“Human in the loop” has become one of healthcare AI’s favourite safety assurances. But what happens when AI is making decisions at a speed and scale no human can realistically oversee?

Dr Andrew Rochford joins Louise and George to discuss Above-the-Loop Governance, his proposed approach to continuously measuring AI decision-making against independent professional benchmarks.

They explore how AI could earn, and lose, the authority to make consequential decisions, what happens when AI performs differently or even better than humans, and where accountability ultimately sits when an AI makes the call.

Andrew also discusses Trakkked.ai, his attempt to put the framework into practice.

Learn more about Trakked.ai

Read Andrew’s paper on Above the Loop Governance Link

Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn

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This week on Pulse: Hot Topics, how much of healthcare are we ready to hand over to AI?

Louise and George look at OpenAI's new connection to Epic and what it could mean for the future of the electronic health record; new Australian data showing AI is rapidly becoming a front door to healthcare; and a provocative paper challenging whether keeping a “human in the loop” really makes AI safer.

They also explore a very different model of human-AI collaboration, with AI assisting neurosurgeons during brain tumour surgery, and the FDA's authorisation of the first wearable to continuously monitor both glucose and ketones.

Plus: why trust and health-data literacy aren't keeping pace with AI adoption, and the FDA's vision for the home as a healthcare hub.

Resources:

OpenAI — Healthcare organizations can now connect EHR and additional industry data to ChatGPT Link

PwC Australia — Voice of the Consumer 2026: Fit and Informed Link

Australian Digital Health Agency — My Health Record use surges as Agency improves access for clinicians Link

Mitchell, Ghosh & Passi — AI Agents Push Humans Out of the Loop, arXiv Link

The Guardian — London neurosurgeons' AI-assisted brain tumour operation Link

FDA — Authorizes First Wearable Device That Continuously Monitors Both Ketone Levels and Blood Sugar Link

FDA — Home as a Health Care Hub initiative Link

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This week on Pulse: Amplify, Louise and George sit down with Greg Moran from Ageing Australia to discuss digital maturity, workforce, vendor capability, interoperability, consumer access to data and AI readiness.

While Australia’s new Digital Maturity Uplift Toolkit was designed for residential aged care, there are lessons here for any health or care organisation navigating digital transformation.

Connect with Greg on LinkedIn

Download the Digital Maturity Uplift Toolkit here

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This week on Pulse: Hot Topics, could autonomous AI deliver better care than doctors - even doctors using AI?

Louise and George examine the provocative new JAMA argument that human oversight may sometimes make medical AI less accurate, before confronting a very real counterpoint: an AI scribe that invented psychedelic mushroom use in an Australian patient’s medical record.

They also discuss Australia’s move to connect wearable devices to national digital health infrastructure; new AMA(US) guidance on making wearable data clinically useful; and an international survey exposing major failures in care coordination.

Finally, Google’s video-enabled AMIE can now interview, observe and guide simulated patients through elements of a virtual examination. If AI can see, hear and assess the patient, does virtual care still require a human clinician, or a radically different model of clinical governance?

Research Opportunities:

AI policy vs frontline reality survey (deadline 2 September) Link

Resources:

JAMA Perspective, "Will Autonomous AI Exceed AI-Aided Physicians as the Best Medical Care?" Link
ABC News, "Error by AI scribe during medical appointment leaves patient devastated" Link
US AMA, "Here's how to make the most of patients' wearable data" Link
Commonwealth Fund, "How Care Coordination Varies Internationally" Link
Google Research, "Towards Expert-level Medical AI for Real-time Video Consultations" Link

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This week on Pulse: Amplify, Louise and George speak with EMR pioneer Dr NT Cheung.

Dr NT Cheung joined the Hong Kong Hospital Authority when clinical computing was virtually non-existent, and went on to help build one of the world’s largest integrated, longitudinal electronic patient record systems.

NT reflects on Hong Kong’s remarkable 30-year digital health journey, why building its technology in-house proved so valuable, and what other health systems can learn from its clinician-led, incremental approach. They explore the extraordinary opportunity created by three decades of consistently collected patient data, cross-border record sharing with mainland China, and technology’s role in supporting an ageing society.

NT also offers a timely warning for the AI era: healthcare is too complex to be transformed by technology alone. AI may be extraordinarily powerful, but it remains a tool, and the goal must be to make every interaction between patients, clinicians and the health system a little smoother and better.

Connect with NT on LinkedIn

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This week on Pulse: Hot Topics, Louise and George explore the rapidly shifting boundaries of science, AI and human health.

They unpack the extraordinary research using AI to design entirely new, functioning viruses, and the biosecurity questions that follow. Then, turning the discussion to South Australia’s newly announced Royal Commission into AI and whether governance can possibly keep pace with technological change.

Then they look at the emerging era of the “continuous human”: Germany’s €40 million push to crack continuous hormone monitoring, and Google’s enormous SensorFM foundation model, trained on more than a trillion minutes of wearable data, which could point towards a future of personalised, continuous health intelligence.

Plus, George recommends Paper Guide for scientific research, and we highlight two international opportunities for clinicians to contribute to research on AI in healthcare.

Research Opportunities:

Clinicians – be part of the research into clinician use of AI, open globally Link

AI policy vs frontline reality survey (deadline 2 September) Link

Resources:

SPRIND Continuous Hormone Monitoring Challenge Link

Ida Tin Coined Femtech. Now She's Funding Continuous Hormone Monitoring, Forbes Link

SensorFM: Towards a general intelligence and interface for wearable health data, Google Research Link

Recommendations:

Paper Guide Link

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This week on Pulse: Amplify, healthcare's digital future won't be built by technology - it will be built by people.

In this episode, Louise and George are joined by Jane Dwelly, Vice President International at CHIME and Chair of the Federation for Informatics Professionals (FedIP), to discuss why professional recognition, leadership and workforce capability are critical to healthcare’s future, especially as healthcare enters the AI era.

They explore the UK's landmark move to recognise digital health professionals, what other countries can learn, how AI is reshaping workforce skills, and whether the future could include internationally recognised standards for digital health professionals.

Connect with Jane on LinkedIn

Resources:

FedIP, Federation for Informatics Professionals Link

CHIME CXO Summit, September @Cambridge Link

CHIME membership Link

Professional Membership for the NHS Digital, Data and Technology Workforce – NHS Link

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This week on Pulse: Hot Topics, Louise and George explore one question that underpins the future of digital health: how do we build trust?

They begin with Australia's latest healthcare cyberattack and New Zealand's response to one of theirs, asking if cybersecurity should be considered a patient safety issue rather than simply an IT problem.

The discussion then turns to the World Health Organization's first AI Readiness Assessment for Europe and what it reveals about the gap between rapid AI adoption and the governance needed to support it safely.

The conversation moves to healthcare investment, examining Rock Health's latest funding report, new evidence on the economics of AI, and whether venture capital is backing the innovations that will deliver the greatest value for patients.

Louise and George also discuss how patients are already using AI, drawing on new research from Microsoft and the Commonwealth Fund that reveals where people trust AI, and where they still want human care.

Finally, they explore one of the first major lawsuits involving ChatGPT and alleged medical harm, asking how accountability will evolve as consumers increasingly rely on generative AI for health advice.

Recommendations:

Clinicians – be part of the research into clinician use of AI, open globally Link

Athens Digital Health Week, 23–25 February 2027, Royal Olympic Hotel, Athens Link

Resources:

Action Plan aims to strengthen Health NZ digital security, Pulse+IT (Reesh Lyon) — Link

Health NZ Action Plan - Link

Partnered Health cyber incident statement — Link

WHO Europe statement: Govern AI in health before the gaps become irreversible — Link

WHO report: AI is reshaping health systems — state of readiness across the European Union — Link

Rock Health H1 2026 Funding and Market Overview — Link

A systematic review of economic evidence of artificial intelligence in healthcare, Health Policy (Schmidt, Carter, McGuire, Mossialos, van Kessel) — Link

2025 Global Women's Health Investment Hit A Record, But U.S. Investors Curb Their Enthusiasm, Forbes (Geri Stengel) — Link

Global analysis of country-level factors associated with chatbot usage for health, Nature Health — Link

Patients' Perspectives on AI in Primary Care, Commonwealth Fund — Link

ChatGPT Led to a Man's Near-Fatal Health Crisis, Lawsuit Claims, The New York Times — Link

With Thanks to Datacom:

Download the Executive Briefing Playbook Link

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