Daily Update for September 28, 2026

Show Notes

Oura IPO draws four times the orders; Senate panel advances Klomp; Sentara reads coronary plaque with AI; radiology groups build their own AI

The voices on this episode are generated, and so is the script, from the day's post at Physician in the Loop. Every fact in the post links to its source.

Read the post and its sources

Oura's initial public offering drew about four times as many orders as shares available, Bloomberg reported Friday, ahead of pricing set for Tuesday that would value the smart-ring maker at up to $14.1 billion.

The Senate Finance Committee voted 15-12 on Thursday to send Chris Klomp, the Health and Human Services official who has overseen Medicare, to a full Senate vote as HHS deputy secretary. Cardiologists at Sentara Health described using AI to classify coronary plaque on CT, radiology practices are building their own AI tools, STAT reported, and a Wolters Kluwer Health survey found 26% of patients who researched symptoms with AI sought care sooner.

The weekend brought few new developments. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has until Sept. 30 to act on the health AI bills awaiting his signature, including AB 1979, SB 903 and SB 503; his office's releases through Sept. 27 announced no action on them.

In this episode

• Oura IPO draws about four times as many orders as shares offered; pricing set for Sept. 29 at up to $14.1 billion valuation
• Senate Finance Committee advances Klomp, who said WISeR "must be done appropriately," to full vote for HHS deputy secretary
• Sentara cardiologists use AI plaque analysis on coronary CT to guide therapy; system reports fewer invasive angiograms but gives no figures
• Radiology practices acquire and tune their own AI and market themselves to recruits and hospitals as "AI-native," STAT reports
• Wolters Kluwer survey: 26% of patients who researched health questions with AI sought care sooner; 89% want human expert validation
• Australia's GP registrars' association enlists trainees to help design Lyrebird Health's clinical AI tools

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How technological innovation is changing medicine for patients and the people who practice on the front lines.

Nora: This is Physician in the Loop, the daily briefing on AI in medicine. I'm Nora Davis.

James: And I'm James Hudson. It's Monday, September 28th, 2026.

Nora: Oura’s IPO drew about four times as many orders as there were shares to fill, with pricing set for Tuesday at a valuation of up to $14.1 billion.

James: Four times oversubscribed, on a smart ring company. What’s driving that kind of appetite?

Nora: The sources don’t say. Also today: the Senate Finance Committee advancing Chris Klomp, Sentara reading coronary plaque with AI, and radiology groups building their own AI in-house. Oura is offering 50 million shares priced between $40 and $44, on the Nasdaq under the symbol OURA.

James: And the top of that range is where the $14.1 billion comes from?

Nora: Right, or close to $15 billion fully diluted, according to Bloomberg. The deal could raise up to about $2 billion. Underwriters include Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

James: So Tuesday tells us whether the demand holds at the price, not just on paper.

Nora: That’s the test.

James: Switching to Washington. The Senate Finance Committee voted 15 to 12 on Thursday to send Chris Klomp, who’s overseen Medicare at HHS, to a full Senate vote for deputy secretary.

Nora: He’s the one who’s been asked about that AI-assisted prior-authorization pilot. What’s he said about it?

James: At a hearing earlier this month, he said of the Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction model, “it must be done appropriately, or it should not expand.” That’s according to Senator Patty Murray’s office.

Nora: Was the committee vote itself close?

James: 15 to 12. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, joined every Republican. He said he backed Klomp because he’s “good on payment issues,” per STAT.

Nora: Did AI come up in that debate?

James: Roll Call’s account describes debate over vaccine policy and drug pricing deals. No mention of AI at all.

Nora: So the pilot comment came from a different hearing, not from this vote.

James: Switching over to imaging, what’s happening at Sentara Health?

Nora: Cardiologists there are using AI to sort coronary plaque from CT scans into calcified, noncalcified, and low-density noncalcified types, and to measure how much of it there is.

James: What does that actually change for a patient?

Nora: Dr. Joshua Cohen, an imaging and structural heart cardiologist there, says it helps “clarify hemodynamic significance, increase workflow efficiency, and reduce inter-reader variability” for lesions that are hard to call. Treatment decisions draw on those plaque findings.

James: Any numbers on whether it’s cutting down invasive angiograms?

Nora: None given. The team describes a downward trend in invasive angiography and earlier detection of disease, but the report doesn’t name the software or put figures on any of it.

James: That’s a lot of confidence for a system with no numbers attached.

Nora: Cohen’s own caveat: output is highly dependent on input, and he calls standardized, high-quality scan protocols critical.

James: Radiology practices are starting to build and tune their own AI in-house instead of waiting on outside developers, and some are marketing themselves to recruits and hospitals as “AI-native.”

Nora: That blurs the line between who’s developing the technology and who’s practicing medicine.

James: STAT makes exactly that point. It also notes Geoffrey Hinton’s decade-old prediction that AI would surpass radiologists within five to ten years has now passed its own deadline.

Nora: A prediction that’s aged past its own deadline.

James: One of the startups making this case, Epsilon Health, pairs AI with physician oversight to speed up image reading. It raised about $28 million this month from AlleyCorp, Uncork Capital and others.

Nora: So the pitch is that owning the practice speeds up building the tool.

James: That’s the argument. The full STAT story is behind a paywall.

Nora: Before we go, something to watch.

James: The MAHA Summit is Wednesday in Washington, sponsored by OpenAI, Anthropic, Hims and Hers, Noom, Sword Health, Tempus, Prenuvo and Centene, among others.

Nora: Who’s speaking?

James: NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, plus staff from Anthropic and OpenAI. Becker’s reports sponsors also get a private dinner with the speakers, including HHS officials.

Nora: A private dinner with the officials who might end up regulating them.

James: Second thing to watch: the ACCESS model’s third cohort starts October 1st, and Counsel Health says eligible Medicare members there get its AI-native chronic care starting early 2027.

Nora: Counsel Health, the one already inside Oura’s app?

James: Same one. Oura members have been able to reach Counsel physicians in the app since September 17th.

Nora: So today’s ring buyer could be tomorrow’s Medicare chronic care patient, on the same company’s platform.

James: That’s the plan Counsel and Oura have laid out, anyway. Whether it holds together is a different question.

Nora: Sources and corrections are at physicianintheloop.org. I'm Nora Davis.

James: I'm James Hudson. See you tomorrow.