Data, Decisions and Clinics

Sign in Subscribe

Dr. Yoram Friedman

Dr. Friedman is a physician turned product manager with 20+ years building enterprise software and leading digital transformation. He writes about the intersection of technology, human behavior, and healthcare, where solutions directly impact lives.

📍 Orange County, CA

The Question Is No Longer "Can We Build It?"

The bottleneck in tech is no longer writing code, it’s deciding what to build. As AI collapses development time, value shifts upstream to product judgment. In healthcare especially, models work, but projects fail without real product thinking. The new question isn’t can we build it, but should we.

The Smartest Person in the Room Is a Prompt

At 2am, every product manager runs the same simulation, an imaginary room of stakeholders. The problem? You built the room. AI can become the same echo chamber. There are five levels of working with AI, and only the higher ones truly challenge your thinking.

The Room That Runs Itself

I ran a full design thinking workshop on a Sunday afternoon, no flights, no sticky notes, just nine AI agents configured to disagree. For under $10, they reframed the problem entirely.

The Healthcare AI Spectrum: What's New, What's Not, and What We Can Learn From Other Industries

“AI in healthcare” is too broad to be useful. It spans mature imaging tools to experimental autonomous agents. Governance should match risk and maturity, not hype. Many use cases are transferable from other industries. Clarity on autonomy and context will speed safe, meaningful adoption.

Understanding FDA's 2026 Clinical Decision Support Guidance: It's Not Deregulation

The FDA’s January 2026 CDS guidance isn’t deregulation, it’s smart, risk-based clarity. AI tools that support physician judgment without black-box automation can move faster. High-risk diagnostic systems remain regulated. That’s not stepping back, it’s focusing oversight where it truly matters.

The Architect

Thirty years ago, in a small room at the Hebrew University School of Pharmacy in Jerusalem, a group of graduate students was simulating protein structures on Silicon Graphics workstations, the same machines Hollywood used for visual effects.

The Microscope

In 2018, the FDA cleared an AI to diagnose disease without a physician in the loop. A nurse captures two retinal images, the system delivers a clinical decision, and the company, not the clinic, carries the liability. That was seven years ago. The future we keep debating is already here.

The Autopilot

In 2013, the FDA approved a machine that could sedate patients without an anesthesiologist. By 2016, it was dead. No safety scandal. No patient harm. It simply failed to sell.

The Second Ear

When was the last time you trusted a machine with a life-or-death decision? If you’ve ever had an ECG, the answer is: already. Since 1982, ECG machines have printed automated interpretations, computers reading your heart and offering a clinical opinion long before we called it AI.

The Second Eye

“The Second Eye” opens a five-part series. It traces healthcare AI to its real origins, in radiology, cardiology, anesthesiology, and other place, decades before today’s hype. I’m tired of reading that AI in healthcare is failing. Its not! It started long before Silicon Valley noticed.