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Internal medicine and functional medicine physician Shiv K. Goel discusses his article “Agentic AI in medicine: the danger of automating the doctor.” Shiv analyzes the new ARPA-H “ADVOCATE” program which aims to …
Autonomous AI agents could strip the soul from medicine [PODCAST]
Imagine a patient who spends most of a therapy session talking about a single memory. He describes sitting in his car after visiting his mother in a nursing home, unable to start the engine. He sits there for nearly 20 minutes, staring at the steering wheel and wondering when the roles had reversed, when he had become the parent and she the child. Nothing dramatic happens in the session. No …
The hidden risks of AI-generated progress notes in psychotherapy
You probably weren’t thinking about AI the last time you sat in the dental chair. You were wondering whether that shadow on the X-ray meant a cavity, and whether it would hurt. But AI was quite possibly already at work behind the scenes, and it’s about to play a much bigger role in your next visit. As a general dentist, I’ve watched the conversation about AI in medicine grow louder …
How AI in dentistry is changing your next checkup
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Family physician and health care entrepreneur Tod Stillson discusses his article “AI in medicine: Why it won’t replace doctors but will redefine them.” Tod argues that the binary debate between AI as …
AI redefines the physician’s role by reducing cognitive overload [PODCAST]
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Physician and health care consultant Harvey Castro discusses his article “ChatGPT Health in hospitals: 5 essential safety protocols.” Harvey outlines the immense potential of large language models to reduce administrative burdens while …
Hospitals must establish safety guardrails before deploying AI [PODCAST]
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Internal medicine physician Shiv K. Goel discusses his article “Claude for Healthcare vs. administrative burden: a physician’s review.” Shiv contrasts the two hours he spent fighting a prior authorization with the promise …
AI could end the administrative nightmare for doctors [PODCAST]
Medical innovation is often framed as something that begins once a product is built, tested, funded, and approved. But anyone who has spent time in medicine or biomedical research knows that is the farthest thing from the truth. Innovation usually starts much earlier with a moment of frustration, a recurring inefficiency, or a quiet realization that something in patient care could work better.
What’s less clear is how we’re supposed to …
Early-stage medical device innovation: How to discuss untested ideas
Once upon a time, clinicians didn’t have enough data about their patients.
To put it mildly, things have changed. Today we’re drowning in data. As a practicing emergency physician, it is a reality I see every day.
In an emergency department (ED) environment characterized by constant time pressure, staffing constraints, and high patient acuity, clinicians sometimes must wade through reams of electronic health records (EHR) data to find critical patient information that …
AI in health care data management: Curing the EHR overload
The attending scrolls through the chart before morning rounds. The progress note is polished. The assessment is structured. The differential is surprisingly thorough. A predictive model flags the patient as high risk for deterioration within 24 hours. He did not write most of it.
An AI assistant drafted the note. A risk algorithm generated the alert. A decision-support tool suggested broadening the workup. He reviewed it. He agreed with most of …
AI in clinical documentation: Who is liable for medical errors?
“The problem is not that physicians play games. The problem is that we are embarrassed to admit we need ways to feel alive again.”
At 3:17 a.m., we called the code. Thirty minutes of compressions. Three rounds of epinephrine. A room filled with controlled urgency. When it ended, the monitors fell silent before the hallway did. I finished my documentation. I washed my hands. I walked to my car. And I …
Physician burnout and gaming: Why doctors turn to video games
Artificial intelligence is no longer approaching medicine. It is already embedded inside it. It drafts our notes. It summarizes research. It suggests differentials. It triages messages. It promises efficiency, scale, and relief from burnout. Physicians are adopting it quickly. That speed should give us pause.
The greatest threat facing physicians in 2026 is not resisting artificial intelligence. It is allowing artificial intelligence in health care to be designed without us. Every …
AI governance in health care: Why physicians must lead the design
You became a physician because you were driven. You studied longer, pushed harder, and tolerated pressure better than most. You needed to be right and usually were. That formula worked. It got you through pre-med, medical school, residency, and into practice. It earned you respect and built your reputation.
But at some point, quietly, subtly, that same formula can start working against you. I realized this after reading Marshall Goldsmith’s book, …
What got you here won’t get you there: a physician’s guide to leadership
It was 3:17 a.m. when the trauma pager went off. “Level 1 incoming. MVC. Hypotensive.” The trauma bay shifted instantly from stillness to choreography. Blood coolers opened. Monitors lit up. A resident’s voice tightened as he called out the vitals. The patient was young. Too young. Blood pressure in the 70s. Oxygen saturation falling. The kind of numbers that make the room feel smaller. CT was not ready. Labs were …
In the age of AI, what makes a physician REAL?
Today’s clinicians are spending more time documenting care than delivering it. This reality is not lost on health care providers, many of whom feel burnt out and unfulfilled by this overwhelming administrative burden. The digitization of health care, which once felt like a promise of efficiency, has pulled clinicians away from patients and toward screens. The problem isn’t technology itself; it’s the result of poorly designed siloed solutions and disconnected …
Connected health care workflows: From chore to core patient care
Medicine has always loved the story of the hero.
The physician who pushes through exhaustion. The one who catches the rare diagnosis at the last second. The colleague who seems to carry an impossible load without ever dropping the ball.
But after years of watching which physicians actually thrive, not just survive, I have come to believe we have been telling the wrong story.
The doctors who perform at the highest level over …
Physician resilience: Why systems matter more than heroism
Before complex medical interventions ever reach patients, their effectiveness must be scientifically proven through rigorous testing in controlled settings such as laboratories and research facilities. But ensuring effectiveness doesn’t stop there. The process of assessing a medical treatment’s usefulness is multilayered and requires investigation that goes well beyond the laboratory. It must also assess how the treatment fares in day-to-day clinical practice for a wide variety of patients. Now, as …
Validating AI in health care: the role of real-world evidence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the biggest economic craze since cryptocurrencies, and GLP-1 agonists are the biggest health craze since statins. But are they as good for users as producers and Wall Street? Will they implode like their predecessors?
We spoke with behavior change expert Kyra Bobinet, MD, author of Unstoppable Brain: The New Neuroscience That Frees Us From Failure, Eases Our Stress, and Creates Lasting Change. She maintains that both …
Iterative mindset versus AI and GLP-1s: Why shortcuts weaken the brain
Archimedes said “Eureka,” the ladies at The Knights of Columbus Hall say “Bingo,” and as an ophthalmologist, I say “This is a real eye-opener.” You may or may not recall my exasperated September/October 2025 editorial. The title is self-explanatory: “You have sudden onset of chest pain? The doctor can see you in five months: The travesty of physician unavailability.” Many of you share my pain and concern. In post-publication discussions …
Why AI in health care is the only fix for physician shortages
Voicemail has quietly become one of the most fragile points in outpatient care, not because clinicians or staff are failing, but because the system itself no longer fits the reality of modern health care.
Every day, patients call clinics with legitimate needs: appointment requests, medication questions, post-procedure concerns, insurance clarifications. When no one answers, they are routed to voicemail and asked to leave a message. From that moment on, the system …
Why voicemail in outpatient care is failing patients and staff
I am not a doctor. I am a software developer who taught herself mobile development while working full-time and raising two kids. But I built a clinical simulation app used by medical students, and here is how I made sure it is actually clinically sound.
The credibility problem
When you don’t have an MD, you can’t rely on intuition or clinical experience. Every design decision has to be defensible, referenced, and auditable. …
Building a clinical simulation app without an MD: a developer’s guide
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