YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@getSavva Bert Fernandez (Host): 🌐 Website: https://www.healthtech2care.com 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bert-fernandez 📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HealthTech2Care 🔔 Subscribe to the HealthTech2Care YouTube channel for more in‐depth conversations with healthcare innovators: https://www.youtube.com/@HealthTech2Care #HealthTech #DigitalHealth #HealthcareAI #ConsumerHealthApp #PatientData #PrivacyByDesign #FHIR #ONCCuresAct