North of Patient

Participatory medicine as a new kind of magic — and whythe future of care may depend on turning information into collaboration, not control.Welcome to the ⁠⁠⁠North of Patient⁠⁠⁠ podcast —conversations on health[beyond]care — where we paint aninspired landscape of healthcare’s future through dialogues with creative and unconventional thinkers from around the world. For a summary of the episode,visit the ⁠⁠⁠blog post⁠⁠⁠ on ⁠North of Patient⁠.Today’s guest is Dr. Danny Sands, primary carephysician, clinical informaticist, and pioneer in participatory medicine who has spent his career reimagining the relationship between patients, clinicians, and technology.In this episode, we dive into the evolution of digitalhealth — from early electronic health records, clinical decision-support tools, patient portals, and email communication, to the rise of LLMs and AI-driven care. Danny shares how his early fascination with magic shaped the way he thinks about medicine and why healthcare works best when patients andclinicians collaborate as partners. We also explore information asymmetry, physician burnout, the future of primary care, and how intelligent systems might restore time, wisdom, and human connection to medicine.Key stamps from our conversation are below:00:21 – Meet Dr. Danny Sands: From Childhood Magician to Physician02:55 – The Magician and the Healer: Why Trust Is Central to Medicine04:21 – Discovering the Limits of Memory-Based Medicine06:00 – Finding Medical Informatics and the Promise of Better Clinical Tools09:31 – Building Early Health Technology at Beth Israel12:48 – Designing Tools Clinicians Actually Want to Use14:06 – From Clinical Calculators to Early Electronic Health Records18:15 – Patient Portals, Email, and the Birth of Participatory Medicine23:18 – E-Patients, Dave deBronkart, and the Society for Participatory Medicine26:50 – Why Healthcare Should Be a Collaboration, Not a Car Wash31:00 – Burnout, Bad EHRs, and Human Connection in Medicine41:00 – Information Symmetry: How Patients, Physicians, and LLMs Are ChangingCare52:19 – Scaling Primary Care with AI, Autonomous Agents, and Human Wisdom

Data sovereignty, the risks of AI centralization, and why our heartbeat may hold a key to protecting our digital identity in a rapidly shifting world.Welcome to the ⁠⁠⁠North of Patient⁠⁠⁠ podcast - conversations on health[beyond]care - where we paint an inspired landscape of healthcare's future through dialogues with creative and unconventional thinkers from around the world. For a summary of the episode, visit the ⁠⁠⁠blog post⁠⁠⁠ on ⁠North of Patient⁠.Today’s guest is Krista Kim, contemporary digital artist, founder of the Techism movement, and one of the most visionary voices at the intersection of art, technology, and human healing. In this episode, we dive into art as a healing tool, meditation as ancient technology, and how the design of our surroundings shapes mental and physical well-being. Krista reveals how immersive tech and sound create sanctuaries for reflection and presence, while also advocating for data sovereignty and exploring the risks of centralized AI.Key stamps from our conversation are below:00:00 – Welcome to Episode 19!02:30 – Heart Space: AI biometric art installations in Barcelona, Amsterdam, London & Seoul03:20 – From political science to digital art: McLuhan’s influence on Krista’s worldview07:24 – “Light is the new ink”: the birth of the Techism Manifesto08:30 – Meditation, martial arts and connecting to higher purpose20:13 – Growing Up in a Healing Household23:59 – Facebook and the Inspiration for Techno-Feudalism28:21 – Art + Healthcare: Aesthetics, Empathy, and the Healing Environment32:16 – Digital Sovereignty: Your Heartbeat as Your Password45:06 – Mars House: Building Immersive Virtual Environments for Healing50:00 – Exploring 3D digital assets, Architectural Innovation, and AI-Powered Ownership.58:15 – Sound Healing & Theta Waves: Creativity and Emotional Recovery01:02:00 – Looking Forward: Krista’s Advice for Health Leaders & What’s Next

Open-source AI as a tool for self-reflection—and why mistaking machines for minds could be our biggest blind spot.Welcome to the ⁠⁠⁠North of Patient⁠⁠⁠ podcast - conversations on health[beyond]care - where we paint an inspired landscape of healthcare's future through dialogues with creative and unconventional thinkers from around the world. For a summary of the episode, visit the ⁠⁠⁠blog post⁠⁠⁠ on North of Patient.Today we sit down with Dr. Nick Sahar– a digital health entrepreneur, AI researcher, and medical doctor passionate about using artificial intelligence to elevate human well-being. He is best known as the co-founder of Semantic Health, an AI startup launched out of medical school. He has worked at the intersection of medicine and AI since 2017, contributing research to early transformer architectures through the Vector Institute and serving as a reviewer at leading machine learning conferences including NeurIPS and ICML. In this episode, we explore how AI can be used to foster personal growth, the dangers of anthropomorphizing AI, and the potential of open-source development.Key stamps from our conversation are below:00:00 - Welcome to Episode 18!02:07 - Meet Nick Sahar: From Med Student to Startup Founder09:42 - A Toothbrush That Detects Stress? Early Startup Experiments11:35 - Discovering the Bottleneck: How Medical Coding Sparked the Idea for Semantic16:44 - Why Nick Chose Systems-Level Healthcare Over the Clinic19:34 - Semantic’s Journey: Founding, Scaling, and Innovating AI in Healthcare Data Coding28:04 - The “Last Mile” Challenge: Balancing AI Autonomy and Human Touch in Complex Tasks31:02 - Exploring Mental Health, Bias, and the Future of Human-AI Interaction41:58 - Personalizing Mental Health AI and Navigating the Risks of Anthropomorphized Intelligence43:45 - Neuralink, Telepathy, and the Dystopian Black Mirror Future of Brain-AI Connections46:19 - The Urgent Need for Open Source Solutions Amidst Social Disconnect and Global AI Power Struggles53:04 - Physicians Must Partner with AI, Not Be Replaced by It01:03:00 - Making AI Your Smartest Intelligence Upgrade Yet01:05:00 - Yoga, Nature, and the Radical Power of Logging Off

Reimagining primary care through digital-first thinking, clinician-guided AI, and radical service design.Welcome to the ⁠⁠⁠North of Patient⁠⁠⁠ podcast - conversations on health[beyond]care - where we paint an inspired landscape of healthcare's future through dialogues with creative and unconventional thinkers from around the world. For a summary of the episode, visit the ⁠⁠⁠blog post⁠⁠⁠ on ⁠North of Patient.Today we sit down with Dr. Jay Parkinson, MD, MPH – a physician turned product visionary. Known for co-founding Sherpaa, inventors of Virtual Primary Care, Jay spent the last two decades redefining what healthcare could look like. Over the past 18 years, he's built online healthcare companies that have served more than 500,000 patients from major companies like Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft, and now leads Automate.clinic to help make AI in healthcare safer and more reliable.In this episode, Jay unpacks what it means to approach healthcare as a service, explores what large language models are doing well—and where they fall short—and shares insights into his latest ventureKey stamps from our conversation are below:00:00 Welcome to Episode 1701:57 - Meet Dr. Jay Parkinson04:01 - How Flickr, photography and the iPhone kickstarted Jay’s Journey07:40 - Launching Hello Health: Early Days of Virtual Primary Care13:24 - Using Tumblr to Build Planned Parenthood’s Digital Sex Ed Strategy16:47 - Can You Use ChatGPT as Your Personal Therapist?21:19 - Designing Healthcare Systems Amid Bureaucratic Barriers26:03 - Establishing Continuous Care with Sherpaa’s Asynchronous Model28:34 - Building from Scratch Versus Navigating Big Company Complexities32:08 - Automate.clinic: Where Doctors Don’t See Patients – They Train AI Models42:35 - Talking Less, Saying More: The Power of Asynchronous Communication48:24 - The Growing Professional Depression Among Family Physicians and How Automate.clinic Is Making a Difference53:00 - Hope and Optimism in a World Overwhelmed by Digital Noise

Shaping the future of health through speculative design, ethical AI, and the power of human-centred innovation.Welcome to the ⁠⁠⁠North of Patient⁠⁠⁠ podcast - conversations on health[beyond]care - where we paint an inspired landscape of healthcare's future through dialogues with creative and unconventional thinkers from around the world. For a summary of the episode, visit the ⁠⁠⁠blog post⁠⁠⁠ on North of Patient.This week’s guest is Nina Maturu — an innovation strategist, seasoned designer, and futurist. Nina recently wrapped up her term as a White House Presidential Innovation Fellow, where she advised on bold innovations at ARPA-H and led future-focused strategy at NASA, helping the agency explore emerging technologies and trends that could shape human life through 2050.Join us as we explore topics such as the ethics of data usage, the need for restraint in an accelerating AI landscape, and what it genuinely means to embed human-centered thinking into some of the most complex and technical corners of healthcare.Key stamps from our conversation are below:00:00 Welcome to Episode 1602:42 Meet Nina Maturu: Innovation Strategist, Designer, and Futurist03:33 Groundwork in Global Community Organizing & Participatory Design06:36 Translating Human-Centred Design into Corporate Innovation08:18 Integrating Community and Corporate Experience to Drive Social Change09:40 From ARPA H to NASA: Nina’s Impact as a White House Presidential Innovation Fellow14:10 The Role of a Designer at ARPA-H: Desirability, Viability, and Feasibility19:46 Designing for the Distant Future with NASA23:09 A Dual Lens Approach: Integrating Generalist and Expert Views in Design Consulting26:26 Partnering with the United Nations Foundation: A Public Health Initiative in Haiti30:02 Centering Lived Experience in Medicine31:28 The Promises and Perils of Affectionate AI37:06 Designing Restraint in a Rapidly Evolving AI Landscape44:13 Anticipating AI’s Long-Term Effects on Society and the Environment45:59 AI Persuasion Experiment: Can AI Bots Outperform Human Experts?48:35 Determining Liability when AI Causes Harm51:42 Beyond Doomsday: How AI Pushes Us to Imagine a New Future58:10 Embracing Diverse Perspectives to Shape an Unpredictable Future

Pushing the boundaries of health through bio-design, ultra-contemporary art, and reimagining the human form.Welcome to the ⁠⁠⁠North of Patient⁠⁠⁠ podcast - conversations on health[beyond]care - where we paint an inspired landscape of healthcare's future through dialogues with creative and unconventional thinkers from around the world. For a summary of the episode, visit the ⁠⁠⁠blog post⁠⁠⁠ on North of Patient.In this week's episode, we sit down with Amy Karle—an internationally acclaimed ultra-contemporary artist, designer, and futurist. With exhibitions spanning the globe, and even reaching space, Amy pushes the boundaries of art, science, and the future of our existence. Join us as we dive into some of Amy Karle’s most groundbreaking projects—from bioprinted bone scaffolds to a revolutionary archive of life being stored on the Moon.  Amy also shares her insights into the role of generative AI in healthcare, the risks of data opacity, and why she believes that true innovation requires us to stay grounded in empathy, ethics, and the human story.  Learn more about Amy’s work.Key stamps from our conversation are below:00:28  Meet Amy Karle: Artist, Designer & Futurist08:48  Evolving Medical Accessibility in the Digital Age10:56  The Perils of Drowning in AI Agents15:14 Merging Art, Technology, and the Quest for Human Enhancement20:21 Using Fine Art to Enhance Medical Training21:28 Beyond Art: Convincing People of the Technological Impact on Humanity24:47 Navigating the Challenges of Displaying Bioart26:07 From IBM to Bauhaus: Influences Shaping Amy’s Artistic Vision30:22 Regenerative Reliquary: Could Biodesign Lead to Longer Lifespans?33:54 The Symbiotic Relationship Between Art and Science36:14 Reimagining Life's Mystery37:03 Balancing Innovation with Caution43:12 The Heart of Evolution46:56 The Philosophical & Ethical Implications of Redesigning Life57:34 Sending Art to the Moon: Echoes From the Valley of Existence01:15:17 An Intricate Balance: Enhancing Care Without Replacing Human Touch

The transformative power of peer support, patient-centred innovation, and grassroots movements that reshape the healthcare landscape.Welcome to the ⁠⁠⁠North of Patient⁠⁠⁠ podcast - conversations on health[beyond]care - where we paint an inspired landscape of healthcare's future through dialogues with creative and unconventional thinkers from around the world.For a summary of the episode, visit the ⁠⁠blog post⁠⁠ on North of Patient. This week's guest is Susannah Fox, author ofRebel Health. Susannah brings a wealth of experience from her time as Chief Technology Officer for the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she led innovative projects in open data and technology.In this episode, Susannah shares stories from her career, illustrating how patient-led innovations often emerge from the margins. Join us as we explore the ways in which empowered patients are bridging the gaps in the traditional healthcare system themselves.  Learn more aboutRebel Health.In this episode, we discussed the research priorities of Parkinson’s patients. If you're interested in exploring the study further, check it out here:Deane KHO, Flaherty H, Daley DJ, et alPriority setting partnership to identify the top 10 research priorities for the management of Parkinson's diseaseBMJ Open2014;4:e006434. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006434Key stamps from our conversation are below:00:27 Meet the Guest: Susannah Fox02:04 Susannah’s Career Journey 04:13 Navigating Career Crossroads & Spotting the Future Through Tech Shifts06:56Rebel Health: Insights from the Book12:06 The Movement to Democratize Health Data15:21 Overcoming the Challenges of Healthcare Innovation18:39 Middle Management’s Role in Sparking Innovation21:40 Major Milestones: Susannah’s Achievements as CTO 25:25 Ensuring Continuity in Healthcare 31:25 Empowering Patients Through Data Control34:42 Battling Misinformation in the Health Space44:55 The Future of Healthcare with AI Integration55:31 Closing Remarks: Final Thoughts and Key Recommendations

Developing humanoid robots, unravelling the complexities of AI, and the mysteries of consciousness. Welcome to the ⁠⁠⁠North of Patient⁠⁠⁠ podcast - conversations on health[beyond]care - where we paint an inspired landscape of healthcare's future through dialogues with creative and unconventional thinkers from around the world. For a summary of the episode, visit the ⁠blog post⁠ on North of Patient.  This week's guest is the remarkable Dr. Suzanne Gildert. She's a physicist, artist, and AI tech executive based in Vancouver on a mission to uncover the mysteries of consciousness and innovate unconscious AI. In this episode, we dive into the groundbreaking advancements and pressing challenges in quantum computing, examining the transformative potential of these technologies to reshape our world. Beyond the science, we also explore the philosophical dimensions of AI consciousness, questioning whether AI can ever truly replicate human experience and identity. Learn more about Nirvanic AI: https://www.nirvanic.ai/ Key stamps from our conversation are below: 03:16 Suzanne's Career Journey 05:45 Understanding Quantum Computing 09:44 Suzanne's Early Interest in Quantum Mechanics 13:10 Kindred AI and Robotics 18:08 Sanctuary AI and Humanoid Robots 22:11 Human-Robot Interaction 31:19 Consciousness and AI 36:21 Challenges in Proving AI Consciousness 37:59 Quantum Theories of Consciousness 39:21 Experimenting with Quantum AI 45:38 Potential Applications in Healthcare 53:09 Philosophical Implications of Consciousness 59:47 Personal Journey and Reflections 01:05:03 Concluding Thoughts

The art of "Impossible Journey", AI as a creative partner, and the power of analog in a digital age Welcome to the ⁠⁠⁠North of Patient⁠⁠⁠ podcast - conversations on health[beyond]care - where we paint an inspired landscape of healthcare's future through dialogues with creative and unconventional thinkers from around the world. For a summary of the episode, visit the ⁠blog post⁠ on North of Patient. This episode’s guest is Daniella Schuarts, a nutritionist turned visionary storyteller and one half of the Brazilian creative duo, “Yuca”. Danielle's work draws from a life lived adventurously, shaped by travels to the furthest corners of the globe and a passion for the visual arts. Whether through live action, animation or photography her storytelling is fresh, evocative and deeply rooted in themes of social engagement, culture, and human experience. In this episode, we'll actually get to showcase one of her recent projects, one called "Impossible Journey", a short film that explores racial inequality in the healthcare system of the United State through metaphorical storytelling. Our conversation also involves Daniela sharing her thoughts on AI's growing role in storytelling and filmmaking in general. For her AI is both a tool and a challenge, a way to expand creative possibilities while also asking questions about authenticity, emotion, and human agency in the art of storytelling, and how this can be use to help our understanding of the varied narratives around our health. Key stamps from our conversation are below: 02:40 Transition from Nutrition to Filmmaking08:15 The Journey Through Africa10:25 Founding YUCA and Early Projects11:35 Healthcare and Filmmaking Intersection16:03 Impossible Journey: Concept and Execution18:46 Short Film: "Impossible Journey"29:26 AI in Storytelling and Filmmaking39:38 Future of Filmmaking and Healthcare47:43 Upcoming Projects

Welcome to the ⁠⁠⁠North of Patient⁠⁠⁠ podcast - conversations on health[beyond]care - where we paint an inspired landscape of healthcare's future through dialogues with creative and unconventional thinkers from around the world. For a summary of the episode, visit the ⁠blog post⁠ on North of Patient: https://open.substack.com/pub/northofpatient/p/episode-11-kim-bellard-deeply-curious If you have been following insightful and intersectional writing on healthcare in the United States in the last 10-15 years, it’s likely you’ve come across the work of Kim Bellard. Kim is a former health insurance executive, who, amongst many other things, pioneered one of the first fully online health insurance products in the US in the 90s, and went on to become the editor of Tincture Health, a bold online publication discussing critical conversations around improving healthcare in the US. Kim’s career journey was not traditional by any means. From math graduate to healthcare policy leader, his bold ideas and curiosity led him to propose healthcare reforms at Prudential and Blue Cross Blue Shield, setting the tone for a lifelong pursuit of innovation. Our conversations covers everything from life in Cincinnati to the peculiar decisions that locals seem to make regarding where they get their health, to exploring the origins of complexity in healthcare delivery in the US, to talking about the incredible potential of the microbiome. Key stamps from our conversation are below:01:38 Healthcare in Cincinnati04:46 Challenges in American Healthcare06:21 Innovations in Health Insurance12:10 Digital Healthcare Revolution14:13 Tincture Health and Writing20:14 Barriers to Healthcare Transformation29:08 Future of Healthcare with AI31:45 The Future of AI in Healthcare Licensing32:48 AI's Role in Reducing Healthcare Bloat34:28 Virtual Care and AI Doctors37:08 AI in Medical Documentation and Empathy39:29 The Role of Physical Exams and AI41:26 The Impact of AI on Medical Treatments50:43 The Microbiome and Future Medical Revolutions54:15 The Problem with Prescription Benefit Managers (PBMs)59:45 The Future of Healthcare and AI

Virality of another kind, whiteboarding prevention and life at One Infinite Loop Welcome to the ⁠⁠⁠North of Patient⁠⁠⁠ podcast - conversations on health[beyond]care - where we paint an inspired landscape of healthcare's future through dialogues with creative and unconventional thinkers from around the world. For a summary of the episode, visit the ⁠blog post⁠ on North of Patient: https://open.substack.com/pub/northofpatient/p/episode-10-doc-mike-evans-nudging and subscribe to ⁠North of Patient on Substack⁠: https://northofpatient.substack.com/ If you think back to the early days of videos going viral on  @YouTube  you might recall a 2011 video called “23 and a half hours”, a video that talked about exercise, the single best thing you can do for your health, through a catchy whiteboarding drawing video, well before that became a thing. That video garnered over 6M views and was one of the most watched public health videos of it’s time, and was the brainchild of Doc Mike Evans who went on to build a med school for the public on YouTube with over 30M “students”. What you might not know is that Doc Mike Evans spent the last 8 years working at Apple in Cupertino on Special Projects on their Health team, designing and running experiments on how to improve life and health for their 1 billion users across the world. Doc Evans is now on a gap year and I’m honoured that North of Patient is one of the first places where he has gotten a chance to discuss his career and his thoughts about the future of #healthcare. In this episode, we unpack the storied career and incredible range of experiences he’s had, from running an environmental consulting company in the 1980s in the first green wave to working with Mother Teresa in Calcutta long before he was in medicine, to being a doctor at the Sochi Olympics in 2014, to founding a health media lab and a film company, he was really embodied the idea of working at the intersection of many different disciplines to advance healthcare forward. Key stamps from our conversation are below: 02:02 Background and Early Life 03:46 The High Arctic and environmental pioneering 15:59 Founding a Health Media Lab and YouTube Success 18:17 Impact of 23 and a Half Hours Video going viral 21:27 Challenges in Health Communication and Education 27:03 The Role of Generative AI in Healthcare 29:50 Working at Apple 32:33 The Power of Daily Health Interactions 32:54 The Scale and Influence of #BigTech in Health 34:52 Challenges and Lessons from Working at Apple 40:51 The Future of Wearables in Health 49:23 Preventative Health x Behavioral Economics 52:28 How #singapore became an ideal health innovation partner 55:09 Exciting Trends in Health Technology 01:01:02 Advice for Healthcare Providers and System Leaders 01:05:24 What's Next for the Doc Make sure to subscribe on Substack and follow along. As always, I welcome comments and ideas, as well as suggestions for future guests. #healthcareai #siliconvalley #wearables #preventativehealth #generativeai #llm #digitalhealth #startups #universityoftoronto

Curitiba, film making and an undiagnosed cough Welcome to the ⁠⁠⁠North of Patient⁠⁠⁠ podcast - conversations on health[beyond]care - where we paint an inspired landscape of healthcare's future through dialogues with creative and unconventional thinkers from around the world. For a summary of the episode, visit the ⁠blog post⁠ on North of Patient: https://open.substack.com/pub/northofpatient/p/episode-9-diogo-gameiro-instant-doctor and subscribe to ⁠North of Patient on Substack⁠: https://northofpatient.substack.com/ This week's guest is Diogo Gameiro. Diogo is an award-winning director, visual effects supervisor and creative based in Brazil. He’s been making short-films and commercials over the last 20 years, and I was first introduced to his work when I came across his 2020 short-film, “Instant Doctor”. The movie is a dystopian look at what healthcare could look like in the future if we fail to protect our own humanity. I won’t give away much more beyond that, because as a special bonus, we will be including the film in this episode, along with getting Diogo’s inside scoop on the making of the film. In this episode, we talk about life and healthcare in Brazil, we talk about growing up around the creative and film industry, about how the pandemic had both negative and positive impacts on the making of “Instant Doctor” and of course his reflections on the role technology has to play in healthcare. Key stamps from our conversation are below: 02:42 Life and Culture in Brazil 04:31 Diogo's Journey in the Film Industry 11:53 Impact of AI on the Film Industry 21:17 Challenges in Film Distribution 25:05 "Instant Doctor" - The short film 32:06 The Making of "Instant Doctor" 35:22 Casting Fernando Pinto 40:27 Layers in Short Films 42:46 Healthcare Commentary in "Instant Doctor" 45:54 AI and Empathy 56:43 Healthcare in Brazil 01:05:25 Future Projects and Closing Remarks Make sure to subscribe on Substack and follow along. As always, I feel comments and ideas, as well as suggestions for future guests.

Camus, cosmic dust and crossing the uncanny valley Welcome to the ⁠⁠⁠North of Patient⁠⁠⁠ podcast - conversations on health[beyond]care - where we paint an inspired landscape of healthcare's future through dialogues with creative and unconventional thinkers from around the world. For a summary of the episode, visit the ⁠blog post⁠ on North of Patient: https://open.substack.com/pub/puneetseth/p/episode-8-evan-lu-the-road-to-better and subscribe to ⁠North of Patient on Substack⁠: https://puneetseth.substack.com/ This week's guest is Evan Hu. Evan is successful and storied Canadian entrepreneur, having worked in numerous industries, ranging from telecommunications, to high tech, to the music industry, and of course, digital health. Presently, he is the founder of Alto Sante, a digital health venture studio that creates technology products and provides services to empower people to live their best and longest lives. Evan is a great storyteller and has lived a fascinating life. We spent some time digging into his origin story, talking about healthcare in communist China in the mid 20th century, the good, the bad and ugly of his years working in the music industry, and of course, his motivations and musings on all things relating to the future of healthcare. 01:23 Evan's Origin Story and Early Life 03:52 Healthcare in Communist China 09:46 Evan's Career Journey: From Engineering to Music Industry 27:21 Challenges and Lessons in the Music Industry 31:42 Transition to Ideaca and Professional Services 35:45 Reflections on Success and Future Ventures 37:25 Challenging the Myth of the Eureka Moment 38:07 Reflecting on Life and Career Choices 39:56 Discovering the Potential of Machine Learning in Health 40:59 Navigating the Complexities of Public Health 42:01 The Role of AI in Healthcare Transformation 42:47 Adapting to Remote Work and Telemedicine 44:33 Supporting Startups in Digital Health 50:37 The Future of EMR and Data Integration 01:06:49 Generative AI: The Next Major Revolution 01:17:36 Final Thoughts and Reflections

The adaptable health force, prosthetic human augmentation and the Ship of Theseus Welcome to the ⁠⁠⁠North of Patient⁠⁠⁠ podcast - conversations on health[beyond]care - where we paint an inspired landscape of healthcare's future through dialogues with creative and unconventional thinkers from around the world. For a summary of the episode, visit the ⁠blog post⁠ on North of Patient. and subscribe to ⁠North of Patient on Substack⁠. https://puneetseth.substack.com/ This week’s guest is the incredible Zayna Khayat, a health futurist with Deloitte Canada and a renowned go-to person for #healthcareinnovation. Among her many roles, she also teaches at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and advises several health startups. I've been lucky to know Zayna for over a decade. She was a key advisor during my first startup, InputHealth, helping me navigate the startup building ecosystem, connecting me to key resources and just being an honest mentor. Anyone who knows Zayna knows that she has a bold voice and she says it as it is. So it shouldn't be a surprise that this episode is really about challenging dogmatic thinking in healthcare. We dive into some pretty big and provocative questions that many of us think about but few dare to say out loud - like for example, is the traditional doctor-patient relationship sustainable for the future? In the wake of AI, will we really need discrete roles of different healthcare providers in the way we define them today - such as docs, nurses, and pharmacists and so on - or do we need to start thinking about a more fluid and.adaptable health workforce? And lastly, can current healthcare systems really be salvaged, or do we need to build pieces from scratch? It’s not about right or wrong with these questions, but instead giving ourselves a moment of pause and asking ourselves with honestly. So hang tight for an animated episode - The links to the full episode can be found in the comments below. North of Patient is on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and Substack. Make sure to subscribe on Substack and follow along. As always, I feel comments and ideas, as well as suggestions for future guests. 0:00 Episode 7 - Zayna Khayat - North of Patient 04:17 The road to becoming a health futurist 09:01 Unpacking the word "futurist" 14:57 Sources of inspiration 16:43 Moral injury and it's impact on the healthcare workforce 21:08 Who will build the future of healthcare? 25:28 Human prosthetic augmentation 28:06 Ship of Theseus 34:12 Can medical schools evolve fast enough? 36:20 Advice to medical school program directors 38:48 The adaptable health workforce 45:07 Building a health system from scratch in Saudi Arabia 50:13 What role will humans have in an AI driven future of healthcare 51:47 Health vs. Healthcare vs. Medicine 01:05:41 How to hang out in the future

Challenging culture, how knowing can heal and using LLMs to unlock the David Attenborough of healthcare Welcome to the ⁠⁠North of Patient⁠⁠ podcast - conversations on health[beyond]care - where we paint an inspired landscape of healthcare's future through dialogues with creative and unconventional thinkers from around the world. For a summary of the episode, visit the ⁠blog post⁠ on North of Patient: https://open.substack.com/pub/puneetseth/p/episode-6-cait-desroches-the-opennotes and subscribe to ⁠North of Patient on Substack⁠: https://puneetseth.substack.com/ This week’s guest is Catherine M. DesRoches, DrPH (Cait). Cait is Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a health policy and data nerd with expertise in emerging trends in health care delivery. Cait noticed early in her career that the concerns of patients and their families are often not the same as those of clinicians and policymakers. Bringing this patient and family voice into the world of health services research led directly to her current role as the Director of OpenNotes. She is also the Program Director for the Keane OpenNotes Fellowship in Patient Engagement and Transparency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). I have been a long time fan of OpenNotes, both as a practicing physician and a healthcare software entrepreneur. I have worked on the belief that better informed patients have better outcomes, and OpenNotes has always been an inspiration for this. In this conversation, we talk about Cait’s fascinating career that brought her to the front and centre of the health information technology revolution in the United States. We discuss what evidence supports the effectiveness of OpenNotes and also some personal stories about real-life benefits from this program. We also talk about where generative AI fits into the picture of the engaged patient, and where OpenNotes is headed in the future. 00:21 Introduction02:49 Cait's Journey: From Public Health to Pioneering OpenNotes04:07 Defining the standards of Electronic Health Records11:56 What is OpenNotes?16:27 Emergence of generative AI20:02 Navigating the Challenges of Sharing Sensitive Health Information22:59 Reflecting on the Cultural Shift Towards Patient Empowerment29:37 Exploring the Future of Healthcare Documentation and AI31:21 Cait shares a personal story about the benefits of OpenNotes36:29 How knowing more helps patients prepare41:10 How might David Attenborough explain chronic disease - the generative AI experience48:10 OpenNotes: Expanding Partnerships and Exploring New Frontiers53:07 Future Vision - better understanding and access to health information56:40 What data supports OpenNotes being effective?

A case for machine-generated empathy, musings on homeschooling and why it's important to first figure out what doctors are meant to do Welcome to the ⁠North of Patient⁠ podcast - conversations on health[beyond]care - where we paint an inspired landscape of healthcare's future through dialogues with creative and unconventional thinkers from around the world. For a summary of the episode, visit the ⁠blog post⁠ on North of Patient: https://open.substack.com/pub/puneetseth/p/episode-5-ken-liu-the-humanistic and subscribe to ⁠North of Patient on Substack⁠: https://puneetseth.substack.com/ This week’s guest is Ken Liu. Ken is an American author of speculative fiction. A winner of the Nebula, Hugo, and World Fantasy awards, he wrote the Dandelion Dynasty, a silkpunk epic fantasy series (starting with The Grace of Kings), as well as short story collections The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories and The Hidden Girl and Other Stories. He also penned the Star Wars novel The Legends of Luke Skywalker. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, Liu worked as a software engineer, corporate lawyer, and litigation consultant. Liu frequently speaks at conferences and universities on a variety of topics, including futurism, machine-augmented creativity, history of technology, bookmaking, and the mathematics of origami. I was first introduced to Ken’s writing through a short story he wrote called “Good Stories”, which explores creativity in a world where AI generates most of the content, and the highlights the struggle of an author who feels that humans crave human-generated art and writing. This piece made me think about how we might feel in the future about empathy coming from AI and machines vs. human clinicians, and I explored this in another blog post. I was thrilled that Ken agreed to join as a guest on the podcast, and the conversation did not disappoint. It expectedly took a more philosophical tone than previous episodes and covered a range of topics around the intersection of AI and the human condition. Ken’s insights remind us that as we integrate more AI into healthcare, we must revisit and realign with our fundamental goals—not just to adapt to new technologies but to ensure they enhance our human values and improve care outcomes. This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the future intersections of technology, storytelling, and human-centered care. Tune in to unpack these complex but critical dialogues. Key stamps from our conversation are below: 02:34 Journey to Becoming a Speculative Fiction Author05:27 The Shift to Homeschooling and Parenting Philosophy09:33 Exploring the Value of Education and Individuality11:31 The Role of Higher Education and the Quest for Meaning12:41 Paternalism in healthcare14:23 Personal Reflections on Career Paths and Storytelling15:31 On meandering and purpose21:52 Redefining Passion and Career in a Changing World25:01 The Future of Work and Inventing New Roles27:39 Healthcare, AI, and the Human Element29:39 Why do we have doctors to begin with?32:51 How do we value human creation?34:51 The Value of Creativity: Human vs. Machine37:27 Exploring Empathy: Human Touch vs. Machine Efficiency41:11 The Role of Empathy in Healthcare: A Deep Dive49:55 AI and Creativity: Can Machines Surpass Human Artistry?01:05:41 The Future of Healthcare: AI's Role in Prevention and Care01:10:26 Closing Thoughts on Healthcare and Technology

Loneliness in the elderly, why we don't play chess with AI and what digital memories can teach us about ourselves Welcome to the North of Patient podcast - conversations on health[beyond]care - where we paint an inspired landscape of healthcare's future through dialogues with creative and unconventional thinkers from around the world. For a summary of the episode, visit the ⁠blog post⁠ on North of Patient: https://open.substack.com/pub/puneetseth/p/episode-4-david-usher-reimagining and subscribe to ⁠North of Patient on Substack⁠: https://puneetseth.substack.com/ This week’s episode features music legend and creative AI visionary, David Usher. David is an artist, best-selling author and entrepreneur. As a musician, he has sold more than 1.4 million albums, won 5 Junos and has had #1 singles singing in English, French, and Thai. He is also the CEO and founder of Reimagine AI, an artificial intelligence company building AI-powered virtual beings and virtual being technology in entertainment, retail and healthcare. David has a degree in political science from Simon Fraser University and his book on creativity and innovation, Let the Elephants Run • Unlock Your Creativity and Change Everything, is out now. As you can expect, this was an animated conversation touching on many subjects. We talk about augmented reality, Apple Vision Pro and creating our digital representations, and in fact what it would be like to interact with the memories and likeness of our loved ones, as David created with his LucyAI collaboration. We talk about the generative AI gold rush, what we can learn from our mistakes in social media and how to steer our efforts towards positive outcomes. And of course, we talk about Reimagine AI and David’s personal story for wanting to tackle isolation and loneliness in the elderly. Key stamps from our conversation are below: 00:21 Intro Monologue - David Usher 02:16 Transitioning from music to entrepreneurship 06:19 ReimagineAI 08:58 Loneliness in the elderly 11:42 Drawing lines between digital and human being 13:20 Empathy in AI vs humans 16:33 AGI and human abilities 18:53 Looking at change from micro and macro perspective 24:11 On social media 26:20 Can human imagination help us navigate what's next? 27:26 Lucy AI 30:39 Exploring what it means to be a person 32:23 On Apple Vision Pro and memories 37:24 How LLMs will influence how we see the world 41:14 Why we only want to play chess with humans

The perils of assumptions, when a film takes flight and bringing patients into the clinical classroom Welcome to the North of Patient podcast - conversations on health[beyond]care - where we paint an inspired landscape of healthcare's future through dialogues with creative and unconventional thinkers from around the world. For a summary of the episode, visit the ⁠blog post⁠ on North of Patient and subscribe to ⁠North of Patient on Substack⁠. I had a wonderful conversation with Teri Price. In the more than 10 years since her brother Greg's death due to cracks in the functioning of the healthcare system, Teri Price has been advocating for change in #healthcare.  She is currently the Executive Director of Greg’s Wings Projects, a not-for-profit organization created to honour Greg. The first project developed by Greg’s Wings was the Falling Through the Cracks: Greg’s Story film and they have done more than 600 screenings of the film. Teri and I have been guest co-facilitators of a lecture series at the University of Toronto School of Medicine for several years, where we discuss the importance of collaboration and systems in ensuring #patientsafety to students entering #clerkship 0:00 Episode 3 - Teri Price - North of Patient 03:02 What is Greg's Wings? 09:00 Bringing patients into the clinical classroom 12:36 The film doing better than was expected 16:24 Comparing European and Canadian health systems 19:35 Ambient scribes 24:53 Safety is paramount 30:00 Blind trust and assumptions 37:04 On the evolving role of healthcare professionals 40:05 Patients, data sharing and financial benefit 45:34 Change as a skillset and mindset 47:34 Changes to medical education More about Teri: Greg's Wings Projects: https://gregswings.ca LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/greg-s-wings-projects/ X: https://twitter.com/gregswings Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gregswings/

PatientsLikeMe, the limitations of reductionism in Western medicine and how sharing augments healing Welcome to the North of Patient podcast - conversations on health[beyond]care - where we paint an inspired landscape of healthcare's future through dialogues with creative and unconventional thinkers from around the world. For a summary of the episode, visit the blog post on North of Patient and subscribe to North of Patient on Substack. Today’s guest is Benjamin Heywood. Ben is General Partner in the early stage deep tech and digital health focused venture fund SkyRiver Ventures. He prides himself on being a tech geek, mentor, and investor. He is a recovering entrepreneur after co-founding PatientsLikeMe in 2004. He is a proud #GirlDad and hails from the Boston area. In our conversation, we chat about what it was like to start and lead PatientsLikeMe in their 15 year journey, the power of sharing in the healing process, what he has learned about secrets of success in healthcare innovation, and of course, what he sees in store for the future. Outline: 02:17 The story behind "PatientsLikeMe" 09:58 What engineering and farming have in common 11:59 They said we were crazy 14:25 What medicine is missing today 17:11 Convergence of Western and Eastern medicine 20:50 Life after PatientsLikeMe 24:01 Exploring deep tech and optimism 25:38 Top areas of healthcare investment in Boston 30:30 Role of the hospital in care delivery 31:59 My recent run in with acute care and a shout out to SickKids Hospital 33:31 What it's like to get healthcare in Boston today 41:02 While traditional healthcare be able to go along for the ride as innovation accelerates 46:51 What does Ben think the healthcare system will look like in the next 3-5 years? 50:56 Role of patient care communities More about Ben: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminheywood/ https://twitter.com/bheywood

Welcome to the inaugural episode of the North of Patient podcast - conversations on health[beyond]care - where we paint an inspired landscape of healthcare's future through dialogues with creative and unconventional thinkers from around the world. My first guest is Julian Bleecker. Julian is a leading researcher, designer, and entrepreneur in the fields of technology and innovation. He founded Near Future Laboratory and OMATA, and is the originator of the concept of Design Fiction. Bleecker has published extensively on design, technology, and the future, and his book "The Manual of Design Fiction" is widely recognized as a pioneering work on the subject. Needless to say, it’s incredibly exciting to have him help open this podcast series, where we explore the concept of design fiction, how people can practically learn to think more deeply about the future, and various lessons for the healthcare system in embracing imaginative thinking. If you’re interested in learning more about Julian’s work, check out the following: https://nearfuturelaboratory.com https://julianbleecker.com You can visit the North of Patient blog on Substack for episode summaries and additional conversations the future of healthcare. (And a thank you to Svaneborg Kardyb for allowing the sampling of their magical track, "Orbit")