Skip to content
Artwork for Healthtech Pigeon
Health & FitnessMedicineNews

Healthtech Pigeon

SomX

Like normal healthtech news but, you know, not boring.

The team at SomX bring you the audio version of the weekly Healthtech Pigeon newsletter - a panel show with journalists, VCs, podcasters, entrepreneurs, execs and those with a strong opinion to make things interesting. Regular hosts and guests are Dr James Somauroo, Jessica Smith, Belle Taylor, Huw Penson, Jess Farmery from the SomX team.

🐦 Grab the newsletter at www.healthtechpigeon.com
🚀 Learn how SomX can help your healthtech company at www.somx.health

Play
  • 30 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 46 min
  • English
Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.
  • #209
    Sunday · 52 min

    Are GLP-1s Fuelling an Eating Disorder Crisis?

    Jessica + Anna talk to Rich Andrews, co-founder and CEO of Univa Health, about a JAMA Psychiatry study showing that global cases of anorexia and bulimia rose 71% between 1990 and 2023, whether GLP-1s could make things worse, why online prescribers need better eating disorder screening, and why care has to be built around the patient and their family. 🗞 Grab the newsletter at www.healthtechpigeon.com ✍️ Apply to be a podcast guest using this form: https://share.hsforms.com/1PkAwCjniQj.. 📖 Learn more about the SomX team at https://somx.health

    • Chapters
  • #208
    November 1 · 36 min

    Stop Pitting AI Against Doctors

    James + Jessica talk about Microsoft claiming “medical superintelligence” with its MAI-DxO diagnostic AI, Coherence Neuro raising $45m for implantable cancer tech, a Queen Mary University of London trial that stimulates a nerve in the ear to lower blood pressure, and why AI should be built to work with doctors, not against them. 🗞 Grab the newsletter at www.healthtechpigeon.com ✍️ Apply to be a podcast guest using this form: https://share.hsforms.com/1PkAwCjniQj.. 📖 Learn more about the SomX team at https://somx.health

    • Chapters
  • #207
    October 25 · 29 min

    Scribes Are Just the Start, Accuracy Isn't Adoption

    James + Jessica talk about Suki's $90M raise to take AI scribes beyond documentation, a study showing emergency doctors' use of an AI decision support tool dropping from around 68% to 30% over a single shift, and why the best product in the world still fails if it adds friction at 2am. 🗞 Grab the newsletter at www.healthtechpigeon.com ✍️ Apply to be a podcast guest using this form: https://share.hsforms.com/1PkAwCjniQj.. 📖 Learn more about the SomX team at https://somx.health

    • Chapters
  • #206
    October 18 · 51 min

    Can We Trust Healthtech When the Connection Drops?

    James, Jessica and Anna from SomX, talk about a Philips ultrasound fault linked to four deaths, Google’s Lancet study on its Amie AI chatbot, Google’s partnership with Flo Health, and why women’s health data shouldn’t sit behind a paywall. 🗞 Grab the newsletter at www.healthtechpigeon.com ✍️ Apply to be a podcast guest using this form: https://share.hsforms.com/1PkAwCjniQj.. 📖 Learn more about the SomX team at https://somx.health

    • Chapters
  • #205
    October 11 · 48 min

    Finally the Wearable Penis Ring Exists

    James + Jessica talk about RFK Jr telling the MAHA Summit that AI gives a better second opinion than any doctor, Grindr paying $250m for PurposeMed, the parent company of Freddie, a wearable penis ring, and why Telemedicine 3.0 is all about meeting people where they are. 00:00 - Intro 02:58 - AI vs Doctors: The Fight Only the Media is Having 26:39 - Grindr Wants to be Your Doctor Now 🗞 Grab the newsletter at www.healthtechpigeon.com ✍️ Apply to be a podcast guest using this form: https://share.hsforms.com/1PkAwCjniQj.. 📖 Learn more about the SomX team at https://somx.health

  • #204
    October 4 · 37 min

    Is Your Smart Ring Gaslighting You?

    James and Jessica dive into this week's healthtech headlines, a CRISPR therapy that halves cholesterol in a first-in-human trial, the Health Foundation's £33bn case for better NHS tech, Oura scrapping its Nasdaq IPO, and why Jessica has broken up with her smart ring. 🗞 Grab the newsletter at www.healthtechpigeon.com ✍️ Apply to be a podcast guest using this form: https://share.hsforms.com/1PkAwCjniQjiGl53i8dtZ8g3xer2 📖 Learn more about the SomX team at https://somx.health

    • Chapters
  • #203
    September 20 · 40 min

    500 Companies, One Very Big Drop

    Belle and Elin dive into this week's healthtech headlines: Time's Top 500 Healthtech Companies list, Sword Health's discount buyout of Headspace, why cycle syncing workouts have women split, and what's at stake as the FDA weighs approval for the first psychedelic medicine. 00:00 - Intro 02:58 - Time's Top 500 Healthtech Companies & Headspace's $300m Sale to Sword Health 16:37 - Menstrual Fitness: Why Some Women Are Cycle Syncing Their Workouts 30:27 - FDA Hearing Weighs Access and Safety for Psychedelic Medicine 39:50 - Outro 🗞 Grab the newsletter at www.healthtechpigeon.com ✍️ Apply to be a podcast guest using this form: https://share.hsforms.com/1PkAwCjniQj.. 📖 Learn more about the SomX team at https://somx.health

    • Chapters
  • #202
    September 13 · 52 min

    Who Owns Your Health Data?

    Jessica and James sit down with pharmacist and NHS non-exec director Mark Duman to talk wearables, patient data, and why AI scribes might be missing the bits that matter most. 00:00 - Intro 04:04 - Wearables Recap 13:33 - AI Scribes May Fail to Capture Patients' Experiences 32:52 - IPremom Raise 15M to Help Pregnancy Care 🗞 Grab the newsletter at www.healthtechpigeon.com ✍️ Apply to be a podcast guest using this form: https://share.hsforms.com/1PkAwCjniQj... 📖 Learn more about the SomX team at https://somx.health

    • Chapters
  • #201
    September 6 · 46 min

    Jeremy Hunt on AI in the NHS: What He Actually Said

    James and Jack Needham break down last night's Health Tech Talks panel with Rt Hon Sir Jeremy Hunt MP and Tara Donnelly — including the parts that didn't make it into anyone's LinkedIn post. 00:00 - Post-Event Debrief: Behind the Scenes with Jeremy Hunt & Tara Donnelly 13:00 - AI in the NHS: Adoption, Procurement Red Tape & AI Sovereignty 37:00 - Craft Over AI Slop: Why Doing Hard Things Matters 🗞 Grab the newsletter at www.healthtechpigeon.com ✍️ Apply to be a podcast guest using this form: https://share.hsforms.com/1PkAwCjniQjiGl53i8dtZ8g3xer2 📖 Learn more about the SomX team at https://somx.health

    • Chapters
  • #200
    August 30 · 43 min

    When does AI stop being special?

    Jessica and James from SomX chatted through all the best news from this week. 00:00 - Intro: This Week's AI Health Tech Roundup 01:00 - Are Wearables Lying to You About Sleep? 15:00 - NHS Rolls Out At-Home Cervical Screening 21:00 - Brain Surgery, Therapy Bots & Life-Saving Drones 34:00 - Jeremy Hunt Showdown 🗞 Grab the newsletter at www.healthtechpigeon.com ✍️ Apply to be a podcast guest using this form: https://share.hsforms.com/1PkAwCjniQjiGl53i8dtZ8g3xer2 📖 Learn more about the SomX team at https://somx.health

    • Chapters
  • #199
    August 16 · 1 hr 11 min

    Everything You Didn't Know About the Federated Data Platform

    Jessica and Jessica from SomX chatted through all the best news from this week with help from Barlett Data's Tom Bartlett. 00:00 – Intro & setup 06:38 – Why Tom spoke out 35:15 – A coordinated campaign? 50:49 – Where FDP falls short 🗞 Grab the newsletter at www.healthtechpigeon.com ✍️ Apply to be a podcast guest using this form: https://share.hsforms.com/1PkAwCjniQjiGl53i8dtZ8g3xer2 📖 Learn more about the SomX team at https://somx.health

    • Chapters
  • #198
    August 9 · 40 min

    The AI Mental Health Reckoning

    Jessica from SomX chatted through all the best news from this week with help from Aahuti Rai. Mental Health Innovation Showcase, Hale House — 15 September, London https://harleystreethealthdistrict.com/event/mental-health-innovation-showcase-returns-to-harley-street-health-district/ 🗞 Grab the newsletter at www.healthtechpigeon.com ✍️ Apply to be a podcast guest using this form: https://share.hsforms.com/1PkAwCjniQjiGl53i8dtZ8g3xer2 📖 Learn more about the SomX team at https://somx.health

    • Chapters
  • #197
    July 19 · 56 min

    How do you sell a business without selling out?

    James is joined by Dr Tommy Perkins, co-founder of Medics' Money, days after he and co-founder Dr Ed Cantelo sold the business outright to Pastest. Tommy tells the whole story: founding Medics' Money on the day his first daughter was born, the free tax rebate guide that has now saved doctors close to £80m, and the deliberate decision to bet on email and podcasting long before either was fashionable. It is a masterclass in leading with value, building a genuine community rather than a mailing list to sell to, and earning the trust of a hard to reach audience. Then they get into the exit itself. Why sell a profitable, bootstrapped, 100% owned business at all, why Pastest (a family business that has supported doctors through exams since 1972), and what the next two years look like for Tommy inside a bigger company. Tommy also gives a refreshingly candid, practical walkthrough of how anyone can estimate a private company's sale price using Companies House data, typical industry margins and EBITDA multiples. James returns the favour with the real numbers behind Healthtech Pigeon and where SomX is placing its bets. Along the way: the doctor creator economy and the four levels of monetisation, why vertically integrated creators win, how AI now lets a two person team do the work of ten, the death of legacy media and the rise of niche distribution, the case for building in public (and why Tommy didn't), and why he is still practising medicine two and a half days a week through all of it. Connect with Tommy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommy-perkins-138864149 Learn more about Medics' Money: https://medicsmoney.co.uk Medics' Money x Pastest: https://www.pastest.com/pages/medics-money Apply to be a guest: www.thehealthtechpodcast.com Subscribe to Healthtech Pigeon: www.healthtechpigeon.com Get in touch with James: www.jamessomauroo.com This podcast was brought to you by SomX - https://somx.health Resources: Medics' Money - https://medicsmoney.co.uk Pastest acquires Medics' Money (BusinessCloud) - https://businesscloud.co.uk/news/edtech-pastest-acquires-financial-platform-medics-money/ Pastest - https://www.pastest.com Companies House - https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk GP Bullhound - https://www.gpbullhound.com

  • #196
    July 12 · 48 min

    Can One Website Help Patients Beat NHS Waiting Lists?

    James and Jessica from SomX chatted through all the best news from this week with help from Dr Mustafa Ghafouri, creator of https://hospitalwaits.co.uk/ 🗞 Grab the newsletter at www.healthtechpigeon.com ✍️ Apply to be a podcast guest using this form: https://share.hsforms.com/1PkAwCjniQjiGl53i8dtZ8g3xer2 📖 Learn more about the SomX team at https://somx.health

  • #195
    July 5 · 53 min

    Are we tracking too much, or not enough?

    Jessica and Anna from SomX chatted through all the best news from this week. 🗞 Grab the newsletter at www.healthtechpigeon.com ✍️ Apply to be a podcast guest using this form: https://share.hsforms.com/1PkAwCjniQjiGl53i8dtZ8g3xer2 📖 Learn more about the SomX team at https://somx.health

    • Chapters
  • #194
    June 28 · 31 min

    What happens when NHS waiting times become searchable?

    Jessica and James from SomX chatted through all the best news from this week. 00:00 - Intro 01:49 - A doctor built the NHS waiting-times comparison the e-RS dashboard won’t give you 14:03 - Pastest buys Medics’ Money, and the “doctor life-admin” stack quietly consolidates 21:02 -Meanwhile, the NHS throws £8m at AI to shrink those same waiting lists 🗞 Grab the newsletter at www.healthtechpigeon.com ✍️ Apply to be a podcast guest using this form: https://share.hsforms.com/1PkAwCjniQjiGl53i8dtZ8g3xer2 📖 Learn more about the SomX team at https://somx.health

    • Chapters
  • #193
    June 21 · 57 min

    HLTH Europe 2026 Recap & What Did Midjourney Announce?

    James from SomX chatted through all the best news from HLTH 2026, with Motic's Harvinder Power. 🗞 Grab the newsletter at www.healthtechpigeon.com ✍️ Apply to be a podcast guest using this form: https://share.hsforms.com/1PkAwCjniQjiGl53i8dtZ8g3xer2 📖 Learn more about the SomX team at https://somx.health

    • Chapters
  • #192
    June 14 · 59 min

    How do we get digital health beyond the pilot phase?

    Jessica from SomX chatted through all the best news from this week with Heather Cook, Fiona McCormick and Toby Croft. 🗞 Grab the newsletter at www.healthtechpigeon.com ✍️ Apply to be a podcast guest using this form: https://share.hsforms.com/1PkAwCjniQjiGl53i8dtZ8g3xer2 📖 Learn more about the SomX team at https://somx.health

  • #191
    June 7 · 27 min

    Can patients trust pharma with their health data?

    Jessica from SomX chatted through all the best news from this week with Coulter Partners' Ian Coyne. 🗞 Grab the newsletter at www.healthtechpigeon.com ✍️ Apply to be a podcast guest using this form: https://share.hsforms.com/1PkAwCjniQjiGl53i8dtZ8g3xer2 📖 Learn more about the SomX team at https://somx.health

    • Chapters
  • #190
    May 31 · 52 min

    What happens when sport, longevity and biohacking collide?

    James from SomX chatted through all the best news from this week with Freyr Health and Panio's Dr Tomasz George 00:00 - Intro 05:08 - The Enhanced Games are real, and they’re equal parts entertaining and concerning 🗞 Grab the newsletter at www.healthtechpigeon.com ✍️ Apply to be a podcast guest using this form: https://share.hsforms.com/1PkAwCjniQjiGl53i8dtZ8g3xer2 📖 Learn more about the SomX team at https://somx.health

    • Chapters
Showing 1–20 of 30 episodes