Raising Health

How AI Cut Healthcare Burnout by 70%

In this episode, a16z GP Julie Yoo sits down with Peter McCanna, CEO of Baylor Scott & White Health, to break down how one of America's largest health systems is transforming from a supply-driven "walled castle" to a customer-centric ecosystem, and how it's achieving a 10% operating margin while most hospitals struggle to stay in the black. They get into why helping his father navigate healthcare convinced Pete the entire system is fundamentally broken, what differentiates academic medical centers from community health systems, and why traditional hospital economics root out essential services like behavioral health. Peter also explains how ambient AI reduced physician burnout rates by 70%, why AI will eventually replace any job involving human-screen interaction, and what he looks for in startup partnerships beyond just TAM and business fundamentals.   Resources: Follow Peter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-mccanna-784619104 [https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-mccanna-784619104] Follow Julie on X: @julesyoo   Stay Updated:  If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends! Find a16z on X: https://x.com/a16z [https://x.com/a16z] Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z [https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z] Listen to the a16z Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYX [https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYX?si=70ca2d87cf9342d9] Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711] Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg [https://x.com/eriktorenberg] Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Future of Healthcare Payments: CMS Chief of Staff Stephanie Carlton

A labor and delivery nurse who ran Senate healthcare policy now manages $1.7 trillion in federal health spending—and she runs her team like a startup. Steph Carlton, Chief of Staff and Deputy Administrator at CMS, reveals the OKRs driving Medicare and Medicaid, why they're killing social determinants funding while building consumer health apps at scale, and how real-time provider data could collapse the 18-month lag between care delivery and payment.  The team mixing founders with policy veterans is rewriting quality measures around VO2 max and app engagement, not just disease management—because preventing illness years before it happens might finally be worth more than treating it after.   Stay Updated: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends! Find a16z on X: https://x.com/a16z Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Listen to the a16z Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYX Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711 Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see http://a16z.com/disclosures Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

How to Build This Generation's Big Pharma Company

Drug discovery has doubled the flow of candidates, but approvals remain roughly flat. The constraint is development, not discovery.  In this episode, a16z General Partner, Jorge Conde talks with Formation Bio cofounder and CEO Ben Liu about building a modern pharma company around clinical execution. They discuss Formation Bio’s hub-and-spoke model for acquiring and advancing assets, how AI compresses trial timelines and costs, picking winners, regulatory strategy, and what it would take to move from about 50 approvals a year to many more. They also touch on global competition and why clinical proof still drives value in today’s market.\   Timecodes:  0:00 Introduction 0:38 Why Formation Bio? Origins and Mission 1:12 The Real Bottleneck: Clinical Development 4:56 Formation Bio’s Business Model 7:50 Picking Winners: The Art and Science of Drug Selection 11:54 First-in-Class vs. Best-in-Class Strategies 14:04 Overcoming Regulatory and Market Challenges 17:26 The Stakes: Can We Approve More Drugs? 19:07 How Formation Bio Cuts Cost and Time 21:43 AI’s Role in Drug Development 25:10 The Future: From 50 to 500 Drug Approvals? 35:18 Global Competition: The Rise of China 39:28 The Path Forward: Data, Regulation, and Access 41:47 Conclusion: Realizing the AI Revolution in Pharma   Resources:  Find Ben on X: https://x.com/BenjamineYLiu [https://x.com/BenjamineYLiu] Find Jorge on X: https://x.com/JorgeCondeBio [https://x.com/JorgeCondeBio]   Stay Updated:  If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends! Find a16z on X: https://x.com/a16z [https://x.com/a16z] Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z [https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z] Listen to the Raising Health Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4fjb8YTzHDuPBgDXc3ElkR [https://open.spotify.com/show/4fjb8YTzHDuPBgDXc3ElkR] Listen to the Raising Health Podcast  Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raising-health/id1529318900 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raising-health/id1529318900] Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg [https://x.com/eriktorenberg] Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

CVS Health: Building Healthcare’s Consumer Platform

Josh Weiner left Meta to return to CVS Health with two painful realizations: consumers don't manage their health—they expect it, and the healthcare market fundamentally violates every principle of economics. In this conversation with a16z's Julie Yoo, the CVS Senior VP explains why 50% of Americans can't afford a healthcare emergency, how CVS is becoming a platform to solve structural healthcare problems, and why the future depends on consumers finally controlling their own health data.   Timecodes:  0:00  The Healthcare Market Isn't Functioning  2:30  Consumers Don't Manage Health, They Just Expect It  3:39  Why Consumer Playbooks Die in Healthcare 5:41  Motion vs Progress: The Innovation Illusion 8:46  Platform Philosophy: "It Takes a Village" 11:38  The Vaccine Paradox Under One Roof 19:37  The 40% Hidden Reality: Healthcare Is Caregiving 21:04  The Deductible Comprehension Crisis 22:10  "This Does Have an Expiration Date" 24:40  The Health Passport Future   Resources: Find Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshweiner2/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshweiner2/] Follow Julie on X: https://x.com/julesyoo [https://x.com/julesyoo]   Stay Updated:  If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends! Find a16z on X: https://x.com/a16z [https://x.com/a16z] Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z [https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z] Listen to the Raising Health Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4fjb8YTzHDuPBgDXc3ElkR [https://open.spotify.com/show/4fjb8YTzHDuPBgDXc3ElkR] Listen to the Raising Health Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raising-health/id1529318900 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raising-health/id1529318900] Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Dyno Therapeutics: Empowering Patients with Genetic Agency

For the first time in human history, we can diagnose thousands of genetic diseases—often for under $1,000—but we still can't treat most of them. The problem isn't understanding what's broken; it's delivering the fix to the right cells. Eric Kelsic, CEO of Dyno Therapeutics, joins a16z's Jorge Conde to explain how AI-designed protein shells are solving gene therapy's delivery crisis. They explore why Huntington's patients can now get 15 extra years of healthy life, how Dyno inverted the liver-to-brain delivery ratio by 1000x, and why capsids evolved by nature are now being designed by machine learning models trained on millions of variants. Eric introduces the concept of genetic agency—humanity's first-ever ability to take action at the DNA level—and details why solving delivery for common diseases will make ultra-rare disease treatments economically viable. Plus: what happens when gene therapy requires neurosurgery today but could be a simple injection tomorrow, why recent deaths in clinical trials prove we need better technology now, and how genetic medicine could become as routine as surgery within our lifetimes.   Resources: Follow Eric on X: https://x.com/ekelsic Follow Jorge on X: https://x.com/JorgeCondeBio Learn more about GATC 2025: https://www.dynotx.com/gatc2025   Stay Updated: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends! Find a16z on X: https://x.com/a16z Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Listen to the a16z Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYX Listen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711 Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.