248: The Patient Is the Point: How AI Is Forcing Medicine to Finally Listen - Dr. Ami Bhatt

In this pivotal episode of 'Stay Off My Operating Table,' host Dr. Philip Ovedia welcomes Dr. Ami Bhatt, Chief Innovation Officer at the American College of Cardiology, to explore how artificial intelligence is forcing a long-overdue transformation in medicine. Dr. Bhatt, a cardiologist turned digital health pioneer, shares her journey from traditional clinical practice to leading innovation, emphasizing that the future of healthcare lies not in technology for its own sake, but in empowering patients and clinicians through AI-enabled workflows. She identifies two core barriers to adoption: misaligned clinical workflows and a lack of respect for both providers and patients. Drawing from her experience during the pandemic, she illustrates how 'desperation is the mother of adoption,' accelerating telemedicine and digital health adoption. The conversation pivots to a deeper strategic challenge: the healthcare system has long prioritized itself over the patient, but AI is now forcing a reckoning. Dr. Bhatt champions the 'AI-enabled clinician'—a provider who uses AI not to replace judgment, but to augment it, focusing on outcomes, not efficiency. She cautions against overreliance on large language models, stressing their tendency to 'sound right' without truth, and urges clinicians to remain critical, context-aware, and patient-centered. The episode closes with a vision of continuous, real-world data collection via wearables and digital twins, enabling proactive, personalized care before crises occur.