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Interview

In conversation with
Dan Vahdat

Dan Vahdat is pushing care beyond clinic walls with Huma—using ubiquitous tech to keep patients visible and supported after discharge, not just inside hospitals. The spark came from seeing complications emerge precisely when patients leave controlled settings—and realizing smartphones, wearables, and cloud could bridge that gap into a true “hospital in the pocket.” The aim is disciplined and humane: re-architect care around continuous visibility, interoperable data, and evidence-based, regulated AI that empowers people without sidelining clinicians.

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Healthcare doesn’t happen in the clinic. It happens in life. Let’s build a health system that lives there too.

Vahdat’s operating logic is pragmatic: design end-to-end digital pathways, not bolt-ons; prioritize interoperability and ecosystems over silos; and anchor everything in clinical evidence and regulatory compliance from day one. He argues adoption accelerates when leaders ignore “quick fixes,” wire privacy and safety into the product, and treat distributed care as the default—turning post-discharge blind spots into proactive, longitudinal support. The blockers are real (reimbursement gaps, fragmented IT, uneven regulation), but the counter is clear: standards, explainable AI, and partnerships that make continuous care trustworthy and scalable.

Lessons from Going Continuous:
Put Care Where Life Happens

What we cover

How a “hospital in the pocket” model extends support post-discharge and enables proactive health management, not episodic care
Why interoperability, open ecosystems, and clinical evidence—not point solutions—determine real-world adoption and trust
What still blocks scale—reimbursement, siloed IT, culture, and uneven SaMD regulation—and how leaders should respond
Where policy should shift—mandated standards, modern reimbursement for remote care, agile regulation, and digital literacy
Which capital and partnership moves matter—look globally, add strategic pharma/tech investors, and align funding with evidence

Dan Vahdat is the founder and CEO of Huma, a healthcare AI company valued at over $1 billion, dedicated to accelerating the adoption of digital solutions in healthcare and research. Huma’s technology has powered more than 1,000 clinical trials and is used in 4,500 hospitals and clinics across the US and beyond. Its platform has screened, triaged, and engaged over 50 million individuals, with millions of active users across its products in more than 70 countries. In 2023, Dan was selected as HealthTech Leader of the Year, and Huma has received the prestigious Prix Galien award twice. Dan is also a member of the World Economic Forum.