Shows
Code & Cure#31 - How Retrieval-Augmented AI Can Verify Clinical SummariesFluent summaries that cannot prove their claims are a hidden liability in healthcare, quietly eroding clinician trust and wasting time. In this episode, we walk through a practical system that replaces “sounds right” narratives with evidence-backed summaries by pairing retrieval augmented generation with a large language model that serves as a judge. Instead of asking one AI to write and police itself, the work is divided. One model drafts the summary, while another breaks it into atomic claims, retrieves supporting chart excerpts, and issues clear verdicts of supported, not supported, or insufficient, with explanations clinicians can review.We e...
2026-02-1223 minCode & Cure#30 - From Reddit To Rescue: Real-Time Signals Of The Opioid CrisisWhat if the earliest warning sign of an opioid overdose surge isn’t locked inside a delayed report, but unfolding in real time on Reddit? In this episode, we explore how social media conversations, especially pseudonymous, community-led forums, can reveal emerging overdose risks before traditional surveillance systems catch up.We unpack research that analyzed more than a decade of posts to show how even simple drug mentions sharpened forecasts of overdose death rates. The signal was especially strong for fentanyl, exposing where existing public health tools lag and why online communities often see danger first. Along the wa...
2026-02-0518 minCode & Cure#29 - AI Hype Meets Hospital RealityWhat really happens when a “smart” system steps into the operating room, and collides with the messy, time-pressured reality of clinical care?In this episode, we unpack a multi-center pilot that streamed audio and video from live surgeries to fuel safety checklists, flag cases for review, and promise rapid, actionable insight. What emerged instead was a clear-eyed lesson in the gap between aspiration and execution. Across four fault lines, the story shows where clinicians’ expectations of AI ran ahead of what today’s systems can reliably deliver, and what that means for patient safety.We begin wi...
2026-01-2925 minCode & Cure#28 - How AI Confidence Masks Medical UncertaintyCan you trust a confident answer, especially when your health is on the line?This episode explores the uneasy relationship between language fluency and medical truth in the age of large language models (LLMs). New research asks these models to rate their own certainty, but the results reveal a troubling mismatch: high confidence doesn’t always mean high accuracy, and in some cases, the least reliable models sound the most sure.Drawing on her ER experience, Laura illustrates how real clinical care embraces uncertainty—listening, testing, adjusting. Meanwhile, Vasanth breaks down how LLMs gene...
2026-01-2225 minCode & Cure#27 - Sleep’s Hidden ForecastWhat if one night in a sleep lab could offer a glimpse into your long-term health? Researchers are now using a foundation model trained on hundreds of thousands of hours of sleep data to do just that, by predicting the next five seconds of a polysomnogram, the model learns the rhythms of sleep and, with minimal fine-tuning, begins estimating risks for conditions like Parkinson’s, dementia, heart failure, stroke, and even some cancers.We break down how it works: during a sleep study, sensors capture brain waves (EEG), eye movements (EOG), muscle tone (EMG), heart rh...
2026-01-1524 minCode & Cure#26 - How Your Phone Keyboard Signals Your State Of MindWhat if your keyboard could reveal your mental health? Emerging research suggests that how you type—not what you type—could signal early signs of depression. By analyzing keystroke patterns like speed, timing, pauses, and autocorrect use, researchers are exploring digital biomarkers that might quietly reflect changes in mood.In this episode, we break down how this passive tracking compares to traditional screening tools like the PHQ. While questionnaires offer valuable insight, they rely on memory and reflect isolated moments. In contrast, continuous keystroke monitoring captures real-world behaviors—faster typing, more pauses, shorter sessions, and increa...
2026-01-0819 minCode & Cure#25 - When Safety Slips: Prompt Injection in Healthcare AIWhat happens when a chatbot follows the wrong voice in the room? In this episode, we explore the hidden vulnerabilities of prompt injection, where malicious instructions and fake signals can mislead even the most advanced AI into offering harmful medical advice.We unpack a recent study that simulated real patient conversations, subtly injecting cues that steered the AI to make dangerous recommendations—including prescribing thalidomide for pregnancy nausea, a catastrophic lapse in medical judgment. Why does this happen? Because language models aim to be helpful within their given context, not necessarily to prioritize authoritative or sa...
2026-01-0125 minCode & Cure#24 - What Else Is Hiding In Medical Images?What if a routine mammogram could do more than screen for breast cancer? What if that same image could quietly reveal a woman’s future risk of heart disease—without extra tests, appointments, or burden on patients?In this episode, we explore a large-scale study that uses deep learning to uncover cardiovascular risk hidden inside standard breast imaging. By analyzing mammograms that millions of women already receive, researchers show how a single scan can deliver a powerful second insight for women’s health. Laura brings the clinical perspective, unpacking how cardiovascular risk actually shows up in practice—from aty...
2025-12-2524 minCode & Cure#23 - Designing Antivenom With Diffusion ModelsWhat if the future of antivenom didn’t come from horse serum, but from AI models that shape lifesaving proteins out of noise?In this episode, we explore how diffusion models, powerful tools from the world of AI, are transforming the design of antivenoms, particularly for some of nature’s deadliest neurotoxins. Traditional antivenom is costly, unstable, and can provoke serious immune reactions. But for toxins like those from cobras, mambas, and sea snakes that are potent yet hard to target with immune responses, new strategies are needed.We begin with the problem: clinicians face high...
2025-12-1820 minCode & Cure#22 - Hope, Help, and the Language We ChooseWhat if the words we use could tip the balance between seeking help and staying silent? In this episode, we explore a fascinating study that compares top-voted Reddit responses with replies generated by large language models (LLMs) to uncover which better reduces stigma around opioid use disorder—and why that distinction matters.Drawing from Laura’s on-the-ground ER experience and Vasanth’s research on language and moderation, we examine how subtle shifts, like saying “addict” versus “person with OUD, ” can reshape beliefs, impact treatment, and even inform policy. The study zeroes in on three kinds of stigma: ske...
2025-12-1124 minCode & Cure#21 - The Rural Reality Check for AIHow can AI-powered care truly serve rural communities? It’s not just about the latest tech, it’s about what works in places where internet can drop, distances are long, and people often underplay symptoms to avoid making a fuss.In this episode, we explore what it takes for AI in healthcare to earn trust and deliver real value beyond city limits. From wearables that miss the mark on weak broadband to triage tools that misjudge urgency, we reveal how well-meaning innovations can falter in rural settings. Through four key use cases—predictive monitoring, triage, conversational support, and ca...
2025-12-0419 minCode & Cure#20 - Google Translate Walked Into An ER And Got A Reality CheckWhat if your discharge instructions were written in a language you couldn’t read? For millions of patients, that’s not a hypothetical, but a safety risk. And at 2 a.m. in a busy hospital, translation isn’t just a convenience; it’s clinical care.In this episode, we explore how AI can bridge the language gap in discharge instructions: what it does well, where it stumbles, and how to build workflows that support clinicians without slowing them down. We unpack what these instructions really include: condition education, medication details, warning signs, and follow-up steps, all of which ne...
2025-11-2731 minCode & Cure#19 - AI That Tames Your Health Data DelugeWhat if your health data spoke in one calm voice instead of twenty buzzing ones? In this episode, we explore an AI “interpreter layer” that turns step counts, sleep stages, and alerts into fewer, smarter signals that nudge real behavior—without the anxiety spiral. Vasanth (AI researcher and cognitive scientist) and Laura (emergency physician) bring lab insight and frontline reality to a problem most dashboards ignore: humans have limited working memory, serial attention, and a knack for missing rare but important events. More data isn’t always better; often, it’s just louder. So what does “useful” look like? Clea...
2025-11-2020 minCode & Cure#18 - When AI People-Pleasing Breaks Health AdviceWhat happens when your health chatbot sounds helpful—but gets the facts wrong? In this episode, we explore how AI systems, especially large language models, can prioritize pleasing responses over truthful ones. Using the common confusion between Tylenol and acetaminophen, we reveal how a friendly tone can hide logical missteps and mislead users.We unpack how these models are trained—from next-token prediction to human feedback—and why they tend to favor agreeable answers over rigorous reasoning. We spotlight a new study that puts models to the test with flawed medical prompts, showing how easily they comply with c...
2025-11-1325 minCode & Cure#17 - How Multi-Agent Systems Could Reshape Care, From Wearables To SchedulingWhat if digital assistants could triage symptoms, schedule appointments, and coordinate rides—all while doctors focus on the human side of care? That’s the promise of multi-agent AI in healthcare. In this episode, we explore how these intelligent teams of agents are transforming both clinical and operational workflows.We begin by breaking down what an AI “agent” really is: not just a chatbot, but a goal-oriented system that can use tools, call APIs, and take real-world actions. You'll hear how agent teams are structured—with supervisors, shared workspaces, and collaborative checks—to ensure safety, usefulness, and accountabili...
2025-11-0625 minCode & Cure#16 - Water, Watts, and Wellness: What’s the Real Cost of Medical AI?Artificial intelligence promises faster notes, smoother workflows, and smarter clinical decisions. But behind every seamless interaction lies an invisible cost—electricity, water, and carbon emissions that rarely enter the healthcare conversation.In this episode, we trace what happens after you hit “enter” on a clinical prompt. From power-hungry GPUs to evaporative cooling systems in data centers, we uncover the hidden infrastructure fueling AI and how metrics like PUE translate convenience into environmental impact. A single prompt may only consume “a few drops,” but scaled across a hospital, it becomes a lake.Blending insights from an AI researc...
2025-10-3026 minCode & Cure#15 - When Algorithms Know Your End-Of-Life Wishes Better Than Loved OnesWhat if the person who knows you best isn’t the best person to speak for you when it matters most?We explore a study that tested just that—comparing the CPR preferences predicted by loved ones with those predicted by machine learning. The result? Algorithms got it right more often. That surprising outcome raises tough, important questions: Why do partners misjudge? And could AI really support life-and-death decisions when seconds count?We unpack the study’s approach in everyday terms: who was surveyed, what data fueled the models, and how three algorithms were trained using...
2025-10-2323 minCode & Cure#14 - Medicare’s WISER Pilot: AI, Prior Auth, and the Cost of CareWhat happens when an algorithm—not a doctor or a claims reviewer—denies your surgery? A single decision like that can trigger a much bigger conversation about how AI is reshaping access to care.In this episode, we dive into Medicare’s WISER pilot and the complex world of prior authorization. What’s the goal? Reduce waste and streamline approvals. But where does it go wrong—and how can we fix it? With insights from AI researcher Vasan Sarati and emergency physician Laura Hagopian, we unpack how claims data trains decision-making models, why black-box algorithms erode clinician trust, and...
2025-10-1627 minCode & Cure#13 - Can Machines Choose Our Diagnoses?What if AI could turn chaotic clinical notes into clean, billable codes—without sacrificing accuracy or trust?Every shift, emergency physicians face the same grind: time-crunched documentation, symptom-first note-taking, and the constant lure of the “unspecified” box just to move on. But what if a system could read between the lines—and suggest precise, payer-accepted codes grounded in real guidelines?In this episode, we explore how retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) is reshaping medical coding. Laura, an emergency physician, shares what it’s really like to code in the middle of clinical chaos. Vasanth, an AI engineer, explains w...
2025-10-0929 minCode & Cure#12 - Oracle Or Algorithm?What if we could glimpse our future health—not through guesswork, but through data-driven forecasts? A new AI model, codenamed “Delphi,” is redefining what it means to predict disease by learning from massive, population-scale medical histories. Built on transformer architecture, Delphi estimates the risk and timing of over a thousand possible diagnoses—offering a personalized view of what may lie ahead.We start with familiar ground—cardiovascular risk scores—and explore how predictions only matter when they guide meaningful actions: improved blood pressure control, appropriate statin use, and lifestyle changes that truly bend the curve. But Delphi doesn’t stop...
2025-10-0227 minCode & Cure#11 - The Smile Test: How AI Detects Parkinson's DiseaseCan a smile reveal the early signs of Parkinson’s disease?New research suggests it can—and AI is making that detection possible. Scientists are training machine learning systems to spot subtle facial changes associated with Parkinson’s, particularly in how we smile. These early signs, often missed by the human eye, could hold the key to faster, more accessible diagnosis.Parkinson’s typically presents with tremors, muscle rigidity, and slowed movement. But it also affects facial muscles, leading to “hypomimia”—a loss of expressiveness where smiles become slower, less intense, and less spontaneous. U...
2025-09-2527 minCode & Cure#10 - Skill Erosion in the Age of Medical AICould AI be making doctors worse at their jobs?As artificial intelligence becomes a trusted tool in modern medicine, a surprising question emerges: could relying on these systems actually erode human expertise? We explore a compelling study from The Lancet that found a 6% drop in detection rates for endoscopists who initially used AI to identify precancerous polyps—then lost that edge once the AI was removed.This episode unpacks how AI isn’t just a helpful assistant—it may be reshaping how physicians think, reason, and make decisions. Unlike a stethoscope or scalpel, which...
2025-09-1825 minCode & Cure#9 - Ambient Documentation Tech: Reducing Burnout or Creating New Problems?AI is writing medical notes, but can doctors trust what it creates?Burnout is quietly eroding the medical workforce—and documentation overload is a major culprit. Physicians now spend nearly half their workday writing notes instead of treating patients, pushing many to the brink of exhaustion. Could artificial intelligence offer a lifeline?In this episode, we explore ambient documentation technology (ADT)—AI tools that automatically generate clinical notes by listening to patient-doctor conversations. On paper, the promise is bold: let physicians focus on care, not charting. But reality is more complicated.Laur...
2025-09-1128 minCode & Cure#8 - No Cuff, No Problem? The Future of Blood Pressure MonitoringWhat if checking your blood pressure was as easy as glancing at your watch? High blood pressure quietly affects nearly half of all Americans—yet it's one of the most preventable causes of strokes, heart attacks, and other serious health problems. The catch? Traditional monitoring methods are clunky, inconvenient, and rarely used outside the clinic.In this episode, we explore how next-gen technologies are transforming blood pressure tracking. From smartwatches and rings to toilet seats and even facial recognition, wearable devices are pushing the boundaries of what's possible—no cuffs required. You’ll learn how sensors using light...
2025-09-0424 minCode & Cure#7 - Predicting No-Shows: The Surprising Science Behind Missed AppointmentsWhy do so many doctor’s appointments end in empty waiting rooms? Nearly one in four scheduled visits turn into no-shows, disrupting care, wasting resources, and straining already overburdened systems. But a new study shows we might be able to see these gaps coming—and stop them.By analyzing over a million healthcare visits, researchers used machine learning to uncover surprising predictors of missed appointments. The top signal? How far in advance the appointment was booked. Appointments scheduled more than 60 days out had the highest odds of being missed—more telling than age, income, or insurance status. Other...
2025-08-2832 min