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.

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.

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...

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...

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/...

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...

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...

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.

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...

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...

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

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.

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...

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...

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...

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"

Some pearls on IBD inpatient management by @SaraLewinMD #UCSFMHP2025: 1) NPO only if the patient can't tolerate po 2) Steroids (40mg IV) for most 3) Consider rescue Rx (usually Infliximab) if not better day 3-5 4) Consider surgery if no better by day 7; but consider JAK1 inhibitor first

Palliative care pearls from Steve Pantilat at #UCSFMHP2025: 1) A way to frame palliative care: "To help you live as well as possible for as long as possible" 2) Prognosis: big bands ("weeks to months"). But add: "I hope you do better" and "things can happen suddenly" 3) Empathy improves outcomes

A. Josephson's neuro emergencies talk at #UCSFMHP2025: 1) In both Guillain-Barré & myasthenia, do measure lung strength 2) Short peak time to max pain: main way to tell SAH from other headaches 3) Slurred speech: main way to distinguish central vertigo 4) Empiric Rx of meningitis: include steroids

Last talk #UCSFMHP2025 Day1: Erik Levinsohn, consult psychiatrist @UCSF. Key points: Delirium most common cause of agitation in the hospital Deprescribe before new meds: anticholinergic most common culprit Haldol most useful Rx; its toxicity is overrated Remove restraints ASAP & push mobilization

Andy Josephson on stroke update at #UCSFMHP2025. Key updates: 1) Most hospitals are switching from TPA to TNK (easier-to-use) 2) Endovascular therapy is indicated even after successful thrombolytics 3) Importance of permissive hypertension: don't lower BP after acute stroke

Tracy Minichiello on anticoagulation at #UCSFMHP2025. Some take-homes below. Note trends away from dual therapy (ASA+DOAC), and increasing use of reduced-dose DOACs. Also, in many patients (such as post-DVT or AFib), the benefits of anticoag exceed risks even in patients with history of falls.

At #UCSFMHP2025: Jonathan Davis on inpatient management of heart failure. Key messages are that aggressive hospital management, with Goal-Directed Medical Therapy, is key and has an impressive mortality benefit.

Key points from Lekshmi Santhosh sepsis update at #UCSFMHP2025. Remember: give fluids early in shock but de-escalate quickly once hemodynamically stable. Hot off the presses: @NEJM study showing that many ICU sepsis patients don't benefit from arterial lines nejm.org/doi/full/10....

It's always a thrill to welcome > 500 hospitalists to my annual UCSF Management of the Hospitalized Patient conference in SF. I'll tweet 1-2 take-home points from talks over the next few days. Below: Lekshmi Santhosh on sepsis updates (incl. data hot off presses) #UCSFMHP2025

My new Substack: Will AI Rescue Primary Care? Why AI-enabled solutions have mostly failed to solve the primary care crisis, and my hope/prediction that the endgame will likely be a new two-tiered system that increasingly relies on AI for basic care needs. robertwachter.substack.com/p/will-ai-re...

Just 1 month until my 29th (!) annual Management of the Hospitalized Patient CME course in SF, Oct 30-Nov 1. Great topics (mostly clinical, for hospitalists & others who care for inpatients), awesome faculty. Co-sponsored by SHM. Hope you can make it! managementhospitalizedpatient.ucsf.edu

My latest Substack: As OpenEvidence sprinted past UpToDate to become medicine's best AI-enabled point-of-care tool, I've been waiting for UTD's response. Now it's here, raising fascinating questions about which knowledge base should be our source of truth. robertwachter.substack.com/p/medicines-...

Everyone hates prior auth, so I was surprised last month when Medicare rolled out a new prior auth program. AI can solve the prior auth mess–but it means replacing our fax-based system with AI-powered chart reviews. My new Substack on how this could work. open.substack.com/pub/robertwa...

To me, understanding the "Productivity Paradox" is vital for appreciating why digitizing healthcare has been so hard, why the EHR has been so fraught, and why AI in medicine will be bumpy (but positive in the end). Great explainer by @johncassidysays.bsky.social www.newyorker.com/news/the-fin...

My book on healthcare AI, "A Giant Leap" (sites.prh.com/agiantleapbook), is still a few months out, but it's a thrill to receive endorsements from early readers. Here are a couple of new ones, from two of my heroes: ‪@zekeemanuel.bsky.social‬ and Peter Lee from @microsoft.com

I loved (and agree with) today's @axios piece on AI. The big thought: "[Leaders] with the most insight, power & money share the AI obsession. The topic is daunting, sprawling, occasionally scary & often eye-popping. It's worthy of your time to start obsessing." www.axios.com/2025/09/02/a...

More on AI-induced deskilling – terrific piece in today's @nytimes.com by Teddy Rosenbluth, with thoughts by @adamrodmanmd.bsky.social, Chris Longhurst, and me on implications, and how to – and whether we need to – mitigate the loss of skills. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/w...

My newest Substack post: in light of the Lancet study that found deskilling after brief use of AI-colonoscopy, I discuss AI-based deskilling in medicine, how other industries handle it, and why we're not asking the right questions. Don't forget to subscribe (free). open.substack.com/pub/robertwa...

Very exciting to see the endorsements ("blurbs") begin to roll in for my upcoming book, "A Giant Leap: How AI is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future" (Portfolio/Penguin Books, Feb 3, 2026). Three of them – from John Halamka, Sherry Turkle, and Vinod Khosla - below. Thanks!

In my new @SubstackInc, I tell the story of AI scribes – why starting with scribes was a wise choice for both health systems & start-ups; how scribes went from gee-whiz innovation to commodity in 2 years; & why scribes need to be just the start of the AI journey. open.substack.com/pub/robertwa...

My book on AI and Healthcare, "A Giant Leap," is still 6 months out. But there's too much happening not to start a Substack. Every month, I'll cover the key trends in AI-meets-healthcare: clinical, tech, business, ethics. More forest than trees. Subscribe: open.substack.com/pub/robertwa...

I appreciate @Medscape featuring me as one of its "visionaries" in its "Medscape 2050: The Future of Medicine" series. I weigh in on various aspects of AI-meets-healthcare in short videos. www.medscape.com/viewarticle/...