Health IT

Why AI in health care is the only fix for physician shortages

Physician
February 4, 2026

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 …

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Why voicemail in outpatient care is failing patients and staff

Tech
February 2, 2026

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 …

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Building a clinical simulation app without an MD: a developer’s guide

Tech
February 1, 2026

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. …

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AI-enabled clinical data abstraction: a nurse’s perspective

Tech
January 27, 2026

I’ve spent more than 30 years in nursing, and in recent years my work has shifted to something most people never think about: clinical data abstraction. My job is to review the medical record and extract the pieces of information that clinical registries rely on for research, quality reporting, regulatory requirements, and everyday decision-making. It’s specialized work that depends on clinical judgment, a deep understanding of clinical documentation in the …

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Agentic AI in medicine: the danger of automating the doctor

Tech
January 26, 2026

“Can AI scale in medicine?” is the wrong question.

The real question is: Can AI protect the soul of medicine while people who have never sat with our patients decide their fate?

The ADVOCATE program: an overview

The Trump administration recently launched the ADVOCATE program: Agentic AI-Enabled Cardiovascular Care Transformation. Run by ARPA-H, this initiative aims to build and deploy autonomous “clinical AI agents” for cardiovascular disease, with an FDA authorization pathway of …

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The telehealth trap: Why single-service roles lead to burnout

Physician
January 26, 2026

Across my career, including as CMIO of Kaiser Permanente’s Colorado medical group, I’ve had a front-row seat to how remote care and technology are reshaping clinical practice. I’ve also watched many colleagues make the shift to telehealth positions seeking flexibility and an escape from hospital and clinic burnout. These siloed jobs often lead to a different kind of burnout because they can be isolating, rote, and disconnected from actual systems …

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Artificial intelligence demands that doctors become architects of digital health [PODCAST]

Podcast
January 23, 2026
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Family physician Tod Stillson discusses his article “Why AI in medicine elevates humanity instead of replacing it.” Tod explains how his career evolution revealed that artificial intelligence is not a threat to …

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AI and moral development: How algorithms shape human character

Physician
January 23, 2026

Most of us don’t notice moral development happening while it is happening. Moral character forms quietly, through repetition, through what we get used to doing and through what we slowly stop doing without much forethought.

Artificial intelligence matters from a moral perspective long before it ever potentially becomes conscious or autonomous. Although AI may or may not confront us with dramatic ethical dilemmas, it does change our moral lives in a …

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Overcoming the economic barriers of fee-for-service medicine [PODCAST]

Podcast
January 22, 2026
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Surgeon and health tech strategist Sarah Matt discusses her article “Why fee-for-service reform is needed.” Sarah analyzes the friction between efficient digital health tools and an outdated payment system that rewards activity …

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Why tele-critical care fails the sickest ICU patients

Physician
January 20, 2026

Not long ago in a community intensive care unit (ICU) in a midsized American city, I cared for a sick young woman who had just delivered a baby. Part of the placenta, which is supposed to be fully expelled following delivery, remained in her uterus. This condition, known as “retained products of conception,” provided an opportunity for bacteria to infect the retained tissue. The infection spread from her uterus to …

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FDA loosens AI oversight: What clinicians need to know about the 2026 guidance

Policy
January 18, 2026

On January 6, 2026, the FDA announced revised guidance that loosens oversight for certain AI-enabled digital health products, most notably clinical decision support (CDS) software. The goal was to cut unnecessary regulation and promote innovation, accelerating time-to-market for tools positioned as clinical assistants rather than autonomous decision-makers.

At first glance, the change looks pragmatic, even overdue. For years, developers and clinicians alike have complained that prior FDA interpretations forced artificial …

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Focusing on outcomes over novelty prevents AI failure in health care [PODCAST]

Podcast
January 17, 2026
YouTube video

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Health care executive Dave Wessinger discusses their article “How to adopt AI in health care responsibly.” Dave explains why organizations must move beyond the hype of artificial intelligence to focus on measurable …

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Will AI replace primary care physicians?

Tech
January 15, 2026

Primary care providers and primary care medicine are on the downswing in the U.S., burdened with increasing demands of documentation and numerous complicated quality programs in the face of rapidly diminishing reimbursements. While the tribe is disappearing fast, enter its newest nemesis: artificial intelligence (AI).

You might wonder why AI is detrimental to primary care and primary care physicians. The common notion is that physicians, including primary care physicians, will be …

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AI in medicine: Why it won’t replace doctors but will redefine them

Tech
January 12, 2026

I have spent my career practicing medicine in the real world: caring for patients, managing uncertainty, and making decisions where the stakes are personal and immediate. In recent years, I have also spent considerable time designing and deploying medical software that uses artificial intelligence in live clinical environments. Together, these experiences have reshaped how I think about the future of our profession.

That combination of experiences has led me to a …

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Claude for Healthcare vs. administrative burden: a physician’s review

Tech
January 12, 2026

Last week, I spent over two hours on a prior authorization for a patient who needed a medication she’d been stable on for years. Two hours of hold music, transferred calls, and faxed forms, while patients waited.

That same week, Anthropic announced Claude for Healthcare: An AI system that can verify coverage requirements, build claims appeals, and streamline prior authorizations in minutes. OpenAI launched ChatGPT Health days earlier. Both promise to …

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Why remote patient monitoring needs a preventive shift

Tech
January 10, 2026

We’ve been thinking about remote patient monitoring (RPM) the wrong way.

Picture this. A patient comes home from the hospital after a cardiac scare. They’ve got a smart scale on their chest, maybe a blood pressure cuff on the counter, and a nurse scheduled to stop by later in the week. The care team, the patient, and the tech are all working together in the hopes that things don’t get worse.

The …

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ChatGPT Health in hospitals: 5 essential safety protocols

Tech
January 9, 2026

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly entering clinical spaces, and ChatGPT is among the tools drawing increasing interest. Hospitals recognize their potential to reduce administrative burden, improve communication, and support clinical decision-making.

But with this potential comes responsibility. Deploying large language models (LLMs) in health care without proper oversight can lead to misinformation, privacy breaches, and erosion of patient trust. Before implementation, hospitals must establish a framework grounded in safety, ethics, and …

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Collaborative partnerships save rural health care from collapse [PODCAST]

Podcast
January 6, 2026
YouTube video

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Health care executive Jason Griffin discusses his article “The digital divide in rural health care.” Jason explains how rural providers in the U.S. face critical infrastructure failures and staffing shortages that threaten …

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Artificial intelligence offers a lifeline to overwhelmed clinicians [PODCAST]

Podcast
January 5, 2026
YouTube video

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Physician executive Christina Johns discusses her article “Modernizing health care with AI and workflow.” Christina explains how clinicians in the U.S. are facing unprecedented burnout due to administrative burdens that detract from …

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AI in medicine risks: the new Oracle of Delphi?

Tech
January 5, 2026

“The danger isn’t that AI is too powerful; it’s that we stop questioning it.”

Artificial intelligence in medicine is often described as revolutionary, capable of diagnosing disease, predicting deterioration, and automating once-human decisions. But I want to suggest a different lens, one drawn not from technology, but from history.

Let’s go back to ancient Greece.

There, leaders turned to the Oracle of Delphi not for …

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