Doctors Are Building Their Own Software Without Writing a Single Line of Code

Offcall hosted its third physician tech webinar on June 10, and this one was for the builders who don't think of themselves as builders yet. The topic: vibe coding, and why the hardest part is simply getting started.

Dr. Graham Walker was joined by Dr. Michael Hobbs, a pediatrician and prolific builder, Dr. Kenneth Qiu, a direct primary care physician in Virginia who started coding from scratch just months ago, and Shreyank Kadadi from Heidi Health. Together, they walked a live audience of physicians through what vibe coding actually is, how to get the tools installed, and why clinicians are uniquely positioned to build things that matter.

What Is Vibe Coding?

Vibe coding is the practice of building software by describing what you want in plain language and letting AI do the actual programming. No prior coding experience required. You describe the tool, the AI builds a working prototype, you give feedback, and it iterates. The loop looks a lot like medicine: form a hypothesis, test it, revise based on what you find.

The session covered two primary tools, Claude Code and OpenAI Codex, both of which run in the terminal on your computer and execute your instructions locally. For physicians who want a browser-based starting point without any installation, tools like Lovable and Bolt.new offer a gentler on-ramp.

A DPC Doctor Who Built His Own EHR Features Over a Weekend

The standout demo of the evening came from Dr. Kenneth Qui, who five years ago opened his own DPC practice straight out of residency and recently decided it was time to build the tools his vendors never gave him.

In a live screen share, Kenneth walked through several tools he built without any formal programming background: a transparent lab and medication pricing calculator now live on his practice website, a patient timeline that logs every message and office visit in a continuous, searchable view, AI-generated problem lists pulling directly from his EMR and messaging data, and a pre-visit summary tool that auto-generates a note draft and a printable patient handout before each annual.

Every one of these tools started the same way: an annoyance. Something that should have been easier. That framing, finding your friction point and building toward it, was the throughline of the entire session.

What Heidi Is Doing With the Same Idea

Shrey Kadadi from Heidi Health joined to show how a production-grade AI scribe applies the same principle internally. Heidi's template builder lets clinicians write plain-language prompts to generate and refine their own documentation templates, adjusting structure, format, and tone without touching code. The message from Shrey was direct: the people who understand clinical workflows best no longer need to sit on the sidelines while engineers guess at what they need.

Key Takeaways

Start with an annoyance.
The best vibe coding projects begin with the feeling that something should be easier. Prior auth letters, referral tracking, repetitive order sets, call schedule optimization: if you do it five or more times a day, it is worth trying to automate.

The tool is its own instruction manual.
Kenneth learned to use Claude Code by asking Claude Code how to use Claude Code. You do not need a course or a background in software to get started.

Build small and validate everything.
Especially anything involving clinical math. LLMs are not reliable calculators, and bugs introduced mid-build are common. Take small bites, test each one, and ask the tool to explain any command you do not understand before approving it.

Security and PHI require a separate conversation.
Vibe coding is an excellent way to build proof-of-concept tools and personal productivity scripts. Moving patient data through any of these tools requires a BAA, a security review, and deliberate architectural decisions. Kenneth's demos used synthetic data for exactly this reason.

You already know how to give feedback.
Directing Claude Code is not unlike directing a capable intern who needs specific, iterative instructions. Physicians have been doing that for years.

View the Slide Deck

Resources Mentioned

• Claude Code: claude.ai/code
• OpenAI Codex: platform.openai.com/codex
• Michael Hobbs' getting-started guide: https://ai101.health/
• Heidi Health: heidihealth.com
• Lovable: lovable.dev
• Bolt: bolt.new
• Replit: replit.com
• Vercel: vercel.com
• Michael Hobbs' parent helper tool: https://wren.kids/
• Audio Scholar built by Nikhil Shah: https://audioscholar.cc/

This webinar was sponsored by Heidi Health. The next session in the series will cover more advanced topics. Follow Offcall on LinkedIn to be notified when registration opens.