1759267211
Lifers with Christina Farr

Advertise on podcast: Lifers with Christina Farr

Rating
★★★★★
4.8
from
25 reviews
This podcast has
93 episodes
Language
English
Explicit
No
Date created
2024/07/25
Latest episode
2026/10/21
Average duration
55 min.
Release period
5 days

Description

Veteran journalist, investor, and Second Opinion Media founder Chrissy Farr talks with the CEOs and founders who've been in the trenches long enough to know that healthcare doesn't move at startup speed. These aren't the entrepreneurs chasing quick exits—they're the "lifers" who understand that building in healthcare requires endless pivots, regulatory navigation, and decade-long timelines. No hype, just honest conversations about what it really takes. Each episode explores healthcare innovation, startup strategy, medical technology and AI, health system transformation, and investment insights from operators who've navigated regulatory challenges, clinical trials, reimbursement complexities, and the unique dynamics of the healthcare industry.

Unlock Lifers with Christina Farr podcast Email contact info,
Listeners & Audience details

Email contact information

Direct podcast contact details

Listeners

Audience numbers & engagement insights

Audience details

Podcast Insights

Podcast episodes

Check latest episodes from Lifers with Christina Farr podcast


A hospital AI deal done in under two months | Dr. Ilya Burkov, Nebius & Thomas Knox, VitVio
2026/10/21
Dr. Ilya Burkov, Global Head of Scientific AI and Healthcare at Nebius, and Thomas Knox, Co-founder and CEO of VitVio, join Christina Farr to talk about why AI companies are crowding into healthcare and what it takes to actually get adopted. Thomas explains how VitVio’s ambient sensing in the operating room can hear a drill before it fails, and why he thinks decades of consolidation and early acquisitions have kept healthcare a step behind. Ilya makes the case that healthcare is AI’s best-case argument, not its scariest, and that what made AI scribes finally take off was the infrastructure underneath them. —Thanks to Nebius who facilitated this conversation. Nebius, the AI cloud company, is building the full-stack platform for developers and companies to take charge of their AI future — from data and model training to production deployment. Founded on deep in-house technological expertise and operating at scale with a rapidly expanding global footprint, Nebius serves startups and enterprises building AI products, agents, and services worldwide. Nebius is listed on Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NBIS) and headquartered in Amsterdam. —Lifers is brought to you by: Hippocratic AIHippocratic AI builds safety-focused voice AI agents that call the patients health systems don’t have the staff to reach, with more than 250 million patient interactions to date. Learn more at hippocraticai.com. Learn more at hippocraticai.com and watch the Lifers episode with Hippocratic AI CEO Munjal Shah: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUACDfWRddM  —Join Christina for upcoming webinars:• 10/28 - Type 2 Diabetes & Cardiometabolic Care: Wearables, AI & GLP-1s https://streamyard.com/watch/uAuwCzUEJTCF • 11/3 - Is It Finally the Moment for Alternative Plan Design? https://streamyard.com/watch/ereM3aB58XK4  —LINKS: Nebius, Life Sciences & Healthcare: https://nebius.com/solutions/life-sciences-and-healthcare VitVio: https://www.vitvio.com Nebius AI Discovery Awards (VitVio placed 2nd in Digital Health): https://nebius.com/newsroom/nebius-celebrates-healthcare-and-life-sciences-innovators-at-expanded-ai-discovery-awards CommonSpirit on transitioning off Conifer’s revenue cycle services: https://www.commonspirit.org/news-articles/commonspirit-to-transition-conifer-revenue-cycle-services Chrissy Farr on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LiferswithChristinaFarr Chrissy Farr on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cfarr/ Subscribe to the Second Opinion Newsletter: https://secondopinion.media/ Chrissy’s Book: The Storyteller's Advantage: https://www.chrissyfarr.com/books  —FOLLOW:Ilya:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilyaburkov/ https://x.com/ilyaburkov  Thomas:https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-knox/  Chrissy:https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinafarr/ https://x.com/chrissyfarr  Second Opinion Media:https://www.instagram.com/second.opinion.media/ https://x.com/second_op_media —TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Lead in(01:03) Meet Dr. Ilya Burkov and Thomas Knox(02:27) AI momentum in hospitals(04:11) VitVio OR vision(05:50) Founder origin story(08:15) Capturing OR context(09:19) Safety guardrails for AI(11:03) Predictive OR automation(14:40) Prevention and biomarkers(16:47) Incentives shape AI(18:57) Efficiency and trust(25:27) Clinician-led adoption(33:29) Infrastructure enables scale(35:47) Hospital leverage and contracts(37:29) Consolidation vs competition(47:33) Committees and market noise(54:02) AI becomes invisible(55:38) Wrap
Rounds: The Mental Health Moment
2026/10/20
In Episode 6 of Rounds: The Mental Health Moment, Christina Farr and Stephanie Davis break down the latest healthcare headlines, then dig into the mental health space with Jake Cooper, CEO and Co-Founder of Grow Therapy, and Jon Cohen, CEO of Talkspace. We'll cover: The latest headlines: CommonSpirit exiting its Conifer contract for $1.9B, Waystar exploring options including a sale, the rally in AI drug discovery names, and Neuberger and KKR investing in Datavant alongside New Mountain Capital How Grow Therapy differentiated from incumbents, what's next after its $150M Series D at a $3B valuation, and how it scales to 27,000+ providers without losing quality and continuity of care Where AI belongs in mental health care, from cutting provider documentation time by ~70% to the clinical relationship itself Why 73% of adults who knew they needed care skipped it, and why traditional EAPs leave employers needing a connected path instead of a cliff Talkspace's road from SPAC to UHS subsidiary, including the pivot from a D2C subscription app to a payor-based, in-network model What day one inside a hospital system looks like, and what the UHS deal signals about consolidation vs. staying independent Timestamps: (0:00) Intro (0:41) Conifer layoffs and the insourcing trend (3:10) Waystar explores a sale (5:42) AI drug discovery stocks rally (7:47) Datavant investment (9:35) Healthcare is investors' top underweight (12:28) Jake Cooper, CEO of Grow Therapy (16:03) Why Jake started Grow (19:25) Growth vs. profitability (21:41) Staying independent (23:36) The employer market and Amazon (26:55) Jon Cohen, CEO of Talkspace (29:17) Consolidation in healthcare (29:55) Inside the UHS deal (32:49) 1099 vs. W2 therapists (36:10) 100M people a week talk to AI about mental health (37:43) How Talkspace got acquired (39:46) Bonus: AI and mental health with both CEOs (41:58) How do we regulate mental health AI? (48:05) Who pays for it? (49:58) Text or voice? (51:12) Will AI make therapists busier? (54:16) Wrap-up Hosts and Guests: Christina Farr, CEO, Second Opinion; GP, Scrub Capital Stephanie Davis, Healthcare Industry Analyst Jake Cooper, CEO and Co-Founder of Grow Therapy Jon Cohen, CEO of Talkspace Sponsored by Silicon Valley Bank.
Surviving the digital therapeutics graveyard—and thriving | David Benshoof Klein, Click Therapeutics
2026/10/13
Christina Farr talks with David Benshoof Klein, Founder and CEO of Click Therapeutics, days after the FDA cleared Motivista, the first authorized treatment for the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. They discuss why so many digital therapeutics companies failed, and why an FDA-authorized app still has to fight for the coverage a drug would get automatically. David also explains why he thinks AI tools, not pharma sales reps, may be what puts treatments like Motivista in front of doctors.—SPONSOR:Click Therapeutics builds medical-grade patient software across digital therapeutics, software-enhanced drugs, wellness & wearables, and AI-enabled interventions. Its platform offers a library of 100+ validated modules backed by rigorous clinical testing, bringing biotech rigor to any condition with a neurological or behavioral component.To learn more about Click: https://www.clicktherapeutics.com/ To learn more about Motivista: https://www.motivista.com/—Join Christina for upcoming webinars:10/13 - Verifying AI in Medicine: Is Healthcare AI Actually Ready for Deployment? https://streamyard.com/watch/GwsSXwdikhMw 10/28 - Type 2 Diabetes & Cardiometabolic Care: Wearables, AI & GLP-1s https://streamyard.com/watch/uAuwCzUEJTCF 11/3 - Is It Finally the Moment for Alternative Plan Design? https://streamyard.com/watch/ereM3aB58XK4 —LINKS:FDA clears Motivista (CT-155): https://www.clicktherapeutics.com/news/fda-clears-motivista-ct-155-the-first-therapeutic-indicated-for-the-treatment-of-the-negative-symptoms-of-schizophrenia CT-132, Click’s episodic migraine program: https://www.clicktherapeutics.com/products/ct-132 FDA draft guidance, Regulatory Considerations for Prescription Drug Use-Related Software (PDURS): https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidance-documents/regulatory-considerations-prescript ion-drug-use-related-software Click acquires Better Therapeutics’ assets, 2024: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240522194752/en/Click-Therapeutics-Accelerates-Expansion-into-Obesity-and-Cardiometabolic-Disease-With-Acquisition-of-the-Assets-of-Better-Therapeutics-Inc  Chrissy Farr on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LiferswithChristinaFarr Chrissy Farr on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cfarr/ Subscribe to the Second Opinion Newsletter: https://secondopinion.media/ Chrissy’s Book: The Storyteller's Advantage: https://www.chrissyfarr.com/books  —FOLLOW:David:https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbklein/ Chrissy:https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinafarr/ https://x.com/chrissyfarr Second Opinion Media:https://www.instagram.com/second.opinion.media/ https://x.com/second_op_media —TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Lead in(00:30) Intro(01:46) First for schizophrenia(02:20) What digital therapeutics means(04:01) Software treats disease(05:35) Drugs plus software(06:55) Negative symptoms explained(09:56) Designing adaptive goals(13:50) Safety and autonomy(16:03) Generative AI in care(22:48) Regulation and evidence(26:55) Digital therapeutics graveyard(27:51) Digital therapeutics graveyard(28:40) Why programs fail evidence(29:38) Click survival playbook(30:50) Commercialization and coverage(31:46) Pharma launch gap(33:42) AI driven prescribing wave(36:37) FDA guidance and pharma cycles(40:56) Pricing value and access(43:48) Hiring for scrappy commercial(46:38) Future of venture and consumers(51:31) OTC migraine and AI assistants(53:42) Text messaging engagement engine(55:15) Wrap
Healthcare runs a 1980s model in 2026 | Aaron Miri, Baptist Health
2026/10/09
Christina Farr sits down with Aaron Miri, Executive Vice President and Chief Digital & Innovation Officer, Baptist Health, to talk about where AI is changing how a health system runs, and where liability, privacy law and payer friction still slow it down. Aaron explains why Baptist hasn’t hired a help desk agent in over 18 months and why he thinks AI will replace future hiring more than current roles. He also makes the case for a universal patient identifier, calling it the “primary key” AI in healthcare is missing.—Join Christina for upcoming webinars:10/8 - Why Are Hospitals Hiring Chief AI Officers? https://streamyard.com/watch/VjvVZiDN8ZMH 10/13 - Verifying AI in Medicine: Is Healthcare AI Actually Ready for Deployment? https://streamyard.com/watch/GwsSXwdikhMw 10/28 - Type 2 Diabetes & Cardiometabolic Care: Wearables, AI & GLP-1s https://streamyard.com/watch/uAuwCzUEJTCF 11/3 - Is It Finally the Moment for Alternative Plan Design? https://streamyard.com/watch/ereM3aB58XK4 —LINKS: Nature Medicine study comparing general-purpose LLMs with clinical AI tools: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-026-04431-5 Utah’s AI prescription renewal pilot (Doctronic agreement): https://ai.utah.gov/agreements/doctronic/ NHS Spine: https://digital.nhs.uk/services/spine HITAC: https://www.healthit.gov/hitac/committees/health-information-technology-advisory-committee-hitac  Chrissy Farr on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LiferswithChristinaFarr Chrissy Farr on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cfarr/ Subscribe to the Second Opinion Newsletter: https://secondopinion.media/ Chrissy’s Book: The Storyteller's Advantage: https://www.chrissyfarr.com/books —FOLLOW:Aaron:https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronmiri/ https://x.com/AaronMiri  Chrissy:https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinafarr/ https://x.com/chrissyfarr  Second Opinion Media:https://www.instagram.com/second.opinion.media/ https://x.com/second_op_media —TIMESTAMPS: (00:00) Lead in(00:29) Intro(01:22) ER experience breakdown(03:39) Fixing intake friction(06:26) Clinical AI shortcuts(10:04) Liability and tort reform(14:04) Universal patient ID debate(20:54) Patients versus clinician AI(24:50) Automation and admin jobs(27:42) Automation shrinks back office(29:18) Claims and same day payment(33:20) Cutting costs without knee jerks(35:50) Profit pools and public programs(39:06) Ending payer provider resentment(43:57) Free markets and funding innovation(46:45) Paying for clinical AI(48:26) Good enough AI in practice(50:59) AI risk versus status quo(53:03) Wrap
Rounds: Take the Money and R1, Megan Scheffel, Dan Bise, and Jeremy Friese
2026/10/01
In Episode 5 of Rounds, Stephanie Davis and Christina Farr break down the latest healthcare headlines — including Oura's step toward an IPO with its S-1 filing revealing $1.4 billion in revenue, and a former Anthropic researcher's warning to the BBC that AI staff are "genuinely frightened" for humanity's future — before sitting down with Megan Scheffel, Head of Life Science and Healthcare at SVB, Dan Bise, Executive Vice President of Strategy & Corporate Development at R1, and Jeremy Friese, CEO and Founder of Humata Health. We'll cover: Oura's S-1 filing and what it signals about the company's path to IPO Key takeaways from SVB's Healthcare Investments and Exits report — including why fewer specialized funds (not less capital) are driving the fundraising slowdown, why deal volume hit a multiyear low even as total dollars held steady, and why investors are increasingly rewarding proven commercial viability over pure technology hype The diverging exit landscape between biopharma (a record M&A year driven by looming patent cliffs) and healthtech (strong IPO performance, but few companies actually going public) How blurring lines between Dx/Tools, device, and biopharma are reshaping where capital flows The thesis behind CD&R and TowerBrook's take-private of R1, and the company's shift from tech-enabled services to a true AI-native, technology-first approach to automating the healthcare revenue cycle R1's first two acquisitions, Phare Health and Humata Health, and how Humata's prior authorization platform fills a key gap in R1's strategy to reduce downstream payer denials Dan Bise's investment approach — from setting strategy to evaluating the competitive landscape to aligning investors and the Board — and how it mirrors a thesis-driven, PE-style playbook Jeremy Friese's perspective as Humata's founder on what set R1 apart from other potential acquirers, and what convinced him to sell Hosts and Guests: Christina Farr, CEO, Second Opinion; GP, Scrub Capital Stephanie Davis, Healthcare Industry Analyst Megan Scheffel, Head of Life Science and Healthcare at SVB Dan Bise, EVP, Strategy and Corporate Development at R1 Jeremy Friese, Founder and CEO of Humata Health Sponsored by Silicon Valley Bank.
Doctors demand tech. Nurses should too | Mary Varghese Presti, Microsoft
2026/09/29
Mary Varghese Presti, Corporate Vice President and COO, Microsoft Health & Life Sciences, started her career as a pediatric nurse. She joins Christina Farr to talk about why she wants nurses to demand technology the way physicians do, and what AI has to prove before it's trusted on the clinical side. They get into why nurses have nobody to delegate to, Microsoft's work with Stanford on an agentic tumor board aimed at treatment decisions in days rather than weeks, and her pick between GLP-1s and AI at one, five and ten years. —Join Christina for upcoming webinars:10/8 - Why Are Hospitals Hiring Chief AI Officers? https://streamyard.com/watch/VjvVZiDN8ZMH 10/13 - Verifying AI in Medicine: Is Healthcare AI Actually Ready for Deployment? https://streamyard.com/watch/GwsSXwdikhMw 10/28 - Type 2 Diabetes & Cardiometabolic Care: Wearables, AI & GLP-1s https://streamyard.com/watch/uAuwCzUEJTCF 11/3 - Is It Finally the Moment for Alternative Plan Design? https://streamyard.com/watch/ereM3aB58XK4 —LINKS: Microsoft Dragon Copilot: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/health-solutions/clinical-workflow/dragon-copilot Healthcare Agent Orchestrator: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-cloud/blog/healthcare/2025/05/19/developing-next-generation-cancer-care-management-with-multi-agent-orchestration/ "Nursing Is the Surefire New Path to American Prosperity.": https://www.asrn.org/journal-nursing/3467-nursing-is-the-surefire-new-path-to-american-prosperity.html Lifers episode with Peter Lee: https://youtu.be/lxWYV1rNqR4  Chrissy Farr on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LiferswithChristinaFarr Chrissy Farr on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cfarr/ Subscribe to the Second Opinion Newsletter: https://secondopinion.media/ Chrissy’s Book: The Storyteller's Advantage: https://www.chrissyfarr.com/books  —FOLLOW:Mary:https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryvarghese/ https://x.com/MaryVPresti  Chrissy:https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinafarr/ https://x.com/chrissyfarr  Second Opinion Media:https://www.instagram.com/second.opinion.media/ https://x.com/second_op_media  —TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Lead in(00:32) Intro(02:08) AI in healthcare hits scale(03:40) Why nursing is the next frontier(05:24) The LLM lightbulb moment(07:35) From hype to pragmatism(11:28) Nurses fear and job security(15:02) Admin bloat and incentives(18:24) Burnout and nursing documentation(20:55) Agentic workflows at the bedside(25:42) Caregiving and consumer copilots(30:20) Learning to trust AI answers(34:28) Clinical AI trust and regulation(39:35) AI and expanding disease definitions(44:22) How AI could reshape care teams(51:41) One five ten year predictions(52:45) Wrap
Healthcare AI works best on jobs no one thought to do | Hippocratic AI CEO Munjal Shah
2026/09/17
Christina Farr sits down with Munjal Shah, Co-founder and CEO, Hippocratic AI, to ask whether clinical AI will shrink healthcare's workforce, and who is on the hook when it makes a mistake. Munjal explains his Copilot, Autopilot, and Infinite Pilot framework, and why the use cases that have worked best are ones healthcare never thought to try, like calling 50,000 people during a New York heat wave. He also walks through a lung cancer screening outreach that he says found three cancers for $1,700 in AI costs. Dive into the Granola notes from this episode: https://notes.granola.ai/t/4789bb35-2eae-443a-b661-87336b480365-009c2hma —SPONSOR: Granola If meetings are eating up your day, Granola is a no-brainer. You can try it totally free - just head to https://granola.ai/LIFERS  —Join Christina for upcoming webinars:9/17 - Top Employers Share What Healthcare Startups Need to Know in 2026 - https://www.secondopinion.media/employers-as-healthcare-purchasers-how-startups-can-break-in/ 9/22 - Where are AI Agents Actually Working in Healthcare, and Why? - https://streamyard.com/watch/42HnpJFgxNT4 9/24 - Healthcare AI Has an ROI Problem - https://www.secondopinion.media/ama-with-aaron-miri/ 10/8 - Why Are Hospitals Hiring Chief AI Officers? - https://streamyard.com/watch/VjvVZiDN8ZMH —LINKS: Dr. John Whyte & Zeke Emanuel on Lifers: https://youtu.be/WTnZ6W7qsLQ Hippocratic AI: https://hippocraticai.com/ "Will Autonomous AI Exceed AI-Aided Physicians as the Best Medical Care?" on JAMA: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2852952 Taking doctors out of the AI loop (on Second Opinion): https://www.secondopinion.media/taking-doctors-out-of-the-ai-loop/ Orca paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.02707  Chrissy Farr on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LiferswithChristinaFarr Chrissy Farr on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cfarr/ Subscribe to the Second Opinion Newsletter: https://secondopinion.media/ Chrissy’s Book: The Storyteller's Advantage: https://www.chrissyfarr.com/books  —FOLLOW:Munjal:https://www.linkedin.com/in/munjalshah747/ https://x.com/munjalshah  Chrissy:https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinafarr/ https://x.com/chrissyfarr  Second Opinion Media:https://www.instagram.com/second.opinion.media/ https://x.com/second_op_media  —TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Lead in(00:42) Intro(01:51) AI extinction panic weekend(04:47) Healthcare as AI risk target(06:56) Hippocratic safety system(09:20) Avoiding the AI doctor trap(12:34) Sponsor: Granola(13:33) Liability and taking responsibility(16:08) Building redundancy and clinical team(18:30) Will AI shrink healthcare jobs(20:38) Infinite Pilot ROI examples(26:41) Business traction and growth metrics(31:53) Simple pricing per minute(34:36) Fixing AI PR with specifics(40:06) Wrap
Miriam Paramore on becoming a caregiver and the $500 gap that kept her father off Medicaid
2026/09/15
SHOW NOTES Miriam Paramore, Founder and CEO of RxUtility, joins Christina Farr for a conversation that moves from caregiving for aging parents to the hidden economics of American healthcare. Miriam, who has spent over 40 years in health tech and finance, argues that AI won't fix rural health's transportation and staffing gaps, that hospitals should redeploy billing staff into home care roles instead of cutting them, and that pharmacist gag laws keep patients from ever learning a drug's real cash price (in one case, $2.18 versus a $10 copay for the same generic). Miriam also pushes to get women talking openly about money, deal flow, and investing, the same way men already do. Dive into the Granola notes from this episode: —SPONSOR: Granola If meetings are eating up your day, Granola is a no-brainer. You can try it totally free - just head to https://granola.ai/LIFERS  —Join Christina for upcoming webinars:9/17 - Top Employers Share What Healthcare Startups Need to Know in 2026 - https://www.secondopinion.media/employers-as-healthcare-purchasers-how-startups-can-break-in/ 9/22 - Where are AI Agents Actually Working in Healthcare, and Why? - https://streamyard.com/watch/42HnpJFgxNT4 9/24 - Healthcare AI Has an ROI Problem - https://www.secondopinion.media/ama-with-aaron-miri/ 10/8 - Why Are Hospitals Hiring Chief AI Officers? - https://streamyard.com/watch/VjvVZiDN8ZMH —LINKS: RxUtility: http://rxutility.com/ WBL, Women Business Leaders of the US Health Care Industry: https://www.wbl.org/  Chrissy Farr on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LiferswithChristinaFarr Chrissy Farr on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cfarr/ Subscribe to the Second Opinion Newsletter: https://secondopinion.media/ Chrissy’s Book: The Storyteller's Advantage: https://www.chrissyfarr.com/books  —FOLLOW:Miriam:https://www.linkedin.com/in/miriamparamore/ https://x.com/mparamore  Chrissy:https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinafarr/ https://x.com/chrissyfarr  Second Opinion Media:https://www.instagram.com/second.opinion.media/ https://x.com/second_op_media  —TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Lead in(00:34) Intro(02:25) Sandwich generation caregiving(03:32) Rural health reality check(07:21) Human care vs AI hype(10:38) Redeploying rev cycle labor(17:37) Value based care skepticism(21:08) Sponsor: Granola(21:54) Cutting admin friction(24:41) Incentives and who loses(28:02) Rise of cash healthcare(30:44) Universal basics and deductibles(32:13) Concierge and telehealth wins(33:26) Opting out with DPC(35:01) Health systems missed UX(35:46) Cash care and HIPAA(37:32) Drug pricing blind spots(39:39) Cash prices and savings(40:41) Who to trust navigating(43:48) Consumerism and AI future(46:01) Women talking money(51:15) Investing in friends(57:25) Mentorship and rejection(58:25) Where to find Miriam(59:03) Wrap
Healthcare AI needs humans | Microsoft's Peter Lee & Seattle Children's Chris Longhurst
2026/09/08
Christina Farr sits down with Peter Lee, President of Microsoft Science, and Dr. Christopher Longhurst, the new CEO of Seattle Children's, to take stock of where AI in healthcare actually stands versus where the headlines say it is. They get into why ambient scribes still haven't produced a clean financial win, Chris's prediction that within three to five years a physician assistant augmented by AI may practice at the level of the best general pediatrician, and the three Cs he argues will keep humans in the loop: competence, communication, and character. Peter closes on the risk he worries about most, which is people using AI to hide from accountability on consequential decisions. Dive into the Granola notes from this episode: https://notes.granola.ai/t/54b78860-bad6-4057-afa8-0d61fe4750c0-009c2hma —SPONSOR: Granola If meetings are eating up your day, Granola is a no-brainer. You can try it totally free - just head to https://granola.ai/LIFERS  —Join Christina for upcoming webinars:9/17 - Top Employers Share What Healthcare Startups Need to Know in 2026 - https://www.secondopinion.media/employers-as-healthcare-purchasers-how-startups-can-break-in/ 9/22 - Where are AI Agents Actually Working in Healthcare, and Why? - https://streamyard.com/watch/42HnpJFgxNT4 9/24 - Healthcare AI Has an ROI Problem - https://www.secondopinion.media/ama-with-aaron-miri/ —LINKS: Compared with What? Measuring AI against the Health Care We Have: https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMp2404691 Why are humans still in the loop with advancing AI capabilities?: https://bmjdigitalhealth.bmj.com/content/2/1/e000057  Chrissy Farr on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LiferswithChristinaFarr Chrissy Farr on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cfarr/ Subscribe to the Second Opinion Newsletter: https://secondopinion.media/ Chrissy’s Book: The Storyteller's Advantage: https://www.chrissyfarr.com/books  —FOLLOW:Peter:https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterlee4/ https://x.com/peteratmsr  Chris:https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrislonghurst/ https://x.com/CALonghurst  Chrissy:https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinafarr/ https://x.com/chrissyfarr  Second Opinion Media:https://www.instagram.com/second.opinion.media/ https://x.com/second_op_media —TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Lead in(00:28) Intro(01:23) A massive moment(04:01) Red pill ER reality(06:12) Mission control and upskilling(07:13) Tech leaders as CEOs(09:27) Ambient scribes and costs(13:43) Hierarchy versus efficiency(15:23) Full stack healthcare workforce(18:09) Sponsor: Granola(18:55) Rethinking training and roles(21:36) Bending the back office curve(23:12) Admin jobs and AI skills(27:50) Self driving cars benchmarking(30:11) AI exceptionalism and agents(32:59) Autonomy in clinical care(36:25) Humans in the loop(39:27) Accountability and responsibility(41:37) Frontier models beat specialists(46:35) Workflow interoperability and wrap(47:53) Wrap
Price in healthcare is market share, not quality | Nick Reber, Garner Health CEO
2026/09/01
Nick Reber, Founder and CEO, Garner Health talks with Chrissy about why the most consequential decision in healthcare, which doctor you actually see, is the one patients have the least information about. After four spine surgeries for a problem that turned out to be in his neck, Nick left Bridgewater, spent time on the leadership team at Oscar Health, and started Garner to put physician performance data and financial incentives in front of employees. They get into the 4x variation in complication rates between the best and worst quartile of doctors inside the same brand-name hospital system, why price in healthcare tracks market share rather than quality, and what happened when he brought that data to large academic medical centers while building provider networks at the health plan. Dive into the Granola notes from this episode: https://notes.granola.ai/t/3487c811-86da-4c10-a79d-27d21625e2c7-009c2hma —SPONSOR: Granola If meetings are eating up your day, Granola is a no-brainer. You can try it totally free - just head to granola.ai/LIFERS —LINKS: Garner Health: https://garnerhealth.com Garner's Series E: https://garnerhealth.com/blog/ai-will-fix-healthcare-but-it-needs-help ProPublica Surgeon Scorecard: https://projects.propublica.org/surgeons/ Nick Reber, Sequoia founder profile: https://sequoiacap.com/founder/nick-reber/  Chrissy Farr on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LiferswithChristinaFarr Chrissy Farr on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cfarr/ Subscribe to the Second Opinion Newsletter: https://secondopinion.media/ Chrissy’s Book: The Storyteller's Advantage: https://www.chrissyfarr.com/books  —FOLLOW:Nick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickreber/ https://x.com/nickpreber  Chrissy:https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinafarr/ https://x.com/chrissyfarr  Second Opinion Media:https://www.instagram.com/second.opinion.media/ https://x.com/second_op_media  —TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Lead in(00:33) Intro(00:54) Meet Nick Reber(01:43) Patient origin story(04:32) Bridgewater lessons(07:30) Startup mindset(09:53) Why healthcare wins(15:28) Sponsor: Granola(16:15) What Garner does(20:45) Doctor quality variation(22:21) Cost versus quality(24:40) Why plans cannot share(27:03) Employer system origins(32:24) Fixing incentives(34:46) Should data be public(37:25) Quiet unicorn growth(39:11) Selling through brokers(42:40) Future plan designs(46:41) AI and team structure(51:06) Wrap
Rounds: The EHR is Dead, Long Live the EHR, Sam Toole and Sonia Millsom
2026/08/27
In Episode 4 of Rounds: Where Healthcare Meets Wall Street, Christina Farr and Stephanie Davis break down the latest healthcare and AI headlines before sitting down with Sam Toole, Partner at Primary Venture Partners, and Sonia Millsom, CEO of Oxeon.  We'll cover: The latest healthcare and AI market news, including what happened with Situational Awareness, Doctronic’s acquisition of Summer Health, Teladoc’s shifting outlook, and Waystar’s recent stock decline. How EHR giants like Epic, Oracle, and Microsoft will fare in the AI era — and whether VC-backed startups can truly disrupt the incumbents. What Sam Toole sees as the biggest opportunities and areas of conviction for early-stage healthcare investors in an increasingly AI-driven market. Epic’s recent leadership departures and what they could signal about succession planning at one of healthcare’s most influential companies. Sonia Millsom’s take on Epic’s recent leadership departures, what they signal about succession planning, and what healthcare boards should look for when evaluating their next generation of leaders. What effective succession planning looks like, why boards often rely on the wrong kind of pattern recognition when evaluating leaders, and what healthcare companies should prioritize instead. Hosts and Guests: Christina Farr, CEO, Second Opinion; GP, Scrub Capital Stephanie Davis, Healthcare Industry Analyst Sam Toole, Partner at Primary Venture Partners Sonia Millsom, CEO at Oxeon Sponsored by Silicon Valley Bank.
White-collar work has no immunological protection | Eric Larsen, TowerBrook Advisors
2026/08/25
This week on Lifers, Christina Farr is joined by Eric Larsen, President of TowerBrook Advisors and President Emeritus of the Advisory Board, argues that the shift of GDP from labor to capital is already underway, and that healthcare, the most labor-intensive sector in the US economy, will not be the laggard everyone assumes. They get into the $2.9 trillion of healthcare spending that goes to labor, why white-collar work turns out to have no union protection at exactly the moment white-collar work is what gets automated, and what he calls the Orwellian conspiracy of silence on job dislocation. Dive into the Granola notes from this episode: https://notes.granola.ai/t/405c9b0e-a70e-42ec-82b8-b34cc24303d2-008umkv4  —SPONSORS: Granola & Baker Health If meetings are eating up your day, Granola is a no-brainer. You can try it totally free - just head to granola.ai/LIFERS Baker Health delivers concierge primary care focused on prevention, wellness, and lifestyle optimization. Combining personalized care with integrative services—including nutrition, mental health, weight management, and lifestyle medicine—Baker Health provides Members with a holistic, whole-person approach to long-term health and longevity. Through extended visits, seamless access to doctors, and a curated specialty network, Baker Health ensures Members receive proactive guidance and actionable insights to optimize their well-being. Baker Health serves Members across multiple locations and provides a tech-enabled experience through the proprietary Baker Health app, offering 365-day access to doctors and care teams. Download the Baker Health App: https://linktr.ee/baker_health Learn More: https://www.bakerhealth.com/  —LINKS: Towerbrook: https://www.towerbrook.com/ The Citrini memo: https://www.citriniresearch.com/p/2028gic Dario Amodei, "The Adolescence of Technology": https://darioamodei.com/essay/the-adolescence-of-technology Eric and Dario Amodei: Incumbents and Insurgents in Healthcare: https://www.incumbentsandinsurgents.com/e/dario-amodei/ Dan Wang, Breakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future: https://danwang.co/breakneck/  Chrissy Farr on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LiferswithChristinaFarr Chrissy Farr on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cfarr/ Subscribe to the Second Opinion Newsletter: https://secondopinion.media/ Chrissy’s Book: The Storyteller's Advantage: https://www.chrissyfarr.com/books  —FOLLOW:Eric:https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-larsen-a4a0461/ Chrissy:https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinafarr/ https://x.com/chrissyfarr Second Opinion Media:https://www.instagram.com/second.opinion.media/ https://x.com/second_op_media —TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Lead In(00:47) Intro(01:08) Meet Eric Larsen(02:52) ChatGPT conversion moment(04:40) Tech perfectionism debate(06:52) Citrini memo fallout(08:23) AI targets knowledge work(13:46) Healthcare dislocation ethics(15:35) Why healthcare is vulnerable(18:11) Sponsor: Granola | Baker Health(20:21) Automating revenue cycle(22:29) Universal high income idea(24:02) Capital vs labor divergence(25:39) CapEx arms race and layoffs(27:32) Overhiring or AI shift(29:38) Regulation and AI power risks(31:28) Growing smarter models(32:10) Regulation paradox in healthcare(34:08) Credentialism meets exponential tech(35:47) Complexity breaks medicine(39:09) Risk tolerance and iterative deployment(42:14) Lawyers and lost apprenticeships(43:12) Advice for 21 year olds(46:05) Four powers of synthetic intelligence(52:11) Human moat and last mile trust(54:31) Post scarcity and inequality risks(58:23) Wrap
Will AI replace your doctor by 2030? Dr. Zeke Emanuel vs AMA CEO Dr. John Whyte
2026/08/21
This week on Lifers, Christina Farr is joined by Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel and Dr. John Whyte, CEO of the American Medical Association, who are longtime friends on opposite sides of the biggest question in health AI: should it ever practice medicine without a human in the loop? After Zeke’s commentary with Vinod and Neal Khosla argued AI performs better autonomously, the two agreed to debate. Zeke cites a Stanford RCT where AI managing insulin beat doctors by weeks; John counters that the evidence leans on simulated cases and that medicine is a trust relationship, not task completion. They clash over whether the "art of medicine" defense is disingenuous, who adopts autonomous AI first, the risk of physician de-skilling, and who should tell you you have cancer. Dive into the Granola notes from this episode: https://notes.granola.ai/t/f04862c0-3ed3-411f-a8dd-85b336356a19-008umkv4 —SPONSORS: Granola & Baker Health If meetings are eating up your day, Granola is a no-brainer. You can try it totally free - just head to granola.ai/LIFERS  Baker Health delivers concierge primary care focused on prevention, wellness, and lifestyle optimization. Combining personalized care with integrative services—including nutrition, mental health, weight management, and lifestyle medicine—Baker Health provides Members with a holistic, whole-person approach to long-term health and longevity. Through extended visits, seamless access to doctors, and a curated specialty network, Baker Health ensures Members receive proactive guidance and actionable insights to optimize their well-being.Baker Health serves Members across multiple locations and provides a tech-enabled experience through the proprietary Baker Health app, offering 365-day access to doctors and care teams. Download the Baker Health App: https://linktr.ee/baker_health Learn More: https://www.bakerhealth.com/  —LINKS: Zeke’s JAMA commentary with Vinod Khosla and Neal Khosla: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/10.1001/jama.2026.15380 Bob Wachter's book A Giant Leap: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/776443/a-giant-leap-by-robert-wachter-md/ Stanford diabetes/insulin RCT: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2812420 Scott Winters v. OpenAI: https://www.inc.com/georgia-fearn/a-pastor-turned-to-chatgpt-instead-of-a-doctor-now-hes-suing-openai/91378175  Chrissy Farr on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LiferswithChristinaFarr Chrissy Farr on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cfarr/ Subscribe to the Second Opinion Newsletter: https://secondopinion.media/ Chrissy’s Book: The Storyteller's Advantage: https://www.chrissyfarr.com/books  —FOLLOW:Zeke:https://www.linkedin.com/in/zeke-emanuel-6ab78a1b0/ https://x.com/ZekeEmanuel  John:https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjohnwhyte https://x.com/drjohnwhyte  Chrissy:https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinafarr/ https://x.com/chrissyfarr  Second Opinion Media:https://www.instagram.com/second.opinion.media/ https://x.com/second_op_media  —TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Lead In(00:46) Intro(02:53) Zeke's paper backstory(04:13) Self driving cars analogy(06:36) John pushback, trust and art(08:41) Claude diagnosis anecdote(12:19) Trials and deployment ideas(13:57) Evidence fight and guardrails(17:41) Empathy, education and autonomy(21:43) Sponsors: Granola | Baker Health(23:53) Human in loop, medication refills(26:35) Augmented AI and cancer second opinions(28:36) Debating the right question(30:09) Licensing and regulation(31:28) Chatbots in mental health(37:03) Patient story and self advocacy(43:29) Liability and ice cream bet(44:46) Doctors and robots by 2030(46:37) When humans hurt AI performance(48:20) Who breaks bad news(53:13) Wrap
The hospital itself should be a robot | Kimberly Powell, NVIDIA
2026/08/18
Christina Farr sits down with Kimberly Powell, VP of Healthcare at NVIDIA, an 18-year veteran who built the company's healthcare business from a single cold call in 2008. They dig into the physician replacement debate ("the task is not the job"), why AI agents made the last six months a turning point for healthcare, and Kimberly's prediction that within five years the hospital itself becomes a robot. Plus: the OpenAI lawsuit and techno-perfectionism, payer agents versus provider agents, why 90% of drugs fail in the clinic, and whether Kimberly says please to her LLMs. Dive into the Granola notes from this episode: https://notes.granola.ai/t/01905ea7-a624-4859-8530-80e6e0c46dca-009c2hma —SPONSORS:Granola & Baker Health If meetings are eating up your day, Granola is a no-brainer. You can try it totally free - just head to granola.ai/LIFERS   Baker Health delivers concierge primary care focused on prevention, wellness, and lifestyle optimization. Combining personalized care with integrative services—including nutrition, mental health, weight management, and lifestyle medicine—Baker Health provides Members with a holistic, whole-person approach to long-term health and longevity. Through extended visits, seamless access to doctors, and a curated specialty network, Baker Health ensures Members receive proactive guidance and actionable insights to optimize their well-being.Baker Health serves Members across multiple locations and provides a tech-enabled experience through the proprietary Baker Health app, offering 365-day access to doctors and care teams. Download the Baker Health App: https://linktr.ee/baker_health Learn More: https://www.bakerhealth.com/—LINKS: NVIDIA: https://www.nvidia.com/ OpenAI lawsuit (CBS News): https://www.cbsnews.com/news/chatgpt-dangerous-medical-advice-openai-lawsuit/ Kimberly's Fortune talk: https://fortune.com/2026/06/10/nvidia-drug-pharma-isomorphic-brainstorm-tech-ai-healthcare-biotech-term-sheet/ Chrissy Farr on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LiferswithChristinaFarr Chrissy Farr on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cfarr/ Subscribe to the Second Opinion Newsletter: https://secondopinion.media/ Chrissy’s Book: The Storyteller's Advantage: https://www.chrissyfarr.com/books  —FOLLOW:Kimberly:https://www.linkedin.com/in/kpowell/ https://x.com/kpowgerade  Chrissy:https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinafarr/ https://x.com/chrissyfarr  Second Opinion Media:https://www.instagram.com/second.opinion.media/ https://x.com/second_op_media —TIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Lead In(00:44) Intro(01:24) Kimberly joins NVIDIA(05:13) Early healthcare adoption(08:41) Augment not replace(14:35) Inside the future hospital(16:27) Sponsors: Granola | Baker Health(18:38) Why healthcare matters(23:25) Agents unlock workflows(28:53) Clinicians adapting to AI(33:43) Safety and risk reward(40:19) Agents across industry(44:14) Five year predictions(49:53) AI hireable and ROI(54:02) Personal tech habits(55:59) AI etiquette and hacks(58:52) Wrap
Rounds: Following the Money in Digital Health, Megan Zweig and Arvind Kadaba
2026/08/13
Co-hosted by Christina Farr and Stephanie Davis, this episode digs into what's really driving digital health right now — mega deals, market concentration, and what's building durable advantage as AI becomes table stakes. Megan Zweig, CEO and President of Rock Health Advisory, joins to break down Rock Health's H1 2026 funding and market report, and Arvind Kadaba, CFO of Aidoc, sits down to talk about fundraising, market forces, and what sets a clinical AI company apart. We'll cover: The latest health tech news — AI's borrowed money problem, a ChatGPT health lawsuit, wearables' big moment (Garmin's new tracker, Eli Lilly's Oura investment), and a CMS proposal threatening remote monitoring Megan Zweig breaks down Rock Health's H1 2026 report — digital health funding hit $7.4B in H1 2026, driven by a growing wave of mega deals Why mega deals now make up 45% of all capital — just 8% of deals absorbing nearly half the funding Arvind Kadaba on Aidoc's back-to-back $150M raises in under a year — and what his Wall Street background reveals about today's funding environment How Aidoc is staying ahead now that "AI-enabled" no longer means anything as a differentiator Hosts and Guests: Christina Farr, CEO, Second Opinion; GP, Scrub Capital Stephanie Davis, Healthcare Industry Analyst Megan Zweig, President & CEO, Rock Health Advisory Arvind Kadaba, Chief Financial Officer at Aidoc Timestamps: (0:00) Intro (0:46) Oracle's debt and the AI spending boom (2:32) Will Oracle sell Cerner? (3:35) The ChatGPT lawsuit and AI health guardrails (6:11) Garmin's screen-free tracker and the wearables moment (9:39) CMS proposal on RPM/RTM third-party vendors (11:50) Included acquires Firefly Health (13:48) Megan Zweig joins to break down Rock Health's H1 2026 report (20:15) Mega deal concentration (21:37) Behavioral health funding and market saturation (27:19) Why "AI-enabled" is no longer a differentiator (33:56) Megan's closing thoughts and predictions (35:31) Arvind Kadaba, CFO of Aidoc, joins the show (37:53) How AI is changing investor diligence (43:21) Hiring and team growth with AI (46:05) Growth vs. profitability and the Rule of 40 (51:43) Rich vs. king: framework for founders (53:41) Arvind's best advice for founders raising capital Sponsored by Silicon Valley Bank.

Podcast reviews

Read Lifers with Christina Farr podcast reviews


4.8 out of 5
25 reviews
★★★★★
carpetcleaner2000 2026/08/26
August 25 2026 Episode
I am a big fan of Chrissy Farr, since her days as a tech business reporter. But this most recent episode I feel the guest Eric Larsen lacked credibili...
★★★★★
RedSaawwxx 2025/09/25
Worried Well
Why are Stress and Anxiety diagnoses? Like “Worried Well” people with these conditions have the financial means to pay for therapy. 50% of those that...
★★★★★
Wilmett5919 2025/09/09
Great insights on important themes
Christina gets to the hard questions with top health care founders and operators, what they’ve learned and what we have to change. Guests are consist...
★★★☆☆
Adrienne1234456789 2024/11/20
Women in health leadership win but needs focus on substance
This is a nice balance to the male-dominated content out there and many interesting and valuable takes, but it’s buried. I’d like to hear more time sp...
★★★★★
MoOnTheGo777 2024/09/23
Fast follower of these strong voices (and yes they’re women!)
Loved the conversations and how this trio interviewing Carine brought so many important topics to light. We need to be talking about these important i...
check all reviews on apple podcasts

Podcast sponsorship advertising

Start advertising on Lifers with Christina Farr relevant audience podcasts


What do you want to promote?