AI in Healthcare | What Comes Next Ep. 14

“Everything is now possible in theory. Now, it’s about how ambitious can you be?”

Fiona Fung, Head of Engineering for Claude Code and Cowork at Anthropic, on Lenny’s Podcast

The Numbers We’re Watching

Seven figures framing U.S. healthcare this month: cost, workforce, coverage, and spend.

● Favorable   ● Unfavorable   ● Neutral

Google unveiled PHRM, a research system using a smartphone’s front camera and AI to passively measure heart rate after a user unlocks their phone. Built on 350,000+ video clips from nearly 700 participants and published in Nature, it hit under 10% error versus ECG and under 5 bpm on resting rate. Accuracy dropped for darker skin tones. Camera-based vitals could extend monitoring far beyond smartwatch owners. MobiHealthNews

AI image firm Midjourney unveiled its first hardware: the Midjourney Scanner, a full-body “Ultrasonic CT” device CEO David Holz claims beats MRI. It promises a 60-second scan with no radiation, aiming for 50,000 units and a billion scans monthly within six years. It runs on Butterfly Network’s ultrasound-on-chip tech via a $15M license. FDA clearance remains the gating limit. The Verge

In an NEJM AI study, researchers at Boston Children’s and Harvard used OpenAI’s o3 model to reanalyze 376 previously unsolved rare-disease cases, surfacing leads that physicians confirmed into 18 new diagnoses, a 4.8% added yield. The model generated hypotheses; experts made every diagnosis. One patient waited nearly 20 years for an answer. Periodic AI-assisted reanalysis could scale. OpenAI

A new Pew Research Center survey finds 41% of major health and wellness influencers are credentialed professionals, commanding millions of followers. A separate June 2026 eHealth survey shows 49% of insured Americans have used AI for medical advice, and 63% of those acted on it without a doctor. Clinicians describe “loud listening” to counter feeds. Patients arrive informed, and sometimes misinformed. Sun-Sentinel

A Johns Hopkins randomized study of 248 type 1 diabetics found that waiving a copay raised willingness to choose autonomous AI over an eye specialist for diabetic retinopathy screening to 81% from 43%. The funder did not matter. But AI users sought human reconfirmation far more often, even after normal results. For payers, incentives drive adoption while human backstops persist. npj Digital Medicine

Paul Markovich, CEO of Ascendiun, parent of Blue Shield of California, used AHIP 2026 to push four reforms through his new nonpartisan movement, Worthy. Universal real-time digital health records would save over $300 billion in administrative costs. He also called for outcomes-based payment, curbing PBM and 340B spread pricing, and fixed hospital budgets tied to quality. A sitting Blue plan CEO naming PBMs is notable. MedCity News

A new KFF analysis shows ACA marketplace insurer participation fell to 9.0 issuers per state in 2026 from 9.6, the first decline since enhanced premium tax credits took effect. Eighteen states saw net decreases, and 165 counties had just one insurer, up from 93. Six carriers, including Cigna, plan partial or full 2027 exits. Expiring subsidies are reshaping marketplace economics. Fierce Healthcare

Turnout, which helps consumers navigate benefits and claims, raised $35 million at a $400 million post-money valuation, led by HighPost Capital, less than a year after a $21 million seed. The San Diego startup pairs licensed advocates with AI for intake, records, and filing across Social Security, veterans, healthcare, and education. Clients onboard in under 30 minutes. The Medicare line targets a persistent payer friction point. Axios

SpaceX agreed to acquire Anysphere, maker of AI coding tool Cursor, for $60 billion in all-stock, closing Q3 2026. The deal lands days after SpaceX’s record IPO raised about $75 billion at a $2 trillion-plus valuation. Cursor runs roughly $2.6 billion in annualized revenue, competing with Anthropic and OpenAI. Coding is proving the clearest near-term enterprise AI revenue, a signal for healthcare buyers weighing build versus buy. Reuters

The WSJ reports a stock fever sweeping Korea, Taiwan, and Japan as AI chip gains lift markets. Parents open accounts in children’s names; Taipei taxi drivers trade while driving. TSMC makes up over 40% of Taiwan’s index and has more than doubled in a year. Korea’s Kospi is up roughly 80% in 2026; Japan’s Nikkei topped 70,000. Concentration risk in AI hardware is now a household-level exposure. WSJ

How was this week’s newsletter?