Raising Health

Latest Episodes:

Voice AI: Solving Healthcare's Workforce Challenges with Ankit Jain Feb 11, 2025

Show notes

Ankit Jain, CEO and cofounder of Infinitus Systems, Inc, joins Julie Yoo, a16z Bio + Health general partner, to discuss Infinitus's work in solving one of healthcare's most pressing challenges: workforce shortages. Leveraging LLMs and AI voice agents, Infinitus automates repetitive tasks, such as benefits verification and prior authorization, freeing up human talent for higher-value roles. Ankit reflects on the company’s journey—from early proof-of-concept calls to scaling over five million patient-centric interactions—and shares their approach to mitigating the risks of AI errors through layered guardrails.

More in "The Opportunity for Healthcare in a Post-LLM World":

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Transforming Clinical Trials with Alexander Saint-Amand Jan 28, 2025

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Alexander Saint-Amand, cofounder and CEO of Topography, reflects on his journey from leading Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG), a pioneer in expert networks, to tackling systemic barriers in clinical trials at his current company, Topography. Inspired by personal experiences, Alexander’s mission centers on democratizing access to clinical research by transforming community-based practices into thriving hubs for trials. Alongside a16z Bio + Health general partner Julie Yoo, he discusses the pervasive challenges in enrollment, physician participation, and the inefficiencies plaguing the current model.

Alexander also talks through Topography's hybrid approach—combining technology, services, and AI—and its potential to lower the barrier to entry for providers, improving patient access.

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Scaling Medicaid Innovation with Afia Asamoah, Rajaie Batniji, and Sanjay Basu Jan 14, 2025

Show notes

Rajaie Batniji, MD, PhD, Afia Asamoah, JD, and Sanjay Basu, MD, PhD, cofounders of Waymark, join Vineeta Agarwala, MD, PhD, a16z Bio + Health general partner, to discuss their transformative approach to Medicaid care delivery. This episode dives into their rising risk signal prediction framework, where cutting-edge machine learning predicts patient needs and enables community-based care teams to reduce preventable ER visits and improve health outcomes at scale.

The team recently published their real-world results—including a 23% reduction in unnecessary acute care—in the New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst.

Additional resources:

Supporting Rising-Risk Medicaid Patients Through Early Intervention, NEJM Catalyst
The Body Economic: Why Austerity Kills, by David Stuckler and Sanjay Basu

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Super Staffing in Healthcare with Munjal Shah Jan 09, 2025

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Hippocratic AI cofounder and CEO Munjal Shah joins a16z Bio + Health general partner Julie Yoo to explore the incredible potential of generative AI in transforming healthcare delivery. Together, they discuss the emerging "voice renaissance" in healthcare, the nuances of designing safe and empathetic AI interactions, and how Hippocratic AI is addressing safety concerns with innovations like multi-LLM architecture and rigorous training with thousands of nurses.

This episode also discusses a shift toward viewing AI tools as an opportunity for healthcare "super staffing," and strategies for integrating AI into complex healthcare systems.

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Lessons from Healthcare Infrastructure Pioneers with Jeff Margolis Dec 30, 2024

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Jeff Margolis, founder of TriZetto, joins Julie Yoo, a16z Bio + Health general partner, to share the journey of building an iconic company in healthcare infrastructure. From the early days of managed care to creating a three-pronged platform uniting computing power, software, and data analytics, Jeff reflects on TriZetto’s groundbreaking model that reshaped payer-provider transactions and set industry standards. Together, they also delve into the strategic importance of scaling through acquisitions, aligning with industry standards, and crafting innovative pricing models.

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Rare Disease, Big Impact with Matt Wilsey Dec 10, 2024

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In this episode, Matt Wilsey joins Jorge Conde to share the profound personal story of his daughter Grace's diagnosis with NGLY1 deficiency and how it catalyzed his journey to founding a biotech startup, Grace Science, aimed at developing a cure for his daughter’s condition.

Matt emphasizes the importance of strategic partnerships, like his collaboration with Nobel laureate Carolyn Bertozzi, and sheds light on the search for gene therapies for rare diseases.

Check out our previous episode with Carolyn Bertozzi here.

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Bioorthogonal Chemistry with Carolyn Bertozzi Nov 26, 2024

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Nobel laureate Carolyn Bertozzi joins Jorge Conde to unravel the concept of bioorthogonal chemistry.

Carolyn traces her pioneering path from early studies in carbohydrate chemistry to how her lab developed the revolutionary ability to manipulate chemical reactions inside the human body.

Together, they highlight the intersection of cutting-edge academic research and the challenges of translating discoveries into market-ready solutions. They also discuss navigating the science-to-startup journey, balancing academic and commercial ambitions, and leveraging precision therapies to address unmet medical needs in cancer and beyond. It’s a compelling case study for founders looking to push the frontiers of biotech.

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Mastering Data with Sajith Wickramasekara Nov 12, 2024

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In this episode, a16z partners Jorge Conde and Jay Rughani sit down with Sajith Wickramasekara, CEO and cofounder of Benchling, to unpack the evolution of Benchling from idea to transformative software platform. Saji discusses his journey from software engineer to building Benchling and digitizing biotech workflows for industry giants like Sanofi. Together, they also talk about the increasing complexity of biology, the expanding role of AI in drug discovery, and the power of well-structured data.

The 21st century isn't just the century of advanced biology—it's also the era of creating tools that supercharge scientific discovery.

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Build Your Own Provider Network with Dan Rosenthal Nov 05, 2024

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Join healthcare expert Dan Rosenthal and a16z Bio + Health general partner Julie Yoo in a deep dive into the evolution of provider networks and their strategic importance in the health insurance ecosystem.

Dan discusses how networks are built, managed, and optimized for both cost and quality—including the complexities of payor-provider contracts, the future impact of transparency laws, and opportunities for digital health startups to break into the network space. Dan also explores the possibility of AI-driven, personalized networks, challenging traditional models and paving the way for innovation. Whether you're building a health tech startup or seeking to modernize provider networks, this conversation offers a roadmap for navigating and disrupting healthcare's foundational structures.

This episode was originally released in August 2023.

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The Freedom to Choose Your Own Insurance with Chris Ellis and Adam Stevenson Oct 22, 2024

Show notes

Chris Ellis, CEO and Adam Stevenson, president, both cofounders of Thatch, join Julie Yoo and Jay Rughani of a16z Bio + Health.

In early 2020, a new policy called ICHRA altered the insurance market, which had remained largely unchanged for decades. As you’ll hear in the episode, it’s been slow to catch on — but the cofounders of Thatch think it’s a game changer. Together, they discuss these key takeaways:

Consumers as a growing class of payor:

Traditionally employers shouldered healthcare costs, but now consumers are paying more out of pocket and making purchasing decisions directly for their health coverage.
ICHRA represents a major shift, allowing companies to give employees tax-free dollars to shop for personalized health plans.
Distributed teams and geographic diversity are creating friction in providing effective healthcare via traditional group plans. Employees may find that certain doctors aren’t covered and plans aren’t tailored to their needs, making ICHRA an increasingly attractive option for employers.

The fintech intersection

How do you make spending healthcare dollars easy, secure, and efficient? By leveraging fintech solutions that ensure employees use healthcare dollars on what matters most for them.
This alignment between fintech and healthcare could enable more flexible, localized plans, with individuals choosing the add-ons that work best for them at that moment in their lives.

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