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“This Week Health: Conference” captures the essence and energy of attending a premier health technology conference designed specifically for health systems. With a rich lineup of shows like UnHack (the Podcast), TownHall, Keynote, and various sponsored content, this channel serves as a gathering place for innovative thinkers and industry leaders to share transformative ideas. Hosted by Bill Russell, Drex DeFord, and Sarah Richardson—all of whom have firsthand experience in the trenches of health IT leadership—each episode fosters the spread of knowledge and the formation of new connections. By bridging geographical divides, we help ensure that breakthroughs in one part of the country can enhance healthcare delivery nationwide. Subscribe today to join a vibrant community working together to make healthcare more connected and informed, accessible wherever you listen to podcasts.
797 Episodes
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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
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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]
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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
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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]
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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
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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 SpringmannX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer
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 Scenarios06:52 New Podcast Channels and Formats14:03 Real-Time Data Governance and ROI15:51 Automation and Patching in Health Systems17:47 Hiring and Compensation for Health System CIOs20:56 The Role and Value of a good CIDOsX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer
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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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 Security09:45 Digital Transformation Initiatives14:41 Addressing Geographic and Access Disparities17:49 Pressing Issues for Healthcare CIOs21:40 Building and Developing IT Teams27:55 Lightning Round X: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer
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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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