Healthcare AI Guy Weekly | 9/16

Subscribe | Advertise | AI Startup Database | Feature AI Jobs

Our Picks ✨

Highlights if you’ve only got 2 minutes…

1/

Oracle is leaning into healthcare & AI

Oracle is expanding its healthcare strategy with new agentic AI tools aimed at patient engagement, revenue cycle workflows, and clinical trial recruitment. At its Health and Life Sciences Summit, the company highlighted an “AI-first” EHR rebuilt on Oracle Cloud, featuring agents that can generate clinical notes, suggest billing codes, flag care gaps, and assist with prior authorizations. A new patient portal, built on OpenAI’s models, will allow patients to ask questions about lab results or diagnoses in plain language and prepare for follow-up visits, with safeguards in place to limit risk.

The announcements reflect Oracle’s push to strengthen its healthcare presence and compete with rivals like Epic, following its 2022 acquisition of Cerner. They also align with its broader AI strategy, including a reported $300 billion cloud partnership with OpenAI. Oracle’s stock surged nearly 40% after the news, lifting its market cap close to $1 trillion. As journalist Eric Newcomer put it: “Seeing a 48-year-old database company suddenly grow by more than the size of a Salesforce over the course of a trading day… is at once incredible, uncanny and terrifying — like your grandfather… tossing off his walker and doing parkour.” What a time we are in indeed. (link)

2/

Apple’s new health features

Apple is expanding its role in health with new features for Apple Watch and AirPods Pro 2. On the Watch, a machine learning–based “Breathing Disturbances” metric will track signs of sleep apnea and notify users of potential risks, while the upcoming Series 11 adds background hypertension monitoring trained on data from more than 10,000 participants. Apple estimates it could alert over a million people to undiagnosed high blood pressure in the first year. Updated sleep scoring, built from millions of nights of data, will also provide deeper insights into rest quality (a direct challenge to players like Whoop and Oura).

On the AirPods side, Apple is rolling out a first-of-its-kind hearing health suite with active hearing protection, a clinical-grade at-home test, and a software-based over-the-counter hearing aid. Together, these tools show how technology and AI in healthcare, paired with Apple’s scale, could improve conditions affecting billions worldwide. (link)

3/

The AI doctor stigma

Doctors may be under pressure to adopt AI, but new research shows doing so can hurt how they’re perceived. A Johns Hopkins study in npj Digital Medicine asked 276 clinicians to rate peers using generative AI. Physicians who leaned on AI as a primary decision-maker were judged far less skilled (3.79 vs. 5.93 on a 7-point scale). Positioning AI as a “second opinion” helped, but didn’t erase the stigma. Patients seem to feel the same. A JAMA Network Open study found that doctors who referenced AI use were seen as less competent, trustworthy, and empathetic. Ironically, both groups still acknowledged AI’s benefits. The takeaway: medical AI moves at the speed of trust. That said, we think this bias is silly and bound to shift, as evidence mounts that AI-enabled doctors will consistently outperform those who go it alone (ex., a Stanford-led study showed doctors went from 75% accuracy without AI to 85% when using AI for diagnosis). (link)

Tools & Partnerships 🔧

Latest on business, consumer, and clinical healthcare AI tools and partnerships…

TOOLS

• myQMS.ai introduces AI to streamline quality processes: The platform reviews any quality record, such as CAPA, complaints, audits, and supplier files in seconds, flagging compliance gaps, while its AI-guided forms help teams complete records faster and with fewer errors. Together, they deliver 30-50% productivity gains and keep teams audit-ready. (link)*

• Apple adds new health features to Watch and AirPods: The new Watch Series 11 introduces hypertension alerts based on 30-day trends, though it doesn’t show BP numbers and requires confirmation with a cuff. Meanwhile, AirPods Pro 3 now include heart rate sensing. FDA clearance pending. (link)

• Alterego unveils “near-telepathic” AI wearable: MIT spinout Alterego debuted a headset that detects subtle jaw and throat movements to interpret silent speech, enabling users to text, code, and communicate without speaking, hinting at a non-invasive future for human-AI interaction. (link)(linkedin)

• AI voice agents improve blood pressure monitoring for seniors: Emory researchers used conversational AI agents to help 2,000 seniors report blood pressure readings, cutting costs by 89% and boosting satisfaction and quality scores. High-risk cases were automatically escalated to nurses. (link)

• Harvard AI tool finds multi-target drug combos to reverse disease: Harvard researchers released PDGrapher, a free AI model that identifies gene–drug combos capable of restoring diseased cells to healthy states. It outperformed rivals by 35% across 19 cancer types and is now being used in brain disease research. (link)

• Eli Lilly debuts TuneLab, an AI drug discovery platform: Trained on over $1B worth of Lilly’s proprietary R&D data, the new platform aims to accelerate drug development by surfacing novel therapeutic insights from the company’s internal datasets. (link)

• Mount Sinai launches AI lab for interventional cardiology: The new Samuel Fineman AI Research Lab at Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital will use AI to support clinical decision-making and research in cardiac catheterization. (link)

• athenahealth unveils AI-native diagnostic tool: The new Clinically Inferred Diagnosis tool surfaces likely diagnoses with supporting evidence from the EHR, including labs, imaging, vitals, and notes, directly within athenaOne to streamline decision-making. (link)

• Epocrates adds AI assistant to help with prescribing: The athenahealth-owned drug reference app now includes a conversational AI feature to give clinicians concise answers on dosing, interactions, and other medication decisions at the point of care. (link)

• Tempus wins FDA clearance for updated AI cardiac imaging tool: Tempus received FDA clearance for its updated Tempus Pixel device, which now supports T1 and T2 inline map generation, enhancing its AI-powered cardiac MRI analysis capabilities. (link)

• CTA sets new standard for predictive health AI: The Consumer Technology Association released a new benchmark for non-generative AI tools used in healthcare, focusing on model accuracy, explainability, data quality, and external validation to build trust and guide safe deployment. (link)

• HHS rolls out ChatGPT to all employees under AI mandate: The Department of Health and Human Services, led by RFK Jr., is deploying ChatGPT across the agency to boost productivity. The rollout, led by ex-Palantir exec Clark Minor, aims to reduce admin burden and accelerate agency goals. (link)

• Brook.ai helps rural providers hit HEDIS goals: Brook.ai’s remote care platform combines AI engagement with human care coordination to help providers track blood pressure, screenings, and med adherence, closing care gaps and securing value-based incentives. (link)

PARTNERSHIPS

• University Hospitals + Hippocratic AI: University Hospitals is partnering with Hippocratic AI to deploy conversational voice agents, starting with pharmacy support and expanding to preventive screening, appointment reminders, and patient education. (link)

• Cedars-Sinai + Regard: Cedars-Sinai is deploying Regard’s AI-powered documentation and diagnostic support platform at two hospitals, surfacing clinical insights, drafting notes, and recommending diagnoses to reduce burden and improve care. (link)

• Primary Health Solutions + SoundHound: The Ohio-based FQHC deployed SoundHound’s AI agent “Denise” for appointment scheduling and related tasks, with multilingual support via voice and text. (link)

• NYC Health + Hospitals + Oracle: NYC’s public health system is moving finance, supply chain, and HR onto Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications to standardize operations and boost security. (link)

*Sponsored Listing

Deal Desk 💸 

Spotlight on latest capital raises, M&A, and investments…

FUNDING

• Brain Co., an SF-based AI platform for global institutions, raised $30M in Series A funding. Elad Gil and Affinity Partners led the round and were joined by others. (link)

• Penguin Ai, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based healthcare AI company, raised $29.7M in funding from Greycroft, UPMC Enterprises, SemperVirens, Snowflake Ventures, Watershed Ventures, and others. (link)

• Medra, an SF-based developer of lab robotics, raised $11M in pre-seed and seed funding from Neo and Lux Capital. (link)

• Optain Health, an Akron, Ohio-based company using AI and robotics to improve eye disease detection, raised $26M in Series A funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by others. (link)

• Unmind, an AI-powered workplace mental health platform, has received $26M in growth capital from Trinity Capital, bringing its total raise to more than $100M. (link)

• Ridge Bio, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based AI-driven enzyme and drug design platform, raised $25M in seed funding. Sutter Hill Ventures led the round and was joined by Overlap Holdings. (link)

• TERN Group, a London, U.K.-based clinical AI workforce platform, raised $24M in Series A funding. Notion Capital led the round and was joined by RTP Global, LocalGlobe, PreSight Capital, and others. (link)

• Doctronic, a New York-based health guidance tech startup, raised $20M in Series A funding. Lightspeed led, joined by USV, Tusk Ventures, Mantis VC, Seven Stars, and Fei-Fei Li. (link)

• Teton.ai, a Copenhagen, Denmark-based developer of predictive intelligence technology for health care, raised $20M in Series A funding. Plural led the round and was joined by Bertelsmann Investments, Antler Elevate, Nebular, and PSV Tech. (link)

• Goodpath, a virtual provider of whole-person care for chronic conditions, raised a $18M Series A led by MassMutual Ventures with participation from Healthy Ventures and current investors. (link)

• Lightspun, a Boston-based AI-powered dental insurance administration platform, raised $13M in Series A funding. Brewer Lane led the round and was joined by Virtue, Cambrian, and Industry Ventures. (link)

• Inbox Health, a New Haven, Conn.-based patient billing startup, raised $10M in equity funding led by Ten Coves Capital. It also secured $10M of debt from SVB. (link)

• Sophont, a Sacramento-based developer of medical foundation models, raised $9.2M in pre-seed and seed funding. Kindred Ventures led, joined by Upfront Ventures and Delphi Ventures. (link)

• Assured, an AI platform for provider credentialing and payer enrollment, raised $6M in seed funding led by First Round Capital. (link)

• Meela, a NYC-based developer of an AI voice companion for seniors, raised $3.5M in seed funding. Bain Capital Ventures led the round. (link)

• Pathwork, a San Francisco-based AI-powered life and health insurance distribution platform, raised $3.5M in seed funding. Costanoa led the round and was joined by Logos Fund, American Family Ventures, Meridian Ventures, and angel investors. (link)

• OpenHealth, a Berlin, Germany-based lab data company, raised $3M in seed funding. GoHub Ventures, xdeck ventures, Edenbase, and Exceptional Ventures led the round. (link)

MERGERS & ACQUISTIONS

• OpenEvidence + Amaro: OpenEvidence acquired Amaro, an AI-native advertising platform to continue to sclae its free, ad-supported model. (link)

• Cohere Health + ZignaAI: Cohere Health has acquired ZignaAI to expand from prior authorization into clinical payment integrity. The move unites pre-care approvals with post-service claims validation, aiming for real-time approvals, fewer errors, and faster provider reimbursements. (link)

• Ascend + Laudio: Ascend Learning acquired Laudio, a workforce management startup, to extend its healthcare learning tools to frontline leaders. Laudio’s AI-driven workflows for rounding, recognition, and development will now likely integrate Ascend’s testing and certification products. (link)

Other Relevant News 🔍

News, podcasts, blogs, tweets, resources, etc…

• GC’s Hemant Taneja: AI investing at ‘peak ambiguity’ (link)

• No Priods Pod with OpenEvidence CEO Daniel Nadler (link)

• Push grows for AI safety standards in healthcare (link)

• Northwestern retools “coal mine” to cut clinician burnout (link)

• Forbes names 40 best health systems for tech workers (link)

• Demis Hassabis: AI requires continual learning (link)

Visuals of the Week 📸

Funny memes, cool pics, and interesting data from around the web…