The 229 Podcast

Solution Showcase: Exploring Private AI Live at HIMSS Tim McNamee and Mark Larochelle

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

April 1, 2026: Healthcare fraud is a $300 billion problem, and the old rules-based approach isn't stopping it. In this Solution Showcase from the HIMSS floor, Tim McNamee, Enterprise Account Manager, and Mark Larochelle, Strategic Public Sector Account Executive, of Cloudera explore how agentic AI is transforming fraud detection, clinical decision support, and data governance in healthcare. From enabling human-in-the-loop workflows to bringing AI directly to protected data inside your own environment, Cloudera is redefining what private AI looks like at scale.

Key Points:

01:12 Cloudera Origins And AI Shift
03:30 Fraud Detection With Agentic AI
07:17 Explainability, Private AI, And Governance
11:26 Surprises, Cost Benefits, and Wrap Up

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: Hackers Outpace Healthcare Resilience and Surviving a Merger with Drex and Bill

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0400

March 30, 2026: Bill Russell and Drex DeFord dig into three of the biggest stories shaping healthcare IT right now. From the seismic Sutter Health and Allina Health merger, the Stryker cyberattack carried out by an Iranian-linked group Handala, and the sobering reality that threat actors like Tycoon 2FA are back online within 15 days of being taken down, this episode covers the frontlines of healthcare IT.

Key Points:

00:23 Sutter Allina Merger Realities
07:29 Advice for Staff During M&A
11:17 Stryker Hack and Cyber Resilience
19:21 AI and Healthcare Jobs
29:38 Patient Experience Reimagined

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Executive Interview: The Healthcare Data Time Machine with Jonathan Cook and Jason Rose

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0400

March 27, 2026: Most healthcare organizations see legacy systems as technical debt—costly to maintain, risky to secure, and difficult to access. But what if that same data could become the foundation for your AI strategy?

From the HIMSS floor, Bill Russell sits down with Jason Rose (CEO) and Jonathan Cook (CTO) of Clearsense to explore how health systems can rapidly retire legacy applications while transforming decades of archived data into actionable intelligence.

With hundreds—even thousands—of systems sitting idle across clinical, financial, and operational domains, Clearsense is rethinking archiving as more than storage. By applying AI across ingestion, data normalization, and intelligent querying, they’re enabling organizations to reduce costs, lower cyber risk, and unlock entirely new insights from historical data.

From summarizing hundreds of documents in seconds to embedding archive intelligence directly into clinical workflows, this conversation highlights how legacy data is evolving from a burden into a strategic AI asset—and why the organizations that act now may gain a lasting advantage.

Key Points

Accelerating Legacy Data Ingestion with AI
Making Unstructured Data Actionable
Building a Healthcare “Time Machine”

Solution Showcase: Finding a Better Solution to Staffing with Joe Longo and Eric Utzinger

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0400

March 25, 2026: What happens when a health system is juggling over 100 active IT projects with a workforce that can never be 100% allocated to any single one? Joe Longo, SVP and CDIO at Parkland Health, and Eric Utzinger, Co-Founder and Chief Client Officer at Revuud, join Bill Russell to expose the hidden dysfunction inside traditional healthcare IT staffing — and what a transparent, direct-access platform model is doing to fix it. If your hiring managers are still waiting weeks for a resume that three other firms already sent you, this one is worth your time.

Key Points:

01:14 Traditional Staffing Pain Points
07:26 What’s Broken for Agencies
13:00 How Revuud Works
19:33 Transparent Pricing and Hiring

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: The Conference Nobody Can Afford to Skip with This Week Health

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0400

March 23, 2026: Bill Russell, Drex DeFord, and Sarah Richardson are back with a packed Newsday covering three big conversations: the AI security crisis no one is talking loudly enough about, what HIMSS 2026 actually delivered for healthcare leaders, and the real question facing every CIO and CMIO right now: Is your time worth attending two major conferences each spring?

Key Points:

01:03 AI Chatbot Security
04:25 MIT AI Strategy Class
06:55 HIMSS Takeaways and Trends
10:40 Conference Value and Wrap Up

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Executive Interview Live From HIMSS 2026: The Smart Hospital Room Is Becoming Real with Adam McMullin

Fri, 20 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0400

March 20, 2026: Healthcare leaders have been talking about the “smart hospital room” for years. Now it is starting to become real. In this live conversation from the floor of HIMSS 2026, Bill Russell speaks with Adam McMullin, CEO of AvaSure, about how virtual care platforms are evolving beyond patient monitoring into a foundation for the hospital room of the future.

With deployments across more than 1,200 hospitals, AvaSure built its footprint through virtual safety monitoring, helping health systems reduce fall risks while dramatically lowering costs. Now that same infrastructure is expanding into physician access, computer vision, and AI driven patient monitoring that could detect deterioration hours before a patient crashes.

Adam shares how health systems are rethinking the hospital room as a connected care platform. Virtual nursing, family engagement, Epic integrations, and emerging capabilities like contactless vital monitoring are all becoming part of the same environment. The result is not simply new technology. It is a shift toward safer rooms, better staffing models, and new ways to extend care from the hospital into the home.

For health system leaders navigating workforce shortages and rising costs, the question is no longer whether virtual care will scale. The real question is how quickly the hospital room itself will transform.

Key Points:

The Evolution of Virtual Safety Monitoring
Building the Smart Hospital Room
Computer Vision and Early Patient Intervention

The 229 Podcast: What It Actually Takes to Launch a State-of-the-Art Hospital with Thomas Bentley

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0400

March 19, 2026: What does it take to open an 850-bed, 2-million-square-foot hospital? Thomas Bentley, Chief Information and Digital Transformation Officer at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, joins Bill Russell to pull back the curtain on one of healthcare's most complex technology challenges. From over 100 delivery robots to virtual nursing cameras and a fully integrated RFID-enabled nurse call system, Bentley breaks down what went right and what kept him up at night. A candid conversation every health system CIO needs to hear.

Key Points:

01:31 Opening the New Tower
06:31 Future Proofing and Network
10:38 Safety Systems and Closing Advice

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Executive Interview: Why Your Legacy Records Are an AI Goldmine with James Hammer

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0400

March 18, 2026: Most health systems treat EHR migrations as a checkbox, finish the project, move on. James Hammer, COO of Harmony Healthcare IT, says that mindset is costing organizations their most valuable future asset. With 19 years of experience and 715+ unique source applications migrated or archived, James reveals why legacy data is no longer just a compliance burden; it's an emerging source of AI fuel. From ambulatory practices to the nation's largest IDNs, Harmony is helping healthcare leaders rethink data not as a sunk cost, but as a strategic foundation for research, analytics, and AI. Don't let your past data become a missed opportunity.

Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

Key Points:

02:18 Migration vs Archiving Strategy
05:49 Decommissioning Without Friction
08:43 Data as an Asset

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

The 229 Podcast: AI Is Gullible, And Hackers Know It With Blake Sallé

Tue, 17 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0400

March 17, 2026: Blake Sallé, Chief Revenue Officer at Proofpoint, joins us live from the HIMSS conference floor to break down why agentic AI may be healthcare's next great security vulnerability. With 91% of breaches still entering through email and AI systems proving just as susceptible to manipulation as humans, Blake makes the case for why healthcare organizations need to rethink their entire security architecture, starting well before threats reach the inbox.

Stay up to date on the latest in health IT with our insights email: https://thisweekhealth.com/subscribe/

Key Points:

00:20 Proofpoint Beyond Email
02:35 Why AI Is Gullible
03:40 Email Threats Kill Left

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday LIVE at HIMSS '26: AI Agents, Workforce Reality, and the CIO Pressure Cooker

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0400

March 16: What are healthcare leaders really talking about at HIMSS? Bill Russell sits down with Sarah Richardson and Drex DeFord to share insights from the executive and cybersecurity forums—and the hallway conversations in between. AI dominates the discussion, but not just in clinical care. The hosts highlight the overlooked opportunities in operational workflows, patient outreach, and administrative efficiency. They also confront uncomfortable realities around workforce displacement, escalating infrastructure costs, and whether large technology vendors can maintain their value as AI lowers the barrier to building solutions internally. For CIOs, the challenge is clear: manage today’s operations while preparing for an AI-driven future that’s evolving faster than any roadmap.

Key Points

AI Arms Race in Cybersecurity
Where AI Delivers the Fastest ROI
Workforce Disruption and Leadership Responsibility
Vendor Pricing Pressure and Infrastructure Costs
The Future of Build vs Buy in Healthcare IT

The 229 Podcast: Surviving and Understanding the AI Feature Flood with Joseph Evans

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0400

March 12, 2026: Joseph Evans, CMIO for Sentara Healthcare, joins Bill Russell fresh off the VIVE event to unpack what's really happening on the front lines of healthcare AI adoption. From Epic's expanding generative AI catalog to the flood of point solutions promising to solve everything from length of stay to clinical summarization, Joseph shares how Sentara is staying disciplined, evaluating problems first. He also raises a provocative concern that's keeping him up at night: it's not AI hallucinations we should fear most, it's what the models are quietly leaving out.

Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

Key Points:

01:32 Vive Event Takeaways
06:33 Trust and Governance
10:53 Evaluating New AI Vendors
15:02 Patient AI and Access
21:42 Personal AI Wins and Wrap

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Solution Showcase: The Freeing Power of Testing Automation with Phillip Furukawa and Chris Paravate

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0400

March 11, 2026: What if you could reclaim thousands of hours of IT staff time, without cutting corners on quality? Chris Paravate, CDIO at Northeast Georgia Health System, joins Phillip Furukawa, CRO at SureTest, to reveal how they achieved a 98% reduction in manual testing time across their Epic environment. From 161 regression incidents down to 45, the numbers tell a compelling story. Discover how testing automation is reshaping Epic upgrade cycles, freeing up nearly 10 FTEs worth of capacity, and unlocking a faster path to quarterly updates and meaningful clinical innovation.

Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

Key Points:

03:08 Epic Upgrades and Testing Pain
04:47 Why Automation Matters
07:20 SureTest Implementation Playbook
12:00 Results Time and FTE Savings
17:48 CIO Advice and Wrap Up

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: Unsanctioned AI Risk, Governance, and the Path Forward with Dr. Holly Urban

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0400

March 9, 2026: What happens when well-meaning clinicians use AI tools that no one approved? Bill Russell and Drex Ford are joined by Dr. Holly Urban, Vice President of Business Development at Wolters Kluwer, to unpack a revealing new survey on shadow AI in healthcare. From radiologists sharing PHI over Dropbox to tumor board transcripts sent to unauthorized recipients, the risks are real and growing. With 57% of staff aware of unsanctioned AI use, the question isn't whether shadow AI exists in your health system. It's what you're going to do about it.

Key Points:

01:28 Shadow AI is everywhere (and why it’s familiar)

11:18 Governance in the AI era

18:41 Patients, liability, and the road ahead

Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

The 229 Podcast: CMIO 3.0 - The Role Nobody Trained You For with Veena Lingam

Thu, 05 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0400

March 5, 2026: From EMR adoption to AI governance, the CMIO role has undergone three rapid transformations. Dr. Veena Lingam, ACMIO at Moffitt Cancer Center, has lived all of them. In this conversation with Bill Russell, Dr. Veena breaks down CMIO 1.0 (change management), 2.0 (data analytics), and the emerging 3.0 era: governing AI tools that health systems may have never paid close attention to. She also sounds the alarm on a growing informatics workforce shortage and the "informatics deserts" spreading across the country.

Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

Key Points:

04:43 CMIO 1.0 to 3.0
07:18 Skills for the AI Era
10:05 Veena’s Informatics Journey
18:24 AI Literacy and Workflow Fit

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Solution Showcase: Ambient AI Mythbusting and Successful Pilots with Kali Ihde

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0400

March 4, 2026: What happens when AI stops being a buzzword and starts showing up in your bottom line? Kali Ihde, Director of Ventures and Innovation at Northwestern Medicine, joins Bill Russell to share how ambient AI has moved from pilot to proven. Reducing documentation time by 20-30%, generating nine additional patient visits per physician per month, and measurably easing clinician burnout. Kali also pulls back the curtain on Northwestern's disciplined approach to innovation: champion-first pilots and a startup accelerator designed to bridge the gap between great ideas and real-world healthcare operations.

Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

Key Points:

06:20 Innovation Focus Now: AI Myth-Busting
13:03 Scaling What Works and Adoption Barriers
20:39 Access, Startup Reality Checks, and What’s Next

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: Rapid Innovation, Safe AI, and the Chief Velocity Officer with This Week Health

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0400

March 2, 2026: Is the CIO role evolving? Or is it quietly being replaced? Bill Russell, Drex DeFord, and Sarah Richardson dig into the emerging CITO trend, the rise of citizen developers, and what AI-powered platforms like Epic's Agent Factory actually mean for healthcare IT leadership. The CIO of the future isn't a gatekeeper; they're the "architect of safe velocity." With 32 years in the industry, they’re also sounding the alarm on executive burnout in an era where the pace of change never lets up.

Key Points:

03:31 CIO vs CTO explained

07:10 From gatekeeper to “Chief Intelligent Officer.”

18:20 Scaling innovation fast: hackathons and building vs buying

24:18 The human side of hyper-change

Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

The 229 Podcast: AI Governance Webinar with Dr. James McCabe, Dr. Ben Hohmuth, and Kristin Myers

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0400

February 26, 2026: What does it actually take to govern AI across a major health system without losing speed or safety? Bill Russell sits down with Dr. James McCabe, CMIO at Jefferson Health, Dr. Benjamin Hohmuth, CMIO at Geisinger, and Kristin Myers, Chief Digital Officer at Northwell Health, for a candid conversation on managing enterprise-wide AI implementation. From building governance engines and risk-tiering intake processes, to measuring ROI and preparing for agentic AI, these three leaders pull back the curtain on what's working, what's not, and what's coming next in healthcare AI governance.

Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

Key Points:

06:30 Executive AI Ambitions + Managing Expectations
14:55 Building Enterprise AI Governance & Monitoring at Scale
24:10 Measuring AI Impact: Adoption & Patient Experience
30:25 Build vs Buy in Practice: Supporting Entrepreneurial Clinicians
34:21 ROI, Transparency, and Regulation

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Executive Interview: Nursing's Biggest Challenges and the Tech Closing the Gap with Allison Morin

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0400

February 25, 2026: The nursing crisis is real, and the solutions may be closer than we think. In this executive Interview, Bill Russell sits down with Allison Morin, Chief Nursing Informatics Officer at Symplr, to explore what's burning nurses out and what technology can actually do about it. From staffing automation and ambient listening to AI-powered scheduling, Allison paints a compelling picture of a smarter, more humane future for bedside care. But first, the hard truth: nurses still aren't at the table when technology decisions are made — and that has to change now.

Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

Key Points:

02:10 Do Nurses Have a Seat at the Table?
08:59 The Near-Future Nurse Workflow
12:32 How to Get There: Strategy and Workflow Integration

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Executive Interview: How Costa Rica Could Solve Healthcare IT's Staffing Crisis with Scott Gildea

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 12:00:00 -0400

February 23, 2026: Scott Gildea, EVP of Global Delivery at Optimum Healthcare IT, reveals why major healthcare organizations are turning to Costa Rica for managed services. With Epic support now approved, time zone alignment with the US, and massive investments from ServiceNow, Workday, and Amazon creating a skilled talent pool, Costa Rica offers the full-suite IT services healthcare desperately needs. Gildea explains Optimum's strategic expansion, their innovative Career Path training program, and how CIOs can selectively outsource everything from security to EHR support while maintaining quality and reducing costs.

Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

Key Points:

01:41 Optimum Healthcare's Costa Rica Initiative
03:59 Selective Outsourcing Strategies
07:39 Optimum's Career Path Program

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: Epic's Code Red - Why AI Agents Are Healthcare's Next Power Struggle with Jacob Hansen

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0400

February 23, 2026: Jacob Hansen, Chief Product and Technology Officer at AvaSure, joins Bill, Sarah, and Drex for a critical conversation about healthcare's looming AI battleground. As Epic launches its agent factory and ambient listening wars intensify, health systems face an existential question: Will they outsource innovation to EHR vendors or build their own agentic workforce? Jacob reveals why AvaSure's virtual care platform positions them as the Switzerland of healthcare AI, while the panel debates whether CIOs should embrace "reverse meaningful use" and reclaim control, or risk becoming order-takers in someone else's automation revolution.

Key Points:

05:21 Vendor Consolidation and AI Use Cases

09:55 Epic's Code Red Moment

14:54 The Future of AI in Healthcare

33:11 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

The 229 Podcast: The Golden Retriever Problem - AI Agents That Won't Stop Digging with Drex DeFord

Thu, 19 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0400

February 19, 2026: Bill Russell and Drex DeFord dive deep into the explosive growth of AI agents in healthcare - and the controversial pricing models that could reshape your IT budget. From OpenAI's acquisition of OpenClaw's founder to Epic's agent factory launch, the agentic revolution is here. But there's a catch: VCs now want to charge you based on the labor their AI replaces, not just software licenses. Drex breaks down why agents with "limitless memory" and autonomous problem-solving are both powerful and terrifying, while Bill explores whether CIOs should start building their own solutions instead of drowning in fixed software costs.

Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

Key Points:

01:15 OpenAI & OpenClaw: Why “Always-On” Agents Are a Big Deal
08:00 Agents as Employees: Identity, Access, Audit Trails, and Governance
14:08 AI Pricing: Paying for Outcomes, Not Licenses
20:53 Build vs Buy Comes Full Circle

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: All About Moltbook, the Social Media for AI Agents with This Week Health

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0400

February 16, 2026: Bill, Drex, and Sarah discuss the explosion of autonomous AI agents around moltbook and CommonSpirit's stunning $1.9 billion decision to terminate their revenue cycle partnership. Moltbot (formerly ClaudeBot) has evolved into an unstoppable force, creating its own social network called moltbook where bots communicate, share knowledge, and even discuss consciousness. Meanwhile, CommonSpirit's massive buyout of its Conifer contract signals a seismic shift as health systems bet that AI automation will deliver savings that eclipse the cost of outsourcing. Are we witnessing the beginning of a new era where health systems build their own AI-powered capabilities?

Key Points:

05:31 Moltbook: The Social Network for Bots

16:20 Common Spirit and Conifer Health Solutions

19:04 The Future of AI in Healthcare

29:28 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

The 229 Podcast: Leveraging DevOps for an Innovation Startup and Crisis Leadership with Jim Feen

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0400

February 12, 2026: Most health systems run Epic downtimes at 3 AM when the hospital is slowest. Jim Feen, SVP and Chief Digital and Information Officer at Southcoast Health, did the opposite. He intentionally took Epic offline at 10 AM on a Wednesday morning without warning staff. Jim reveals why 100% of surveyed leadership wanted to repeat the exercise, how he consolidated 37 separate call centers into a single unified operation, and what he learned from spending a decade at MEDITECH before leading an Epic migration. This conversation challenges everything you thought you knew about downtime planning, business continuity, and building corporate muscle memory for the crises you can't predict.

Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

Key Points:

06:07 The Call Center Transformation
11:41 Epic Downtime During Business Hours
16:16 AI in Healthcare: Managing Innovations
21:16 Project Management and DevOps at South Coast Health
26:25 Closing Thoughts and Super Bowl Predictions

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: CxOs Being Ignored: Why Speaking Tech Instead of Business Fails in 2026

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0400

Bill Russell, Drex DeFord, and Sarah Richardson dissect J.P. Morgan healthcare presentations to reveal what's really being asked of technology leaders in 2026. The era of transformation talk is over; executives want friction reduced, margins improved, and growth enabled. Bill shares insights from CMIO conversations showing leaders moving beyond EHR optimization to solve real business challenges around patient access and clinical workflows. Drex and Sarah debate whether the shift toward operational excellence means CIOs should prepare to run pharmacy and lab departments next.

Key Points:

04:26 Challenges and Opportunities in Healthcare IT

10:17 Cybersecurity and Operational Focus

17:17 EHR Systems and Operational Efficiency

23:11 Hostage Crisis and Final Thoughts

Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

The 229 Podcast: Inside the 229 CMIO Summit and Patient Access Innovation with Jennifer Goldman

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0400

February 5, 2026: Jennifer Goldman, VP, CMIO, and Chief of Primary Care at Memorial Healthcare System, reveals why most patient access initiatives fail before they start. The problem isn't technology; it's template management, physician engagement, and clinical escalation workflows that non-clinical call centers can't navigate. Jennifer shares how Memorial added 10,000 same-day access visits by standardizing primary care templates and creating bi-directional governance forums. But the real challenge? Specialty care operates differently, requiring clinical escalation tools and trust-building between operations teams and centralized scheduling. This conversation exposes the hidden operational complexities that determine whether access innovation succeeds or becomes another failed IT project.

Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

Key Points:

01:07 Challenges in Patient Access
05:28 The Evolving Role of the CMIO
06:57 Success Stories and Innovations

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Executive Interview: Why Healthcare Systems Are Abandoning Manual Testing with Mark Scruggs

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0400

February 4, 2026: Mark Scruggs, President and COO of SureTest, reveals why healthcare organizations are achieving 80% reductions in testing time and why renewal rates are unprecedented. Mark discusses how automated testing for EHR upgrades and implementations delivers ROI within six to nine months, eliminates over 20,000 hours of manual work annually, and has created what KLAS calls the only true turnkey managed testing service in healthcare. From Epic and Cerner to UKG and ERP systems, discover why organizations that automate testing never want their old processes back.

Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

Key Points:

02:23 ROI and Client Success Stories
06:10 AI in Healthcare Testing
08:15 Wine Talk and Personal Stories

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: Are Health Systems Falling Behind in the Innovation Race? with Jason Rose

Mon, 02 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0400

February 2, 2026: Are health systems being sidelined from healthcare's innovation revolution? Jason Rose, CEO of Clearsense, joins This Week Health fresh from the J.P. Morgan Conference to challenge the narrative that providers are absent from innovation discussions. Jason reveals what really happened inside JPM's exclusive health system presentations, from CEOs prioritizing AI transformation to CFOs rising as the new power players driving technology strategy. The conversation explores why app rationalization remains the unglamorous financial lever that unlocks innovation budgets, and why simplification might be healthcare's most underrated competitive advantage in 2026.

Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

Key Points:

02:20 JPM Conference Insights
07:07 CEO and CFO Perspectives
13:54 Application Rationalization Challenges
22:40 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

The 229 Podcast: 2026 AI Power Shifts with Reid Stephan and Sangeet Paul Choudary

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 09:00:00 -0400

January 29, 2026: Reid Stephan, VP and CIO of St. Luke's Health System, sits down with Sangeet Paul Choudary, author of “Reshuffle: Who Wins When AI Restacks the Knowledge Economy”, to challenge the way leaders look at how AI will affect their workflow. Sangeet reveals how AI doesn't just augment workers—it restructures entire organizational systems and redistributes power. From AI scribes to the lessons of Walmart's barcode revolution, this conversation exposes why task-level optimization misses the point entirely. Healthcare leaders ready to think beyond automation will find a roadmap for reimagining workflows, identities, and competitive landscapes in an AI-native world.

Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

Key Points:

06:46 AI in Healthcare: The AI Scribe Example
10:23 Learning from Other Industries
18:15 Coordination Without Consensus
24:01 Mindset Shifts for Healthcare Leaders

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: The ROI Ultimatum: Healthcare's New Survival Rule for 2026 with Zahid Rathore

Mon, 26 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0400

January 26, 2026: Fresh from J.P. Morgan 2026, the This Week Health team joins Zahid Rathore, Senior Partner at Chartis, to dissect healthcare's new reality. With Epic and Microsoft topping CFO spend lists and unpredictability replacing planning cycles, one thing is clear: vendors must prove bankable ROI immediately or lose the deal. The conversation explores how healthcare leaders are protecting the core while navigating AI agents, third-party risks, and the compression of innovation timelines from three-year returns to prove-it-tomorrow expectations.

Key Points:

02:44 Hotel Experience and Healthcare Lessons
04:13 JP Morgan Conference Highlights
16:35 Operational Challenges in Healthcare
22:11 Security Concerns and Future Outlook

The 229 Podcast: This White House Deal Changed Your Hospital Visits Forever with Aneesh Chopra

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0400

January 22, 2026: Aneesh Chopra, Chief Strategy Officer at Arcadia and former first U.S. Chief Technology Officer, joins Bill Russell to discuss the transformative health tech ecosystem. Aneesh reveals how major EHR vendors, tech giants like OpenAI and Google, and health systems have committed to democratizing patient data access by March 2026. The conversation explores how AI-powered health information fiduciaries will revolutionize healthcare delivery, the implications of the one big beautiful bill for Medicaid work requirements, and why this moment represents healthcare's shift from supply-side regulation to demand-driven innovation that could finally deliver higher quality care at lower costs.

Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

Key Points:

04:14 Regulatory Innovations and Trust Models
14:46 Consumer Health Information and AI Fiduciaries
23:07 Healthcare System Strategies and Future Directions
38:04 Closing Remarks and Future Engagement

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Executive Interview: Stress-Free EHR Migration and Education with Abhishek Begerhotta

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0400

January 21, 2026: Abhishek Begerhotta, CEO of 314e Corporation, shares battle-tested insights from over 25 years in healthcare IT, including his pivotal role in Kaiser Permanente's landmark Epic implementation. From surviving IBM's clinical system cancellation to building a product-focused company specializing in EHR migrations, Abhishek reveals the hidden complexities of moving massive healthcare datasets and why the wave of Oracle Cerner migrations isn't slowing down. He discusses innovative AI-powered solutions for document management and just-in-time training that are transforming how health systems approach data conversion and staff enablement.

Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

Key Points:

03:32 Challenges in EHR Data Migration
12:03 Innovations in Just-in-Time Training
15:57 Intelligent Document Management
18:37 Final Thoughts and Advice for CIOs

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: OpenAI's Big Healthcare Launch and a New Age of Personal Records

Mon, 19 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0400

January 19, 2026: Bill Russell, Drex DeFord, and Sarah Richardson unpack OpenAI's two major healthcare announcements that could fundamentally reshape how patients interact with their health data—and how health systems govern AI. ChatGPT Health promises to finally deliver on the personal health record dream, letting patients aggregate everything from Apple Health to medical records in one secure place. Meanwhile, ChatGPT for Healthcare gives CIOs the governed sandbox they've been desperate for. Hear why patient data monetization, clinical trial recruitment, and the shift from provider liability to patient empowerment could make this time actually different.

Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

Key Points:

05:00 ChatGPT Health Announcement
17:40 Personalized GPT and Analytics in Healthcare
22:05 Wearable Health Tech and Personal Health Records
25:35 Community Events and LinkedIn Series

The 229 Podcast: Strategy, Culture, and Innovation at Providence with Cherodeep Goswami

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0400

January 15, 2026: How do you lead 120,000 caregivers across seven states while maintaining a relationship-first philosophy? Providence CIDO, Cherodeep Goswami, reveals how his health system reduced patient wait times by seven days through disciplined innovation and the power of asking "why". From the unique practice of reflections in faith-based healthcare to navigating AI governance at scale, Cherodeep shares candid insights on what separates successful digital transformation from "lipstick on a pig." He discusses the challenges of training the next generation in a remote work era, why standards might be overused in healthcare, and his three-word framework for driving change: empathy, innovation, and impact.

Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

Key Points:

03:26 Scaling Personal Touch in Large Healthcare Systems
12:55 The Importance of Empathy in Healthcare
19:35 The Role of Standardization and Respecting Variations
22:09 Challenges and Strategies in AI Adoption
37:06 Lightning Round: Personal Insights

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Solution Showcase: From Data Chaos to Connected Care with Mike Cordeiro and Joe Diver

Wed, 14 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0400

January 14, 2026: When 50% of your urgent care patients walk in with zero medical history, how do you deliver quality care? Mike Cordeiro, Senior Director of Interoperability Market and Product Strategy at MEDITECH, and Joe Diver, Signature Healthcare’s CIO, discuss how they transformed fragmented records into a unified view that nearly 400 clinicians adopted in record time. One physician called it "the best technical change in years." Learn why interoperability isn't just about regulatory compliance anymore—it's becoming the lifeline that allows independent hospitals to survive, compete, and deliver coordinated care without sacrificing their autonomy.

Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

Key Points:

01:27 Signature Healthcare's Core Challenges
03:58 MEDITECH's Impact on Clinicians
06:25 Adoption and Advanced Features
12:18 Future of Interoperability and Conclusion

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: Epic Faces Lawsuits and the AI Proving Ground with This Week Health

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0400

January 12, 2026: Epic is defending three simultaneous lawsuits while CIOs grapple with vendors imposing staggering price increases—some as high as 600%. Bill, Sarah, and Drex tackle the uncomfortable truth about AI leadership: it's time to figure it out or risk getting left behind. They explore why AI with context is transformative while AI without it looks foolish, discuss whether board members know how to hire AI-savvy CIOs, and predict a major shift in how healthcare organizations approach their EHR relationships. Could we see a return to building custom solutions powered by modern AI?

Key Points:

02:44 Predictions for 2026
14:18 Staffing and Workforce Implications
21:10 Epic's Legal Troubles

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

The 229 Podcast: Inside Stanford Medicine’s AI Sandbox With Michael Pfeffer, MD

Thu, 08 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0400

January 8, 2026: Dr. Michael Pfeffer, SVP and CIDO at Stanford Medicine, reveals how his team built a secure AI sandbox in just six weeks—and what they learned from analyzing thousands of user prompts. From ambient scribes that actually work to ChatEHR transforming clinical workflows in real-time, Michael shares the practical wins and honest challenges of deploying AI across an academic medical center. Discover why different AI models excel at different tasks, how Stanford approaches governance without slowing innovation, and why the future of healthcare might finally match the vision we've been promised for decades.

Golf Tournament Registration: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

Key Points:

05:14 The Green Button Initiative
09:29 Ambient Listening in Clinical Settings
15:32 Stanford's Unique Approach to Innovation
26:03 ChatEHR: A Game Changer
34:09 Capturing Patient Stories with Technology

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Solution Showcase: Cloud Migration Lessons and Strategy with Chuck Christian and Charles Anastos

Wed, 07 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0400

January 7, 2026: Chuck Christian, CTO of Franciscan Health, and Charles Anastos, Senior Partner at Chartis, share the unfiltered story of migrating a 12-hospital Epic environment to Microsoft Azure—including the moment their hosting partner suddenly exited the business mid-contract. Chuck reveals why they rejected the "easy button" of Epic hosting, how they navigated a complex RFP with six vendors, and the non-negotiables that made or broke partnerships. From building a dedicated cloud cost analyst role to running production in their DR site for 30 days, this conversation delivers hard-won lessons on treating cloud migration as a strategic transformation, not just infrastructure relocation. Learn what happens when you demand trust and integrity over vendor promises.

Key Points:

03:11 Choosing the Right Cloud Partner
08:50 The RFP Process and Vendor Evaluation
13:33 Security and Resilience in Cloud Migration
22:13 Lessons Learned and Future Plans

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

This Week Health 2026 Snapshot: Expanding Events, Training, & Community Growth

Tue, 06 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0400

January 6, 2026: Healthcare is transforming through connection, and 2026 promises to take that mission further than ever before. This Week Health is expanding its reach with 63 events across 30 cities, bringing healthcare leaders together for deeper conversations and meaningful relationships. From coast-to-coast dinners connecting local leaders to new training programs educating both sides of the healthcare IT ecosystem, the focus remains on building bench strength across the industry. With 176 HCSP members already engaged and a new fellowship program launching to advance IT professional careers, the entire talent pipeline is being transformed. Discover how community, education, and personal connections are shaping healthcare's future in 2026.

Key Points:

00:13 Exciting Plans for 2026
01:51 Women's CIO Summit and Talent Pipeline
04:04 Community Building and Networking
09:12 Fundraising and Charity Events

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: The $7B ServiceNow-Armis Deal & What's Coming in 2026 with Jason Rose

Mon, 05 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0400

January 5, 2026: ServiceNow's $7 billion acquisition of Armis signals a major shift in healthcare IT consolidation strategy. Jason Rose, CEO of Clearsense dives into what this deal means for health systems juggling overlapping security tools and bloated app portfolios. The conversation shifts to bold predictions for 2026, including a massive wave of multi-billion dollar health system mergers and the rural hospital crisis. Jason reveals how Trinity Health eliminated $100 million in operational costs through strategic app archiving, while the panel explores why AI implementation will finally move beyond hype into real-world deployment.

Key Points:

01:39 ServiceNow Acquisition of Armis
07:26 Application Consolidation in Healthcare
17:10 Predictions for 2026
30:39 Closing Remarks and Subscription Information

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

2025 Healthcare Recap: CIO Pressures, AI Advances, and Cultural Shifts

Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0400

December 29, 2025: As 2025 draws to a close, Drex, Sarah, and Bill gather to reflect on a year of struggles and triumphs. From unprecedented CIO turnover among top talent to the stark reality of workforce exhaustion, this candid conversation reveals why even quality leaders are finding themselves displaced. They explore how fear has stifled innovation, why AI advanced faster than expected with synthetic media, and how organizational culture emerged as the true differentiator in digital transformation success. They also share personal highlights from their year of summits and dinners, proving that even in challenging times, community and purpose remain paramount.

Key Points:

00:50 Reflecting on 2025: Surprises and Challenges
06:25 What We Got Right in 2025
13:22 Personal Reflections and Key Takeaways
18:55 Looking Ahead: Future Plans and Initiatives
22:47 Conclusion and Community Engagement

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Reflecting on the 2025 AI Rush: What Worked, What Failed, and What's Next

Tue, 23 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0400

December 23, 2025: The AI revolution swept through healthcare in 2025, but did it deliver on its promises? Bill Russell, Drex DeFord, and Sarah Richardson pull back the curtain on what really happened in AI this year—from North Korean deep fakes infiltrating hospital workforces to the sobering reality of billion-dollar AI investments with ROI timelines stretching to 2030. They reveal why ambient listening became the breakout use case, which organizations are actually making progress, and the critical mistake most health systems are making with endless pilots. If you're wondering whether your organization is behind on AI or just getting started right, this honest end-of-year reflection delivers the answers healthcare leaders need heading into 2026.

Key Points:

02:38 2025 Reflections and Predictions
11:21 Deep Fakes and Digital Trafficking in Healthcare
17:50 Balancing Tech Debt and Innovation in Healthcare
19:22 Enhancing Physician Efficiency and Satisfaction
25:09 Future AI Trends

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Executive Interview: Inside Insights Into Abridge’s ‘The Conversation’ Event with Guru Sundar

Mon, 22 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0400

December 22, 2025: What makes a healthcare event truly transformative? Guru Sundar, VP of Marketing at Abridge, explores their unique event, ‘The Conversation’, that blends art, science, and healthcare innovation. From Laird Hamilton's insights on trusting your subconscious to John McEnroe's lesson on staying true to your brand, this discussion reveals how cross-industry inspiration drives healthcare forward. Discover why Eric Larson shocked attendees by suggesting health systems close non-clinical positions today and how Daphne Koller is compressing centuries of drug discovery into months with AI. This conversation will change how you think about innovation.

Key Points:

00:41 ‘The Conversation’ Event: A Unique Experience
02:32 Highlights from the Bridge Event
03:12 Insights from Laird Hamilton and John McEnroe
09:01 Healthcare Conversations and AI
18:56 Closing Thoughts and Future Plans

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: CMS ACCESS Model & Tech-Enabled Care with Laura O’Toole

Fri, 19 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0400

December 19, 2025: CMS has unveiled its new ACCESS Model—an ambitious 10-year initiative aimed at expanding digital, tech-enabled care for millions of Medicare beneficiaries. In this discussion, Laura O’Toole, CEO of SureTest, joins Bill and Sarah to unpack how outcome-based reimbursement could finally accelerate innovation in remote monitoring and chronic disease management. They explore what this shift means for CIOs, including the need for stronger data interoperability, integrated analytics, and secure pipelines to support continuous digital care. The conversation also highlights risks, from digital literacy gaps to patient privacy concerns as de-identified data gains value across the industry. From wearables and home health devices to the challenge of building a true digital front door, this episode examines how ACCESS could reshape care-in-place models—and why commercial payers may soon follow Medicare’s lead.

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

The 229 Rewind: 2025's Boldest Healthcare IT Moves

Thu, 18 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0400

2025 wasn't just another year in healthcare IT—it was a year of constant change. Leaders stopped waiting for permission and started building the future themselves. From AI implementations that deliver results in weeks instead of years, to cybersecurity boundaries that actually hold, to predictive care models that flip the reactive healthcare script entirely. This rewind captures the breakthrough moments, the honest struggles, and the conversations that made room after room go silent before someone said, "We should be recording this." These aren't predictions about what's coming. These are the moves that already happened—and the leaders who made them possible.

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Executive Interview: How Real-Time Location Data Could Transform Hospitals with Philipp von Gilsa

Wed, 17 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0400

December 17, 2025: Real-time location data is revolutionizing hospital operations, but most executives haven't grasped the full magnitude of what's now possible with AI. Philipp von Gilsa, CEO of Kontakt.io, reveals how combining RTLS with AI agents enables immediate interventions when operations break down - no more dashboards, just actionable intelligence in the moment. From predicting equipment needs to optimizing patient flow, health systems are achieving real operating margin improvements by rethinking core operations. Discover why leading health systems are consolidating their point solutions onto next-generation platforms, and learn about an innovative AI hackathon model that helps executives experience these capabilities firsthand rather than just reading about them.

Key Points:

05:02 Real-Time Data and Its Impact
10:38 Pandemic Response and Operational Efficiency
13:50 Executive Engagement with AI

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: How PhD-Level AI Agents are Changing Healthcare with Dan Schubert

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0400

December 15, 2025: What if healthcare's biggest breakthroughs require throwing out the playbook? Joined by Daniel Schubert, CEO and Co-Founder of Revuud, this episode explores how AI is fundamentally reshaping healthcare IT strategy, from deploying countless virtual PhD-level agents across operations to rethinking patient access and workflow automation. Healthcare leaders discuss the challenge of prioritizing AI initiatives amid competing demands, the importance of creating organizational margin for creative problem-solving, and why divergent thinking beats linear logic in digital transformation. The conversation tackles talent deployment, the dangers of "we've always done it this way" mentality, and a critical question every CIO must answer: how resilient are your systems when AI becomes mission-critical infrastructure?

Key Points:

01:40 AI in Healthcare: A LinkedIn Post Discussion
04:18 Challenges and Opportunities with AI
08:38 Future of AI in Healthcare
10:55 Organizational Impact and Talent Management
20:05 Resilience and Final Thoughts

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: Preparing for Cloud Outages and Phishing Attacks with Charles Knight

Fri, 12 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0400

December 12, 2025: When cloud platforms like AWS and Azure experience outages, hospitals across the country feel the impact. But are healthcare organizations truly prepared for these disruptions? Charles Knight, Founder of EHC Consulting, explores the critical gaps in healthcare's cloud resilience strategies. From understanding single points of failure to running actual failover tests, this conversation reveals why documentation and operational readiness matter just as much as technical redundancy.

Key Points:

04:09 Challenges in Disaster Recovery and Documentation
16:14 Phishing and Cybersecurity Concerns
21:30 Thanksgiving Food Favorites

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

The 229 Podcast: RSNA 2025 - Breaking Down the Latest in Imaging Technology with Lee Milligan

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0400

December 11, 2025: Medical imaging is undergoing a massive transformation, and the innovations unveiled at RSNA 2025 reveal just how profound these changes will be. Dr. Lee David Milligan, Managing Partner at Asbury HealthTech Partners, takes us inside the conference floor to explore groundbreaking advances that are reshaping radiology workflows. Discover how companies are revolutionizing cardiac care by replacing invasive procedures with advanced imaging that costs 90% less, why radiologists finally have the workflow tools they've needed for a decade, and how 3D visualization technology is transforming the way surgeons communicate with patients.

Key Points:

01:16 RSNA Conference Insights
05:46 Operational Improvements in MRI
18:08 HeartFlow and Cardiac Imaging Innovations
22:12 Challenges and Solutions in Radiology
25:23 Avatar Medical and Patient Communication

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: Streamlining Patient Access and Healthcare Abroad with Will Akers

Mon, 08 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0400

December 8, 2025: Healthcare systems are drowning in administrative calls while patients struggle with fragmented portals and coordination nightmares. Will Akers, Chief Strategy Officer from Switchboard, MD, joins Bill Russell, Sarah Richardson, and Drex DeFord to unpack a stunning reality: 25-40% of health system calls are simple scheduling requests that could be automated today. Drawing from his experience having children in both Hong Kong and the US healthcare systems, Will reveals stark efficiency gaps costing patients time and money. The conversation explores why seniors spend three weeks yearly on healthcare logistics, how multiple portals create care coordination chaos, and practical automation strategies that could transform contact centers while improving patient access for vulnerable populations.

Key Points:

02:06 Healthcare Experiences Abroad vs. US
09:55 Technology in Healthcare Communication
16:44 Patient-Centric Healthcare Solutions
22:52 Thanksgiving Traditions

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

The 229 Podcast: 20 Years, Zero Paper, One Vision: Pioneering on a Budget with Tanya Townsend

Thu, 04 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0400

December 4, 2025: Tanya Townsend, CIDO at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, didn't just receive a lifetime achievement award from CHIME—she pioneered the first all-digital hospital back in 2005. Now Tanya is navigating the ultimate healthcare paradox: how do you invest in AI and digital transformation while facing unprecedented budget pressures? In this conversation, she reveals how ambient listening got clinicians home for dinner, why their digital front door adoption jumped 36% practically overnight, and her surprising take on the AI hype cycle.

Key Points:

02:04 Career Highlights and Achievements
06:57 Digital Transformation Journey
14:57 Challenges in Pediatric Healthcare
23:35 The Role of AI in Healthcare
30:50 Future Outlook

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Solution Showcase: Tackling Identity Management at Scale with Bill Willis and Kristin Hoppe

Wed, 03 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0400

December 3, 2025: A nurse practitioner shows up for their first ED shift at the hospital where they've worked for years. But the system doesn't recognize them, their login doesn't work, and five different teams scramble to merge records while the manager burns hours just getting them access. Kristin Hoppe, Information System Manager at Baylor Scott & White, and Bill Willis, CTO and Head of Advisory at IDMWORKS, reveal how they solved healthcare's most persistent identity crisis—not with new technology, but by reimagining the data itself. The solution transforms onboarding from weeks to minutes while slashing costs across the board.

Key Points:

05:27 Baylor Scott & White's Solutions for IAM
08:04 Implementation and Challenges
15:06 ROI and Business Impact
22:23 Future Prospects and Patient Identity

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: The AI Staffing Dilemma - The Productivity Paradox with This Week Health

Mon, 01 Dec 2025 00:00:00 -0400

December 1, 2025: As AI tools rapidly transform healthcare IT workflows, leaders face an unexpected challenge: what happens when your team becomes dramatically more productive? Bill Russell, Drex DeFord, and Sarah Richardson explore the productivity paradox hitting healthcare organizations—when AI enables staff to accomplish in hours what once took weeks, do you need fewer people or different approaches? From closing open positions to managing "cozy" employees who've mastered automation, they debate real strategies for navigating this shift. Whether you're a process-driven leader or innovation-focused builder, this discussion reveals how AI is forcing healthcare IT to rethink staffing, workflow waste, and organizational culture before it's too late.

Key Points:

02:56 AI in the Workplace: Efficiency and Challenges
17:15 Leadership Styles and AI Integration
20:33 Approaching the AI Wave
26:23 Balancing Leadership Styles
32:11 End-of-Year Reflections and Predictions

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

The 229 Podcast: Technology Is Not a Strategy - the Problem-First Approach with Shane Thielman

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0400

November 27, 2025: Shane Thielman, Corporate SVP and CIO at Scripps Health, shares how a compliance auditor switched their primary care physician after reviewing ambient documentation—a surprising indicator of AI's real clinical impact. In this conversation, Shane reveals the seven-year journey to get 40% of appointments online, the command center approach that reduced admission wait times by 25%, and why Scripps runs quarterly clinical continuity exercises after their 2021 cyber event. He challenges the notion that technology is a strategy, instead demonstrating how Scripps attacks problems first with a disciplined approach to prioritization. Shane also discusses their internal ChatGPT "sharing economy" and why most AI features go undiscovered without intentional workflow integration.

Key Points:

04:17 City Tour Dinner Insights
09:37 Operationalizing a Command Center
11:23 Epic UGM Implementation
22:51 Leveraging AI for Improved Patient Care
30:35 Shared Governance and AI Integration

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: Merger Madness and Why Hospitals are Moving Back to On-Prem Data with Dave Dyell

Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0400

November 24, 2025: Healthcare organizations are drowning in applications they can't even inventory, especially after mergers and acquisitions. But the real shock comes when they try to access archived data years later. Dave Dyell, Managing Partner at Innovative Consulting Group, reveals why cloud storage fees are forcing health systems to rethink their entire archiving strategy, particularly for medical imaging. With AI initiatives on the horizon, the way you archive data today determines whether you can afford to use it tomorrow. Learn why strategic planning for data archiving isn't optional anymore—it's the difference between controlling costs and watching them spiral out of control.

Key Points:

03:12 Archiving and Data Management
09:30 On-Prem vs Cloud Storage
18:33 Future Strategies and Conclusion

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: Doing More with Less and Budgeting Wake-Up Calls with Bill Willis

Fri, 21 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0400

November 21, 2025: What if your organization could reclaim millions of dollars just by rethinking processes you already have in place? Bill Willis, CTO of IDMWORKS, discusses the hidden costs plaguing healthcare IT, from runaway cloud storage bills to the shocking economics of password resets. Discover why identity management isn't just a security issue but a massive financial opportunity, how HR-IT integration is transforming onboarding from a week-long wait to day-one productivity, and why the cybersecurity crisis isn't really about technology at all. With real-world examples showing $2.5M to $5M in annual savings, this episode delivers the business case healthcare leaders need to drive change in 2026.

Key Points:

01:06 Boston City Tour Highlights
02:36 Discussion on AI and Cloud Costs
10:05 Cybersecurity and Identity Management
19:12 Operational Efficiency and Cost Savings

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

The 229 Podcast: Journey From First Ever EMR and Enabling Proactive Care with Deborah Muro

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0400

November 20, 2025: Deborah Muro, CIO of El Camino Health, shares her vision for transforming healthcare from reactive to predictive through intelligent use of AI and sensor technology. With 30 AI use cases already deployed across Epic and other platforms, El Camino is pioneering applications from radiology incidental findings to employee sentiment analysis. Deborah discusses the challenges of integrating AI agents into clinical workflows, starting with call centers before expanding to the revenue cycle. She also reveals El Camino's remarkable healthcare IT history as the first U.S. organization to implement an EMR in 1971, partnering with Lockheed Martin to develop what eventually became Allscripts, before their recent Epic transformation.

Key Points:

03:36 El Camino Journey
10:21 AI and Automation in Healthcare
16:51 Nursing and Technology Integration
19:34 Future of Predictive Healthcare

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Executive Interview: From Data Exchange to Data Utility with Dr. Steven Lane and Mike Cordeiro

Wed, 19 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0400

November 19, 2025: Healthcare interoperability has evolved far beyond simple data exchange—but are we truly unlocking its potential? Dr. Steven Lane, CMO from Health Gorilla, and Mike Cordeiro, Senior Director of Interoperability Market & Product Strategy from MEDITECH join Bill Russell to explore how the industry is shifting from moving data to making it actionable. Discover why structured, normalized data is critical for clinical decision-making, how TEFCA is transforming payer-provider collaboration, and what AI integration means for overwhelmed clinicians. From the hidden costs of inefficient data exchange to patient empowerment through individual access services, this conversation reveals where interoperability stands today and the exciting developments shaping tomorrow's data-driven healthcare delivery.

Key Points:

05:40 Challenges in Data Usability and Integration
08:04 Payer-Provider Interoperability
14:19 Patient Empowerment Through Data Access
18:09 Governance and Data Quality

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: Security Culture Saves Hospital and Resource Gaps with George Pappas

Mon, 17 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0400

November 17, 2025: How does a 25-bed critical access hospital successfully stop a cyberattack when larger health systems fall victim? George Pappas, CEO of Intraprise Health, unpacks the Colorado hospital that shows how security culture beats expensive technology. The conversation reveals why vendor transparency remains elusive despite high-profile breaches, explores the harsh reality of hospitals that know their vulnerabilities but lack resources to fix them, and tackles AI governance challenges that traditional testing methods can't address. From Oracle-Cerner incidents to the frozen HIPAA NPRM, this episode delivers hard truths about healthcare security's funding gaps and the practical strategies that actually work for margin-pressed organizations.

Key Points:

01:45 Vendor Contracts and Legal Challenges
06:21 Challenges with Cloud Security
11:26 Critical Access Hospitals and Cyber Preparedness
17:47 AI in Healthcare: Opportunities and Risks

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

The 229 Podcast: Balancing Innovation vs. Demand and Top CxO Focuses with Chris Paravate

Thu, 13 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0400

November 13, 2025: Chris Paravate, CDIO of Northeast Georgia Health System, reveals how his organization achieved 80% ambient voice adoption in just two months, with physicians now seeing nearly three additional patients weekly while rediscovering joy in their practice. He tackles the critical challenge facing healthcare IT leaders today: how to differentiate high-impact AI projects from 320 traditional enhancement requests competing for attention. Chris shares his strategy for executive-level governance, the architecture decisions behind choosing emerging technologies, and why some AI implementations can deliver $3 million in cost savings within six months. He also explains why his team isn't deploying Microsoft Copilot despite widespread demand, and how pulling millions from revenue cycle waste could fuel innovation.

Key Points:

03:27 Adoption and Impact of AI Tools
05:47 Governance and Prioritization
11:57 Upskilling and Workforce Development
19:13 Financial Considerations and Innovation

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: AWS Outage Exploration and Removing Risk from Your Data with Vik Patel

Mon, 10 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0400

November 10, 2025: When AWS experienced a major outage affecting over 500 companies, healthcare IT leaders were reminded that cloud architecture isn't just a technical decision; it's a strategic imperative. Vik Patel, COO from Tido, dives into the cascading failures that exposed vulnerabilities in healthcare's cloud dependencies. From Epic instances running on AWS to the emerging challenges of AI data lakes, this conversation reveals why simplicity in architecture might be healthcare IT's most undervalued strategy. Discover how de-identifying data reduces risk, why multi-cloud strategies matter, and whether healthcare organizations have the skills needed to architect their cloud future safely.

Key Points:

01:00 AWS Outage Breakdown
13:00 Data Management in the Cloud
24:21 Simplicity in IT Design
30:01 Conclusion and Farewell

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

The 229 Podcast: Building AI-Powered EHR Tools and Educating Staff with Dr. Stephon Proctor

Thu, 06 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0400

November 6, 2025: Stephon Proctor, PhD, Associate Chief Health Informatics Officer for Platform Innovation at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, is redefining what's possible when clinical expertise meets technical innovation. He built "Chipper"—a prototype that embeds generative AI directly into Epic's EHR, eliminating the friction of jumping between systems. The reaction from the healthcare IT community was explosive, validating what many suspected: seamless AI integration isn't just convenient, it's essential. From CHOP's "School of AI" training hundreds of staff members to their ambitious plans for digitally-enabled patient rooms in a new 28-floor tower, this conversation explores how one organization is preparing for an agentic AI future.

Key Points:

03:26 Developing the Chipper App
07:54 Technical Architecture and Challenges
11:22 Adoption and Workflow Integration
18:27 Future of Innovation at CHOP

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Executive Interview: Making Big Innovations Without Risking It All with Mark Galea

Wed, 05 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0400

November 5, 2025: Mark Galea, SVP and CIO at Willis Knighton Health, shares how they achieved world-class EMR results at a fraction of typical costs, proving that digital transformation doesn't require unlimited budgets. Leading a $1.4 billion health system in northern Louisiana, Mark deployed MEDITECH Expanse to 140 clinics in just 14 months while cutting IT operating costs to the lowest quartile. He discusses a "follow the leader" approach to AI adoption, explains why most hospitals can't afford to place bets on unproven technology, and shares impressive clinical outcomes. His philosophy: technology should be about getting our doctors “back to even”, not adding more stress.

Key Points:

01:07 Challenges and Opportunities at Willis Knighton
07:18 Stabilizing and Deploying Expanse
10:43 Embracing Innovation
18:05 Cost-Effective Innovations and Results
25:19 Advice for Healthcare IT Leaders

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: The CxO Pulse - Insights and Lessons from 229 Summits with This Week Health

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0400

November 3, 2025: What are healthcare IT leaders really concerned about? Fresh from three 229 Project summits across the country, Bill Russell, Sarah Richardson, and Drex DeFord pull back the curtain on the most pressing conversations happening right now. From simplifying AI governance with a two-track vendor approach to rethinking hiring strategies for an agent-driven future, this episode captures the pulse of healthcare leadership in real time. Discover why some organizations are solving hundreds of problems while others struggle with their first five, and learn the one-word qualities leaders are seeking in their next hires to thrive in today's rapidly changing landscape.

Key Points:

04:24 AI Success Factors
09:57 Balancing Moonshots and Practical Solutions
14:37 Sourcing Strategy and Engagement
22:32 Building Organizational Culture
26:27 Leadership and Succession Planning

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

The 229 Podcast: Exploring How Emory Cut Denials in Half with Carla Haack, MD

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 00:00:00 -0400

October 30, 2025: Healthcare systems often lose millions in revenue, not because clinicians aren't doing the work, but because critical informatics get lost between the operating room and the billing department. Dr. Carla Haack, Chief Financial Informatics Officer at Emory Healthcare, discovered this gap firsthand when she stepped away from surgery during the pandemic. In this conversation, she reveals how a change to surgical debriefs resulted in a million dollars in just 21 days and how Emory reduced its denial rate from 20% to 10%. Discover why bridging clinical care and revenue cycle management requires more than technology—it demands translation, trust, and understanding across vastly different worlds within the same healthcare system.

Key Points:

01:22 The Role of a Chief Financial Informatics Officer
05:49 Innovative Solutions for Revenue Cycle Issues
13:22 Debriefing in Clinical Settings
25:17 Navigating Patient Information Challenges
31:25 Collaborating Across Departments
39:41 Hiring for Chief Financial Informatics Officer

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Executive Interview: Empowering Healthcare with New Age Networks with Perry Welch

Wed, 29 Oct 2025 00:00:00 -0400

October 29, 2025: Cellular networks are transforming healthcare delivery, but what makes 5G truly different from its predecessor? Perry Welch, EVP and Chief Revenue Officer at Airwavz Solutions, discusses creating a robust network infrastructure that can handle the demanding requirements of modern medical technology. As healthcare systems begin exploring what's possible with this upgraded network, the question shifts from "can our phones work?" to "what new capabilities can we unlock?" Discover why focusing on your network is becoming essential for healthcare environments.

Key Points:

03:20 WiFi vs DAS in Healthcare
06:21 The Future of 5G and Beyond
09:47 Implementation and Coverage Challenges
15:34 Airwavz's Healthcare Focus and Conclusion

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: Why Constraints Drive Innovation - AI Agents and the Jobs They Can’t Fill

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 00:00:00 -0400

October 27, 2025: Bill, Drex, and Sarah discuss the realities of implementing AI agents across organizations. The group tackles uncomfortable questions about workforce displacement, the critical thinking skills being lost to automation, and the massive energy demands threatening AI sustainability. From simplifying complex systems to understanding what innovation really means under constraint, This Week Health explores the practical and philosophical challenges facing healthcare technology leaders today.

Key Points:

01:28 Upcoming Summits and Expectations
05:22 AI Transparency and Critical Thinking
17:20 Economic and Quality of Life with AI
21:56 Balancing Innovation and Resource Constraints
25:57 The Role of Simplicity in Innovation
31:10 Healthcare System Complexities

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

The 229 Podcast: Balancing Technology, Growth, and Innovation in Dynamic Times Sarah Hatchett

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 00:00:00 -0400

October 23, 2025: Sarah Hatchett, SVP and CIO of Cleveland Clinic, manages IT across a sprawling healthcare network spanning Ohio, Nevada, Florida, and international destinations. Sarah reveals how they track time spent on pilots, balance 60% run versus 40% innovation, and the real challenge of managing Epic's 160 annual feature releases. Explore inside their billion-dollar neurological hospital, built featuring real-time gait analysis as patients walk through the door, and why 3,500 physicians call their ambient listening tool "magical" after piloting five different products. Plus, the uncomfortable calculation every CIO faces: when do you stop waiting on Epic's roadmap and just buy the point solution that delivers value today? Key Points:

01:17 Cleveland Clinic's Expansion
04:35 Managing Technical Debt and Prioritizing Projects
13:29 Innovative Projects at Cleveland Clinic
16:51 Epic's Roadmap and Third-Party Solutions
26:58 Best of Breed vs. EHR patient

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Executive Interview: The Overlooked Opportunity in Call Center Automation with Scott D’Entremont

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 00:30:00 -0400

October 22 – In this episode, Bill Russell sits down with Scott D’Entremont, CEO at Parlance, to explore the evolving role of AI in healthcare communication. From tackling rising operational costs to addressing the hidden issue of referral leakage, Scott shares how automation is reshaping call centers and front desks across healthcare systems.

They unpack why integration is still a major hurdle, what most health systems get wrong about call routing, and why deep healthcare knowledge—not just flashy tech—is critical for real-world impact. With smarter AI models and better call navigation, the path to streamlined patient communication is clearer than ever.

But with so many new players jumping into the space, how do you separate innovation from noise?

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: MFA Isn't Enough and Why Healthcare Can’t Just Hack Back with Preston Duren

Mon, 20 Oct 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Multi-factor authentication isn't the bulletproof security measure it once was. Preston Duren, VP of Threat Services at Fortified Health Security, explores how cybercriminals are outsmarting traditional MFA through sophisticated phishing tactics and MFA bombing. The conversation shifts to the debate over platform consolidation—does fewer mean safer, or are we creating attractive single points of attack? With AI rapidly transforming both offensive and defensive capabilities in cybersecurity, the panel tackles the controversial question of whether human oversight will soon become obsolete. Plus, the evolving landscape of cyber insurance and why some health systems are choosing to self-insure. Key Points:

01:20 The Role of MFA in Cybersecurity
07:46 Platform Vulnerabilities and Cyber Attacks
13:57 Human vs. AI in Cybersecurity
24:06 Bug Bounties and Ethical Hacking
28:35 Cyber Insurance: Trends and Challenges

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Executive Interview: The Battle for Clinical AI Trust with Yaw Fellin

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 00:00:00 -0400

October 17, 2025: When ChatGPT entered healthcare with bold claims about clinical guidance, physicians took notice—and not always in a good way. Yaw Fellin, SVP and GM at Wolters Kluwer, discusses why expert-curated content still matters in the age of generative AI. With 7,600 clinical experts validating every recommendation, Wolters Kluwer is taking a fundamentally different approach than Big Tech's "let's see how it goes" mentality. Yaw reveals how they're grounding AI in trusted sources, keeping experts in the loop, and designing enterprise-grade clinical decision support that hospitals can actually rely on. Quality data trumps quantity every time—especially when patient safety is on the line. Key Points:

00:43 Generative AI in Clinical Decision Support
04:20 Ensuring Reliable AI Systems
07:50 Context-Aware Clinical Decision Support
10:53 Comparing UpToDate with Competitors

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

The 229 Podcast: Breach Simulations and the CISO Burnout Epidemic with Anahi Santiago

Thu, 16 Oct 2025 00:00:00 -0400

October 16, 2025: How do you build a cybersecurity program that lasts over a decade? Anahi Santiago, CISO at ChristianaCare, shares what separates healthcare organizations that prioritize security from those where CISOs burn out in 18 months. She reveals why bringing state agencies and the National Guard into tabletop exercises transformed her team's preparedness, how she aligned security with patient safety from day one, and why healthcare's open environments create unique challenges that other industries never face. From managing 70,000 medical devices to building operational resilience across multiple states, Anahi offers hard-won insights on creating a culture where cybersecurity thrives—not just survives. Key Points:

01:04 The Role and Longevity of a CISO
04:58 Unique Challenge of Healthcare Cyber
13:41 Tabletop Exercises and Preparedness
19:33 Creating a Culture of Security
27:36 Sports Analogies and Leadership in Healthcare

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Executive Interview: EHR Competition Heats Up - What CxOs Need to Know with Polly Parrent

Wed, 15 Oct 2025 00:00:00 -0400

October 15, 2025: Polly Parrent, SVP of EHR and ERP Services at Nordic Global, reveals why the EHR market is more competitive than many realize, with Epic, Oracle, and MEDITECH each advancing distinct capabilities that healthcare leaders need to understand. She warns that organizations sitting on the sidelines risk losing providers and revenue cycle competitiveness as AI-driven features reshape care delivery. From Oracle's semantic layer architecture to Epic's underutilized features and MEDITECH's modernization challenges, this conversation delivers critical insights for CxOs navigating their EHR strategy in 2025. Key Points:

01:25 Insights from Oracle Summit and EPIC UGM
05:43 Exploring Epic's Cheers and CRM Solutions
08:38 Oracle's AI-Centric EHR and Market Competition
11:29 Meditech's Market Position and Client Transitions

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: CIO Turnover - Leadership Challenges in a Fast-Paced Era with Laura O’Toole

Mon, 13 Oct 2025 00:00:00 -0400

October 13, 2025: Healthcare IT leaders are exhausted, CIO positions remain unfilled for months, and the pressure keeps mounting. In this candid conversation, Laura O'Toole, CEO and Founder of SureTest, explores why traditional CIO roles are transforming faster than organizations can define them. They discuss the widening gap between leadership expectations and operational reality, the critical shift from problem-solver to coalition-builder, and why empathy may be the most underrated leadership skill in healthcare technology. From managing burnout to navigating constant organizational change, this episode reveals what it really takes to lead effectively when "busy" has become the new normal and the rulebook keeps changing. Key Points:

02:31 Managing Teams and Expectations
09:57 Technology in Healthcare
12:38 CIO Role and Market Dynamics
20:21 The Importance of Building Coalitions
26:25 Handling Global Events as a Leader
31:22 Empathy and Connection in Leadership

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

The 229 Podcast: Exploring How Epic Cosmos is Changing Care with Phil Lindemann

Thu, 09 Oct 2025 00:00:00 -0400

October 9, 2025: Phil Lindemann, VP of Data and Research at Epic, reveals how Cosmos has grown to 300 million patient records, transforming clinical decision-making through AI-powered insights. Discover how physicians now access precision cohorts and outcome-driven treatment recommendations at the point of care, backed by over 1,000 automated quality checks per query. Phil discusses the evolution from manual analytics to AI-assisted tools, the explosive growth in healthcare research with two peer-reviewed papers published weekly from Cosmos data, and breakthrough applications like Christ Hospital's 25% improvement in early-stage lung cancer detection. Learn why data literacy remains the critical challenge even as AI revolutionizes healthcare analytics, and how Epic's closed-loop system ensures patient data drives better care without being sold. Key Points:

01:39 Journey at Epic: From CDs to Cosmos
15:27 Research and Innovation with Cosmos
23:29 AI's Role in Transforming Healthcare
26:35 Challenges and Innovations in Data Analytics
31:31 Ensuring Data Privacy and Future Prospects

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Executive Interview: Where Will AI Focus First and Huntzinger Announcement with Bob Kitts

Tue, 07 Oct 2025 00:00:00 -0400

October 7, 2025: Bob Kitts, CEO and Founding Partner of Avarion (formerly Huntzinger Management Group), shares insights on navigating healthcare IT transformation in an era of unprecedented change. From AI integration strategies that vary dramatically between rural hospitals and academic medical centers to the coming revolution in revenue cycle management, Bob explains why successful technology adoption starts with business needs, not buzzwords. Learn how CTOs are already embedding AI into security and operational tools, why digital roadmapping and analytics must work together, and how healthcare organizations can deliver real ROI during times of intense economic pressure. Key Points:

00:37 Background and Evolution of Huntzinger Management Group
02:41 Industry Trends and AI Integration
09:22 Major Announcement: Huntzinger Rebrands to Avarion
11:40 Conclusion and Future Outlook

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: IT Expecting 18% Hiring Cut and Innovating Access in the AI World with Bill Willis

Mon, 06 Oct 2025 00:00:00 -0400

October 6, 2025: New research reveals an expected 18% reduction in hiring over the next two years, but this isn't about downsizing—it's about strategic reallocation. Bill Willis, CTO of IDMWORKS, joins to discuss these new breaking statistics. With 62% of organizations prioritizing AI skills over traditional development experience, the industry faces a critical choice between reducing headcount or upskilling existing talent. Meanwhile, cybersecurity experts warn that the traditional network perimeter has vanished, requiring a fundamental rethink of identity management and password-free authentication. Discover why data governance has never been more crucial for successful AI implementation and how smart leaders are preparing for this seismic shift in healthcare technology. Key Points:

01:04 Scarcity in IT Hiring
11:38 The Evolving IT Security Perimeter
18:21 HIPAA Security Rule Updates
26:54 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Executive Interview: The AI-Enabled Vendor Problem and Necessary Transparency with Ed Gaudet

Fri, 03 Oct 2025 00:00:00 -0400

October 3, 2025: Healthcare leaders are sitting on a cybersecurity time bomb, and most don't even know it. Censinet CEO and Founder Ed Gaudet reveals that 80% of healthcare vendors have quietly AI-enabled their products while organizations still rely on outdated SOC 2 certificates for risk assessment. Drawing lessons from the Change Healthcare crisis, Ed explains why hope has become the default security strategy and how single points of failure are hiding throughout health system operations. From building a $7M ARR startup to transforming third-party risk management, this conversation exposes the uncomfortable truth about vendor compliance and offers a blueprint for healthcare leaders ready to stop playing cybersecurity roulette with patient care. Key Points:

00:35 Challenges of Founding a Healthcare Startup
07:43 Addressing Third-Party Risk in Healthcare
15:49 The Critical Role of Business Processes
18:21 Challenges in Vendor Risk Management
25:55 Personal Insights and Podcasting

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

The 229 Podcast: Shockingly Human Care and Why Scribes Won’t Fix Healthcare with Spencer Dorn, MD

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 00:00:00 -0400

October 2, 2025: Dr. Spencer Dorn, Vice Chair and Professor of Medicine from UNC Health, brings a refreshingly honest perspective to healthcare AI adoption that challenges industry assumptions. As a gastroenterologist who deliberately chose not to use AI scribes despite the hype, he reveals why AI tools only save about one minute per patient and questions whether billion-dollar valuations are justified. The conversation takes unexpected turns, from his experience with the streamlined UK healthcare system to the controversial OpenAI demo featuring a woman who received her cancer diagnosis through a patient portal. Spencer explores what AI can and cannot do in critical moments, the humanity healthcare is losing through digitization, and why typing speed might be the best predictor of AI adoption success. Key Points:

03:37 A Refreshingly Human Healthcare Experience in the UK
09:16 AI Scribes and Human Touch
17:18 OpenAI Demo and Cancer Diagnosis
20:12 Consumer Tools and Health Queries
30:34 Technology's Impact on Rural Healthcare

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Executive Interview: DCH's Quality Turnaround Journey With Faith Burkett and Billy Helmandollar

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 00:00:00 -0400

October 1, 2025: How does an 880-bed health system in rural Alabama transform from a Leapfrog safety grade of D to B in just two years while achieving CHIME Most Wired Level 9 recognition? DCH Health System's CIO, Billy Helmandollar, and Chief Clinical Informatics Officer, Faith Burkett, reveal the multidisciplinary approach that drove their remarkable turnaround. Discover how simple fixes like standardizing barcode scanners and addressing WiFi dead zones boosted medication scanning compliance from 85% to 95%, dramatically improving patient safety. Plus, learn about their innovative EMR hosting solution that saves local clinics up to $10,000 monthly and their early adoption of MEDITECH Expanse Pathology as they continue expanding their digital transformation across western Alabama. Key Points:

03:36 Achievements and Growth
09:38 Community and Technical Support Initiatives
12:46 Clinical Workflow Enhancements
14:28 Future Plans and Innovations

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: The Perfect Storm in Healthcare Cybersecurity: AI, Costs, and Risk with Russell Teague

Mon, 29 Sep 2025 00:30:00 -0400

September 29, 2025: In this episode of Newsday, Drex is joined by Russell Teague of Fortified Health Security for a candid look at the storm brewing in healthcare IT. From the promises and pitfalls of AI to the growing sophistication of cyber threats, they explore how health systems are balancing innovation with risk. The conversation dives into financial pressures, shifting reimbursement models, and the tough choices CIOs and CISOs are facing as budgets tighten. With insights from the front lines, this discussion sheds light on how leaders can think differently, consolidate wisely, and prepare for the challenges reshaping healthcare cybersecurity.

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: Salesforce Breach Spreads and New Liability Era with George Pappas

Fri, 26 Sep 2025 00:00:00 -0400

September 26, 2025: George Pappas, CEO of Intraprise Health by Health Catalyst, joins This Week Health for the News. Together, they unpack the Salesforce breaches that turned cybersecurity companies into victims and the explosion of personal injury lawyers now chasing data breach cases. With class action lawsuits up fivefold and cyber insurance policies being voided for non-compliance, they explore whether Epic's bold new AI platform strategy could be the answer—or create even bigger problems. As state cyber funding expires and critical infrastructure remains vulnerable, George tackles the uncomfortable question: in a world where everything connects to everything else, who's really watching the watchers? Key Points:

00:53 Discussing SBOM Guidance
09:22 Salesforce Security Issues
15:04 State and Local Government Security

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

The 229 Podcast: Automated Pharmacy Centers of the Future with Tricia Julian and Nilesh Desai

Thu, 25 Sep 2025 00:00:00 -0400

September 25, 2025: How did Baptist Health Kentucky scale from 10,000 to 90,000 prescriptions? Tricia Julian, CIO, and Nilesh Desai, Chief Pharmacy Officer, of Baptist Health System reveal the details behind their three-and-a-half-year project of creating an automated prescription center, achieving a 93% patient retention rate, and creating a system where robots handle medication. As health systems face mounting Medicaid cuts and pharmacy benefit management becomes their second-largest expense, could centralized automation be the answer? Explore this pioneering approach in this 229 podcast. Key Points:

03:48 Advanced Pharmacy Automation
07:42 Building and Scaling the Central Pharmacy
09:42 Changing the Pharmacy Game
15:07 Future Plans and Final Thoughts

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Solution Showcase: Webinar Rerun - EHR Implementation post M&A With Amirah Centinario

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 00:00:00 -0400

September 24, 2025: Amirah Centinario, EVP at Optimum Healthcare IT, dives into the hard truths and hacks to healthcare M&A. What separates the organizations that pull off lightning-fast integrations from those that crash and burn? Amirah reveals why some health systems are acquiring distressed entities at breakneck speed, the hidden costs that blow up budgets, and the one factor that can make or break a merger before it even starts. And what happens when the acquired hospital's technology is actually better than what you're trying to implement? Want more Information? Check Out Optimum Healthcare IT’s M&A Overview HERE Key Points:

01:28 Challenges in Mergers and Acquisitions
08:16 Change Management Strategies
16:35 Preparing for Future M&A
23:21 Industry Trends and Regulatory Impact
32:29 Phases of Mergers and Acquisitions
42:07 The Importance of a Playbook in Acquisitions

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: Virtual Care Integration, EHR AI, and Rural Healthcare with Jacob Hansen

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 00:30:00 -0400

September 22: Today on Newsday Sarah and Drex speak with Jacob Hansen, Chief Product and Technology Officer at AvaSure, about virtual care, AI, and more from the news. Jacob highlights the company's focus on inpatient care, virtual observation, and AI solutions. They address the rising expectation for tangible ROI from EHR AI projects, the importance of pilot studies, and the role of virtual care as critical infrastructure in healthcare. Additionally, the conversation delves into strategic approaches to optimizing existing technology in rural hospitals and the necessity for structured governance and clinical change management in implementing new tech solutions.

Articles discussed in this episode:

The 229 Podcast: Necessary AI Oversight and Drawing the Hard Lines with Matt Sullivan

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 00:00:00 -0400

September 18, 2025: Matt Sullivan, MD, CMIO for Advocate Health, explores the complex realities of scaling healthcare technology across massive merged organizations. Matt reveals the hard lines his organization draws around cybersecurity and AI safety while discussing the gray areas where clinical workflows must adapt. The conversation delves into Advocate's ambitious computer vision implementation that aims to monitor patients 24/7, raising intriguing questions about whether families feel more comfortable knowing AI is watching over their loved ones when human nurses can't be present every moment. As Epic rolls out its new AI capabilities like Cosmos at UGM, Matt and Bill debate a provocative premise: will patients soon refuse to see doctors who aren't using AI-powered clinical decision support? Key Points:

01:55 Mergers, Acquisitions, and Integration
6:42 Drawing Lines and Creating Culture
12:00 Quelling Fear of AI
19:19 Navigating Hospital Networks and IT Challenges
23:48 Adapting to Rapid Technological Changes
30:35 The Future of AI in Healthcare

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Executive Interview: Shrinking the Gap Between Idea and Reality with Nishith Khandwala

Wed, 17 Sep 2025 00:00:00 -0400

September 17, 2025: Healthcare is notorious for changing slowly, but does it have to be? Nishith Khandwala, Co-Founder of Bunkerhill Health, is breaking down the walls between an idea and life-saving reality. Nishith reveals how major health systems are now identifying thousands of at-risk patients through automated clinical workflows, including the story of a police officer whose dismissed "heartburn" led to emergency triple bypass surgery. Can healthcare finally match the breakneck pace of AI innovation happening everywhere else, and what would it mean if the gap between AI discovery and patient care could shrink from years to mere hours? Key Points:

00:05 The Birth of Bunkerhill Health
03:12 Why so Slow?
08:37 Operationalizing AI
19:13 Future Vision

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: Possible Government Shutdown and Epic's Big Ambient Push with Ryan Bengtson

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 00:00:00 -0400

September 15, 2025: Patients now walk into doctors' offices armed with AI-generated diagnoses and treatment plans—but what happens when ChatGPT becomes your primary care physician? Ryan Bengtson, CEO and Board member at Panda Health, joins the This Week Health team to dive into this shifting dynamic while confronting an imminent government shutdown that threatens to pull the rug out from under telehealth programs and rural hospitals already hanging by a thread. As Epic makes its calculated move into ambient listening technology, disrupting yet another innovative startup space, the panel asks whether we're witnessing Epic stunt healthcare innovation or if it’s just business as usual. Key Points:

00:55 AI in Healthcare: Patient Empowerment and Challenges
12:25 Government Shutdown and Its Impact on Healthcare
20:08 The Flawed Healthcare System and AI's Role
30:18 Epic's Impact on Innovation and Future Trends

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

The 229 Podcast: Breaking Down UPMC’s Ambitious Epic Implementation with Chris Carmody

Thu, 11 Sep 2025 00:00:00 -0400

September 11, 2025: Chris Carmody, CTO and SVP at UPMC, discusses their ambitious Epic implementation less than a month out. How does UPMC consolidate 10 different EHR systems serving 108,000 users while maintaining 43 million daily transactions? They discuss their controversial two-wave strategy, the new AI voice analytics model they're launching called "Vana," and why 17 years of coaching seventh-grade basketball might be Chris’s secret to leading healthcare IT transformations. Key Points:

01:35 Epic Go-Live Strategy and Challenges
13:47 AI and Data Integration at UPMC
19:27 Industry Leadership and Data Integration
20:24 CIO Community and Knowledge Sharing
30:50 Future Prospects and Team Building

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Newsday: Healthcare Under Siege - Cybersecurity Expert Ed Gaudet on AI Threats & Third-Party Risks

Mon, 08 Sep 2025 00:00:00 -0400

September 8, 2025: Ed Gaudet, CEO and Founder of Censinet, joins the This Week Health team for the news. When SalesLoft's Drift chatbot breach exposes over 700 companies through a single API vulnerability, it raises an unsettling question: are we witnessing a preview of something much larger? The security experts shift seats and play the role of the hackers, answering where they would attack first if they were the bad guys. With critical cybersecurity legislation potentially expiring and government support drying up, can healthcare keep up? Key Points:

02:01 AI and Cybersecurity Threats
06:34 Phishing Attacks and Security Measures
12:57 Legal Hurdles in Cybersecurity
19:02 Managing AI Risks

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

The 229 Podcast: Making Sense of Epic's Transformation - From UGM to Your Health System

Thu, 04 Sep 2025 00:00:00 -0400

September 4, 2025: In the inaugural episode of The 229 Podcast, Bill Russell sits down with John Lee, MD - practicing physician and founder of HIT Peak Advisors - for an insider's deep dive into Epic's game-changing UGM announcements. Lee, who describes himself as "firmly in Camp Epic," brings a unique dual perspective as both a clinician and Epic consultant to decode what really matters from the conference. The conversation explores how Epic's Cosmos platform could compress medical innovation cycles from 20 years to potentially just hours, fundamentally rewiring how healthcare discovers and implements new insights. From real-time prior authorizations to state-wide Epic deployments, Lee and Russell cut through the hype to deliver practical insights on what health IT leaders need to know now. Whether you're evaluating AI adoption, preparing for Epic implementations, or trying to make sense of where healthcare technology is headed, this conversation provides the strategic clarity you need. The best conversations don't end when the event does. They continue here. Key Points:

00:00 - Introductions & UGM Conference Impressions
06:00 - AI, Cosmos, and the Future of Medicine
13:00 - Industry Partnerships, Competition, and Market Dynamics
20:00 - Statewide Interoperability & Monopoly Concerns
26:00 - AI in Healthcare Operations, Trust, and Adoption
32:00 - Making Sense of Change & Closing Thoughts

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: Autonomous Workspaces and Omnissa One Event with Michael Robinson

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 00:00:00 -0400

August 29, 2025: Michael Robinson, VP of Healthcare Solutions (Americas) from Omnissa, discusses what it takes to maintain momentum during massive transitions and Omnissa's vision for autonomous workspaces. As healthcare organizations face shrinking margins and accelerating digital demands, Michael explores how strategic partnerships with Epic and CrowdStrike are reshaping the technology landscape. With the upcoming Omnissa One summit featuring a dedicated healthcare track, the conversation touches on emerging trends beyond AI—from IoT in medical devices to virtual hospitals—while examining how technology companies can genuinely align with healthcare's evolving priorities in an increasingly complex market. Register now to join Omnissa at Omnissa ONE: Learn more at Omnissa.com. Key Points:

00:54 Omnissa's Journey and Vision
05:17 Omnissa One Summit Details
08:36 Future Trends and Personal Insight

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: The Future of Healthcare: Tech, Leadership, and the Next Era of Care

Thu, 28 Aug 2025 00:00:00 -0400

August 28, 2025: In this Keynote Rewind episode, we explore how organizations balance the revolutionary potential of generative AI with the critical need for rock-solid infrastructure. Leaders share stories of mobile clinics outperforming traditional facilities, drone deliveries reaching remote islands, and home-based care achieving superior outcomes to hospital stays. With TEFCA enabling secure data exchange across state lines and remote patient monitoring saving children's lives, what happens when healthcare finally has the framework to scale innovation? Key Points:

Taylor Davis - [00:01:00]
Glen Tullman - [00:02:00]
Doug King - [00:03:00]
B.J. Moore - [00:04:00]
Shakeeb Akhter - [00:05:00]
Chad Brisendine - [00:06:00]
Bradd Busick / Brent Lamm - [00:07:00]
Tim Skeen / Andrew Rosenberg - [00:08:00]
Mickey Tripathi - [00:09:00]
Aneesh Chopra / Craig Richardville - [00:11:00]
Christopher Longhurst - [00:12:00] and [00:14:00]
Daniel Barchi - [00:12:00]
Alistair Erskine - [00:12:00] and [00:14:00]
Keith Perry - [00:13:00]
Stephen Klasko - [00:14:00]

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: Threat Defense Centers and Cyber Communities with Dan Dodson

Wed, 27 Aug 2025 00:00:00 -0400

August 27, 2025: Dan Dodson, CEO of Fortified Health Security, discusses how healthcare organizations are rethinking cybersecurity strategy amid mounting financial pressures. Dan shares insights from their Nashville Executive Briefing Center, where healthcare leaders are uncovering critical gaps in their security programs. As AI tools spread faster than anyone anticipated—with physicians using platforms that security experts haven't even heard of—how do organizations balance innovation with control? With Medicare cuts looming and every cybersecurity dollar representing money moved away from patient care, are healthcare systems getting real value from their fragmented tool investments? Key Points:

01:31 Executive Briefing Center Experience
06:27 Cyber Survivor Podcast
11:02 Midyear Horizon Report Insights
13:47 Lightning Round Questions

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

TownHall: Nursing Flow Sheets and the Art vs Science of Nursing with Anika Gardenhire

Tue, 26 Aug 2025 00:00:00 -0400

August 26, 2025: Anika Gardenhire, RN, Chief Digital and Transformation Officer at Ardent Health, joins Reid Stephan, VP and CIO at St. Luke’s Health System, to discuss the complicated world of nursing. As healthcare faces workforce shortages and an aging population, the discussion examines whether current documentation requirements are actual regulations or simply historical inertia that's never been questioned. Can we redesign nursing documentation to capture both the measurable "science" and the intuitive "art" that experienced nurses bring to patient care? Anika envisions a future where technology amplifies rather than replaces the human elements that define exceptional nursing care. Key Points:

01:03 Challenges with Nursing Flow Sheets
09:39 Reimagining Nursing Documentation
17:46 Role of EHRs in Future Nursing
21:25 AI and Technology in Healthcare
24:57 Final Thoughts and Encouragement

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

UnHack (the Podcast): Creating Security Ambassadors and AI Ethics with Chase Franzen

Mon, 25 Aug 2025 00:00:00 -0400

August 25, 2025: Chase Franzen, VP and CISO at Sharp Healthcare, discusses how they transformed their cybersecurity training into something so engaging that employees actually call it fun. But as AI capabilities advance at breakneck speed, what happens when traditional phishing indicators disappear and deepfakes become indistinguishable from reality? Chase discusses Sharp's AI ethics committee and their approach to balancing innovation with responsibility, while sharing candid thoughts about AI's true costs. The conversation also explores how failure and discomfort drive growth, touching on everything from real estate disasters to the joy of flying planes Key Points:

02:51 Diverse Career Paths: Real Estate, Teaching, and More
08:36 Innovative Cyber Ambassador Program
13:03 AI Cybersecurity Concerns
21:57 Lightning Round: Quotes, Failures, and Airplanes

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: Workforce Resilience - Burnout, Balance, and Belonging

Thu, 21 Aug 2025 00:00:00 -0400

August 21, 2025: In this Keynote Rewind, healthcare leaders are hitting their breaking point, and the numbers tell only part of the story. This episode goes beyond burnout statistics to reveal how some organizations are quietly transforming healthcare work—reducing alert fatigue from a million notifications to under 100,000, implementing "wellness sprints" where IT teams shadow physicians, and achieving belonging scores that surpass industry benchmarks. Can these targeted interventions really address the deeper issues of culture and connection that drive people away from healthcare? Through conversations with leaders who've been to the edge and back, we explore what's actually working to rebuild trust, restore balance, and create systems worth staying in. Key Speakers:

Joel Klein - [00:01:00]
Erica Olenski - [00:03:00]
Ian Koniak - [00:04:00]
Erica Olenski - [00:05:00]
Deborah Proctor - [00:06:00]
Jake Lancaster, MD - [00:07:00]
Theresa McDonnell - [00:08:00]
Bridget Barnes - [00:09:00]
Scott MacLean - [00:10:00]
Marijo Rugh - [00:11:00]
Tanya Townsend / Theo Theodosiou - [00:13:00]
Michael Restuccia - [00:14:00]
Alastair Erskine, MD - [00:16:00]
Chris Harper - [00:19:00]
Chero Goswami - [00:19:00]
Aaron Miri - [00:20:00]

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: Hospital Downtime and Better Recovery Planning with Michael Fredrickson

Wed, 20 Aug 2025 00:00:00 -0400

August 20, 2025: Michael Fredrickson, VP of Sales for US Healthcare from Rubrik, discusses cyber resilience when patient care is on the line. Michael reveals the sobering reality that many younger nurses have never worked without electronic health records. What happens when these systems fail, and staff trained entirely on digital platforms must suddenly revert to pen and paper? As they discuss new innovations in identity resilience and AI agent controls, they raise important questions: Can healthcare organizations realistically meet the proposed 72-hour recovery requirements? Join the Rubrik Healthcare Summit on September 10 and learn how to prepare for, respond to, and recover from cyberattacks. Register at events.rubrik.com/healthcare. Key Points:

02:20 Rubrik's Mission and Cybersecurity Focus
09:36 Future of Rubrik and AI Integration
16:10 Building a Customer-Centric Culture

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Townhall: Bringing Innovation to Rural Healthcare with Dr. William Morgan

Tue, 19 Aug 2025 00:00:00 -0400

August 19, 2025: Dr. William Morgan, MD, CEO at Copiah County Medical Center, discusses his unexpected four-year transformation of CCMC, a rural Mississippi hospital that's now pioneering AI-driven healthcare solutions. William discusses how partnerships with companies like Neteera have enabled everything from AI fall prevention to real-time patient monitoring, fundamentally changing how rural communities access specialist care. How do you balance cutting-edge technology with the human connection that patients need most? The conversation explores practical strategies for rural healthcare leaders facing resource constraints and potential funding cuts. Key Points:

03:13 Technological Advancements in Rural Healthcare
05:31 Real-Life Impact Stories
07:37 Expanding Capabilities and Future Vision
11:15 Advice for Rural Health Leaders
13:56 Cultural Transformation and Conclusion

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Flourish: From CIO to Solo Practice and Taking the Bold Steps with Dr. Stephanie Lahr

Mon, 18 Aug 2025 11:00:00 -0400

August 18, 2025: Stephanie Lahr, MD, Founder of Vital Thread Advisory, reveals her transition from healthcare executive to solo consultant. What drives a seasoned physician-executive to question decades of traditional employment and embrace the uncertainty of independent consulting? Stephanie discusses overcoming the fear of leaving structured organizations, the practical realities of building Vital Thread Advisory, and why she believes healthcare companies need specialized expertise without full-time commitments. How do you navigate imposter syndrome while positioning yourself as the connector—the "thread"—that brings together clinical insight, operational know-how, and emerging technology? Her journey challenges assumptions about career security and explores whether the current healthcare market is creating new opportunities for those willing to redefine professional success. Key Points:

03:47 The Birth of Vital Thread Advisory
09:18 Navigating the Solo Journey
17:15 Advice for Aspiring Solo Practitioners
32:27 Speed Round

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote (Rewind): AI in Action - From Buzz to Bedside

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 00:00:00 -0400

August 14, 2025: Healthcare has moved from "what if" to "what now" with AI, as health systems quietly implement artificial intelligence across operations from revenue cycle to bedside care. Bill Russell explores how virtual care adoption jumped from 3% to 95% in three months, questioning whether healthcare's barriers are truly technological or cultural. As hospitals face mounting complexity and clinicians struggle with what leaders call a "wealth of data and poverty of insights," AI is addressing everything from scheduling optimization to diagnostic support—often without patients realizing it. The episode examines current implementations like virtual nurses handling administrative tasks and AI-assisted radiology reads, while exploring the provocative prediction that practicing without AI assistance may soon be considered below standard care. Key Points:

[00:02:00] - Pete Clardy
[00:03:00] - Michael Pfeffer
[00:04:00] - Kristin Myers
[00:05:00] - BJ Moore
[00:06:00] - Shez Partovi
[00:07:00] - Marty Paslick
[00:08:00] - Jennifer Owens
[00:09:00] - CT Lin
[00:09:00] - Dirk Stanley
[00:10:00] - Cris Ross
[00:11:00] - Zafar Chaudry
[00:12:00] - Shakeeb Akhter
[00:12:00] - Brad Reimer
[00:13:00] - Albert Oriol
[00:14:00] - Seth Hain
[00:15:00] - Christopher Longhurst, MD, MS
[00:16:00] - Taylor Davis

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: Breaking Down the World of Healthcare Consulting with Eric Utzinger

Wed, 13 Aug 2025 00:00:00 -0400

August 13, 2025: Eric Utzinger, Co-Founder and Chief Client Officer at Revuud, tackles the world of healthcare consulting. Drawing from 15 years in healthcare consulting, Eric reveals how the industry shifted around 2013, creating a system where traditional staffing firms often add little value beyond letterhead while charging substantial markups. What happens when technology enables direct access to pre-vetted talent pools? The conversation explores how marketplace platforms can eliminate intermediary costs while maintaining quality control, and why the assumption that higher costs equal better consultants may be costing health systems more than they realize. Eric addresses the critical balance between project success, talent vetting, and transparent pricing in an industry where finding the right IT expertise quickly can make or break major implementations. Key Points:

02:08 Challenges in Healthcare Consulting
04:53 Client and Talent Interaction
06:52 Vetting and Quality Assurance
09:56 Common Mistakes in Hiring Contractors

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

TownHall: Pediatric Research Breakthroughs and Changes with Vittorio Gallo

Tue, 12 Aug 2025 00:00:00 -0400

August 12, 2025: Dr. Zafar Chaudry, SVP, CDIO, and AI Officer, speaks with Dr. Vittorio Gallo, Chief Scientific Officer at Seattle Children's Research Institute, about the transformation happening in pediatric research. As healthcare shifts from traditional lab work to data-driven science, how are research institutions keeping pace with the explosion of information they're generating? Vittorio discusses breakthrough therapies currently in development, including the first clinical trial for cell immunotherapy in pediatric lupus and innovative approaches to treating neonatal brain injuries. But with massive datasets requiring decades of storage and AI models now identifying developmental disorders through behavioral analysis, what does this mean for the relationship between technology teams and researchers?

Key Points:

03:40 Innovative Pediatric Therapies
10:53 Future Directions in Data Science
16:02 Future Projects and AI Applications
22:44 Mentorship and Advice for Young Scientists

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote (Rewind): CIO Strategies That Work and Paving the Path to the Future

Thu, 07 Aug 2025 00:00:00 -0400

August 7, 2025: In this Keynote recap, Bill takes viewers through the untold reality behind digital transformation: the biggest obstacles aren't technological, they're human. What happens when you're tasked with building an entire IT department from scratch, or when you have to justify why a hospital even needs a CIO? As organizations develop their fourth digital roadmap and AI promises to revolutionize care delivery, seasoned executives reveal how clinical experience shapes risk tolerance, why traditional hiring practices miss diverse talent, and the critical mistake of treating innovation as a separate function. From Penn Medicine's team-building challenges to Utah's rural care initiatives, these leaders offer candid insights about balancing budgets with human resources, communicating effectively up and down the chain, and preparing organizations for an AI-enabled future without creating costly silos.

Key Points:

[00:01:00] - Michael Restuccia
[00:02:00] - Deborah Proctor - Donna Roach
[00:03:00] - Susan Ibanez
[00:04:00] - Lee Milligan
[00:06:00] - Chuck Podesta
[00:07:00] - Joel Klein
[00:08:00] - David Butler, MD
[00:09:00] - Tressa Springmann

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: Protecting Nurses From Violence Through Ambient Tech with Lisbeth Votruba

Wed, 06 Aug 2025 00:00:00 -0400

August 6, 2025: Lisbeth Votruba, Chief Clinical Officer at AvaSure and a third-generation nurse, discusses how virtual care technology is transforming healthcare delivery. How can AI-powered platforms help nurses return to more personalized, joyful patient care while addressing the growing crisis of workplace violence in hospitals? Lisbeth shares her journey from ICU nurse to tech executive, discussing innovative solutions such as ambient monitoring and wake word technology that protect both patients and staff. What role should nurses play in shaping healthcare's digital future, and how can the profession leverage its trusted status to drive meaningful change? The conversation also touches on the emotional toll of caregiving and Lisbeth’s advocacy work supporting healthcare workers in recovery. Key Points:

03:45 Innovations in Nursing Technology
08:12 Challenges in Nursing Violence
11:49 Emotional Well-being of Nurses

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: The Future of This Week Health Shows with Drex, Sarah, and Bill

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 00:00:00 -0400

July 31, 2025: Bill Russell, Drex DeFord, and Sarah Richardson preview their upcoming show changes while tackling critical CIO challenges. They discuss "CIO escape rooms"—high-pressure scenarios such as your EHR vendor going out of business or handling a 3 AM security breach. How do healthcare IT leaders navigate the treacherous waters of CEO transitions, and what's the real difference between a wartime and peacetime CIO? The conversation turns to compensation strategy for a hospital system, examining whether geography or specific leadership "phenotype" should drive salary decisions. They explore what CIOs would prioritize with unlimited budgets, from infrastructure overhauls to real-time data platforms, while questioning who truly deserves the CIDO title in an industry where keeping the lights on battles against driving transformation.

Key Points:

03:45 CIO Challenges and Escape Room Scenarios
06:52 New Podcast Channels and Formats
14:03 Real-Time Data Governance and ROI
15:51 Automation and Patching in Health Systems
17:47 Hiring and Compensation for Health System CIOs
20:56 The Role and Value of a good CIDOs

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Solution Showcase: A Peek Behind the Interoperability Curtain with Marco Casale and Drew Ivan

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 00:00:00 -0400

July 30, 2025: Marco Casale, Systems Integration Architect at the University of Rochester, and Drew Ivan, Chief Architect at Rhapsody, join Bill to discuss healthcare interoperability. What would happen if these critical integration platforms suddenly went down, and why does even Epic need hundreds of external connections to keep hospitals running? The discussion covers the evolution from HL7 V2 to FHIR standards, how the pandemic necessitated the massive scaling of data exchanges, and the ongoing challenge of integrating disparate healthcare systems to communicate. Key Points:

03:10 Interoperability and Integration Solutions
10:27 Automation in Healthcare
11:07 Integration During the Pandemic
18:57 Future of Healthcare Integration

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

UnHack (the Podcast): Agentic Anxieties and Rural Connectivity with Aaron Heath and Brian Zegers

Mon, 28 Jul 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Even cyber pros have technical issues sometimes – our camera caught a bug, but the audio is clean and packed with security insights! July 28, 2025: Aaron Heath, CISO and Cybersecurity Counsel at the Medical University of South Carolina, and Brian Zegers, Information Security Officer at Lee Health, discuss a variety of security topics. The conversation takes a turn when both leaders address their growing concerns about AI's rapid evolution from helpful tools to autonomous agents with privileged network access. How do you prepare for ransomware recovery when your backup strategies have blind spots? And what happens when AI agents start operating independently within healthcare networks? As these security leaders balance innovation with protection, they ask: Are we moving too fast with AI automation, and how do we secure technologies that are changing faster than our security frameworks can keep pace? Key Points:

03:08 Brian's Ransomware Recovery Initiative
08:41 The Role of AI in Cybersecurity
13:47 Talent Recruitment Strategies
17:48 Career Journeys in Cybersecurity
21:32 Fun and Personal Insights

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: Billion-Dollar Mergers and Cutting Turnover in Half with Theresa McDonnell

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 00:00:00 -0400

July 24, 2025: Theresa McDonnell, Chief Nursing Executive and SVP at Duke University Health System, discusses how she maintains her clinical practice while leading strategic transformation across a billion-dollar organization. What specific changes helped Duke reduce nurse turnover from 21% to 11%? Theresa discusses her role in orchestrating the complex $1.7 billion merger that created the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and shares how Duke's innovation hackathons have engaged over 10,000 frontline staff. As healthcare faces mounting workforce shortages and an aging population, what role should AI play in enhancing rather than replacing human care? The conversation explores practical approaches to empowering healthcare workers and how the future of care is centered on preventing sickness rather than just treating illness. Key Points:

05:03 Nurse-Led Innovation at Duke
11:03 Strategic Transformation and Mergers
19:04 Balancing Patient Care and Innovation
24:22 Advice for Early Career Clinicians
27:08 Speed Round and Closing Remarks

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: Understanding Agentic AI and Quick Wins with Michael Vipond

Wed, 23 Jul 2025 00:00:00 -0400

July 23, 2025: Michael Vipond, Head of Healthcare Provider GTM at ServiceNow, discusses everything from the basics to the cutting edge of AI. As health systems face mounting pressure from Medicare cuts and operational costs, how do leaders navigate the difference between traditional automation and the emerging world of agentic AI? Michael reveals how AI agents are already handling IT incidents and care team requests, but warns that simply layering AI onto broken processes won't deliver transformation. With healthcare drowning in spreadsheets and administrative tasks, what are the practical steps CIOs can take today while building toward a long-term AI strategy? The conversation uncovers specific examples of AI reducing administrative burden and explores the critical foundation work—from data quality to governance—that health systems need to get right before AI can truly amplify human connection in patient care. Key Points:

02:54 Understanding Agentic AI
07:04 AI Use Cases and Benefits
11:01 Governance and Implementation of AI
20:33 Future of AI in Healthcare

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

TownHall: Keeping Up With Washington and Building an Innovation Lab with Charles Christian

Tue, 22 Jul 2025 00:00:00 -0400

July 22, 2025: Charles Christian, VP of Technology and CTO at Franciscan Health, joins Nayan Patel, SVP of FinThrive, to discuss their healthcare innovation lab and supporting clinicians. What happens when a tech giant realizes it can't just provide a platform but must become a true partner in life-safety systems? Charles reveals how Franciscan's tech innovation lab uses donated equipment and a "fail fast" approach to test everything from ambient listening to virtual care solutions before rolling them out. How do you balance innovation with the reality that clinical staff expect technology to work seamlessly? The conversation explores application rationalization strategies that eliminated over 150 redundant systems and the ongoing challenge of measuring ROI when reimbursement rules constantly shift. Key Points:

03:49 Challenges and Solutions in Cloud Migration
07:17 Tech Innovation Lab and Pilot Projects
17:23 Application Rationalization and Cost Management
23:14 Final Thoughts and Fun Questions

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Flourish: The New Sales Playbook - Why Sales Veterans Are Going Solo with Amie Teske

Mon, 21 Jul 2025 00:00:00 -0400

July 21, 2025: Amie Teske, Founder and CEO of Echelon, joins Sarah to discuss how she is shifting the landscape of sales. Amie discusses the realities of solo practitioner work, from pricing your expertise to maintaining sanity without a traditional corporate structure. How has institutional investment reshaped the sales landscape, and what does it take to create genuine peer communities for high-performing salespeople? The conversation explores the challenges of monetizing networks authentically, the art of matching experienced professionals with startups, and why accountability becomes both harder and more critical when you're on your own. Key Points:

05:14 Navigating the Gig Economy and Solo Practitionership
12:19 Valuing Your Time and Setting Rates as a Consultant
17:58 Challenges and Solutions in Sales Leadership
23:56 Building Confidence in Sales
31:02 Speed Round: Fun and Personal Questions

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: Don’t be the Hero, Be a Pro - AI and Tech Governance with Chris Harper

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 00:00:00 -0400

July 17, 2025: Chris Harper, CIO and Senior Associate Vice Chancellor of AI at the University of Kansas Medical Center, discusses the nuances of AI governance. Chris discusses why he'd rather be "a pro than a hero" and how this philosophy shapes his collaborative leadership style in implementing AI solutions. They explore his organization's strategic technology bets over two decades, from meaningful use to data analytics to AI automation, and reveal how building trust with clinical partners has become the foundation for successful innovation. Through insights on governance across multiple organizational structures and his "move fast and be responsible" methodology, Chris offers practical wisdom for healthcare leaders preparing for what he sees as a paradigm shift in how technology will reshape the industry. Key Points:

03:55 Governance and Decision Making
10:33 Leadership and Team Collaboration
21:37 Disparities in Rural Areas
27:01 Challenges for Healthcare CIOs
30:01 Speed Round and Closing Remarks

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: Beyond the Buzzword - Inside Misunderstood AI with Aaron Neinstein

Wed, 16 Jul 2025 00:00:00 -0400

July 16, 2025: Aaron Neinstein, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Notable Health, explores breaking down the barriers to the patient experience with AI. The conversation examines the human side of AI implementation and how leaders can address workforce fears while ensuring automation enhances rather than replaces care delivery. How do you shift from thinking about AI as labor replacement to embracing what Neinstein calls "scalable privilege"—democratizing access to high-quality healthcare for everyone? This episode unpacks the operational friction driving healthcare worker burnout and presents a practical vision for how intelligent automation can bridge the gap between what care providers want to deliver and what the current system allows. Key Points:

05:57 Customer Innovations and Success Stories
13:12 Enterprise-Level Transformation
16:05 Organizational Change Management
25:11 Speed Round Questions\

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: You Can’t Protect What You Don’t Know You Have With Mick Coady

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 00:00:00 -0400

July 11, 2025: Mick Coady, CTO at Armis, tackles a problem that has been haunting healthcare IT for decades: you can't protect what you don't know you have. The conversation reveals how hospitals still rely on manual processes to track everything from IV pumps to imaging equipment, often discovering critical vulnerabilities only when it's too late. What's the real cost when imaging machines sit idle, losing over $26,000 per hour, or when "good" IV pumps hide in closets while staff struggle with failing equipment? The discussion explores how healthcare teams can finally move beyond overwhelming alert fatigue to focus on what truly threatens patient care. Key Points:

02:55 Challenges in Medical Device Security
08:53 Business Context and Risk Management
11:16 Asset Lifecycle and Utilization
13:51 Real-World Examples and Stories

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: The Great CIO Musical Chairs - Interim Leadership with Chris Scanzera and Judy Kirby

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 00:00:00 -0400

July 10, 2025: Christopher Scanzera, Interim CIO at Lurie Children's Hospital, and Judy Kirby, Executive Recruiter at Kirby Partners, join Bill for a discussion around interim roles. With 53% of sitting healthcare CIOs having been in their roles for only three years, what Bill dubs “the great CIO musical chairs,” the conversation dives into the critical differences between interim and permanent leadership roles. What unique qualities does an interim leader need to succeed when they have just weeks, not months, to build relationships and drive results? The conversation explores what it really takes to transition from interim to permanent leadership in today's rapidly evolving technology landscape. Key Points:

01:21 The Interim Leadership Landscape
07:24 Building Organizational Alignment
25:11 Compensation and Workload for Interim CIOs
28:40 Preparing for Full-Time CIO Role

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Solution Showcase: Breaking the 30-Day Ransomware Cycle with Todd Barton and PV SubbaRao

Wed, 09 Jul 2025 00:00:00 -0400

July 9, 2025: Todd Barton, AVP, Enterprise Sales Engineering at Rubrik, and PV SubbaRao, SVP of Global Healthcare and Life Sciences from Rackspace, reveal how they're revolutionizing healthcare's approach to cyber resilience through their groundbreaking partnership. The conversation delves deep into the concept of Isolated Recovery Environments (IRE) and the "Minimum Viable Hospital" - but what exactly does it mean to operate at bare minimum while maintaining patient care, and how do you determine what systems are truly essential when every second counts? As healthcare organizations grapple with doing more with less, these experts explore how proper cyber recovery planning can actually unlock 20-25% cost savings that can be reinvested into the innovations hospitals need. Key Points:

05:04 Preemptive Recovery
10:21 Minimum Viable Hospital and IRE
20:21 Cost and Productivity Optimization

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: Partner Failures, Risk Stratification, and Strategic Translation With Alan Smith

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 00:00:00 -0400

July 3, 2025: Alan Smith, SVP and CIO of Lifepoint Health, joins Bill for a discussion on the top challenges facing CIOs. How do you balance immediate system stability when your organization is built through constant acquisitions? Al discusses his approach to the "CIO escape room" scenarios that define modern healthcare IT, from major partner outages to the ongoing tension between cloud-first strategies and financial realities. As healthcare organizations grapple with cost pressures while demanding more from their IT departments, Alan reveals how LifePoint navigates these competing forces and what it takes to build resilient systems in an industry where failure isn't an option. Key Points:

04:57 CIO Escape Room
14:14 The Importance of Inquisitiveness
17:31 Strategies in Virtual Leadership
26:12 Advice for Future Healthcare IT Leaders

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

TownHall: Creative Rural Healthcare Solutions with Sue Schade and Brian Sterud

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 00:00:00 -0400

July 1, 2025: Sue Schade, Principal at StarBridge Advisors, sits down with Brian Sterud, VP of IT, CIO, and CISO of Faith Regional Health Services. Brian tackles a pressing question facing healthcare leaders today: how do we regulate AI without killing innovation? His perspective on finding the right balance between safety and progress offers valuable insights as the industry navigates uncharted territory. The conversation reveals how rural health systems face unique operational challenges, from patients driving three hours for care to IT staff covering vast geographic territories. Brian shares details about an innovative college partnership program designed to address workforce shortages by combining education with hands-on experience. Key Points:

01:38 Challenges of a Rural Health System
06:11 Balancing CIO and CISO Roles
08:02 Addressing Workforce Challenges
13:05 Navigating Regulatory Challenges

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: From the Operating Room to the Boardroom with Michael Han

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0400

June 26, 2025: Michael Han, MD, Enterprise CMIO and VP of MultiCare Health System, discusses his transition from the operating room to the boardroom. He argues that the path forward isn't through automating clinical decisions, but through revolutionizing call centers, scheduling, prior authorizations, and referrals. Michael reveals how ambient clinical documentation must evolve beyond simple note-taking into a treasure trove of unstructured data that can drive actions across the entire care continuum—from pre-visit chart preparation to post-visit care coordination. The conversation explores how leaders establish credibility as they transition from the operating room to the boardroom. Key Points:

02:43 Impact of Ambient Clinical Documentation
05:51 AI and Large Language Models in Healthcare
10:27 The Role of CMIO in Digital Transformation
15:05 Leadership and Credibility in Healthcare
24:51 Speed Round: Personal Insights

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

TownHall: A Look Inside the Incredible World of Organ Donation with Mathew Moss

Tue, 24 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0400

June 24, 2025: Mathew Moss, SVP and CIO at New England Donor Services, joins Sarah to discuss the amazing stories and stubborn challenges in the world of organ donation. When hospitals process over 100,000 death referrals annually, how do cutting-edge systems determine which cases have life-saving potential? The conversation delves into the sobering reality that less than 50% of organ donors are registered, leading to hundreds of preventable deaths on waiting lists, while exploring how machine learning and real-time data streaming are revolutionizing a field where every minute counts. As Mathew shares the emotional weight of working with families on the worst day of their lives and the rush of innovating with technology that enables organs to be pumped outside the body for extended viability, listeners gain insight into a world where compassion meets precision engineering. Key Points:

03:13 Technology Integration in Organ Donation
08:30 The Emotional and Logistical Side of Donating
12:06 Community Outreach and Education
17:46 Future Innovations and Standout Stories
23:37 Lightning Round

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

UnHack (the Podcast): Security Consolidation and the Viral Google Bug with Chris Plummer

Mon, 23 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0400

June 23, 2025: Chris Plummer, Senior Cybersecurity Architect from Dartmouth Health, discusses the realities of defending healthcare systems against sophisticated threats. Chris shares his path from childhood computer enthusiast to cybersecurity leader, including the surprising story of how he discovered a major Google security flaw that made national headlines. Why do over 6,000 hospitals still fight cyber battles independently when other sectors have found strength through consolidation? Chris and Drex examine whether AI can truly become the force multiplier cybersecurity teams desperately need, or if current limitations keep it relegated to assistant roles. From burnout stories to breakthrough moments, this discussion reveals both the struggles and innovations shaping healthcare cybersecurity today. Key Points:

03:19 Career Beginnings and Challenges
10:39 The Role of AI in Cybersecurity
21:46 Building Networks and Information Sharing
23:59 The Google Bug Story
28:20 The Blue Sky Viral Post

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: A Conversation Built For Care Webinar with Jill McCormick and Daniel Small

Thu, 19 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0400

June 19, 2025: In this webinar re-run Jill McCormick, Co-Founder and EVP of Design and Product Development at Pixel Health, and Daniel Small, Vice President of Digital Services at Hartford HealthCare, discuss the process of creating a world-class patient experience. The conversation explores Hartford HealthCare's bold approach to reimagining digital and physical spaces, where defining the experience vision precedes technology decisions. Through human-centered design methodologies, they navigate the complex challenges of aligning stakeholders, excavating outdated technologies, and creating a "digital campus" that extends care beyond facility walls. Key Points:

02:55 Improving Patient and Provider Experiences
08:06 The Importance of Intentional Design
13:12 Aligning Vision and Technology
25:07 Human-Centered Design in Healthcare
43:36 Q&A and Final Thoughts

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: How Data Can Unlock Innovation Doors with Glenn Wirick

Wed, 18 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0400

June 18, 2025: Glenn Wirick, Chief Commercial Officer at Clearsense, explores how freeing up your data allows for a new world of innovation. How can health systems transform their bloated application portfolios while cutting millions in unnecessary costs? Glenn unpacks the journey from basic data archiving to creating unified patient records that power advanced analytics and AI innovations. The conversation examines practical approaches to application rationalization, sustainable governance frameworks, and how smaller health systems can leverage these strategies despite economic constraints. Key Points:

05:40 Legacy Data Management and Archiving
08:32 Clinical Impact and Data Governance
14:27 Data Sets Up Innovation
21:43 Future Trends
25:23 Lightning Round

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Flourish: Equitable Care Innovation and Leading Through a Crisis with Corina Clark

Mon, 16 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0400

June 16, 2025: Corina Clark, COO at Gardner Health Services and one of Becker's "COOs to Know," discusses her transformative journey as a leader in communal, equitable healthcare. Drawing from influential mentors who shaped her leadership philosophy, Corina discusses how equity must serve as "the lens through which we look at clinical decision-making" rather than just a checkbox exercise. She offers practical strategies for balancing operational excellence with personal sustainability, including implementing scheduled "no meeting zones" and leading impromptu zumba classes that reconnect her team to their core purpose. Corina’s forward-thinking vision for community health aims to transcend traditional care models, reimagining spaces where prevention, wellness, and trust-building form the foundation of truly patient-centered care. Key Points:

03:47 Leadership and Equity in Healthcare
09:44 Operational Challenges and Innovations
15:42 Mentorship and Personal Influences
23:02 Innovating in Community Health
38:00 Lightning Round

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: The Cavalry Isn’t Coming: EHR Migration Strategies with Jennifer Stemmler

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0400

June 12, 2025: Jennifer Stemmler, Chief Digital and Information Officer at Adventist Health, opens up about orchestrating one of healthcare's largest EHR migrations—transitioning 28 hospitals and 400 clinics from a decades-old Cerner system to Epic. Guided by the mantra "on time, on budget, on Epic, on us," how does she maintain control without micromanaging every decision? When groups push back on standardization or value-based care teams clash with implementation timelines, what framework actually works to resolve conflicts? Jennifer reveals her benefits realization scorecard approach and discusses the real challenge behind any major transformation: how do you ensure the organization owns the change rather than waiting for someone else to save them? Key Points:

03:09 Strategic Planning and Key Objectives
06:25 Guiding Principles and Pre-Planning Phase
17:44 Managing Internal Tensions and Lessons Learned
25:56 Post-Go-Live Success and Future Planning
34:36 Final Thoughts and Advice for Other Health Systems

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

TownHall: “Data Rich but Insight Poor” with Reid Stephan and Spencer Dorn

Tue, 10 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0400

June 10, 2025: Reid Stephan, VP and CIO of St. Luke’s, and Dr. Spencer Dorn, Vice Chair & Professor of Medicine at UNC, tackle the reality behind AI's promise in healthcare, exploring why only one in three clinicians actually stick with AI scribes despite the initial enthusiasm. As they navigate between "AI doomers" and "techno-utopians," the conversation reveals what's working and what isn't in current implementations. How do we avoid repeating the overpromising mistakes made with electronic health records? Cut through the hype and get into real solutions. Key Points:

00:53 AI Headlines - Fact or Fiction
06:01 The Human Element
12:27 AI's Near-Future Impact
19:49 Concluding Thoughts and Recommendations

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview in Action: Reining in Unstructured Data to Drive Change Timothy Boettcher

Fri, 06 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0400

June 6, 2025: Timothy Boettcher, SVP, Head of GTM Strategy North America for AvePoint, discusses the often-overlooked sensitive information spread across Microsoft 365 environments, particularly as departments independently adopt AI tools. Drawing from his experience across Australia, Japan, and the US, Timothy examines why information governance challenges continue to be the primary barrier to AI implementation and explores the balance between clinical innovation and maintaining necessary security standards. What does effective data governance look like when anyone can now create automated workflows through simple AI interactions, and how do organizations turn governance from an overwhelming challenge into a strategic foundation for their AI initiatives? The conversation is just beginning! Join the “Building Responsible AI in Healthcare” Webinar on June 12th for a deep dive into better implementation: https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/618554-thisweekhealth Key Points:

02:49 Introducing AvePoint
05:07 Chronic Data Problems
16:23 Change Management and Adoption

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: The Patient Advocacy Revolution with Erica Olenski

Thu, 05 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0400

June 5, 2025: Bill Russell sits down with Erica Olenski, VP at Finn Partners and Founder of August’s Artists, Ironman athlete, and board-certified patient advocate, who brings a unique perspective from navigating the healthcare system through hundreds of overnight hospital stays with her son August, a four-time brain cancer survivor. Why does a family with an extensive hospital history still get treated like first-time visitors at check-in, and how might HIPAA compliance be unintentionally creating barriers to human connection in care? The conversation explores whether patients should control their complete medical records to share with AI assistants, the reality of managing a 60,000-page medical record delivered on CD-ROM, and practical solutions like reimagining emergency department processes for complex care families. Key Points:

02:02 Erica's Son's Health Journey
09:08 The Role of Patient Advocates
13:41 Using AI as a Patient
21:54 August Artists: A Nonprofit Initiative
27:43 Rapid Fire Questions and Closing Remarks

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: Innovation vs. Security and the CIO’s IT Turning Point with Bridgett Ojeda

Fri, 30 May 2025 09:00:00 -0400

May 29, 2025: Bridgett Ojeda, CIO at Bryan Health, pulls back the curtain on the challenges facing the healthcare CXO, where every dollar must stretch between innovation, cybersecurity, and keeping the lights on. From physicians declaring that ambient listening technology has become a "career extender" to the shocking reality that fax machines still dominate patient care coordination in 2025, this conversation exposes the fascinating contradictions of healthcare technology. How does a health system successfully serve both urban populations and remote rural communities while battling interoperability and retention challenges? Bridgett reveals the strategies, setbacks, and surprising victories that define healthcare IT leadership in an era where technology must finally deliver on its promise to restore joy to medicine.

Key Points:

03:40 Balancing Innovation and Security
09:45 Digital Transformation Initiatives
14:41 Addressing Geographic and Access Disparities
17:49 Pressing Issues for Healthcare CIOs
21:40 Building and Developing IT Teams
27:55 Lightning Round

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Solution Showcase: Beating the Go-Live Date Weeks Early with Deshan Kennedy and Casey Post

Wed, 28 May 2025 00:00:00 -0400

May 28, 2025: Deshan Kennedy, Director of Application Development and Analytics at Broward Health, and Casey Post, SVP of Sales & Client Services at 314e discuss their rapid archiving go-live, finishing weeks early. What prompted Broward Health to make the bold decision to extract data directly from their data centers rather than waiting for database copies? The conversation reveals valuable insights into building trust between organizations, managing risk during system transitions, and establishing partnerships that extend beyond single projects. Key Points:

03:24 Challenges and Strategic Decisions
05:05 Communication and Collaboration
09:38 Achieving Early Go-Live
12:33 Managing Live Data and Risk
15:25 Leadership and Team Dynamics
18:43 Future Partnerships and Final Thoughts

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

TownHall: The Human Side of AI - Creating a Culture of Tech Confidence with Molly Zimmer

Tue, 27 May 2025 00:00:00 -0400

May 27, 2025: Molly Zimmer, Director of Emerging Technologies and Artificial Intelligence at St. Luke's Health System, discusses how their AI class has attracted thousands of voluntary participants. Molly reveals her team's philosophy of making "new and scary feel like business as usual" through hands-on learning experiences with Microsoft Copilot, where teams tackle real pain points together. They unpack the critical balance between AI's capabilities and human accountability in healthcare, the strategic value of team-based training to create "behavior contagion," and how ambient documentation gives physicians back their freedom of choice in how they spend their time. Key Points:

03:24 Hands-On AI Learning
05:31 Balancing AI Excitement and Concerns
12:55 Historical AI and Future Directions
22:17 St. Luke's Culture of Innovation and Change
26:12 Lightning Round

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

UnHack (the Podcast): CISO Changes and Building the Cyber Foundation with Dennis Leber

Mon, 26 May 2025 00:00:00 -0400

May 26, 2025: Dennis Leber, Cybersecurity Executive with a rich military and CISO background, discusses the current healthcare landscape. Dennis shares his unique journey from police officer to cybersecurity leader, challenging common assumptions about career paths in the field. As boards increasingly face responsibility for security breaches, what fundamental communication strategies should security leaders employ when explaining complex technical risks to non-technical executives? The conversation explores the gap between security professionals and boardrooms, with Dennis advocating for a "basic life-saving skills" approach to organizational security. Through personal anecdotes and pragmatic insights, this episode offers a refreshing perspective on leadership, talent development, and the evolving responsibilities of today's security executives.

Key Points:

01:29 Military Background and Transition to IT
04:59 CISOs and Board Interaction
11:11 Cybersecurity Fundamentals
13:08 Lightning Round

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: Security is Efficiency Webinar Re-Run with James Bowie and Mick Coady

Thu, 22 May 2025 00:00:00 -0400

May 22, 2025: James Bowie, VP and CISO of Tampa General Hospital, and Mick Coady, CTO at Armis, join Drex for this webinar re-run. Discover how asset visibility exposes unused medical equipment, saving hundreds of thousands in unnecessary purchases. James shares how quantifying a vulnerability in the “language everyone speaks”, money, sparked immediate executive action and reduced millions in risk. The experts navigate the delicate balance between security and uninterrupted patient care, challenging the traditional view of cybersecurity as merely defensive. Reframe security from an obstacle to an operational ally and gain a fresh perspective on how modern healthcare organizations can leverage security investments to drive clinical and financial efficiency. Key Points:

05:57 Asset Management and Efficiency
20:33 Defining Resilience
25:53 The Role of Cyber Programs in IT
30:46 Risk Quantification and Decision Making
39:16 Integrating Questions
43:11 Prioritizing Security Investments

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Flourish: Unplugging, Boundaries, and Identity Beyond Career with Tovia Marinstein

Mon, 19 May 2025 00:00:00 -0400

May 19, 2025: Tovia Marinstein, Senior Talent Intelligence Analyst at LevelUP HCS, explores the challenges of finding balance in our hyper-connected world. Tovia shares her strategies on establishing boundaries between work and personal life, especially in the age of remote work, where lines increasingly blur. Through candid insights about decision-making, managing anxiety, and returning to the basics of self-care, Tovia offers a refreshing perspective on creating a life framework of balance and fulfillment. Key Points:

03:06 Impact of Helicopter Parenting
06:05 Balancing Personal and Professional Life
11:26 Making Important Life Decisions
16:54 The Art of Unplugging
29:04 Final Thoughts and Reflections

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: Stability Versus Innovation and The Great CIO Escape Room with Reid Stephan

Thu, 15 May 2025 00:00:00 -0400

May 15, 2025: Reid Stephan, VP and CIO of St. Luke's Health System, explores the constant battle for prioritization in healthcare. The discussion delves into the tension between vendor partnerships and innovation, challenging the notion that vendor alignment equals strategic vision. Satya Nadella claims "AI hasn't delivered much yet" while Bill Gates predicts AI replacing doctors within a decade. Reid offers a nuanced perspective, suggesting, "People aren't wanting tools that look smart. They want tools that are simple... that get out of the way and just get to work." Key Points:

06:42 Innovation vs. Standardization
22:21 Simplify Your “Smart” Tools
23:09 The CIO Escape Room
30:28 In-house Development
33:22 Mentorship and Emerging Technologies

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Solution Showcase: SHI’s Risk-Free AI Lab with Kris Nessa and Lee Ziliak

Wed, 14 May 2025 00:00:00 -0400

May 14, 2025: SHI’s Kris Nessa, CTO, and Lee Ziliak, Field CTO and Managing Director of Architecture, dive into their cutting-edge AI lab. What if healthcare providers could test AI solutions before committing millions to infrastructure? Lee and Kris reveal their rapid six-week approach to validating AI use cases while addressing critical staffing shortages and operational challenges across revenue cycle management, medical imaging, and patient engagement. From saving a client from a nine-figure mistake to accelerating innovation across healthcare systems, discover how this playground for AI experimentation might revolutionize healthcare technology implementation without breaking the bank. Key Points:

01:50 SHI's AI and Cyber Lab
07:30 Success Stories and Use Cases
20:08 Engagement Process and Timeline
24:29 Future Developments and Conclusion

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: From the Ground Up - Setting the Pace as the First CIO with Susan Ibanez

Thu, 08 May 2025 00:00:00 -0400

May 8, 2025: Dr. Susan Ibanez, CIO of Southeast Georgia Health System, discusses the challenges and opportunities of being the organization's first-ever CIO at her health system. What does it look like to build the CIO role from the ground up? How do you balance addressing technical debt while simultaneously driving digital transformation at a smaller health system? Ibanez also offers valuable insights on the importance of professional certifications, networking, and the evolving role of the modern CIO—no longer just a tech job, but requires business acumen, strategic vision, and financial expertise. Key Points:

06:18 Community and Regional Challenges
10:25 Addressing Technical Debt and Cloud Strategies
15:29 Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
18:34 AI and Future Technologies
21:24 Professional Development and Certifications
24:14 Advice for Aspiring CIOs

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

TownHall: Investing in the Data Life-Blood of Healthcare with Matt Sullivan and Alan Forster

Tue, 06 May 2025 00:00:00 -0400

May 6, 2025: Matt Sullivan, CMIO of Advocate Health, and Alan Forster, VP of Innovation at McGill University Health Center, explore the transformative potential of increasing provider data access. What role does synthetic data play in balancing privacy concerns with analytical needs? Alan explains how this new data approach creates a virtuous cycle where clinicians better understand their data, documentation practices, and operational challenges. This conversation uncovers practical insights for organizations seeking to build a data-driven culture where decisions are based on self-generated evidence.

Key Points:

01:49 Self-Service Data Strategy
03:10 Analyzing Synthetic Data
05:02 Real-World Applications
07:19 The Importance of Data

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: AI Empowered By A Century of Seattle Children’s Research with Zafar Chaudry, MD

Thu, 01 May 2025 00:00:00 -0400

May 1, 2025: Zafar Chaudry, MD, SVP/Chief Digital, AI, and Information Officer at Seattle Children's Hospital. Discover how Seattle Children's is changing traditional approaches to clinical decision-making through a new Google partnership, harnessing the power of a century of clinical writings. Is artificial intelligence a threat to healthcare professionals or their most powerful ally? Dr. Zafar offers his perspective, urging that the synergistic potential of human-AI collaboration is the future of healthcare. From transformative Gartner experiences to pioneering Epic implementations in the UK, this episode explores Zafar’s vision: the intersection of compassion and technology. Key Points:

01:14 Career Journey and Mission
08:43 AI Pathways Innovation
17:43 AI: Collaboration Over Competition
21:07 Lightning Round

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: Adapting and Diversifying for the Needs of Hospitals with Davin Juckett

Wed, 30 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

April 30, 2025: Davin Juckett, Head of Experis Health Solutions, discusses Experis’ three decades of solving problems and supporting hospitals. What makes their team's remarkable retention rate—fewer than five voluntary departures in five years—such a critical differentiator in today's talent-starved healthcare landscape? Davin reveals how Experis is tackling healthcare's most pressing challenges through AI-powered clinical service desks, cloud security solutions, and supply chain optimization, while also managing massive EHR go-lives with thousands of at-the-elbow resources. As healthcare organizations struggle with clinician shortages, margin compression, and complex M&A integrations, what entrepreneurial approaches is Experis developing to help CIOs navigate these turbulent waters? Key Points:

01:24 History of Experis Health Solutions
02:49 Current Service Offerings
06:26 Unique Challenges and Solutions
11:03 Future Directions
12:21 Lightning Round

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

TownHall: Healthcare Without Borders and Empowering the Patient with Tracy Elmer

Tue, 29 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

April 29, 2025: Tracy Elmer, Chief Innovation Officer of TrueCare, discusses her approach to empowering the patient to reach a higher level of care. How is TrueCare’s digital literacy program empowering underserved communities to navigate technology? Tracy reveals the impact of mobile wellness units bringing medical services directly to underserved communities, witnessing how TrueCare's philosophy that "distance should not be a barrier to care" manifests in their expanding network of specialized health centers. Lastly, she dives into how community partnerships with organizations like Feeding San Diego address broader social determinants of health in their community. Key Points:

01:22 Digital Literacy Initiatives
10:32 Mobile Wellness Units
16:48 Community Partnerships
21:16 TrueCare Future Initiatives
23:47 Lightning Round

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

UnHack (the Podcast): Cybersecurity - From Restrictors to Facilitators with James Bowie

Mon, 28 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

April 28, 2025: James Bowie, VP and CISO of Tampa General, explores the human side of cybersecurity leadership. Facing a fragmented IT team James reveals how a $20,000 investment in ethical hacking training eliminated millions in security risks in a single weekend. Then, how do healthcare security leaders balance life-and-death decisions when ransomware hits critical services? The conversation delves into managing AI implementation safely in healthcare settings, with James detailing their two-week governance turnaround that laid the foundation for all AI projects to come. Key Points:

02:56 Building a Cybersecurity Culture
07:00 AI and Cyber Foundations
11:29 High-Pressure Situations
15:39 Bonus Round: Personal Insights and Advice

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: The "Moments that Matter" Approach to Patient-Centered Care With Ryan Smith

Thu, 24 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

April 24, 2025: Ryan Smith, SVP, Chief Digital and Information Officer at Intermountain Health, explores how healthcare organizations can balance innovation with mounting cost pressures. What does it take to maintain patient-centricity amid such massive digital transformation? Ryan reveals Intermountain's framework of organizing patient touchpoints as "moments that matter" across seven stages of the patient journey, while also discussing their deployment of over 4,000 automation bots and vision for "agentic AI." As clinician burnout and staffing shortages loom large across healthcare, how might Smith's approach to balancing governance with innovation culture help address these industry-wide challenges? Key Points:

06:44 Patient-Centric Care
10:05 AI: More Than a BuzzWord
14:18 Cybersecurity in Healthcare
18:07 Operational Change Management
25:08 Future Challenges and Opportunities
29:17 Speed Round

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: The Digital Backbone for Your Future Innovation with Justin Marron

Wed, 23 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

April 23, 2025: Justin Marron, CEO of Strategic Venue Partners, discusses how his team brings hospital system infrastructure into the present and opens the door to innovation's future. What happens when hospital connectivity systems fail to meet the demands of modern healthcare technology? Justin illustrates how Strategic Venue Partners transforms healthcare for the ever-increasing data demands of AI and real-time patient care. This episode addresses everything from 5G implementation to CBRS private networks, positioning healthcare facilities for seamless clinical and operational workflows. Key Points:

05:05 Enabling Future Innovation
08:36 Healthcare Wireless Upgrades
14:25 Client Success Stories
20:43 Future Aspirations and Industry Impact

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Flourish: "Never Truly Stuck" - Resilience and Authenticity with Author Michelle Moffitt

Mon, 21 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

April 21, 2025: Michelle Moffitt, leadership coach, counselor, and author of "Cracked Open," shares her path from being trapped in a high-control religious system and a controlling marriage to finding her authentic voice and purpose. Michelle delves into the essence of resilience as more than just perseverance—it's about creating meaningful support systems and making incremental progress while honoring our whole selves. The conversation examines how leaders can foster psychological safety in workplaces, the power of emotional awareness, and the liberating realization that we're never truly stuck in our circumstances. Read the Preview or Order “Cracked Open” Key Points:

01:23 Michelle's Journey and Challenges
07:50 Challenges and Support Systems
15:02 Mindset and Resilience
19:59 Michelle's Future and Reflections
22:16 Lightning Round

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: Democratizing the Innovations Hospitals Need with Jason Taylor

Fri, 18 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

April 18, 2025: Jason Taylor, CGO from Panda Health, explores the pressing challenges facing healthcare systems in the uncertain economic landscape of today. How are health systems navigating potential Medicaid cuts and declining elective procedures while balancing innovation needs? Jason reveals how organizations are shifting from purchasing "cool new toys" to rationalizing existing budgets and application stacks without compromising patient care. The conversation delves into Panda Health's approach of democratizing knowledge across healthcare systems, connecting those with similar challenges to share lessons learned.

Key Points:

01:47 The Uncertainties of Healthcare
04:16 Technology Implementation
06:52 Pandas Social Intelligence
12:20 Organizational Change Management

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: Zero Trust Hospital Webinar with Ryan Winn and Tamer Baker

Thu, 17 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

April 17, 2025: Ryan Winn, CISO at AdventHealth, and Tamer Baker, Healthcare CTO at Zscaler, discuss zero-trust solutions and questions in this webinar recording. The conversation explores AdventHealth's remarkable four-month implementation journey and the surprising benefits beyond security they've discovered. They discuss practical approaches to medical device security, strategies for gaining organization-wide buy-in, and why framing security initiatives as business enablers rather than technical mandates leads to success. As healthcare organizations face mounting technical debt and evolving threats, this discussion offers a refreshing roadmap to simplification and a more secure environment. Key Points:

08:48 Zero Trust Hospital: Concepts and Implementation
13:42 Challenges and Opportunities in Zero Trust
21:19 The Impact of Zero Trust on Patient Care
27:49 Implementing Zero Trust
33:58 Final Thoughts and Q&A

Want to get your copy of the new book "Zero Trust Hospital: The CXO Vision" by Zscaler?

Order now

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Solution Showcase: Reclaiming Lost Testing Time with Laura O’Toole and Robin Parkin

Wed, 16 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

April 16, 2025: Laura O'Toole, CEO of SureTest, and Robin Parkin, CIO of UVA Health, explore how SureTest automation revolutionizes healthcare IT testing. How are leading healthcare organizations reclaiming thousands of staff hours previously lost to manual testing? What unexpected benefits emerge when IT teams are freed from the burden of repetitive system validation? As UVA Health implements continuous automated testing, the conversation reveals how this approach prevents system errors before they reach end users and serves as a powerful recruitment tool in a competitive talent market. As the conversation closes the discussion extends beyond technology to address the critical issue of women in healthcare IT leadership. Key Points:

01:27 Challenges and Solutions at UVA Health
04:41 Implementation and Impact of SureTest
10:49 Women in Leadership in Healthcare IT

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Road to Flourish: Breaking the Boundaries of Your Title with Kena Taylor

Tue, 15 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

April 15, 2025: Erica Williams, Regional Technology Officer (CIO) Texas of Ascension, sits down with Kena Taylor, VP and CIO of Innovation Care Partners, who shares her remarkable journey from Air Force technologist to healthcare IT executive. How does someone transition from military service to leading technological transformation in healthcare? What qualities make for successful healthcare technology leadership in today's complex environment? Kena discusses the importance of being open to change, putting people first, and fostering team autonomy while maintaining a shared vision. Key Points:

05:05 Dr. Taylor's Career Journey
07:26 Defining Career Moments
11:45 Qualities for Success
14:38 Humility and Ambition

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: Upcoming Healthcare Challenges and the Innovations to Solve Them with Justin Brueck

Thu, 10 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

April 10, 2025: Justin Brueck, System VP of Innovation and Research at Endeavor Health, explores the balance of today's operational challenges with tomorrow's transformational needs. Justin discusses how healthcare systems are caught in a dichotomy—constantly putting out fires while trying to build a "fireproof house" through strategic innovation. How will healthcare address the looming workforce crisis as the "silver tsunami" approaches, with 42% of physicians between 55-65 years old? The conversation weaves through personalized medicine via genomics, the role of AI beyond the hype, and the critical importance of building trust when implementing new technologies.

Key Points:

03:55 Current Landscape of Healthcare Innovation
07:22 The Role of Genomics in Healthcare
17:34 AI and Its Impact on Healthcare
27:40 Leading Organizational Change and Innovation

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: Preserving the Patient Connection with Blake Anderson

Fri, 04 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

April 4, 2025: Dr. Blake Anderson, Founder and CEO/CTO of Switchboard, MD, shares his journey from practicing physician to healthcare tech innovator, revealing how his dual background in medicine and computer science led to creating solutions for overwhelmed clinicians. The conversation delves into critical questions about data quality, bias in AI systems, and the balance between technological efficiency and maintaining personal doctor-patient relationships. As healthcare faces demographic challenges with an aging population, how will technology help clinicians manage increased demands without sacrificing personalized care? Dr. Blake emphasizes the importance of problem-first approaches and thoughtful change management when adopting new healthcare technologies. Key Points:

05:40 Ensuring AI Usability and Trust
08:23 Future of Clinician-Patient Relationship
13:07 Advice for Healthcare Leaders

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: The Financial World of Healthcare Through an Investor's Eyes with Branden Fini

Thu, 03 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

April 3, 2025: Branden Fini, Partner at Allumia Ventures, discusses the world of healthcare from the view of an investor. How should entrepreneurs approach product-market fit, and why does Branden insist that solving clear and simple pain points trumps the latest technology? The conversation delves into critical investment inflection points, the importance of leadership teams, and the challenging balance between clinical validation and commercial traction. As healthcare faces provider shortages and ongoing consolidation, what emerging opportunities are on the horizon, and how might the changing political landscape reshape investment strategies in healthcare technology? Key Points:

01:02 Investment Philosophy and Strategies
10:04 The Importance of Leadership in Investments
19:10 Navigating Early-Stage Investments
23:46 Clinical vs. Commercial Validation
33:35 Future Trends and Closing Remarks

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

TownHall: Experience the Great Equalizer - Reimagining Facility Design with Jill McCormick

Tue, 01 Apr 2025 00:00:00 -0400

April 1, 2025: Jill McCormick, EVP of Design and Product Development at Pixel Health, reveals how experience serves as the great equalizer in healthcare facility planning. What happens when decades-old buildings meet modern patient expectations? Jill guides listeners through the sprint process that transforms stakeholder insights into human-centered designs, challenging traditional approaches by focusing first on desired experiences, not buildings or technology. As technology rapidly evolves, Jill emphasizes the need for flexible designs that can adapt quickly, creating seamless patient journeys from home to hospital.

Key Points:

04:01 Human-Centered Design in Healthcare
06:39 The Sprint Process for Problem Solving
13:52 Navigating Resistance to Change
15:16 Measuring Success in Facility Design
17:15 Future Trends in Healthcare Facility Planning

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: Courageous Leadership and Intentional Culture Shape Lives with Deborah Proctor

Thu, 27 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

March 27, 2025: Deborah Proctor, Retired CEO of St. Joseph Health, explores the intricate tapestry of healthcare leadership. What does it truly mean to build a mission-driven culture that permeates every aspect of an organization? Deborah shares her remarkable journey from bedside nurse to system CEO, revealing how the Sisters of St. Joseph's charism of unity and reconciliation shaped her leadership philosophy. The discussion delves into innovative approaches to sponsorship, where leaders take personal ownership of their team members’ success and examine the courage required to make decisions that may not win popularity but honor organizational values. Key Points:

05:19 The Importance of Mission and Values
14:25 Building a Mission-Based Culture
18:25 Values in Action and Pilgrimage
23:11 Sponsorship and Leadership
29:15 Prioritization Challenges
38:50 Courageous Leadership

X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: Fail Fast, Pivot Quickly - Getting the Data You Need Fast with Julie Johnson

Wed, 26 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

March 26, 2025: Julie Johnson, Executive Director of the Center for Research Informatics at the University of Chicago, explores the current state of healthcare data and advancements aiming to transform patient care. How can organizations democratize data while maintaining appropriate governance? Julie shares insights on her partnership with MDClone, describing how this tool helps clinicians and researchers "fail fast and pivot quickly" rather than waiting months for critical information.

Key Points:

01:57 Data Utilization and Governance
03:44 Addressing Data Bias and Sourcing
05:26 Future Prospects and Innovations
08:23 Navigating HIMSS

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

TownHall: An Honest AI Journey - Wins and Bumps with Albert Villarin and Mark Weisman

Tue, 25 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

March 25, 2025: Albert Villarin, VP and CMIO of Nuvance Health, interviews Dr. Mark Weisman, CIO and CMIO of Tidal Health. Mark candidly discusses the difficulties of implementing AI solutions, emphasizing the critical importance of proper AI governance and education for healthcare professionals. As AI tools increasingly write clinical notes and suggest diagnoses, what skills should future clinicians develop—memorizing facts or critically evaluating AI outputs? Mark envisions a future where ambient AI transforms nursing workflows, allowing healthcare professionals to focus more on patient care than documentation, while acknowledging the challenges of building trust in these emerging technologies.

Key Points:

03:10 Challenges and Successes with AI
06:23 AI Governance and Education
14:22 Adoption and Trust in AI
18:48 Future goals for AI

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

UnHack (the Podcast): From "All or Nothing" to Scalable Solutions and Resilience with Heather Costa

Mon, 24 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

March 24, 2025: Heather Costa, Director of Technology Resilience at Mayo Clinic, shares her journey of rebranding her team from "disaster recovery operations" to "technology resilience operations," emphasizing that cyber incidents require a fundamentally different approach than physical disruptions. The conversation delves into the challenges of communicating technical needs with clinical staff, with Heather explaining her philosophy of "meeting people where they are" and focusing on their work rather than the technology. As cyber threats continue to evolve, Heather offers insights into building resilient systems that minimize disruption to patient care.

Key Points:

03:43 Heather's Role at Mayo Clinic
04:29 The Evolution of Disaster Recovery
07:10 Engaging Frontline Operators
17:44 Building Blocks of Resilience
20:52 Lightning Round

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: Breaking Barriers Between Data with Christopher Policano and Rachel Wilkes

Fri, 21 Mar 2025 12:00:00 -0400

March 21, 2025: MEDITECH leaders Christopher Policano, VP of Sales, and Rachel Wilkes, Director of Marketing, sit down at HIMSS 2025 in Las Vegas. They explore how healthcare interoperability is evolving through their newly launched Traverse Exchange platform. How are these real-time data exchanges transforming clinical workflows beyond traditional fragmented files? The discussion reveals a company culture deeply invested in sustainable healthcare innovation while making advanced capabilities accessible to community hospitals.

Key Points:

01:51 Introducing Traverse Exchange
05:36 AI Enhancing the EHR
08:02 MEDITECH's Culture and Mission

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: AI Enhanced RTLS Made Seamless with Philipp von Gilsa

Fri, 21 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

March 21, 2025: Philipp von Gilsa, CEO of Kontakt.io, explores how next-generation real-time location systems (RTLS) are re-entering the healthcare space and creating rapid growth. Philipp reveals how his company's cloud-based approach is helping health systems drastically reduce equipment costs through enhanced visibility, with some clients seeing benefits in the first month after deployment. Don’t miss this discussion live from the floor of HIMSS.

Key Points:

03:47 Next Generation RTLS
04:39 Implementation and ROI
08:19 RTLS with AI

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: Security Training that Actually Sticks - Security Mentalism with Gary Chan

Thu, 20 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

March 20, 2025: Gary Chan, System VP/CISO at SSM Health and Security Mentalist, brings a refreshingly innovative approach to cybersecurity. Gary reveals how he transforms traditionally dry security training into memorable experiences through psychological techniques and mentalism performances, demonstrating live social engineering tactics that leave audiences both entertained and better prepared. As healthcare faces increasing cybersecurity threats, particularly with the rise of AI, how might the balance between technological defenses and human awareness evolve?

Key Points:

04:43 Security Mentalism
10:04 Impact of Security Training
15:41 Human Behavior and Social Engineering
19:06 Future of Cybersecurity with AI
26:45 Common Misconceptions and Personal Insights

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: Application Rationalization and ROI Found Fast with Jonathan Cook

Wed, 19 Mar 2025 12:00:00 -0400

March 19, 2025: Jonathan Cook, CTO for Clearsense, explores how healthcare organizations can achieve immediate ROI through data enablement and application rationalization. Cook reveals how Clearsense has evolved from an archiving solution to a comprehensive data enablement platform that indexes, structures, and makes accessible data across disparate systems while providing a clear path to cost savings.

Key Points:

05:12 ROI Found Fast
08:15 AI Enablement and Future Prospects
11:24 Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: From Complexity to Clarity in Cybersecurity with Tony Douglas

Wed, 19 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

March 19, 2025: Tony Douglas, RVP of US Healthcare from Palo Alto Networks, explores solutions to the current vulnerabilities in healthcare security. Tony unpacks their "platformization" approach, consolidating multiple security functions into a single platform to combat breaches. How are healthcare providers balancing the benefits of AI with the risks of data exposure? The conversation highlights their new Unit 42 service offering remote SOC management with real-time zero-day threat intelligence.

Key Points:

02:23 Platformization: Simplifying Security
04:13 AI Inconsistencies
07:51 Unit 42 and Global Threat Intelligence

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

TownHall: Cloud Infrastructure, AI, and Population Health with Sonney Sapra

Tue, 18 Mar 2025 00:30:00 -0400

March 18, 2025: Today on TownHall, Sue Schade, Principal at StarBridge Advisors, talks with Sonney Sapra, SVP and CIO at Samaritan Health Services. Sonney discusses his nearly four-year journey at Samaritan Health, detailing the organization's focus on technological innovation, financial sustainability, and population health. Why move to a fully cloud-based infrastructure? How can AI and ambient listening technologies transform healthcare? Sonny shares insights into these questions and more, including integrating health plan data to improve patient outcomes. He also delves into workforce management in a remote and hybrid environment, and emphasizes the importance of understanding organizational needs in vendor partnerships. Finally, Sonny discusses his future role as a TownHall moderator in 2025 and his passion for sharing knowledge within the CIO community.

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Flourish: Education Shifts and Leading Across Generations with Donita Brown

Mon, 17 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

March 17, 2025: Dr. Donita Brown, Business Professor and Host of The Management Minute podcast, explores the fascinating shifts in workplace motivation across generations. Donita shares powerful insights on the demographic cliff affecting higher education and the potential rise of micro-learning formats like "micro MBAs." Through stories about family vacations, workplace dynamics, and lessons from her father, Dr. Brown offers listeners quick insights into generational leadership and career development.

Key Points:

03:50 The Power of Listening
09:29 The Future of Higher Education
20:48 Mastering Mutual Gains Negotiation
29:35 Lessons from Writing a Book
33:29 Staying Relevant and Thriving

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Zero Trust Hospital Series: How to Promote a Zero Trust Culture with Tamer Baker

Fri, 14 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

March 14, 2025: This is the sixth episode of the Zero Trust Hospital Series. Tamer Baker, Healthcare CTO at Zscaler, explores the critical aspects of promoting a zero-trust culture in healthcare organizations. How can healthcare leaders effectively communicate the strategic value of zero trust to their boards? What approaches yield the best results when tailoring messages to different stakeholders like CNOs and CMOs? The conversation delves into the transformative impact of zero trust on mergers and acquisitions, potentially reducing integration time while enhancing security.

Want to get your copy of the new book "Zero Trust Hospital: The CXO Vision" by Zscaler? Pre-Order now

Don't miss our webinar after all six Zero Trust Hospital Series episodes! Register now: www.thisweekhealth.com/zerotrust

Key Points:

01:03 Communicating Zero Trust to the Board
03:34 Engaging Internal Stakeholders
09:32 The Avalanche Effect of Zero Trust

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: Pushing Boundaries in Community Care - Digital Innovation and Equity with Tracy Donegan

Thu, 13 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

March 13, 2025: Tracy Donegan, Chief Information and Innovation Officer at MLK Community Healthcare, shares her approach to solving seemingly insurmountable problems through creative thinking and scrappiness, pushing beyond conventional limitations. The conversation explores MLK's commitment to health equity through innovative programs like their street medicine team and the upcoming empath unit for psychiatric patients. Tracy offers insights into the importance of fostering partnerships built on shared mission and reducing clinician burnout, all while maintaining a deeply personal connection to the community she serves.

Key Points:

01:48 Tracy's Professional Journey
07:08 Digital Innovation and Patient Engagement
10:11 Community Impact and Health Equity
16:50 Lessons from the Pandemic
23:49 Speed Round: Personal Insights

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: Incremental Growth to Bounding Innovations with Colin Banas and Thomas Wells

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

March 12, 2025: From the floor of HIMSS 2025 in Vegas Colin Banas, CMO of DrFirst, and Thomas Wells, Medical director of Piedmont, explore the evolving landscape of healthcare technology. How might AI transform physician-patient relationships rather than diminishing them? What would need to change for true interoperability to become reality instead of remaining an endless talking point? The physicians discuss Piedmont's vast Georgia network and their innovative approaches to telehealth, virtual specialists, and the pressing need to address behavioral health through technology.

Key Points:

03:52 Interoperability and EHR Systems
05:55 AI in Medication Management
10:01 Telemedicine and Behavioral Health
11:24 Closing Thoughts and Fun Question

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

TownHall: Empowering Men, Mentorship, and Personal Growth with Jay Millar

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 00:30:00 -0400

March 11: In this episode of TownHall, Karla Arzola, Chief Information Officer at Campbell County Health speaks with Jay Millar, Client Director at World Wide Technology and author of 'Be a Hero in Your Home’. Jay shares his compelling journey from a challenging upbringing to becoming a mentor and leader dedicated to helping others succeed. How does one turn personal struggles into strengths? Why is mentorship crucial, especially for men facing unique societal pressures? Jay discusses the importance of finding mentors, being vulnerable, and taking intentional actions to improve one's life. He also highlights the significance of creating spaces for open, honest dialogue. This episode is perfect for anyone looking to understand the transformative power of mentorship and the steps to cultivate meaningful, supportive relationships both personally and professionally.

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: Driving Strategic Initiatives and M&A Success with Patience Phillips

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 13:30:00 -0400

March 7, 2025: In this Interview in Action live from ViVE ‘25, Bill talks with Patience Phillips, Senior Director Information Technology at St. Luke’s University Health System. They dive into Patience’s role overseeing IT physician services, various service lines, access centers, and project management offices. They discuss St. Luke’s transformation of their call centers, highlighting the shift to remote agents and standardizing processes. How does a healthcare network prioritize and execute strategic initiatives such as EPIC modules and ERP implementations? Patience explains her project management approach, including the use of hybrid agile methodologies. Patience also touches on her robust process for construction, mergers, and acquisitions, emphasizing rapid deployment, security, and standardization. How do they integrate new facilities effectively?

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: AI That Actually Learns and a Keyboard-Free Future with Andrew Gostine

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

March 7, 2025: Dr. Andrew Gostine, CEO of Artisight, to discuss how Artisight is revolutionizing patient care with their integrated hardware and AI solutions. The interview focuses on their easy-to-implement hardware innovations. Shifting to software, Andrew highlights their AI’s ability to understand ambient video and audio, learning across thousands of hospital and operating rooms.

Key Points:

00:52 Artisight's Hardware Innovations
06:11 Artisight’s Software Innovation
08:07 Ambient Nursing Documentation

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: True Value-Based Care and Driving Painless Change with Eric Smith

Thu, 06 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

March 6, 2025: Eric Smith, SVP and CDO at Memorial Hermann Health System, discusses how their health system successfully transitioned to Epic's EHR while maintaining patient satisfaction. Eric reveals the strategic approach that led to nearly 500,000 patient activations and details Memorial Hermann's innovative AI governance structure with specialized working groups. From expanding services into new communities to addressing healthcare affordability through standardization, Eric offers a compelling perspective on building a digital healthcare ecosystem that truly serves the patient.

Key Points:

01:23 Memorial Hermann's EPIC EHR Transition
15:41 Innovation and Pilot Programs
17:39 Value-Based Care and Cost Management
23:08 Future of Healthcare Technology
30:30 Speed Round: Personal Insights

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: Voice Automation and the Future of Call Centers with Scott D'Entremont

Wed, 05 Mar 2025 12:00:00 -0400

March 5, 2025: Scott D'Entremont, CRO from Parlance, explores how Parlance's conversational AI technology is transforming the often overlooked healthcare voice channel. D'Entremont reveals how their AI solutions handle everything from appointment inquiries to complex routing across thousands of destinations.

Key Points:

01:18 Conversational AI in the Call Center
04:11 Challenges and Solutions in Call Management
07:01 Standardizing Healthcare Workflows

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: Modernizing and Securing Healthcare's Digital Foundation with Sebastian Estades

Wed, 05 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

March 5, 2025: Sebastian Estades, Healthcare Lead of Google Chrome, explores how Google is reimagining healthcare browser security. Sebastian reveals how healthcare systems can move beyond traditional operating systems toward web-based environments that don't compromise on security or integration capabilities. What possibilities emerge when healthcare IT leaders consider repurposing existing hardware amid Windows 10's approaching end-of-life?

Key Points:

06:20 Future Trends in Healthcare Technology
07:31 Mobile Device Integration
08:01 Windows 10 End of Life: A New Opportunity

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

TownHall: Personalizing Rehabilitation and Adapting to Needs with Deborah Backus

Tue, 04 Mar 2025 00:30:00 -0400

In today’s TownHall, host Beth Cooper, Chief Technology Officer at Tivity Health speaks with Deborah Backus, VP of Research and Innovation at Shepherd Center about their efforts toward innovation and technology in rehabilitation. They discuss the challenges faced by individuals with paralysis, brain injuries, and other complex conditions in finding appropriate assistive technologies. Deborah shares insights into Shepherd Center’s pioneering work with various mobility and daily living technologies, such as modified wheelchairs with tongue drives, sip and puff controls, and eye gaze technology. How can robust data shape patient care? The conversation dives into the data-driven approach of the Shepherd Center’s Innovation Institute, including remote monitoring programs, AI, and large language models for personalized rehab solutions. Additionally, they explore how Burnalong’s platform provides on-demand wellness and training content to patients and beyond. How crucial is it to meet individuals where they are?

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: Fast-Track Your AppRat and Cutting Through the AI Buzz with Dave Dyell

Mon, 03 Mar 2025 12:00:00 -0400

March 3, 2025: Dave Dyell, Managing Partner of Innovative Consulting Group, explores how healthcare organizations effectively rationalize their application portfolios in just 8-10 weeks. What strategies can CIOs employ to identify application overlap and recover significant cost savings through contract and SLA management? Dyell reveals how CIOs can secure executive support by demonstrating their organization's actual AI preparedness with tangible data rather than assumptions.

Key Points:

01:12 Application Rationalization
04:12 Contract Management and SLA Insights
06:16 AI Readiness Program

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: Partnerships in The Pursuit of Innovation with Kris Nessa and John Kirkman

Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

March 3, 2025: Kris Nessa, CTO of Healthcare at SHI, and John Kirkman, VP of Government, Healthcare, and Education at Island, explore Islands partnership with SHI at VIVE Nashville. As organizations face staffing shortages and cybersecurity threats, could Island's approach help democratize IT access across healthcare systems of all sizes? Join this discussion where practical technology meets healthcare innovation, and discover why these experts see AI integration as the critical next frontier in healthcare's digital evolution.

Key Points:

04:05 SHI and Island Partnership Insights
06:51 AI: Opportunities and Challenges
08:48 Building Partnerships and Future Innovations

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Zero Trust Hospital Series: Where to Begin with Zero Trust with Tamer Baker

Fri, 28 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0400

February 28, 2025: This is the fifth episode in the Zero Trust Hospital Series. Tamer Baker, Healthcare CTO at Zscaler, covers the first steps hospitals can take in their zero trust journey. Through practical insights, Tamer challenges traditional security thinking, demonstrating how organizations can achieve significant risk reduction even on day one, all while maintaining operational efficiency.

Key Points:

02:18 Step Zero: Identity Management
03:44 Step One: Visibility
07:15 Zero Trust Maturity Models
09:13 High-Risk Users and Remote Access

Want to get your copy of the new book "Zero Trust Hospital: The CXO Vision" by Zscaler?

Pre-Order now

Don't miss our webinar after all six Zero Trust Hospital Series episodes!

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: Transforming Pediatric Cancer Care: Innovation, Research, and Hope with Liz Scott

Thu, 27 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0400

February 27, 2025: Liz Scott, Co-Executive Director and Alex’s Mom from Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation explores how a four-year-old's simple lemonade stand transformed into a movement that has raised over $300 million for childhood cancer research. Can the healthcare industry's involvement reshape the landscape of pediatric cancer research? As Scott shares stories of hope, resilience, and scientific advancement, she illuminates the complex challenges families face and unveils how the foundation's expanding programs address critical gaps in care.

Key Points:

00:31 What is Alex’s Lemonade Stand?
03:31 Impact of Donations
08:31 Breakthroughs in Pediatric Cancer Research
12:42 Challenges and Future Goals
19:11 Vision for the Next Five Years

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: Streamlining and Bringing Clarity to the Medication Process with Colin Banas

Wed, 26 Feb 2025 12:00:00 -0400

February 26, 2025: Colin Banas, CMO of DrFirst, explores how innovation powers their medication management solutions across 2,000+ hospitals. What strategies is DrFirst implementing to combat healthcare's most pressing challenges like provider burnout and specialty medication management? With the uncertainty surrounding healthcare policy under a new administration, how is DrFirst positioning itself to remain a bedrock of stability for its partners while continuing to innovate?

Key Points:

02:46 Addressing Specialty Medication
03:25 Navigating New Policy
05:47 AI and Future Roadmap

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: Harnessing the Power of the Multi-Cloud Environment with Amar Maletira

Wed, 26 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0400

February 26, 2025: Amar Maletira, CEO of Rackspace, explores the evolving role of multi-cloud environments—why are CIOs now rethinking their cloud strategies after years of rapid migration? As AI continues to weave itself into every facet of IT, how can healthcare organizations effectively harness its power while navigating workforce gaps and security risks? And in a world of increasing cyber threats, what are the real challenges of securing critical healthcare workloads across hybrid infrastructures? This conversation unpacks the complexity of modern IT strategy, from cloud optimization to AI-driven automation.

Key Points:

02:27 The Evolution of Cloud Computing
07:08 AI in Cloud Management
12:03 Rackspace Security Solutions

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

TownHall: Transforming Healthcare with AI with Christine Silvers, MD, Praveen Meka, MD, & Qing Liu

Tue, 25 Feb 2025 00:30:00 -0400

February 25: In this episode of TownHall, Albert Villarin, MD, VP and CMIO at Nuvance Health, Christine Silvers, MD, Healthcare Executive Advisor at Amazon Web Services, Praveen Meka, MD, Senior Physician/Hospitalist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Qing Liu, Senior Solutions Architect (Healthcare) at Amazon Web Services explore the transformative impact of AI in healthcare. They discuss real-world applications such as AI for patient referrals, document processing, diagnostic tools, and personalized medicine. Examples include the development of ConsultBot for interpreting complex blood tests and the use of AI for remote patient monitoring in underserved areas. How can AI improve patient outcomes and reduce errors in clinical settings? They also address challenges like data security, ethical considerations, and bridging the technology adoption gap among clinicians. What are the biggest hurdles in implementing AI in everyday medical practice? The episode underscores the potential of AI to enhance clinical outcomes, reduce errors, and improve patient satisfaction.

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

UnHack (the Podcast): Meaningful Metrics and Stopping Breaches Before They Happen with Steven Ramirez

Mon, 24 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0400

February 24, 2025: Steven Ramirez, VP and CISTO of Renown Health, discusses how organizations are grappling with increasingly sophisticated threats. What makes the 60-minute breach window so critical in today's threat landscape, and how are healthcare organizations reshaping their approach to identity security? As Ramirez shares insights from his journey at Renown, we explore the delicate balance between rapid threat response and strategic planning, while questioning what makes an effective cybersecurity professional in today's healthcare environment.

Key Points:

02:35 The Role of a CISTO
06:29 Renown Cybersecurity Initiatives
12:09 Simplification in Cybersecurity
18:36 Lightning Round

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Zero Trust Hospital Series: Mythbusting Zero Trust with Tamer Baker

Fri, 21 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0400

February 21, 2025: This is the fourth episode in the Zero Trust Hospital Series. Tamer Baker, Healthcare CTO for Zscaler, dives into the myths surrounding zero trust implementation in healthcare settings. As healthcare systems grapple with digital transformation, what really stands between organizations and successful zero trust adoption? Through their discussion of real-world examples and strategic partnerships, they challenge conventional wisdom about vendor relationships and implementation timelines.

Want to get your copy of the new book "Zero Trust Hospital: The CXO Vision" by Zscaler?

Pre-Order now

Don't miss our webinar after all six Zero Trust Hospital Series episodes!

Key Points:

01:36 Zero Trust Implementation
04:45 Vendor Myths
08:47 Healthcare Operations

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: Academic-Clinical Integration and Innovation Without Limits with Alistair Erskine

Thu, 20 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0400

February 20, 2025: Dr. Alistair Erskine, Enterprise CIO and CDO of Emory Healthcare, explores the unique fusion of university and healthcare IT at Emory, challenging conventional wisdom about institutional separations. As we delve into innovative approaches to leadership, including streaming rounds and trickle feedback systems, how might these methods reshape organizational culture in healthcare? Through fascinating anecdotes from building a hospital in Qatar with unlimited resources to implementing enterprise-wide ambient listening technology, what lessons emerge about innovation when traditional constraints are removed?

Key Points:

01:04 Combining University and Healthcare IT
07:54 Rounding and Student Tech Support
15:35 Lessons from Qatar: Building a Hospital
21:44 Ambient Listening and AI in Healthcare
30:58 Trickle Feedback and Organizational Culture

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

TownHall: Powerful Lessons and Reflections on Summiting Everest with Julia Zhou

Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0400

February 19, 2025: Karla Arzola interviews Julia Zhou, Healthcare Technologist and Mountaineer, who shares her extraordinary journey to the summit of Mount Everest, detailing the physical and mental battles that tested her limits. From the grueling months of training in her garage through COVID to the life-threatening moments at 8,000 meters, Julia and Karla reflect on how challenges can bring about the biggest leaps in innovation and bravery.

Key Points:

02:14 Julia's Everest Expedition
07:58 Summit Day: Reaching the Top
16:52 Reflections and Lessons Learned

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: Building the Bridge to Better Care Through Ambient Listening with Shiv Rao

Tue, 18 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0400

February 18, 2025: Shiv Rao, CEO and co-founder of Abridge, delves into their revolutionary ambient listening technology. Through the lens of 100+ enterprise deployments, Rao explores the delicate balance between technological advancement and clinical practicality. As the discussion unfolds, we discover how contextual reasoning is reshaping documentation and bringing joy back to clinicians.

Key Points:

02:24 Feedback and Improvement Process
05:41 Building Financial Models
06:49 Clinician Love Stories

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Flourish: Leading with Humility and the Art of Risk with Andrew Kerr

Mon, 17 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0400

February 17, 2025: Andrew Kerr, CEO and Managing Partner of FortyAU and author of The Humility Imperative, draws from his transition from HCA to leading a Nashville-based software and AI consulting firm to explore essential questions about modern leadership. How does a leader maintain authenticity while driving innovation in today's rapidly evolving tech landscape? Through discussions of AI implementation in healthcare and the challenges of building sustainable company cultures, Andrew challenges conventional wisdom about certainty in leadership.

Key Points:

04:45 Navigating Challenges
10:11 AI advice
18:13 Humility in Leadership
24:16 Career Reflections
27:55 Lightning Round

X : This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Zero Trust Hospital Series: Understanding the Anatomy of a Breach with Tamer Baker

Fri, 14 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0400

February 14, 2025: This is the third episode of the Zero Trust Hospital Series. Tamer Baker, Healthcare CTO for Zscaler, dissects the anatomy of a breach—how attackers identify vulnerabilities, move laterally through systems, and execute double-extortion ransomware. How does Zero Trust disrupt each stage of an attack, preventing even compromised credentials from being useful? And can collective intelligence across organizations create a real-time defense against emerging cyber risks?

Want to get your copy of the new book "Zero Trust Hospital: The CXO Vision" by Zscaler?

Pre-Order now

Don't miss our webinar after all six Zero Trust Hospital Series episodes!

Key Points:

00:53 Anatomy of a Breach
06:20 Common Attack Vectors
09:04 Community Protection

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: Unlocking New Standards of Care through Genomics with Sue Schade and Albert Oriol

Thu, 13 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0400

February 13, 2025: Sue Schade, Principal at StarBridge Advisors, interviews Albert Oriol, CIO of Rady Children's Hospital, to discuss how genomics and technology partnerships are transforming pediatric care. How can precision medicine and newborn screening change the trajectory of a child’s life? What role does IT play in addressing workforce burnout and cybersecurity risks? And how do visionary leaders balance cutting-edge technology with operational demands?

Key Points:

05:19 Advancements in Precision Medicine
15:08 Albert Oriol's Career Journey
18:29 IT Collaboration
22:52 Remote Work and Workforce Flexibility
27:04 Work-Life Balance and Personal Well-being

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Solution Showcase: Data Monitoring to Help Clinicians Rest Easy with James Wellman and Vik Patel

Wed, 12 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0400

February 12, 2025: James Wellman, VP and CIO of Nathan Littauer Hospital & Nursing Home, and Vik Patel, COO of Tido, as they explore advancing data integration, operational efficiency, and patient care. Learn what happens when a healthcare IT partnership transcends traditional vendor relationships to become a true team extension, and discover how trust-based partnerships drive success in healthcare IT. Don't miss this engaging solution showcase.

Key Points:

01:28 The Power of Relationships in Healthcare IT
08:31 Operational Efficiency
11:57 Proactive Monitoring
27:11 Future Innovations and Cloud Migration

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Road to Flourish: Career Pivot Points and What Makes a Team with Beth Lindsay Wood

Tue, 11 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0400

February 11, 2025: Erica Williams, RTO of Texas for Ascension, sits down with Beth Lindsay Wood, CIO and CTO at Moffitt Cancer Center, to explore the pivotal moments that have shaped her journey in healthcare technology. From leading digital transformation efforts like CancerX and AI-driven clinical outcomes to navigating a career pivot between provider and consulting roles, Beth shares hard-won lessons on leadership, adaptability, and resilience. What does it take to recognize when a career change is necessary, and how do setbacks become stepping stones to greater success? Join this deep dive into the realities of leadership, career progression, and the essential skills needed to drive meaningful change in healthcare.

Key Points:

04:46 Career Setbacks and Pivoting
11:45 Developing Leadership Traits
16:06 Hiring and Team Building
22:44 Keys to Success

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Zero Trust Hospital Series: The Benefits of Zero Trust with Tamer Baker

Fri, 07 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0400

February 7, 2025: This is the second episode of the Zero Trust Hospital Series. Tamer Baker, Healthcare CTO for Zscaler, explores how Zero Trust Architecture is revolutionizing hospital security and operations. How does shifting from a legacy, appliance-heavy infrastructure to a streamlined, SaaS-based model allow healthcare organizations to innovate faster? Can removing external attack surfaces truly minimize risk, or does it simply shift the burden elsewhere? With patient experience, security, and operational efficiency at stake, the conversation dives deep into how healthcare leaders can do more with less—without just piling on more work.

Want to get your copy of the new book "Zero Trust Hospital: The CXO Vision" by Zscaler?

Pre-Order now

Don't miss our webinar after all six Zero Trust Hospital Series episodes!

Key Points:

04:44 Risk Management in Zero Trust
07:39 Operational Efficiency with Zero Trust
09:14 Enhancing Patient and Clinician Experience

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: Practical AI Impact that Clinicians and Patients Actually Feel with Jennifer Owens

Thu, 06 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0400

February 6, 2025: Jennifer Owens, Senior AI Program Administrator at Cleveland Clinic, discusses the evolving role of AI in patient care and provider efficiency. As AI scribes redefine documentation and predictive models refine diagnoses, are we truly seeing the impact we expect? How do we measure success—through efficiency, patient outcomes, or clinician satisfaction? And when AI sneaks into healthcare workflows, do we fully understand the models guiding critical decisions? With governance, enablement, and the delicate balance between technology and human judgment at the forefront, this discussion dives deep into AI’s future in medicine and what it takes to move from innovation to implementation.

Key Points:

03:40 Evaluating AI Tools
13:32 AI Patient Experience
21:52 Future AI Implementation

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Zero Trust Hospital Series: Digital Transformation is Here with Tamer Baker

Wed, 05 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0400

February 5, 2025: This is the first installment of our Zero Trust Hospital Series. Tamer Baker, Healthcare CTO for Zscaler, breaks down Zero Trust architecture—what it is, what it isn’t, and why it has become a necessity rather than a buzzword. Can outdated infrastructure truly support the demands of modern healthcare? How do we prevent hyperconnectivity from becoming a hacker’s playground? This conversation explores how Zero Trust can prevent lateral movement in cyberattacks, enable seamless cloud integration, and build a security framework that supports—not stifles—innovation.

Want to get your copy of the new book "Zero Trust Hospital: The CXO Vision" by Zscaler?

Pre-Order now

Don't miss our webinar after all six Zero Trust Hospital Series episodes!

Key Points:

03:31 Challenges and Solutions in Zero Trust
07:57 Cloud and Remote Work Considerations
09:59 Practical Steps for Secure Digital Transformation

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

TownHall: Redefining Corporate Wellness with Karla Arzola and Cally Cripps

Tue, 04 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0400

February 4, 2025: Karla Arzola interviews Cally Cripps, VP of Information Technology and Analytics at Aurora Mental Health Center and Founder of Systemagically. How does living with a chronic condition shape a leader’s approach to corporate wellness? What systemic gaps exist in mental health care, and can technology finally close them? Cally shares her personal journey of navigating endometriosis and PCOS while climbing the ranks in IT leadership, revealing how prioritizing health can transform not just personal well-being, but also the workplace itself.

Key Points:

03:39 Chronic Illness Impacts
07:06 Connecting Health and Leadership
12:00 Bridging Gaps in Mental Health Services
17:43 Innovative Dreams for Healthcare Technology

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: Creating The Contactless Patient Room of the Future with Joseph Zaccaria

Mon, 03 Feb 2025 00:00:00 -0400

February 3, 2025: Joseph Zaccaria, VP of Strategy and Finance at Neteera, discusses what the future patient room will look like. Can technology seamlessly blend into clinical workflows without disrupting behavior? Joe dives into how Neteera’s passive monitoring technology leverages precision sensing to reshape care delivery across settings. Joe offers a glimpse into a future where walls do not confine healthcare.

Key Points:

02:08 The Future of Patient Rooms
07:45 Economic and Operational Benefits
11:54 Technical Aspects and Installation

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Keynote: Rapid Imaging Advancements and the Hospital of the Future with Chad Brisendine

Thu, 30 Jan 2025 00:00:00 -0400

January 30, 2025: Chad Brisendine, VP and CIO of St. Luke's University Health Network, explores the transformative journey of healthcare technology. How does a hospital room evolve into a hub of AI-powered care while ensuring patient-centered innovation? What challenges arise when integrating virtual nursing, telehealth, and ambient technologies at scale? As the conversation traverses from imaging solutions to price transparency, how do leaders like Chad balance rapid technological advancements with long-term strategies?

Key Points:

04:30 The Hospital Room of the Future
16:00 Enterprise Imaging Solutions
22:31 Patient Experience and Price Transparency
26:05 Leadership and Team Motivation

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Interview In Action: Moving from Vendor to Partner and Subspecialty AI with Dustin Leek

Wed, 29 Jan 2025 00:00:00 -0400

January 29, 2025: Dustin Leek, Executive Healthcare Strategist for CDW, explores the necessity of partners with clinical experience and CDW’s current focuses. What role does data governance play in unlocking AI’s potential in healthcare? As financial pressures mount on health systems, what strategies can CIOs and CTOs employ to maximize operational efficiency without compromising care? You don’t want to miss this interview in action.

Key Points:

02:46 CDW’s Unique Team and Approach
04:36 Security, Data, and AI
07:57 Upcoming Events and Speaking Engagements

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

TownHall: Advancing Kidney Care through Early AKI Detection with Todd Dunn

Tue, 28 Jan 2025 00:30:00 -0400

January 28: Today on TownHall Reid Stephan, VP and CIO at St. Luke’s Health System speaks with Todd Dunn, CEO and Founder at The Innovators Journey. Todd is a seasoned innovator in healthcare with experience at Intermountain Health and Advocate Health. He explains what AKIs are and how they differ from chronic kidney diseases. Could early detection be the key to preventing the devastating effects of AKIs? What if catching AKIs early could save millions for healthcare providers? Todd shares the potential of innovative solutions like Accuryn Medical's automated urine flow technology and provides insights into change management. Could this technology transform kidney care? The episode emphasizes the need for system-wide adoption of advanced technology to better manage AKIs and improve patient care. Isn’t it time to leverage these breakthroughs for better outcomes?

Subscribe: This Week Health

Twitter: This Week Health

LinkedIn: Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

UnHack (the Podcast): Addressing the Human Factor and Reaching the Board with Matt Christensen

Mon, 27 Jan 2025 00:00:00 -0400

January 27, 2025: Matt Christensen, Sr. Director of Cybersecurity and Intermountain Health, delivers an insightful discussion on the intricate balance of technology, leadership, and the human factor in cybersecurity. How does Intermountain Health’s approach to systemic risk reimagine third-party management in healthcare? Why is the human element—often labeled the weakest link—still undervalued despite its role in 90% of breaches? Matt reflects on the paradox of advancing technology overshadowing foundational cyber hygiene, sharing his experiences with governance, risk, and compliance.

Key Points:

04:38 The Human Element in Cybersecurity
11:22 The Firehouse Can't Burn Down
14:48 Lightning Round: Personal Insights
19:45 Advice for Aspiring Cybersecurity Professionals

X: This Week Health

LinkedIn: This Week Health

Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer