Bob Wachter

5 things you should consider before asking an AI chatbot for health advice Tech companies are pushing new health chatbots, but experts say you still need to talk to your doctor.

On PBS: Five things to consider before asking a chatbot for health advice (by Matthew Perrone of AP). Among them: ask two different AIs and see if they agree; don't stay home if you have red flag symptoms like chest pain, shortness of breath. I'm quoted. www.pbs.org/newshour/hea...

Measuring the Return on Investment for Clinician-Facing Artificial Intelligence Technologies This Viewpoint discusses different ways to measure the return on investment on clinician-facing artificial intelligence tools as the technology advances.

I enjoyed working with an all-star team – the great Lisa Rotenstein of UCSF and David Bates of Brigham & Womens – on this paper describing how to measure return on investment (ROI) for clinician-facing AI tools.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Will My Doctor Be a Bot? AI and the Future of Medicine Physician and author Robert Wachter joins us to discuss what AI-powered health care will look like in the near future.

Really enjoyed this conversation with Maiken Scott on her NPR/WHYY show, The Pulse, about my book, "A Giant Leap" – and how AI will shape the future of medicine.
whyy.org/episodes/wil...

Pretty great — in its first week out, A Giant Leap just made USA Today’s bestseller list, and is the bestselling book in several categories on Amazon.

‘A Giant Leap’ Review: Disruption for Doctors Digital innovation in healthcare has proceeded in fits and starts. Will generative artificial intelligence solve more problems than it creates?

Thanks to David Shaywitz for his terrific review of "A Giant Leap" in today's Wall Street Journal.
"Patients, [Wachter] contends, will always need a trusted human guide. Readers of his book will be grateful to have found one."
www.wsj.com/arts-culture...

This is pretty cool. Just a few days after its publication, "A Giant Leap" is the bestselling book on AI on Amazon's entire ebook list.

Beyond the Hype: How AI Is Finally Delivering on Digital Health’s Promise After a decade of disappointment with electronic health records that turned physicians into data-entry clerks, generative AI is emerging as the transformative force that will restore the physician-...

I loved this chat for the New England Journal of Medicine's leadership podcast on AI and healthcare with my friend Tom Lee, Harvard professor, Chief Medical Officer of Press Ganey, and one of the most thoughtful people in medicine.
catalyst.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

One week away! I've been reading @bobwachter.bsky.social book & I'm convinced if you want to work on healthcare + AI this is a **MUST READ*** Get your tix @cwclub.bsky.social here: www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2026-...

With the launch of “A Giant Leap,” there’ll be lots of great podcasts on which I discuss AI & healthcare. Today:
Health Affairs Podyssey (w/ HA editor Rob Lott):
www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/h...
Health & Veritas (w/ Yale’s Harlan Krumholz & Howie Forman): insights.som.yale.edu/podcasts/hea...

Capturing Lightning in a Bottle The Unique Challenges of Writing a Book on AI and Healthcare

Today is publication day for "A Giant Leap: How AI is Transforming Healthcare..." Please buy, review, discuss, and tell your friends!
On Substack today, I tell the story of how the book came to be, including picking a title & a cover, narrating the audiobook, etc. substack.com/home/post/p-...

Thanks to noted futurist Jeff Goldsmith for his lovely and insightful review of A GIANT LEAP in today's Health Affairs journal.
"... an island of calm and thoughtful commentary in the midst of an exhausting wave of hype.... Highly recommended."
www.healthaffairs.org/content/fore...

The benefits of AI in health care outweigh potential hazards, many experts say ChatGPT Health is OpenAI's foray into medicine, and so far, it gets high marks from both a cancer patient and a leading doctor. But there are worries it could be misused.

On tonight's All Things Considered on NPR, I discuss patients' use of AI for health. While there are risks, many patients benefit.
Overall, I favor tools that guide patients through their symptoms (with iterative Q's & A's) rather than general tools like GPT or Gemini.
www.npr.org/transcripts/...

Opinion | Stop Worrying, and Let A.I. Help Save Your Life

AI doesn't need to be perfect to outperform our healthcare system's woeful status quo. It just needs to be better.
In many cases, it already is.
In today's New York Times, I explore this idea – a central theme of my upcoming book, A Giant Leap (out Feb 3).
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/o...

The Week That AI Crossed the Line Why ChatGPT Health and Utah’s AI Prescribing Law Mark the Beginning of the “AI Doctor” Era

My new Substack:
This week's announcements of ChatGPT Health and Utah's new system that permits AI to refill prescriptions are both interesting in their own right. But together, they usher in the "AI Doctor" era. The implications are enormous. open.substack.com/pub/robertwa...

Is Giving ChatGPT Health Your Medical Records a Good Idea? We asked experts the potential risks and benefits of turning over your health data to an AI tool.

A nice summary of the implications of ChatGPT Health @TIME – with a focus on whether you should trust @OpenAI with your health data.
Quotes by me, Adam Rodman, Danielle Bitterman, others.
time.com/7344997/chat...

A very exciting book day in my household – on the same day I received my copy of Zeke Emanuel's new book (which I'm psyched to read), a pre-pub copy of my new book showed up as well. Mine will be publicly available on Feb 3, but available for pre-order now.

Good news you may have missed in 2025 The bad news from the past year (and there was a lot of it) drowned out much of the GOOD news that made smaller headlines. David Pogue reports on some of 2025's best underreported stories.

Thanks to David Pogue and CBS Sunday Morning for interviewing me for their "Good News You May Have Missed in 2025" story, discussing AI and healthcare and featuring my upcoming book, "A Giant Leap." (Segment begins at 5:10.)
www.cbsnews.com/news/good-ne...

Will The AI Jobpocalypse Hit Healthcare? It Depends on Which Jobs You’re Talking About

With all the talk about AI and jobs, there has been surprisingly little discussion about healthcare. In my new Substack, I explore whether there will be a healthcare AI Job Apocalypse – a key question since healthcare has been the US's most reliable employment engine. substack.com/inbox/post/1...

A Giant Leap: How AI Is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future by Robert Wachter Wachter (The Digital Doctor), chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, offers an even...

Just in: Next review of A GIANT LEAP, from Publishers Weekly (starred): Evenhanded & insightful…clearly & concisely explains the...technology & its possible medical uses & makes a convincing case that AI will usher in 'something of a golden age in healthcare.'
www.publishersweekly.com/9798217044245

Is Healthcare AI in a Bubble? The Technology is Real. But So Will Be the Shakeout

My latest post on Substack is my effort to answer a trillion-dollar question: "Is healthcare AI in a bubble?"
robertwachter.substack.com/p/is-healthc...
My answer is both yes AND no – depending on whether you're asking about the technology or the startups.

A GIANT LEAP | Kirkus Reviews Powerful AI tools for the medical industry are already shaping our digital shadows, diagnosing disease, recommending treatments, and quietly redefining the doctor-patient relationship.

Exciting: The first official review of A GIANT LEAP, my upcoming (Feb 3) book on AI-meets-healthcare, in Kirkus Reviews:
“An accessible, often fascinating primer on AI tools changing clinical practice—for better or worse.... Essential, illuminating reading.”
www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews...

We Need Medical AI for Patients But ChatGPT Isn't It

My new post on Substack: Why patient-facing healthcare AI is a good idea, but general-purpose chatbots like GPT are probably not the right tool for the job. robertwachter.substack.com/p/we-need-me...

Frustrated by the Medical System, Patients Turn to A.I.

What happens when patients use chatbots for medical advice. Great @nytimes story by ‪@teddyrosenbluth.bsky.social‬ & @maggieastor.bsky.social. I'm quoted, along with @adamrodmanmd.bsky.social & @epatientdave.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/w...

Can AI Finally Deliver on Precision Medicine’s Promise? Yes, But Only If We Nail Both the Biology and Decision Support

Precision Medicine – making clinical decisions based on nuanced analyses of patients' personal characteristics, including genetics – has been "just around the corner" for >30 years. In my new Substack, I describe why AI is poised to deliver on the promise.
robertwachter.substack.com/p/can-ai-fin...

Signing off from another great UCSF Management of the Hospitalized Patient conference. #UCSFMHP2025 Thanks to wonderful speakers and 500 very engaged participants!
See you next year in SF, October 15-17. 2026.

"Hospital Medicine Updates" #UCSFMHP2025, by "The Brads" (Sharpe/Monash):
1) Pyelo (even w/ bacteremia): 5-7d Rx equal to 10-14
2) Rigors: Good predictor of bacteremia
3) Acute back pain: Muscle relaxants work
4) Low Na: fast correction (~10meq/d) better
5) Pts w/ CHF & low-Fe anemia: IV iron works

#UCSFMHP2025: @gregorymmarcus on hospital arrhythmias. A Fib pearls:
1) New AF in hospital (PNA, post-op, "stress"): generally should still anticoagulate
2) DOAC lowers risk of dementia in AF
3) In AF: exercise good, EtOH bad, coffee is OK
4) Ablation works, but continue DOAC, at least for 1 year

Next #UCSFMHP2025, @LucasZierMD on cardiac ischemia. Points:
1) Serial troponins are more useful to detect ischemia than EKG or single troponin (latter not sensitive enough). See algorithm below
2) Use new terminology (ACS with or without ST Elevation, vs Demand Ischemia (MI Type 2). Graphic below

Next #UCSFMHP2025: Jen Babik on viral infections in the hospital:
1) Flu: hard to diagnosis, as any older pts don't have temp; vaccine is only 50% effective. So need to test all during flu season. See table for meds.
2) RSV: Rx with ribavirin (oral, not aerosol) for severe PNA
3) Covid: see table

Last day #UCSFMHP2025. Brad Sharpe on electrolytes:
1) K: Clinical risk high only if K<2.5, >6.5. Replete goal: 4.2. "Kayexalate is fine" (& 1/30th cost of Lokelma)
2) Mag: few sxs unless <1.0. "PO Mg is OK" (1/300 cost of IV)
3) HyperCA: Ddx mostly cancer or hyperpara. Don't "adjust for albumin"