S2E7: The First On-Device Medical LLM | HealthTech2Care Podcast With Bert Fernandez
HealthTech2Care (HT2C) Podcast featuring Stephen Rouse, Co-Founder and Head of Growth at Savva.AI
Stephen Rouse (Guest):
🔗 LinkedIn: / rousestephen
🌐 Website: https://www.savva.ai
📺 YouTube: / @getsavva
Bert Fernandez (Host):
🌐 Website: https://www.healthtech2care.com
🔗 LinkedIn: / bert-fernandez
📺 YouTube: / @healthtech2care
🎙️ In this episode, Stephen Rouse shares how his experience building one of the earliest FHIR apps shaped Savva’s approach to consumer health technology. We unpack why multi-year hospital buy cycles pushed the team to build directly for patients, how the ONC Cures Act unlocked large-scale access to health data, and why Savva chose to build the first on-device medical LLM to prioritize privacy and security.
We also cover how Savva connects to nearly 300,000 care sites through 110+ EHRs, why keeping medical AI off the cloud matters, how Apple Health enables aggregation across wearables and devices, and how caregiver and clinician access could become a stepping stone toward real-world care escalation.
This conversation explores what it truly means for patients to own their health data and why this moment feels like a turning point for consumer-driven healthcare.
⏱️ Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:17 Lessons from Protocol First and why hospital sales cycles pushed a consumer-first approach
03:44 How Savva unlocked scale through the ONC Cures Act and FHIR access
05:42 What it means to be an on-device medical LLM and why privacy drove that decision
08:51 How Savva aggregates wearable and Apple Health data into one experience
12:30 The caregiver and clinician vision for real-world care delivery
16:41 Beta strategy, early traction, and what’s next for Savva
🔑 Highlights:
Why four-year hospital buy cycles pushed Savva to build for consumers
How the ONC Cures Act enabled third-party access to EHR data at scale
What makes an on-device medical LLM different from cloud-based AI
How Savva aggregates wearables, apps, and devices through Apple Health
The role of caregivers and clinicians in turning raw data into action
👉 Learn more about @Savva: https://www.savva.ai
🔔 Subscribe to the HealthTech2Care YouTube channel for more in‐depth conversations with healthcare innovators: / @healthtech2care
#HealthTech #DigitalHealth #HealthcareAI #ConsumerHealthApp #PatientData #PrivacyByDesign #FHIR #ONCCuresAct