Episode #166
Using Technology To Bring the Human Side Back To Medicine with Dr. Hannah Allen | Ep. 166
A third of a GP’s working week goes to admin, and 42% of UK GPs say they want to leave the profession within five years. Dr. Hannah Allen left clinical practice to fix that, and now leads clinical strategy at Heidi, an AI scribe used by clinicians in over 110 countries. In this episode of Women Disrupting Tech, I talk with Dr. Hannah Allen, Chief Medical Officer at Heidi, about what happens when you take the keyboard out of the exam room. Hannah trained as a doctor focused on women’s health before moving into health tech. She’s still a practicing GP, running a women’s health clinic while leading the clinical function at Heidi. She explains why she believes technology’s real job in medicine isn’t replacing clinical judgment; it’s giving doctors their attention back. This episode is for founders building in health tech or other regulated industries, for clinicians curious about how AI actually fits into their day, and for anyone who wants to understand where women’s health data is still missing from medicine. What you’ll learn in this episode: * Why a third of a GP’s week goes to admin, and how that connects to the 42% of UK GPs who say they want to leave the profession within five years * Why over 90% of patients feel more listened to when their doctor uses an AI scribe like Heidi * Why building healthcare AI requires regional, linguistic, and cultural adaptation from day one, not as an afterthought * Why up to 75 to 80% of clinicians already use some form of AI, even as most say they’re skeptical of it * Why how a woman’s body behaves during pregnancy can predict her health decades later, and why that data mostly goes uncaptured * Why female founders get “preventer” questions from VCs while male founders get “promoter” questions, and what Hannah does to counter that * Why Hannah tells founders to obsess over the problem, not the product Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 04:35 Introduction to Dr. Hannah Allen 07:32 Transitioning from Medicine to Tech 10:31 The Role of Technology in Healthcare 13:43 Global Healthcare Challenges 17:15 Predicting Women’s Health Issues 21:20 AI in Healthcare: Opportunities and Concerns 25:18 Heidi: Revolutionizing Clinical Workflows 27:14 The Rise of Heidi: Word of Mouth Success 28:50 Measuring Impact: Time Savings and Burnout Reduction 30:01 Expanding Horizons: Beyond Documentation 32:03 The Role of AI in Clinical Practice 35:18 Transforming Patient Interactions with AI 39:01 Patient Feedback and Trust in AI 43:50 The Human Element in Healthcare 45:04 Future Vision: A Seamless Healthcare Experience 47:18 Advice for Founders: Building for Real Problems 50:44 Closing Thoughts and Resources More about the episode Show Notes: https://womendisruptingtech.blog/2026/08/20/episode-166/ Substack: https://womendisruptingtech.blog/2026/08/20/episode-166/ Connect with Dr. Hannah Allen and Heidi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-hannah-a-a27ba650/ Heidi website: https://www.heidihealth.com/en-ie Heidi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/heidi/ More about the TEDx Coolhaven Women event on 9 October in Rotterdam More about the event: https://www.ted.com/tedx/events/68333 Buy your tickets at: https://www.eventbrite.nl/e/tedx-coolhaven-women-the-new-builders-tickets-1992166654090?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true Use code WDT25 for an exclusive 25% discount. Connect with host Dirkjan Hupkes LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dirkjan-hupkes/ FundingCoach.ai: https://fundingcoach.ai Substack: https://womendisruptingtech.substack.com/ About Women Disrupting Tech Every week, Women Disrupting Tech covers the decisions, patterns, and structural realities that female founders and investors rarely discuss in public but run into every time they meet. Follow to get it in your feed. Listen to Women Disrupting Tech on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube. Subscribe for more conversations with women building tech from the ground up.
