Fixing Healthcare Podcast

In this Diving Deep episode, Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Cor return to a question listeners have been asking for months: What role will generative AI realistically play in American healthcare? Dr. Pearl opens the discussion around three urgent threats that, if ignored, may soon become too large and too expensive to solve: The affordability cliff The chronic disease crisis The risk of training doctors for the wrong future This examination offers a stark warning about healthcare’s lack of flexibility. Unlike most industries, medicine cannot quickly reconfigure its workforce, adopt new care models or cut costs without years of delay. That rigidity, Pearl argues, is what makes the current moment so dangerous. By the time healthcare leaders respond to major problems, those problems often have already deepened into crises. The episode’s second half explores whether generative AI could help avert that future. Pearl argues that the technology is already capable of improving chronic disease management, reducing medical errors and extending care into patients’ homes. The larger barrier is no longer technical but cultural. To illustrate that divide, Pearl uses HBO’s hit show The Pitt to examine how medicine still frames AI as either a helpful tool or an existential threat rather than what it could be: a valuable clinical partner. He credits the show for capturing physicians’ skepticism and enthusiasm but argues that it misses the more important question: not whether AI is perfect, but whether it performs better than clinicians working alone in a system already riddled with error. Looking further ahead, Pearl argues that when it comes to GenAI taking on clinical tasks once exclusive to humans, the Rubicon has already been crossed. Major health systems are beginning to use generative AI for clinical intake and treatment planning. Large technology companies are building patient-facing health tools tied to personal medical data. And states such as Utah are already testing whether AI can safely handle parts of chronic disease care without direct physician oversight. Taken together, these developments point toward a new future for medicine. Primary care physicians may spend less time on routine algorithmic tasks and more time on complex patients. Specialists may become more procedural as outpatient evaluation shifts. And health systems that want to benefit from these changes will need to move away from fee-for-service and toward value-based care. For more on these developments, tune into this month’s episode and check out the links below. Helpful links Three Healthcare Threats That Will Soon Become Too Big To Solve (Forbes) What The Pitt Gets Right And Wrong About Generative AI In Medicine (Forbes) GenAI Will Replace Much Of What Clinicians Do — It’s Already Happening (Forbes) Monthly Musings on American Healthcare (RobertPearlMD.com) * * * Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine.” Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn. The post FHC #207: Three major healthcare threats GenAI can help solve appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

In this week’s episode of Medicine: The Truth, hosts Jeremy Corr and Dr. Robert Pearl unpack a wide range of developments shaping healthcare in America today, including the TrumpRx drug discount program. From new legislation affecting telehealth and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to the rapid spread of measles and growing public concern about vaccine policy, this month’s discussion highlights the policy decisions and scientific debates influencing medicine right now. The episode opens with the latest federal legislation passed to avert a government shutdown. While healthcare was not the central focus of this particular political battle, the bill contains several provisions that affect medical practice. These include extensions for telehealth coverage and hospital-at-home programs, reforms targeting PBM transparency and new requirements designed to address “ghost networks” in Medicare Advantage provider directories. Dr. Pearl explains that while these provisions represent incremental progress, they are unlikely to solve the larger problems driving healthcare costs and access challenges in the United States. Here are the other major storylines from episode 104: Healthcare costs remain nation’s top concern: A new KFF poll finds that healthcare expenses rank above food, housing and utilities as the economic issue Americans worry about most. Prior authorization frustrations grow: Many patients report delays or denials of care due to insurance requirements, highlighting persistent tension between insurers, physicians and patients. Drug pricing debates continue: Pearl examines a new prescription drug website initiative and explains why it may have limited impact compared with broader policy proposals such as “most favored nation” pricing. Telehealth’s uncertain future: Although the latest legislation extends certain pandemic-era flexibilities, the lack of a permanent solution leaves virtual care programs in limbo. PBM reforms move forward slowly: New policies aim to increase transparency and reduce incentives tied to drug list prices, though Pearl notes that meaningful change will depend on future implementation. Site-neutral payment gains attention: A provision requiring unique identifiers for outpatient services could pave the way for policies that eliminate higher reimbursement for hospital-owned facilities providing identical care. Measles outbreaks surge: Nearly a thousand cases have already been reported in 2026, with the overwhelming majority occurring among unvaccinated children. Trust in the CDC declines: Polling shows confidence in the agency has dropped significantly following changes to vaccine recommendations. Independent vaccine review groups emerge: Medical organizations and states are forming new committees to evaluate vaccine evidence as federal guidance becomes more contested. Early colon cancer deaths rise: The death of actor James Van Der Beek at age 48 highlights the growing incidence of colorectal cancer among younger adults and the importance of earlier screening. FDA confusion over a new flu vaccine: The agency initially declined to review Moderna’s mRNA-based flu vaccine before reversing course and agreeing to evaluate it ahead of the next flu season. Younger Americans face worsening health trends: New claims data suggest chronic disease is appearing earlier among millennials and Gen Z, driven by lifestyle factors and reduced connection to primary care. Wearable data reveal health disparities: Apple Watch data show significant differences in resting heart rates across states, reflecting variations in lifestyle, access to care and public health conditions. As the episode concludes, Dr. Pearl warns that growing political conflict around vaccines and biomedical research risks undermining public trust in science. The consequences, he argues, could shape American medicine for decades to come. Tune in for more fact-based analysis and discussion of the biggest stories in healthcare. * * * Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of the new book “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine” about the impact of AI on the future of medicine. Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn The post MTT #104: TrumpRx, rising measles cases & the politics of vaccine science appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Season 11 of Fixing Healthcare continues its shift away from the traditional top-down model of interviewing CEOs, policymakers and medical leaders to focus this week on something new, different and fascinating: listening to the generation that is inheriting this American healthcare system. In this episode, Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr speak with Grace Lynn Keller, VP at Executive Podcast Solutions, former Miss America contestant and the show’s first-ever Gen Z guest. Grace brings a rare vantage point: Professionally, she is immersed in conversations with healthcare executives. Personally, she is part of the generation that consumes health information through social media, wearables and AI tools. For healthcare professionals, the conversation offers an important lens on how Gen Z gathers health information, how they decide when to seek care and what they expect from clinicians, insurers and government leaders. One insight stood out immediately. When asked where she would turn first with a non-emergency symptom, Grace answered without hesitation: ChatGPT. Her answer signals how much the healthcare landscape is changing. While Gen Z may turn to generative AI for initial medical advice, that is only one piece of a broader shift. In this conversation, Grace outlines how her generation is redefining health, prevention and trust. Key insights include: Verification Over Blind Trust. Gen Z does not simply accept what it reads online. Grace describes a culture of cross-referencing, double-checking and comparing sources across platforms before acting. Prevention As Identity. Her generation emphasizes whole foods, ingredient awareness and minimizing processed products. Health is considered a long-term lifestyle investment rather than reactive medical intervention. Wearables As Standard Equipment. Smart watches and rings are commonplace. Continuous data on sleep, movement, heart rate and hormonal cycles shape daily decisions and reinforce prevention. Convenience And Cost Sensitivity. Time away from work, co-pays and scheduling delays influence care decisions. If reliable AI-based treatment were available for routine conditions, many Gen Zers would use it immediately. Mental Health As Mainstream. Therapy is normalized. Work-life balance is considered protective, not indulgent. “Mental health days” may frustrate older generations but are viewed as necessary boundaries by younger workers. Skepticism Of Bureaucracy. Insurance complexity is a major frustration. Deductibles, out-of-pocket maximums and opaque pricing create confusion for first-time independent users. Demand For Transparency. Grace compares healthcare to e-commerce: if nearly every other industry offers clear pricing and frictionless purchasing, why not medicine? Alcohol And Cultural Moderation. Among her peers, alcohol consumption is more situational and less habitual. Health-conscious decision-making extends beyond diet and exercise. Education Gaps. Public school health education was limited largely to sex ed and anti-drug messaging. She sees schools as the only scalable venue to improve health literacy nationwide. There’s so much more to this episode. Tune in to find out what the next generation of patients expects from doctors, nurses and healthcare leaders. Helpful links “From TikTok to Telehealth: 3 Ways Medicine Must Evolve to Reach Gen Z” (Fulcrum) “Why younger patients turn away from doctors & toward GenAI” (Fixing Healthcare podcast) “Healthcare Regulators’ Outdated Thinking Will Cost American Lives” (Forbes) “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Doctors and Patients Can Take Back Control of American Medicine” (Pearl’s newest book) * * * Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn. The post FHC #206: What Gen Z expects from healthcare & why it matters appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

In this Unfiltered episode of Fixing Healthcare, hosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr sit down with cardiologist and mindfulness expert Dr. Jonathan Fisher for a wide-ranging conversation on leadership, culture and team performance, inspired by lessons from the movie F1. What begins as a discussion about racing quickly becomes a deep exploration of how high-performing teams operate under pressure. In the movie (and in real Formula 1 racing), success depends not on a single star driver but on flawless coordination, communication and shared accountability. The same, the trio argues, is true in healthcare where patient outcomes increasingly depend on the strength of teams, not individual brilliance. From there, Drs. Pearl and Fisher focus on how leaders are developed, how to handle disruptive personalities, how to align departments and how physicians can prepare for long-term career success in a rapidly changing healthcare landscape that includes the rise of generative AI. Some of the key ideas discussed: Healthcare is a team sport. Like an F1 pit crew, modern medical teams operate in high-stakes, time-sensitive environments. Excellence requires clarity of roles, rehearsal, debriefing and mutual trust not just individual skill. Leadership can be learned. Charisma helps, but effective leadership is less about personality and more about behavior. Empathy, emotional regulation and intentional communication are skills that can be developed with practice. Delivery often matters more than content. Fisher emphasizes the gap between what leaders intend to communicate and what their teams hear. Non-verbal cues (posture, tone, eye contact and “prosody”) often determine whether a message lands. Curiosity over judgment. When faced with disruptive or “toxic” behavior, leaders must stay regulated, address unacceptable actions clearly and then seek to understand the underlying drivers. Culture flows from leadership. If an entire department resists change, the issue often centers on the department’s leader. Alignment requires clarity of values, expectations and consequences … and sometimes difficult conversations. Excellence requires transparency. High-performing organizations define standards, measure outcomes and make performance visible. Coaching and incentives must align with expectations. Physician leaders need training not just promotion. The group discusses how brilliant clinicians are often elevated into leadership roles without preparation, and why formal leadership development is essential for healthcare’s future. Planning for succession matters. Pearl points out that great leaders build a “bench.” Teams should be structured to endure transitions, not collapse when one individual exits. The future of medicine will reward human skills. As generative AI takes on more algorithmic tasks, communication, empathy and leadership will become even more essential competencies for physicians. Throughout the episode, Dr. Fisher reminds listeners that leadership is not about dominance or perfection. It is about presence, self-awareness and the willingness to understand how others think, feel and respond. For more unfiltered conversation, listen to the full episode and explore these related resources: ‘Just One Heart’ (Jonathan Fisher’s newest book) ‘ChatGPT, MD’ (Robert Pearl’s newest book) Monthly Musings on American Healthcare (Robert Pearl’s newsletter) * * * Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple Podcasts or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn. The post FHC #205: What ‘F1’ movie teaches us about leadership in medicine appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

In this week’s episode of Medicine: The Truth, hosts Jeremy Corr and Dr. Robert Pearl examine a sweeping set of developments shaping American healthcare. From the first state-approved use of generative AI to prescribe medications without human oversight to rising healthcare costs, from worsening vaccine misinformation to the stubborn persistence of preventable disease, this show focuses on biggest stories in medicine today. The episode opens with a groundbreaking and controversial pilot program in Utah that allows a generative AI system to renew prescriptions for chronic disease without physician involvement. From there, the conversation turns to the relentless rise in healthcare spending. New federal data show Americans now spend more than $15,700 per person annually on medical care, with costs growing twice as fast as the economy. While insurance coverage remains high for now, Pearl warns that expiring subsidies, Medicaid restrictions and rising premiums are already pushing millions out of coverage. For many families, healthcare affordability has become a top issue and, increasingly, a political fault line heading into the midterm election cycle. Here are more major storylines from MTT episode 103: Exercise as medicine for depression: A large meta-analysis finds that regular exercise can be as effective as antidepressant medication for many patients. Trump’s healthcare plan fades quickly: Pearl explains why the president’s proposal disappeared from the headlines. Measles returns in force: Cases are nearing 1,000 and outbreaks concentrated in under-vaccinated communities. Vaccine battles intensify under RFK Jr.: New appointments to federal advisory committees raise alarm among scientists, as anti-vaccine voices gain influence. Chronic disease remains America’s top killer: Cardiovascular disease continues to claim nearly one million lives annually. Generative AI’s biggest promise: Pearl makes the case that AI-driven, at-home monitoring could finally transform chronic disease management. Cancer trends turn ominous: Colorectal cancer deaths among Americans under 50 are rising sharply, becoming the leading cancer killer in this age group. Genetics vs. lifestyle revisited: New research suggests genetics may account for half of lifespan variation but lifestyle still determines how many of those years are lived in good health. High-deductible health plans: New data show cancer patients with high-deductible insurance have significantly higher mortality. GLP-1 weight-loss pills arrive: The first oral GLP-1 drug launches to record demand. A devastating flu season for children: Despite the availability of safe vaccines, pediatric flu deaths reach alarming levels among unvaccinated kids. As the episode closes, Dr. Pearl delivers a stark warning about the resurgence of pseudoscience in medicine. Tune in for more fact-based coverage and analysis of healthcare’s biggest stories.   * * * Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of the new book “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine” about the impact of AI on the future of medicine. Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn The post MTT #103: Can generative AI safely prescribe medicine on its own? appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

This Diving Deep episode with Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr looks at U.S. healthcare across three time horizons: past, present and future. The hosts use 2025 as a case study in disruption without reform, 2026 as a year of mounting pressure and near-term transition, and the coming decade as a period when generative AI will fundamentally reshape how medicine is practiced. Looking back at 2025 Dr. Pearl argues that despite political upheaval, executive orders, agency shakeups and constant headlines, American healthcare ended the year largely unchanged. Just more expensive and less trusted. He walks through five domains where chaos dominated but improvement failed to materialize. The throughline? Intense disruption produced little structural change in care delivery, affordability or outcomes. Turning to 2026 The conversation shifts from stagnation to pressure. Pearl identifies two forces that make inaction increasingly risky: the midterm elections and accelerating healthcare costs. He outlines how that pressure is likely to shape behavior across the system — not through sweeping reform, but through targeted, politically visible moves. Looking further ahead Pearl describes how generative AI could alter medicine at a profound level, especially through the convergence of AI and surgical robotics. He argues that autonomous surgery, once the realm of science fiction, is now technologically plausible and could upend long-standing hierarchies between cognitive and procedural specialties. Helpful links Healthcare In 2025: A Year Of Chaos, Confusion — But Little Improvement (Forbes) Healthcare In 2026: How Much Change Should We Expect? (Forbes) Will Your Next Surgeon Be A Robot? (Forbes) Monthly Musings on American Healthcare (RobertPearlMD.com) * * * Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine.” Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn. The post FHC #204: Why healthcare chaos didn’t lead to change & what comes next appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

As part of Season 11 of Fixing Healthcare, which spotlights influential voices with large followings and direct insight into how real people experience medicine, Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr welcome back medical historian Dr. Lindsey Fitzharris for her third appearance on the show, this time joined by her husband and creative partner, illustrator Adrian Teal. Together, Lindsey and Adrian bring a rare combination of scholarly depth, storytelling and massive digital reach. Lindsey’s work on medical history has captivated millions across books, television and social platforms, while Adrian’s instantly recognizable art has built a massive following online. Their latest collaboration is the children’s book Dead Ends: Flukes, Flops & Failures That Sparked Medical Marvels, which sits at the center of this wide-ranging and unexpectedly personal conversation. The episode begins with a deceptively simple premise: medicine advances not in straight lines but through failure. Lindsey explains her long-standing fascination with scientific dead ends and why medicine often hides them from public view. Dead Ends, she says, was written to show children (and adults) that changing guidance is not a sign of incompetence, but evidence of learning in real time. Adrian adds that humor, exaggeration and even “gross-out” visuals aren’t just entertainment. They’re how curiosity is sparked and how complex medical ideas become memorable. The discussion unfolds across centuries of medical missteps and breakthroughs. Lindsey and Adrian share favorite stories from the book, including early experiments with galvanism, the guillotine’s unexpected medical legacy and how inventions routinely escape the intentions of their creators. One standout example is Martin Couney, an outsider who used a Coney Island sideshow to fund incubator care for premature infants. His invention would go on to save thousands of lives even though the medical establishment initially dismissed the technology. Shifting from history to the present, Lindsey and Adrian reflect on what past failures teach us about regulation, ethics and risk today. While modern safeguards exist for good reason (many historical experiments exploited vulnerable populations) the group wrestles with how to encourage responsible innovation without freezing progress. They also explore how public trust erodes when scientific uncertainty is poorly communicated, especially in a media environment where misinformation travels faster than nuance. The most personal segment arrives when Lindsey discusses her own breast cancer diagnosis, alongside Adrian’s experience with prostate cancer. Their stories ground the episode firmly in Season 11’s focus on lived experience. For listeners interested in how history, art and personal experience illuminate today’s healthcare debates, this episode offers a vivid reminder that progress is rarely tidy and never inevitable. For more unfiltered conversation, listen to the full episode and explore these helpful links. Helpful links Children’s book: Dead Ends: Flukes, Flops & Failures That Sparked Medical Marvels Book: The Butchering Art Book: The Facemaker ChatGPT, MD (Pearl’s newest book)   * * *   Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn. The post FHC #203: Dead ends, failures & the unlikely path to medical progress appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Dr. Robert Pearl’s latest opinion poll, part of his “Monthly Musings” newsletter, asked readers about their health goals and habits for 2026 (note: studies show most Americans have already quit their resolutions for the year). The result? People want to eat better, workout more and lose weight. And yet, the behaviors that lead to those outcomes are cited as the most difficult things to maintain: good sleep, time management, stress reduction. In this episode, Pearls joins cohost Jeremy Corr and cardiologist and burnout expert Jonathan Fisher for an “Unfiltered” conversation about why so many resolutions, intentions and goals fail. The conversation quickly evolves into an evidence-based exploration of human behavior, motivation and the modern forces working against sustained change. Drawing on psychology, neuroscience and lived experience, the trio explores why knowledge alone rarely changes behavior, how digital environments hijack attention and emotion, and why willpower may be the most overrated concept in self-improvement. Along the way, the conversation touches on doom scrolling, burnout, fear, parenting in a digital age and the quiet erosion of habits that support mental and physical health. The result is a candid and deeply human examination of why change is so hard … and what might actually help. Some of the key ideas discussed: Resolutions don’t fail because people are ignorant or lack willpower. Most people already know what they “should” do to improve their health or happiness. The real challenge is not information, but the gap between intention and action. Willpower is a fragile strategy. The group challenges the idea that success depends on moral strength or discipline. Instead, they emphasize designing environments and systems that make healthy choices easier. Doom scrolling as emotional regulation. Dr. Fisher describes how endless scrolling often isn’t about boredom, but about managing discomfort, anxiety or feeling low. Identity shapes behavior more than goals. Habits are easier to sustain when they align with how people see themselves. Someone who identifies as “an athlete” behaves differently than someone who is merely trying to exercise more. Burnout is both systemic and personal. While organizational pressures matter, Jonathan argues that individual boundaries, values and behavior patterns also play a role in chronic exhaustion and disengagement. Fear is rising. Robbie reflects on the paradox of growing anxiety despite improvements in crime rates, employment and longevity — and points to social isolation as a key driver. Phones are changing how we relate to each other. Jeremy raises the now-familiar sight of groups sitting together while staring at screens. The three discuss what this means for connection, attention and the ability to tolerate boredom, especially for children watching adults model behavior. In classic Unfiltered fashion, the episode resists easy answers. Instead, it invites listeners to rethink how change actually happens: not through sheer determination, but through awareness, structure and a more honest understanding of human nature. For more unfiltered conversation, listen to the full episode and explore these related resources: ‘Just One Heart’ (Jonathan Fisher’s newest book) ‘ChatGPT, MD’ (Robert Pearl’s newest book) Monthly Musings on American Healthcare (Robert Pearl’s newsletter) * * * Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple Podcasts or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn. The post FHC #202: Willpower, doom scrolling & the illusion of control appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

In this week’s episode of Medicine: The Truth, hosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr look closely at the stories and controversies shaping U.S. healthcare at the start of 2026. From a severe flu season and resurgent vaccine-preventable diseases to drug pricing, autism research and the growing role of AI in medicine, the episode offers a data-driven look at where American healthcare is headed. The show opens with warnings about infectious disease. A dangerous H3N2 flu strain is driving hospitalizations, particularly among children, while measles and whooping cough outbreaks continue to spread among unvaccinated populations. To Dr. Pearl, these trends do not appear random. They reflect falling vaccination rates, weakened public-health messaging and growing political interference at federal agencies tasked with protecting the public. From there, the conversation turns to vaccine policy itself. Recent changes at the CDC (including a sharply reduced childhood vaccine schedule and new recommendations against universal newborn hepatitis B vaccination) raise serious concerns. Pearl explains why comparisons to countries like Denmark (with its reduced vaccine schedule) are deeply misleading, and why abandoning universal vaccination in a fragmented U.S. healthcare system risks reversing decades of progress. Here’s a look at other must-know stories from this episode of Medicine: The Truth: Positive vaccine evidence: New CDC data show significant reductions in emergency visits among children who received COVID vaccines, reinforcing their safety and effectiveness. Pandemic lessons for children: Pediatric obesity rose during COVID lockdowns, while mental health outcomes improved after schools reopened, underscoring the tradeoffs of prolonged closures. Drug pricing deals with manufacturers: The administration’s agreements with pharmaceutical companies apply narrowly to government purchases and exclude many high-cost drugs, limiting their overall impact. First oral GLP-1 approved: The FDA cleared the first pill version of a GLP-1 weight-loss drug, offering convenience but likely remaining unaffordable until prices fall closer to $200 per month. Autism research update: Rising autism prevalence is driven largely by broader diagnostic criteria and awareness. Large studies continue to show no link to vaccines or acetaminophen, while new research points to strong genetic factors and distinct autism subtypes. ACA exchange subsidy uncertainty: Congress has yet to prevent looming premium increases for millions of exchange enrollees. Pearl argues for avoiding coverage cliffs and capping household contributions as a share of income. Polypharmacy in seniors: One in eight Medicare Part D beneficiaries now takes eight or more medications, increasing the risk of side effects, falls and hospitalizations in a fragmented system. New dietary guidelines: Federal recommendations now emphasize animal protein alongside stronger warnings against sugar and ultra-processed foods, a shift that may conflict with earlier public-health messaging. AI’s expanding role in healthcare: OpenAI’s tools increasingly integrate health data from electronic records and consumer apps, signaling how quickly generative AI is becoming part of medical decision-making. Medicare and AI oversight: Traditional Medicare is moving toward AI-assisted prior authorization for certain procedures, a response to fraud and low-value care that Pearl says is inevitable as costs continue to rise. Tune in to Medicine: The Truth for more fact-based coverage and analysis of healthcare’s biggest stories. * * * Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of the new book “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine” about the impact of AI on the future of medicine. Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn. The post MTT #102: Vaccines under fire, rising disease & the cost of politics in medicine appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Mark Cuban approaches healthcare the same way he approaches every industry he enters: by assuming something essential is missing and then asking who benefits from keeping it that way. In American medicine, he believes that missing ingredient is transparency. Not better messaging, not smarter incentives, but simple visibility into how prices are set, who gets paid and who gets taken advantage of. Cuban is a lifelong healthcare outsider. He is a billionaire entrepreneur, NBA championship team owner and longtime Shark Tank investor. That’s what makes him the perfect guest for Season 11 of Fixing Healthcare with cohosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. This season’s guests have massive online audiences, but their value isn’t just reach. It’s their ability to listen closely to what millions of patients are experiencing, then translate those insights back into the broader medical conversation. Few guests embody that better than Cuban. He has quickly become one of the system’s most incisive critics by paying attention to what patients, employers and clinicians repeatedly say is broken. That mindset led to the creation of Cost Plus Drugs, a pharmacy built on an idea that sounds radical only because healthcare has drifted so far from it. Show patients the actual cost of a medication, add a flat 15% markup and eliminate the opaque middlemen who thrive in the dark. In this conversation, Cuban explains how a cold email from a physician opened his eyes to how hidden pharmaceutical pricing had become and why opacity itself became the opportunity. HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE INTERVIEW Why drug prices are detached from reality. Cuban breaks down how widely used medications, including GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars per month despite far lower manufacturing costs. The driver, he argues, is not innovation or scarcity, but a system dominated by pharmacy benefit managers whose rebate structures reward insurers and intermediaries while excluding patients. How patients bear the greatest financial harm. With concrete examples, Cuban explains how people in deductible phases, especially those on ACA plans, often pay full retail prices while rebates flow elsewhere. Costs are spread across millions of plan holders, but the financial pain lands on the people who actually need care. Why healthcare’s complexity is intentional. From fax machines to prior authorization delays, Cuban argues that administrative friction is not accidental. It protects incumbents, drains clinician time and forces providers into the role of “subprime lenders,” all while patients struggle to navigate a system designed to obscure accountability. What he tells CEOs behind closed doors. Cuban outlines the first questions he asks corporate leaders about their pharmacy benefits, why most are not receiving the rebates they believe they are and how audits are often structured to reveal as little as possible. Transparency, he says, is the first step toward leverage. A blueprint beyond pharmaceuticals. The discussion extends into hospitals, insurance design and employer-based coverage, including Cuban’s work on cost-plus wellness contracts that publish negotiated rates so others can replicate them. His goal is not dominance. It is forcing the system to respond by making its incentives visible. Throughout the episode, Cuban’s message is blunt and consistent. Healthcare does not need more jargon, better marketing or marginal tweaks. It needs sunlight. Once pricing, incentives and risk are exposed, many of the system’s most entrenched practices become much harder to justify. * * * Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn. The post FHC #201: Mark Cuban’s blunt diagnosis of what’s broken in healthcare appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

In this Diving Deep episode, the 200th of episode of Fixing Healthcare, cohosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr explore three interconnected themes: The biggest driver of America’s healthcare crisis. The transformative (and still largely untapped) potential of generative AI. The strategic leadership physicians must embrace if they hope to regain control of their profession and the care their patients receive. The show opens with a metaphor Pearl has returned to repeatedly in his writing: healthcare’s “invisible gorilla.” Borrowed from classic research on inattentional blindness, the image captures how policymakers, employers and healthcare leaders fixate on insurance mechanics (premiums, subsidies, deductibles) while missing the far larger problem in plain sight: the soaring cost of delivering medical care itself. From there, the conversation traces how this cost crisis ripples across society. Employers struggle to absorb rising premiums. Workers face higher out-of-pocket costs and job instability. Rural hospitals teeter on the edge of closure. And short-term fixes — from benefit design changes to temporary bailouts — fail to address the underlying mathematical problem. The hosts then turn to generative AI, not as a billing or documentation solution, but as a clinical force that could reshape care delivery and tremendously lower costs. They examine how genAI could help clinicians manage exploding medical knowledge, prevent errors, personalize inpatient care and extend high-quality monitoring into patients’ homes, particularly for chronic disease. Finally, the episode widens the lens to leadership and strategy. Drawing lessons from Nvidia and the technology sector, Pearl and Corr explore why medicine’s fragmented, short-term responses have cost physicians influence and what it would take to rebuild leverage through collaboration, accountability and value-based care. Taken together, the episode sets out to answer a defining question: With pressure mounting across the healthcare system, will medicine act strategically or wait until the crisis leaves no other choice? Helpful links What Nvidia Can Teach Doctors About Strategy, Survival (Forbes) 5 Ways GenAI Will Transform Medicine — If Clinicians Embrace It (Forbes) US Healthcare’s Biggest Problem: Overlooking The $5 Trillion Gorilla (Forbes) Monthly Musings on American Healthcare (RobertPearlMD.com) * * * Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine.” Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn. The post FHC #200: Healthcare’s cost crisis, GenAI’s promise + medicine’s leadership gap appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

As 2025 comes to a close, we’re flashing back to one of the year’s most listened-to episodes of Fixing Healthcare. This week, a special reading from Dr. Robert Pearl’s bestselling book “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine.” This encore episode includes audio from Chapter 11, titled “The Road to AI-Empowered Healthcare,” followed by Chapter 11.5, a bold and thought-provoking response written by ChatGPT itself. Together, these chapters offer a vision of the future that, as Jeremy Corr notes, is “analogous to looking at a baby and trying to describe the adult who will follow.” Looking back, it’s striking how prescient both the human author and large language model turned out to be. Their commentary on the economic, political and cultural roadblocks to AI adoption feels more timely than ever, especially amid today’s headlines. In Chapter 11, Pearl lays out the promise of Healthcare 4.0, a future in which generative AI empowers patients and doctors alike to reduce inefficiencies, improve care and reclaim the human side of medicine. Chapter 11.5, penned by ChatGPT, offers a clear-eyed critique, cautioning against overreliance on tech and warning that change requires more than just innovation. It demands leadership. This flashback offers listeners a rare opportunity to hear a dialogue (human and machine) on what it will take to transform American medicine. HELPFUL LINKS ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine (Amazon) A list of Malcolm Gladwell’s 25 book recommendations (link) Robert Pearl’s Monthly Musings on American Healthcare newsletter (link) * * * Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple Podcasts or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn. The post FHC #199: Revisiting ‘The road to AI-empowered healthcare’ from ChatGPT, MD appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

After the Thanksgiving holiday, Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr sit down for an “Unfiltered” discussion about gratitude with cardiologist and burnout expert Dr. Jonathan Fisher. While the discussion begins with an exploration of the science and value of gratitude, the episode then expands into an analysis of cultural trends in medicine, mental health, and the tension between individual autonomy and collective belonging. With insights drawn from emotion research, Jonathan’s own experience, and even sci-fi television, this episode touches on everything from evolutionary psychology to electronic health records — and from Lord of the Rings to generative AI. Some of the key ideas discussed: Gratitude is a mindset, a personality trait and, most importantly, a practice. Drawiong on research from Dr. Barbara Fredrickson and others to explain how gratitude triggers upward emotional spirals, helping people tap into optimism, empathy and self-trust. When life is falling apart, gratitude alone isn’t the answer. In moments of crisis, trying to force a feeling of gratitude can backfire. Instead, we should begin by choosing where to place our attention, cultivating stillness and gradually train our minds to experience positive emotions again. The real enemy of gratitude might be distraction. With much of our attention hijacked by devices, media and negativity bias, Americans today often lack the sustained focus required to feel or express authentic gratitude. There’s wisdom (and warning) in a ‘hive mind.’ The group discusses the Apple TV series Pluribus, in which a virus links humans into a hive mind of total empathy and consensus. While peaceful, the world loses all individuality, sparking a conversation about the tension between belonging and autonomy in medicine, society and self. A lesson from Samwise Gamgee: In a heartfelt final segment, Jeremy draws on Lord of the Rings to reflect on the importance of standing by loved ones in dark times. Jonathan responds with insight into isolation, empathy and the power of human connection — even when people seem lost. For more unfiltered conversation, listen to the full episode and explore these related resources: ‘Just One Heart’ (Jonathan Fisher’s newest book) ‘ChatGPT, MD’ (Robert Pearl’s newest book) Monthly Musings on American Healthcare (Robert Pearl’s newsletter) * * * Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple Podcasts or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn. The post FHC #198: The surprising science of gratitude & the cost of conformity appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

In this week’s episode of Medicine: The Truth, hosts Jeremy Corr and Dr. Robert Pearl examine a wide range of stories shaping American health. From new research on the lifesaving effects of health insurance to troubling vaccine policy changes in Washington, this episode offers an objective and insightful look at what’s working, what’s failing and what lies ahead. The show opens with a study that functions as a natural experiment on health coverage. When the IRS sent letters warning uninsured Americans about Affordable Care Act penalties, researchers found a striking result: those who signed up for insurance had significantly lower mortality over the next two years. For Dr. Pearl, the takeaway is clear. As political battles over insurance subsidies begin, the stakes are measured in lives saved and lives lost. From there, the hosts turn to the second round of Medicare drug price negotiations under the Inflation Reduction Act. Cuts as large as 85% will save billions of dollars, but Pearl warns that negotiating prices alone cannot fix America’s drug-pricing problem. The root issue, he notes, is the ability of manufacturers to extend monopolies for years through patent thickets, evergreening and litigation strategies that delay competition. Until those practices change, the United States will continue paying far more than any other nation. Here are more pressing stories from this month’s episode of Medicine: The Truth: Expiring ACA subsidies: Enhanced marketplace subsidies for 24 million Americans are scheduled to sunset, threatening large premium hikes. Private insurance costs: Covering a family of four now averages $27,000 per year. Employers may shift even more of the burden onto employees. U.S. health spending vs peer nations: America spends nearly $14,000 per person on healthcare, far above any comparable nation, yet underinvests in preventing and managing chronic disease complications. Measles resurgence: Falling vaccination rates and permissive school exemptions have made measles endemic again, with outbreaks in multiple states. Biosimilars and insulin pricing: The FDA plans to streamline biosimilar approvals by focusing on molecular similarity rather than repeated clinical trials. COVID infections during pregnancy: A Massachusetts study of nearly 18,000 births found higher rates of neurodevelopmental diagnoses in children whose mothers had COVID while pregnant. Social media and mental health: In a small study, young adults who reduced daily social media use from two hours to 30 minutes saw sharp drops in anxiety and depression. Obesity trends and GLP-1s: New Gallup data show adult obesity declining slightly from 40% to 37% since 2022, with the largest gains among women ages 40 to 64 (a popular demographic for drugs like Ozempic). Estrogen therapy reconsidered: The FDA has removed its black box warning from estrogen-containing products after new evidence showed substantial cardiovascular, bone and cognitive benefits when started near menopause. As the episode continues, Dr. Pearl highlights fascinating findings on peanut allergies and preterm birth disparities, looks at the likelihood of a severe flu season with the new H3N2 strain and a stern warning about the politicization of vaccine decisions. * * * Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of the new book “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine” about the impact of AI on the future of medicine. All profits from the book go to Doctors Without Borders. Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn The post MTT #101: From measles outbreaks to GLP-1 hype, the data every patient should know appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

The Draper name is synonymous with Silicon Valley risk-taking. For decades, venture capitalist Tim Draper made bold bets on breakthrough technologies long before they went mainstream (see: Bitcoin). Today, two members of the next generation — siblings Jesse and Adam Draper — are directing that same appetite for innovation toward one of America’s most troubled industries: healthcare. Jesse, founding partner at Halogen Ventures, focuses on the “future of family,” backing companies that support women, parents and caregivers (nurses, in particular). Adam, founder of Boost VC, invests in frontier breakthroughs and “sovereign health” technologies with outsized potential. Together, they spend their days reviewing hundreds of pitches from entrepreneurs trying to solve real-world problems. And in this episode, they share what they believe patients and consumers are seeking most. This is Season 11 of Fixing Healthcare, which is dedicated to elevating voices with large public followings: people who, through their work, hear directly from communities, consumers and healthcare professionals. Neither Draper sibling is a healthcare insider. But both bring a candid, outside-in perspective shaped by global innovation, millennial tech culture and thousands of conversations with founders. Across the interview, the siblings highlight what they believe entrepreneurs are betting on: globalized innovation, new regulatory models and technologies that bypass traditional bottlenecks. Adam points to places like Prospera, a special economic zone in Honduras where companies develop treatments they can’t test in the U.S., while Jesse cites early-stage breakthroughs like Kangaroo’s artificial womb and tools that help families piece together trustworthy scientific evidence. Both describe a rising pattern of medical tourism driven by patients who feel the U.S. system is too slow, too fragmented and too expensive. Jesse also delivers the episode’s most memorable moment, describing ChatGPT as a “best friend” she consults for everything from parenting decisions to symptom interpretation. Her approach — asking AI to cite real studies and synthesize global data — reflects a generational shift in how people gather information long before seeing a doctor. In his closing remarks, Dr. Robert Pearl praises their patient-centered instincts while adding the guardrails often missing from Silicon Valley conversations. Innovation can save lives, he notes, but only when safety and cost stay in balance. Excess regulation slows progress, yet unchecked enthusiasm fuels hype and high-priced products that add little value. The central challenge, he argues, is building a healthcare system bold enough to welcome breakthrough ideas and disciplined enough to ensure they improve outcomes and lower costs, not just generate revenue. Helpful links “Japan has created the first artificial womb” (Engineerine) Prospera, Roatán ZEDE (background and news) “Healthcare Regulators’ Outdated Thinking Will Cost American Lives” (Forbes) “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Doctors and Patients Can Take Back Control of American Medicine” (Pearl’s newest book) * * * Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn. The post FHC #197: Artificial wombs & medical tourism – Draper siblings on healthcare’s next wave appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

For this Thanksgiving week, we’re revisiting an important and emotionally charged episode from the first season of “Medicine: The Truth.” = When this episode debuted in 2020, the podcast was called “Coronavirus: The Truth,” which began when readers of Dr. Robert Pearl’s newsletter, “Monthly Musings on American Healthcare,” started asking for much-needed facts and context surrounding the pandemic. It was a moment hard to fathom now. Covid cases were climbing fast, the nation was exhausted and vaccines weren’t yet available. Fear and frustration were everywhere. Five years later, with vaccines protecting all but the most vulnerable, it’s worth remembering just how uncertain and divisive the world felt heading into those holidays. A big question people wanted answered was whether they should change their Thanksgiving plans. Dr. Anthony Fauci had urged Americans to avoid big gatherings. The reaction was immediate and intense. Polls showed three in four people were less excited about the holidays than the year before. Families were fighting over safety. Many felt hopeless and isolated. Against that backdrop, listeners asked the question weighing on millions: Should we gather at all? In this rerun, Dr. Robert Pearl revisits the facts that mattered most at the time: why drug makers were pausing some vaccine and treatment trials, what was happening on college campuses and why premature births had unexpectedly declined during lockdowns. He explains why he expected 500,000 Covid deaths, a number that shocked listeners in 2020 but ultimately proved accurate (by half). The episode also dives into deeper issues that shaped the national mood. Most of all, it captures the anger and divisiveness that blanketed the country. A tension that continues today. There is much our nation can learn today from the experiences of five years ago. This Thanksgiving rerun offers a powerful reminder of where we were and how far we’ve come. * * * Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of the new book “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine” about the impact of AI on the future of medicine. All profits from the book go to Doctors Without Borders. Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn The post FHC #196: Revisiting Thanksgiving 2020 at Covid’s peak appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

This special episode of Unfiltered departs from its usual cadence and lineup as cardiologist Jonathan Fisher is joined this week by his wife, oncologist Dr. Julie Fisher. Together with hosts Jeremy Corr and Dr. Robert Pearl, the group embarks on a candid, unscripted conversation that begins with a literal and metaphorical climb. Julie and Jonathan recount their joint ascent of Mount Everest (Julie’s idea, not Jonathan’s) and then quickly moves into deeper terrain: the persistence of sexism in medicine. In this important conversation, Julie opens up about her experiences as a woman in a field where hierarchy and status remain firmly entrenched. She offers a nuanced yet unflinching account of the barriers she’s faced, from inappropriate comments and dismissiveness to more insidious forms of bias in academic and clinical settings. She describes the pressure to be more nurturing, friendly, likeable and even more accessible to patients than male colleagues. And yet, when it came time to seek a promotion, Julie was told these skills – which were both encouraged and expected – weren’t valued as much as significantly as other skills (namely, getting published in academic medical journals). To this day, these unequal pressures undermine a woman’s ability to lead with authority, to express frustration or to achieve equal footing in the medical profession. Though born from a partnership between husband and wife, this Unfiltered episode invites a broader reckoning in medicine. It is a chance to look closely and honestly at questions of power, perception and equality in American healthcare. For more unfiltered conversation, listen to the full episode and explore these related resources: Breast cancer diagnoses rising fastest among young women (Charlotte Talks interview with Julie Fisher) ‘Just One Heart’ (Jonathan Fisher’s newest book) ‘ChatGPT, MD’ (Robert Pearl’s newest book) Monthly Musings on American Healthcare (Robert Pearl’s newsletter) * * * Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple Podcasts or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn. The post FHC #195: Dr. Julie Fisher on medicine, marriage & misogyny appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

Before TikTok myth-busting and Instagram reels took over the health education space, Dr. Jen Gunter dominated Twitter (now “X”) as medicine’s fiercest advocate for women’s health. Dr. Gunter built a massive following by calling out dangerous pseudoscience, exposing sexism in medicine and championing evidence‑based care. In this flashback episode of Fixing Healthcare, we revisit a standout conversation from Season 5 (air date: March 15, 2021). This one feels especially relevant during the show’s current Season 11, which highlights medical influencers who hear directly from millions of patients and can reflect those concerns and conversations back to us. With more Americans relying on influencers for answers about their bodies, brains and overall health, this rerun brings back the voice of an original myth‑buster: a physician who helped build the very space that others now occupy. Dr. Gunter, a board‑certified OB‑GYN and bestselling author of The Vagina Bible and The Menopause Manifesto, continues to use her platforms to challenge misleading products, expose medical gaslighting and normalize conversations surrounding women’s bodies. Her newest book, Blood: The Science, Medicine, and Mythology of Menstruation, takes aim at decades of cultural myth and medical misinformation about periods with the aim of replacing shame with science. In this episode, she speaks with Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr about: the harm caused by pseudoscience and wellness influencers. the ways sexism shapes the medical system and patient care. why clinicians must fight misinformation as fiercely as disease itself. This timely flashback pairs perfectly with recent Season 11 conversations featuring Dr. Danielle Jones and Dr. Joel Bervell, two leaders in the next generation of medical myth‑busting. Listen to this episode and ask yourself: What has changed in the 4.5 years since Gunter’s original interview? What hasn’t? * * * Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine.” All profits from the book go to Doctors Without Borders. Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on X and LinkedIn. The post FHC #194: A flashback to Dr. Jen Gunter’s fearless fight for truth in women’s health appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

When this podcast launched in March 2020 as Coronavirus: The Truth, hosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr set out to give listeners clear science and accurate analysis during a moment of chaos. Now, 100 episodes later, as Medicine: The Truth, the duo sit down and revisit the most important medical stories of the past five years, explaining what the nation learned, what it didn’t and what urgent questions remain. The episode opens where the show began: the early days of COVID-19, when exponential spread of the virus threatened to overwhelm U.S. hospitals. Pearl walks through the original goals of public-health measures like masking and social distancing. He reflects on what the country got right, what it got wrong, and why communication failures around testing and vaccines deepened distrust that still affects medicine today. But as the crisis evolved, so did the podcast. What began as a weekly pandemic explainer shifted into a broader analysis of why the United States spends more on healthcare than any other wealthy nation, yet it delivers worse outcomes. In this episode, the conversation moves from reflections on the pandemic to a look at some of the show’s longest-running themes: clinician burnout, workforce shortages and a healthcare system struggling to meet rising demand. Alongside the difficult news that lingers in American healthcare, episode 100 also highlights genuine progress: breakthroughs against Alzheimer’s and colon cancer, advances in prevention and diagnosis, and a growing role for generative AI. Pearl explains how GenAI could save hundreds of thousands of lives, reduce medical errors, increase healthcare affordability and alleviate clinician burnout. But, none of this will happen unless the financial incentives shift away from fee-for-service and toward value. Pearl closes with a simple message: crises will return, and science can save lives. However, success will require Americans to follow the research rather than be distracted by politics. To prepare for the next pandemic, he argues that the nation must better control chronic disease, rely on scientifically validated clinical evidence, and reward superior clinical outcomes, rather than simply the volume of care provided. The first 100 episodes of what is now Medicine: The Truth serve as clear and powerful reminders of the dedication and courage of doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals. But they also warn of how easy it can be for the American healthcare system to lose its way. * * * Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of the new book “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine” about the impact of AI on the future of medicine. All profits from the book go to Doctors Without Borders. Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn The post MTT #100: From COVID-19 to ChatGPT, a close look at the last 5 years    appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.

In this Diving Deep episode of Fixing Healthcare, cohosts Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr examine two pressing topics: the hidden causes of patient mistrust in doctors and the top reasons healthcare startups fall short. The episode begins with a striking question: Why don’t Americans trust their doctors anymore? For most of the past century, physicians were among the most trusted professionals in America. But recent Gallup data reveals that just 44% of Americans now rate their care as “good” or “excellent,” and trust in physicians’ honesty and ethics has fallen to its lowest level in over 20 years. While COVID-19 and political division may seem like obvious culprits, Pearl traces the real cause to an inflection point back more than two decades ago. That’s when medicine’s greatest challenge shifted from treating short-term illnesses to managing chronic diseases, conditions that require time, coordination and repeated follow-up. Instead of adapting, the system stagnated. Doctors remained siloed in fee-for-service models that reward volume over outcomes. Insurers rationed access. Appointments became harder to get. Visits were rushed. Misdiagnoses rose. And patients began to feel abandoned. In the second half of the episode, the hosts turn to the topic of healthcare innovation and why so many startups fail to live up to their promise. Despite record funding, the graveyard of failed startups keeps growing. Pearl outlines the five most common pitfalls but also offers hope. Startups that understand patient needs, partner with clinicians and understand the system’s reimbursement models can still succeed. HELPFUL LINKS The Hidden Reason For Americans’ Declining Trust In Their Doctors (Forbes) How To Avoid 5 Common Mistakes Healthcare Startups Make (Forbes) Monthly Musings on American Healthcare (Robert Pearl’s newsletter) * * * Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine.” All profits from the book go to Doctors Without Borders. Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn. The post FHC #193: What’s fueling medical mistrust & why startups fail appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.