Rubin Reflects
A Blog By Dr. Rubin Pillay – Ph.D., M.D., M.B.A, M.Sc, BSc(Hon)Pharm
The Real Workforce Crisis in Healthcare Isn’t Burnout — It’s a Values Gap
Across hospitals and clinics worldwide, a quiet rebellion is underway. The next generation of healthcare professionals isn’t rejecting work — they’re rejecting work that rejects their humanity. They’re walking away not because they’re unmotivated, but because they...
The Surgical Revolution: How Robotics is Fundamentally Disrupting Modern Medicine
We stand at an inflection point in surgical medicine. What once seemed like science fiction—robots performing the most delicate, life-saving operations on the human body—has become not just reality, but the new standard of excellence. Across specialties, from...
Living Medicines: The Next Frontier of Healthcare Disruption
For over a century, we’ve imagined medicine as something external to us—pills we swallow, injections we endure, infusions we receive. But what if the most powerful therapies of tomorrow don’t come in a bottle or a syringe, but instead live inside our own bodies?...
The Quantum Leap: How the Quantum Health Economy is Redefining Medicine
We are on the cusp of a new era in healthcare, one that promises to be as transformative as the discovery of penicillin or the mapping of the human genome. This is the era of the quantum health economy, a new frontier where the mind-bending principles of quantum...
Breaking the Stall: How AI and Digital Health Can Reignite Progress Against Chronic Disease
For decades, the United States made steady, if uneven, progress in reducing deaths from chronic diseases — cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, COPD, and others that account for the majority of preventable deaths worldwide. But a sobering new Lancet study has...
When Policy Shapes the Algorithm: How Research Decisions Define AI’s Future in Healthcare
Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming the nervous system of modern medicine. It interprets scans, assists with diagnoses, guides treatment pathways, and even helps discover novel therapeutics. In just a few years, it has shifted from the periphery of practice to...
From Banking to Bedside: What Malaysia’s AI Bank Teaches Us About the Future of Healthcare
Last week, Malaysia made history with the launch of Ryt Bank, the world’s first AI-powered bank created by Malaysians, for Malaysians. This wasn’t just the unveiling of another fintech product—it was a bold statement about how homegrown innovation, when fused with...
“From Fire to Future: The AI Revolution in Historical Perspective”
Technology has always been humanity’s most powerful lever for transformation. From the moment our ancestors struck stone against stone to fashion the first tools, to the moment the Wright brothers lifted off in 1903, to the day Apollo 11 landed on the moon just 66...
The AI Co-Pilot Has Arrived in the Clinic: Is Medical Education Ready?
Imagine this scene, which is playing out in clinics and hospitals around the world every day: A medical resident sees a patient with a complex set of symptoms. After the visit, they discreetly pull out their smartphone, type a few prompts into a generative AI chatbot,...
Bridging the AI Divide in Healthcare: What Startups Must Get Right
The Healthcare AI Divide: High Hopes, Low Transformation The latest MIT GenAI Divide report is sobering: despite $30–40 billion invested in AI, 95% of enterprise AI pilots fail to create measurable value. The reasons aren’t technical horsepower or regulation—it’s the...
Less Clicks, More Care: The Future Is AI Driven Invisible UX
A new wave of user experience (UX) design is reshaping healthcare. But unlike traditional UX, this evolution isn't about better visuals or clearer buttons. It's about creating experiences that are essentially invisible—driven not by interaction, but by intent. For...
From Risk to Resilience: A New Leadership Paradigm for Healthcare in an Uncertain World
For generations, healthcare leadership has worshipped at the altar of risk management. You have your heat maps, your probability charts, your five-year strategic plans. You meticulously model quantifiable, predictable events—the "risks" that Frank Knight and John...
Stop “Fixing” Healthcare. It’s Already a Corpse.
For decades, we’ve been locked in a tedious and utterly fruitless debate about how to "fix" healthcare. We argue about insurance models, tweak supply chains, and invest billions in “digital transformation” initiatives that amount to little more than layering expensive...
Triplet Supremacy: 7 Underground Strategies for Dominating the Autonomous Economy
The early Triplet adopters won’t just survive the coming economic shift—they’ll rule it. But dominance requires more than just building your humanoid and digital twins. It demands asymmetric tactics that legacy systems can’t comprehend, let alone compete with. Here...
Triplet Warfare: How Early Adopters Will Dominate the Post-Organizational Economy
The Triplet Era won’t be a gentle transition—it will be a land grab. Forget "disruption." This is economic rewiring. The first wave of Triplets (human + humanoid + digital twin) won’t just compete with traditional businesses—they’ll dissolve them from within. Here’s...
How to Build Your Triplet: A Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming a Post-Organizational Entity
In my last piece, I argued that the future of work isn’t about organizations—it’s about Triplets (you + humanoid robot twin + digital twin). Predictably, the reactions split into two camps: "This is inevitable—how do I start?" "This is insane—you’re underestimating...
“Me, Myself, and I: The End of the Organization and Birth of the Triplet Economy”
Let’s stop pretending. All these corporate conferences, white papers, and LinkedIn think pieces about "AI workforce readiness" and "organizational adaptation" are just intellectual masturbation. They’re clinging to a dying paradigm—one that AI is about to render...
Digital Health’s Blind Spot: Multimorbidity— and the AI Revolution It Needs
The promise of digital health technologies (DHTs) was immense. A future where managing our health, tracking our metrics, and engaging with our care was seamlessly integrated into our daily lives, empowering us like never before. Indeed, there has been a "rapid...
Healthcare’s Next Revolution: Polyomic Medicine and the End of the “One Size Fits None” era
The landscape of healthcare is on the cusp of a profound transformation. For too long, we’ve long clung to a paradox: we deliver highly complex treatments based on overly simplistic assumptions. . We've largely focused on treating diseases after symptoms manifest,...
Healthcare Will “Neven” Be The Same Again: Why AI’s Growth Curve Will Revolutionize Medicine
Imagine you’re climbing a mountain. For decades, the pace of progress in computing—guided by Moore’s Law—has felt like hiking up a steady incline. Every couple of years, our computers became twice as powerful. It was impressive and transformative. Thanks to Moore’s...
40¢ an Hour: The Healthcare Workforce Revolution We Can’t Afford to Ignore
The Healthcare Crisis No One Can Ignore Hospitals are drowning. Nurses are burning out. Costs are skyrocketing. And with aging populations and shrinking workforces, the math is clear: the current system is unsustainable. But what if the solution wasn’t more doctors or...
Is Science Too Scientific?
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, one phrase has become a rallying cry for leaders, policymakers, and the public alike: “Follow the science.” From political leaders to public health officials, the call to heed the advice of scientists and medical experts has been...
Turning Crisis into Opportunity: Innovating Amid Federal Funding Cuts in Biomedical Research and Healthcare
Federal funding cuts have caused abrupt disruption in biomedical research and healthcare. The recent slashes to NIH’s budget “risk jobs, threaten state economies, and hamper progress toward...treatment of diseases such as cancer,” according to one analysis....
The Rise of Private Equity in Healthcare: When Profits Eclipse Patient Care
*In 2024, as Steward Health Care teetered on the brink of collapse, patients at its hospitals faced understaffed ERs, unsanitary conditions, and growing uncertainty about whether their local hospitals would even stay open. Meanwhile, CEO Ralph de la Torre enjoyed the...
It’s Not the Workflow, Stupid!
The mantra echoing throughout the healthcare AI discourse and vendor pitches is nearly universal: "AI must integrate into existing clinical workflows." This well-intentioned guidance aims to minimize disruption and maximize adoption. But this approach fundamentally...
From Crisis to Opportunity: How Blockchain Could Save Medical Research
The recent proposals to cut university grant funding, particularly from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), represent more than just a budgetary decision—they signify a critical moment that demands we reimagine how scientific research is funded and conducted....
R.I.P EMR: Why AI Agents Are the Future of Medical Record Management
As a healthcare innovator and futurist, I've long been fascinated by the potential of artificial intelligence to transform patient care. Today, I'm here to make a bold prediction: the era of traditional Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) is coming to an end. In their...
Rethinking Medical Ethics in the Age of AI and Personalized Medicine: Is It Time for Individualized Ethics?
In the age of artificial intelligence (AI) and personalized medicine, healthcare is undergoing a transformation more radical than any we’ve seen before. Technologies like genetic sequencing, artificial intelligence and digital health platforms now allow us to tailor...
When Progress Hurts: The Planetary Risks of AI and Digital Health
As healthcare professionals, we've long been guided by the principle "First, do no harm." However, in our rush to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies, we may be inadvertently violating this fundamental tenet on a global scale. While the...
Medical History Repeats: What the Stethoscope’s Legacy Teaches Us About AI Adoption in Medicine
History often has a way of repeating itself, especially in medicine. When we think about the stethoscope today, it is hard to imagine a time when this ubiquitous tool was met with skepticism. Yet, when René Laennec invented the stethoscope in 1816, physicians were...
The Next Frontier in Breast Cancer Screening: Technology Enabled Individualized Screening
As we mark another Breast Cancer Awareness Month, it's crucial to reflect on both the progress we've made and the challenges that lie ahead. Breast cancer remains the most common cancer among women in the United States, accounting for about 30% of all new female...
Mobility Meets Medicine: The Impact of the Robotaxis Revolution on Health and Healthcare
The dawn of the robotaxi era is upon us, and its impact will extend far beyond transportation. As autonomous vehicles become a reality on our streets, they're set to revolutionize various aspects of our lives, including health and healthcare. Waymo, the self-driving...
Why AI in Healthcare May Not Reach the Promised Land by 2030
As a physician, healthcare executive, and innovator, I've been closely following the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence and their potential impact on healthcare. While the promise of AI in revolutionizing healthcare is immense, a recent analysis by Epoch AI...
How AI Will Build the Future of Space Healthcare for a Multiplanetary Humanity
As humanity embarks on one of the most ambitious journeys ever imagined—becoming an interplanetary species—the challenges of establishing a sustainable colony on Mars loom large. Elon Musk predicts that the first Starship missions to Mars will launch in just two...
The Financial Case for AI in Medicine: A Step-by-Step ROI Guide to Unlocking Value
Artificial intelligence (AI) stands at the forefront of innovation, promising to revolutionize patient care, streamline operations, and potentially reduce costs. However, for many healthcare leaders and practitioners, the question remains: Does AI truly deliver on its...
Botsh*t in, Botsh*t Out (BiBo)
As artificial intelligence continues to revolutionize healthcare, a concerning phenomenon called "model collapse" threatens to undermine the very foundations of AI-powered medical advances. A recent study published in Nature reveals how AI models can degrade over time...
How AI Will Propel a Deep and Collective Intelligence-Based Approach to Medicine
The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into healthcare has been a game-changer, setting the stage for unprecedented advancements in diagnosing, treating, and managing diseases. However, the true transformative potential of AI lies in its ability to foster a...
The 3S Revolution: How AI’s Singularity, Sentience, and Stewardship Will Transform Humanity
The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence is poised to radically reshape human civilization in the coming decades. Three key developments - which I call the "3S Revolution" - will likely drive this transformation: the technological singularity, the emergence of...
Healthcare Reimagined: Applying Pop-Up Business Tactics
In recent years, the pop-up business model has gained considerable attention across various industries. Pop-up businesses are temporary ventures that appear for a short period, often in unconventional locations. They're designed to be flexible, adaptable, and cater to...
Disrupting the Norm: AI, N-of-1 Clinical Trials, and the Fall of Statistical Significance
The landscape of clinical trials is undergoing a seismic shift. Traditionally, clinical trials have relied heavily on statistical significance to determine the efficacy of treatments across large populations. However, the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) is...
Why Home Health May Fail: Designing the 21st Century Home
The concept of home health is on the rise. In recent years, there's been a transformative shift towards viewing the home not just as a living space but as a central hub for health and wellness. With rapidly aging populations, increasing strain on traditional...
Blind Spots That Will Derail AI in Your Hospital (And How to Avoid Them)
Okay folks, I love a good tech revolution as much as the next doc. But let's be real: AI ain't a magic wand we wave, and poof healthcare is fixed. Getting those algorithms actually working in the messy world of hospitals and clinics? That's mostly about humans, not...
Beyond the Code: Critical Success Factors for AI Integration in Healthcare
The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into healthcare systems is heralded as a revolutionary step towards enhancing patient care, optimizing treatment pathways, and improving overall health outcomes. However, the successful implementation of AI algorithms...
Believe it or Not: Healthcare is less Reliable than…Mountain Climbing
Welcome back to the "Believe it or Not" series on Rubin Reflects, where we delve into the intriguing and often unexpected parallels between healthcare and various facets of our world. Today, we're venturing off the beaten path (quite literally, in a moment) to explore...
Believe it or Not: The Only Industry Less Productive Than Healthcare Might Surprise You
Welcome to the inaugural post of "Rubin Reflects" under our eye-opening theme, "Believe it or Not." In this series, we'll dive into the most astonishing "surprises" in healthcare and medicine, shedding light on the unexpected and the counterintuitive. Today, we tackle...
The Fallacy of Perfection: Why AI and Digital Technology May Never Improve Healthcare
There's no denying the fervor surrounding digital disruption in healthcare. The industry is abuzz with the potential of artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and other digital tools to revolutionize patient care. But are we setting ourselves up for disappointment by...
The Next Frontier in AI in Medicine: Multimodal AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) systems are poised to become fundamental tools in next-generation clinical practice and healthcare operations is entering a new, exciting phase with the advent of multimodal AI systems. These advanced platforms...
From Hippocrates to Eco-crates: The Green Healthcare Imperative
In the world of healthcare, the Hippocratic Oath has long been a guiding star for practitioners, with its core principle: "First, do no harm." Today, as we navigate the complexities of modern medicine, this timeless adage takes on new dimensions, extending its reach...
The Future of Medical Education: Education as a Service (EaaS)
Imagine a future where the journey to becoming a healthcare professional is not marked by years of costly, traditional classroom education that is static and one size fits all, but is instead a continuous, self-directed voyage empowered by cutting-edge technologies....
Patients Deserve Better: The Untold Story of Healthcare’s Digital Lag
As a physician who embraces the potential of technology to improve healthcare, I can't help but feel a pang of sadness when looking at the impact of digital technology in healthcare. In the vast expanse of technological advancement, healthcare stands as a field...
Buckle Up for Better Healthcare: How Autonomous Vehicles Will Shape Future Hospital Design
Hospitals are facing a future of increased demand, aging infrastructure, and evolving patient needs. But a quiet revolution is brewing on the streets, with the potential to transform the very blueprint of healthcare facilities: autonomous vehicles (AVs) The dawn of...
Why Hospitals Need Dynamic Capabilities, Not Five-Year Strategic Plans
In the dynamic world of healthcare, five-year strategic plans feel about as useful as a paper umbrella in a monsoon. The industry is a whirlwind of ever-changing regulations, disruptive technologies, and evolving patient expectations. Clinging to a static plan in this...
From Algorithms to Sentience: Is 2024 the Dawn of True AI Consciousness?
As we step into 2024, the realm of artificial intelligence (AI) is on the brink of a monumental shift. Could this be the year AI sheds its silicon shackles and steps into the light of true consciousness? The notion of AI developing a form of consciousness, once a...
Embracing Ikigai for Professional Wellbeing: Lessons from Hana, a 103-Year-Old Okinawan, for Healthcare Professionals
My journey into the heart of Ikigai began with a transformative trip to Okinawa, Japan. It was here, amidst the tranquil beauty and the wisdom of its centenarians, that I discovered a profound philosophy that reshaped my perspective as a health professional. Among...
The AI Trinity in Healthcare: Reliable, Responsible, and Resilient
In the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a beacon of hope, potential, and innovation. However, its successful implementation in healthcare hinges on adhering to what I like to call the "AI Trinity":...
$1.67 trillion per year GLP 1 Dilemma: Why BMI is Not the Right Criteria for Weight Loss Prescription
In the world of medical treatment and weight loss management, the use of GLP-1 (Glucagon-Like Peptide-1) agonists has become increasingly prominent. However, a crucial issue arises with the current standard for prescribing these treatments, primarily based on Body...
Healthcare Needs an AI Incident Monitor…Now!
While AI offers tremendous benefits, it also poses risks. Some of these risks are already materializing into harms, broadly referred to as “AI incidents”. With the ongoing deployment of AI across various sectors, an uptick in AI incidents is expected. Artificial...
A New Era for Healthcare AI: Unpacking the Biden-Harris Executive Order
On October 30, 2023, President Biden issued an executive order on safe, secure, and trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI). The order establishes new standards for AI development and use, with the goal of protecting Americans' privacy, advancing equity and civil...
We need civil society at the heart of dialogues on healthcare AI governance.
Governments and corporations are critical actors in AI governance, but we need civil society at the center. Civil society organizations’ (CSOs)main purpose is to advocate for and protect the public interest by actively engaging with those powers and exercising...
Your Hospital or Health System Needs an AI Red Team
In the constantly evolving landscape of healthcare technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands as a beacon of transformative potential. Its applications, from diagnostics to treatment suggestions, have the power to redefine patient care. However, with great power...
Responsible AI in Healthcare: Lessons from The Matrix
The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in the Matrix film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantoliano. In a dystopian future, humans...
Physicianeers & Physicianeurs: The Dual Force That Will Reimagine the Future of Healthcare
The healthcare industry has always been at the forefront of human innovation. From the discovery of antibiotics to the development of the MRI, each era has brought its own set of challenges and corresponding solutions. As we navigate the intricacies of modern...
The End of an Era: Why Designomics is the Future and Design Thinking is the Past
In the past decades, the buzzword in innovation has unmistakably been "Design Thinking." Innovation in healthcare, as in many fields, has been profoundly influenced by the principles of Design Thinking. Rooted in empathy and the human-centered approach, its advocates...
High Stakes, High Reliability: A Precision Based Approach to Healthcare Innovation
The first rays of dawn painted the skyline as two distinct buildings stood side by side, representing two vastly different industries: St. Helena Medical Center, a beacon of healthcare innovation, and the headquarters of AeroFly Airlines, known for its impeccable...
No One Left Behind: The Rally for Universal Health AI Literacy
In the dynamic landscape of modern healthcare, one picture emerges crystal clear: the indomitable rise of artificial intelligence (AI). From predicting patient outcomes and automating administrative tasks to personalized treatment protocols and early disease...
“The Elevator Effect”: Why Digital Technology and AI Adoption in Healthcare is Difficult
The simple act of entering a building and pressing a button to reach your desired floor feels so mundane today. However, there was once a time when this act would have seemed strange, even disconcerting. This story of the elevator's evolution offers a fascinating...
AI Passports: Guardians of Trustworthy AI in Medicine
The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) in the field of medicine promises revolutionary advances in diagnosis, treatment, and patient care. However, with these technological strides come legitimate concerns about transparency, ethics, and trustworthiness. As we...
The Prophets of Futurism: How Moore’s and Amara’s laws Shape Our Digital Age
In the vast expanse of technological evolution and societal transformation, certain principles stand out as guiding lights, offering insights into the trajectory of our collective future. Two such principles, or laws, that have garnered significant attention are...
A High Reliability Approach to AI in Healthcare
In the early morning hours of a typical Tuesday, Sarah Mitchell, MD, an experienced radiologist, sat in the dim light of her reading room, scrutinizing a series of lung scans on her computer screen. The new artificial intelligence system, touted as a game-changer for...