178 - No Humans Required | The Race Toward Fully Autonomous Clinical AI

In this episode of Health Further, hosts Vic and Marcus discuss the latest healthcare VC activity including Daffodil Health’s $16.3M raise for AI claims automation and Anterior’s $40M round accelerating AI adoption in health plans, followed by a deep dive into leadership shakeups at HHS, the resignation of a top FDA scientist amid concerns about political influence, and RFK Jr.’s continued restructuring at the CDC. They examine the rollout of the CMMI Access Model and what it signals about AI-first and tech-enabled care in rural America, review financial turnarounds at Community Health Systems, CommonSpirit, and Ascension, unpack conflicting diagnostic standards in Alzheimer’s disease and emerging drug repurposing research, and close with a discussion on NYU Langone’s prediction of fully autonomous clinical AI within five years and OpenAI’s acquisition of OpenClaw, exploring both the productivity upside and significant security risks of autonomous AI agents.

Story #1 2 AI for Payors VC Deals

1:25 - Daffodil Health raises $16.3M for AI claims automation MobiHealth

2:18 - Anterior Closes $40 Million to Accelerate Health Plan AI Adoption, Bringing Total Funding to $64 Million Healthcare IT

Story #2 HHS Leadership Changes

4:12 - Top FDA Scientist Explains Why He Quit After Getting a Promotion From RFK Jr. WSJ

9:33 - RFK Jr. Continues Leadership Shake-Up, Placing Top Lieutenant in Charge of CDC WSJ

Story #3 ACCESS gains Payor Commits

13:25 - Payers sign pledge to join CMMI ACCESS Model Fierce Healthcare

Story #4 Health System Results

17:17 - Community Health Systems wraps 2025 with narrow gains, flagging same-store volumes Fierce Healthcare

19:46 - CommonSpirit's volume gains, efficiency initiatives fuel 'noticeable' quarterly performance bump Fierce Healthcare

21:02 - Ascension posts net profit as it looks to outpatient growth Healthcare Dive

Story #5 Alzheimer’s

22:15 - Why Doctors Can’t Agree on How to Diagnose Alzheimer’s WSJ

26:02 - Viagra and shingles vaccine show surprising promise against Alzheimer’s Science Daily

Story #6 No HITL?

28:03 - NYU Langone Health: We’re Close to Clinical AI with No Human in the Loop MedCity

Story #7 OpenClaw Acquhire

31:32 - This Viral AI Project Went From Side Hustle to Coveted Prize in Three Months WSJ