Lifers with Christina Farr

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

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.

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

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

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.