The 229 Podcast

May 13, 2026: Jake Morrison, Global Healthcare Practice Head at Infinite Computer Solutions, joins Bill Russell for a candid executive conversation about what's really driving healthcare IT today. From the promise of AI to the surge in managed services demand, Jake shares why the old "outsource your mess for less" mindset is failing health systems. With 28 global delivery centers and half of Infinite's work in healthcare, Jake brings a uniquely global perspective on where the industry is headed.Keep up to date on the latest in health IT:https://thisweekhealth.com/news/Key Points:01:16 Shared IT Challenges Worldwide05:18 AI in the IT Backyard08:02 Managed Services Market Shift10:42 Final Thoughts and SubscribeX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

May 11, 2026: Bill Russell, Drex DeFord, and Sarah Richardson are back on Newsday, tackling the questions keeping healthcare IT leaders up at night. What happens when your own teams start building AI tools without permission, and why might that actually be a good thing? Plus, the big consulting firms have quietly gutted their old model and rebuilt around AI adoption. And as agents start doing the work of analyst ones and analyst twos, is there still a path into this industry for new graduates?Key Points:04:21 Governance and Risk Guardrails11:12 Consulting Firms Pivot to AI15:52 Jobs and Adoption in the AI Era23:11 Learning AI and Closing BanterKeep up to date on the latest in health IT:https://thisweekhealth.com/news/X: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

May 5, 2026: When healthcare executive Kim Garrett left corporate America to launch Northern Skye Consulting, she discovered something unexpected: "Growth doesn't happen in the easy times. It happens when you don't know where that next step is, but you press on."In this candid conversation, Kim reveals why the initial leap wasn't the scariest part of her journey, how her Scottish grandfather's legacy shaped her company vision, and why building websites became a source of unexpected joy. Her advice for aspiring entrepreneurs? "Just do it."Key Points:00:00 Introduction: Stepping Away to Step Up00:47 The Courage to Leave Corporate America03:33 Northern Sky: A Scottish Legacy05:15 First Clients and Making an Impact07:28 Embracing the Beginner's Mindset10:19 The Power of Your Professional Network13:17 Just Do It: Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs14:45 Speed Round: Books, Resources, and FijiX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

May 5, 2026: Pain is the number one reason patients access healthcare, yet objective pain data is virtually absent from claims systems and EHRs. Martha Lawrence, CEO and co-founder of AccendoWave, explores how her company is building benchmark databases that correlate brainwave activity with pain perception, addressing both the clinical and financial gaps that leave health systems exposed. They also dig into the changing vendor-to-health-system sales landscape, de-risking innovation adoption, and how emerging CMS models like TEAM are creating new urgency around pain data.Originally aired on Flourish, This Week Health's leadership-focused podcast. Flourish has joined The 229 Project Podcast — bringing these conversations to a wider audience of healthcare IT leaders.Keep up to date on the latest in health IT:https://thisweekhealth.com/news/Key Points:03:56 Objective Pain Data08:44 Selling Innovation Today13:43 UCLA Innovation Engine22:25 CMS Models And Pain30:13 De Risk And Wrap UpX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

May 1, 2026: In this inaugural episode of Flourish Sound Bytes, Sarah Richardson sits down with Tyler Barhydt, a seasoned technology executive who led a remarkable cloud transformation journey. Tyler shares how his organization, Envision Healthcare, went from 11 data centers to nearly zero, the unexpected benefits of the Broadcom/VMware situation, and why he believes every cloud migration needs a dedicated FinOps team. Through candid discussion about getting board buy-in (spoiler: it took 12-20 rounds), building trust through transparency, and empowering teams, Tyler provides a roadmap for healthcare IT leaders considering their own cloud journey.Subscribe to The 229 Project Podcast — [Apple Podcast] [Spotify] [YouTube] Leadership and culture conversations for healthcare IT leaders — new episodes every week.Keep up to date on the latest in health IT:https://thisweekhealth.com/news/Key Points:00:16 Meet Tyler Barhydt: Cloud Transformation Leader01:03 Key Considerations for Cloud Strategy01:49 Board Engagement and Cost Transparency04:08 FinOps and Operational Readiness06:41 Navigating Industry Challenges15:33 Leadership InsightsX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

April 29, 2026: Bill Russell sits down with Jim Jacobs, President and CEO of MediQuant, to confront one of healthcare's most expensive and underappreciated problems: runaway application complexity. Jim makes the case that software rationalization isn't an IT to-do list item; it's a board-level imperative. With health systems carrying $60 million in unwanted software spend and cyber risks piling up in legacy systems that no one is maintaining, the urgency has never been higher. And with AI demanding clean, accessible data, the cost of delay is about to get a lot steeper.Key Points:03:01 Rationalization Playbook07:14 Simplicity Security Resilience11:02 Headless Software and Wrap UpKeep up to date on the latest in health IT:https://thisweekhealth.com/news/X: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

April 28, 2026: Female rivalry in the workplace is more than interpersonal drama — it's a culture problem with real consequences for teams, retention, and patient care. Dr. Amber Tichenor, organizational psychologist and author of “Behind Frenemy Lines”, joins Sarah Richardson to unpack the psychology behind workplace rivalry, why it's especially prevalent in nursing and other high-stakes environments, and what leaders can do to build cultures grounded in psychological safety, allyship, and mutual support.Keep up to date on the latest in health IT:https://thisweekhealth.com/news/Key Points:02:32 Why Women Rivalry Happens09:10 Self Love and Sisterhood Skills11:32 Psych Safety and Leader Playbook17:02 Brain Based Conflict and ClosingX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

April 24, 2026: In this conversation, healthcare tech entrepreneur Kristen Schmidt and her 11-year-old daughter Harper explore what it means to prepare the next generation for a world shaped by AI. Harper's definition of AI — insightful beyond her years — anchors a candid discussion about the growing gap between AI's rapid advancement and youth readiness. For healthcare IT leaders, the episode raises an urgent question: are we building the right foundation for the leaders who will inherit these systems?Keep up to date on the latest in health IT:https://thisweekhealth.com/news/Key Points:01:07 Teaching AI At School03:39 Raising Female AI Leaders12:20 Harper On Hollow AI17:36 Wrap Up And Call To ActionX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

April 16, 2026: Something big is changing at This Week Health, and it starts with this episode. Bill Russell sits down with Sarah Richardson to announce that Flourish, the beloved show Sarah has helmed since joining TWH, is joining the 229 Podcast. But this isn't a step back; it's a consolidation of purpose. Bill and Sarah unpack why simplifying to a single channel better serves the healthcare IT community, what listeners can expect going forward, and why the conversations that happened on Flourish aren't going away, just coming home.Keep up to date on the latest in health IT:https://thisweekhealth.com/news/Key Points:02:30 Flourish Joins 22908:06 Signal Reports And AI16:52 City Tour Plans21:55 Fundraising Rides EventsX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

April 3, 2026: Kory Hudson, Deputy CIO at University Health in San Antonio, Texas, and Lindsay Hudson, SVP of Client Partnerships at Nordic, join Bill Russell live from HIMSS to share how a candid assessment, a governance overhaul, and a return to scheduling best practice transformed patient access and unlocked millions in net revenue.Key Points:02:57 Back to Best Practice Scheduling04:08 Nordic Assessment and Key Gaps06:30 Foundation Rebuild and Change09:53 Early Results and CIO AdviceX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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 Shift03:30 Fraud Detection With Agentic AI07:17 Explainability, Private AI, And Governance11:26 Surprises, Cost Benefits, and Wrap UpX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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 PointsAccelerating Legacy Data Ingestion with AIMaking Unstructured Data ActionableBuilding a Healthcare “Time Machine”

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 Points07:26 What’s Broken for Agencies13:00 How Revuud Works19:33 Transparent Pricing and HiringX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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 MonitoringBuilding the Smart Hospital RoomComputer Vision and Early Patient Intervention

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-ThisWeekHealthKey Points:02:18 Migration vs Archiving Strategy05:49 Decommissioning Without Friction08:43 Data as an Asset X: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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 Email02:35 Why AI Is Gullible03:40 Email Threats Kill LeftX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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-ThisWeekHealthKey Points:01:32 Vive Event Takeaways06:33 Trust and Governance10:53 Evaluating New AI Vendors15:02 Patient AI and Access21:42 Personal AI Wins and WrapX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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-ThisWeekHealthKey Points:03:08 Epic Upgrades and Testing Pain04:47 Why Automation Matters07:20 SureTest Implementation Playbook12:00 Results Time and FTE Savings17:48 CIO Advice and Wrap UpX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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-ThisWeekHealthKey Points:06:20 Innovation Focus Now: AI Myth-Busting13:03 Scaling What Works and Adoption Barriers20:39 Access, Startup Reality Checks, and What’s NextX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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-ThisWeekHealthKey Points:04:43 CMIO 1.0 to 3.007:18 Skills for the AI Era10:05 Veena’s Informatics Journey18:24 AI Literacy and Workflow FitX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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-ThisWeekHealthKey Points:06:30 Executive AI Ambitions + Managing Expectations14:55 Building Enterprise AI Governance & Monitoring at Scale24:10 Measuring AI Impact: Adoption & Patient Experience30:25 Build vs Buy in Practice: Supporting Entrepreneurial Clinicians34:21 ROI, Transparency, and RegulationX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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-ThisWeekHealthKey Points:02:10 Do Nurses Have a Seat at the Table? 08:59 The Near-Future Nurse Workflow12:32 How to Get There: Strategy and Workflow IntegrationX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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-ThisWeekHealthKey Points:01:41 Optimum Healthcare's Costa Rica Initiative03:59 Selective Outsourcing Strategies07:39 Optimum's Career Path ProgramX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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-ThisWeekHealthKey Points:01:15 OpenAI & OpenClaw: Why “Always-On” Agents Are a Big Deal08:00 Agents as Employees: Identity, Access, Audit Trails, and Governance14:08 AI Pricing: Paying for Outcomes, Not Licenses20:53 Build vs Buy Comes Full CircleX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

May 4, 2026: Lisbeth Votruba, Chief Clinical Officer at AvaSure, joins Bill Russell and Drex DeFord on Newsday to celebrate Nurses Week with a fascinating look at where nursing has been, and where it's going. From Florence's data-driven legacy to today's AI-powered virtual care, Lisbeth shares why nursing turnover is declining, why certification rates are rising, and why she sees technology not as a threat but as a path back to old-fashioned, human-centered nursing care. Key Points:02:38 Nurses Week Origins and Trends05:56 Ambient Documentation Reality Check08:51 AI for Safety and Liability18:03 Nurses at the Table ClosingKeep up to date on the latest in health IT:https://thisweekhealth.com/news/X: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

April 27, 2026: Drex DeFord and Bill Russell are back on Newsday, and fresh off the 229 Summit, they're not pulling punches. Healthcare IT has a demand problem. Too many projects, not enough capacity, and an industry that's chronically bad at saying no. From the 229 Summit's sharpest takeaways to the Salesforce headless CRM announcement, the vl.js hack, and why Bill thinks Claude Code's "genesis key" is about to change everything, this episode covers the stories that matter most right now. If your project list is longer than your resources, this one is for you.Key Points:00:32 Summit takeaway priorities06:41 Build vs buy with AI10:49 Personal AI assistants speed16:56 Headless CRM future UX18:26 Security hacks fundamentalsKeep up to date on the latest in health IT:https://thisweekhealth.com/news/X: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

April 20, 2026: What happens when you layer AI onto broken processes without fixing them first? Angel Mena, MD, CMO of Symplr, joins Bill Russell, Drex DeFord, and Sarah Richardson on Newsday to answer that question with the kind of clinical candor only a practicing physician can bring. From ambient documentation to quality metrics to the credentialing chaos hiding inside every health system, this conversation exposes the gap between AI's promise and what healthcare leaders must do to close it before the opportunity slips away.Key Points:00:37 Clinicians and Tech Today07:44 Beyond the AI Hype14:49 Admin Burden Credentialing18:44 Governance Change and WrapKeep up to date on the latest in health IT:https://thisweekhealth.com/news/X: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

April 13, 2026: Jacob Hansen, Chief Product and Technology Officer at AvaSure, joins Bill, Drex, and Sarah on Newsday for a conversation about the data governance battles quietly reshaping AI. From who owns AI model improvements derived from a health system's environment to whether EHRs should have control over how that data is used, Jacob pulls no punches. The conversation also tackles the evolving CIO title, the future of computer science careers in an AI-driven world, and why nursing may be one of the most AI-resilient roles in healthcare.Key Points:01:07 CIO to CTDO Shift06:52 Data Ownership and Governance13:24 AI Transparency and Governance21:00 Careers and AI FutureKeep up to date on the latest in health IT:https://thisweekhealth.com/news/X: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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 Realities07:29 Advice for Staff During M&A11:17 Stryker Hack and Cyber Resilience19:21 AI and Healthcare Jobs29:38 Patient Experience ReimaginedX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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 Security04:25 MIT AI Strategy Class06:55 HIMSS Takeaways and Trends10:40 Conference Value and Wrap UpX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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 Tower06:31 Future Proofing and Network10:38 Safety Systems and Closing AdviceX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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 PointsAI Arms Race in CybersecurityWhere AI Delivers the Fastest ROIWorkforce Disruption and Leadership ResponsibilityVendor Pricing Pressure and Infrastructure CostsThe Future of Build vs Buy in Healthcare IT

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 era18:41 Patients, liability, and the road aheadGolf Tournament Registration:  https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealth

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-changeGolf Tournament Registration:  https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealthX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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 Cases09:55 Epic's Code Red Moment14:54 The Future of AI in Healthcare33:11 Conclusion and Final ThoughtsGolf Tournament Registration:  https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealthX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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 Bots16:20 Common Spirit and Conifer Health Solutions19:04 The Future of AI in Healthcare29:28 Conclusion and Final ThoughtsGolf Tournament Registration:  https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealthX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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-ThisWeekHealthKey Points:06:07 The Call Center Transformation11:41 Epic Downtime During Business Hours16:16 AI in Healthcare: Managing Innovations21:16 Project Management and DevOps at South Coast Health26:25 Closing Thoughts and Super Bowl PredictionsX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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 IT10:17 Cybersecurity and Operational Focus17:17 EHR Systems and Operational Efficiency23:11 Hostage Crisis and Final ThoughtsGolf Tournament Registration:  https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/686801-ThisWeekHealthX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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-ThisWeekHealthKey Points:01:07 Challenges in Patient Access05:28 The Evolving Role of the CMIO06:57 Success Stories and InnovationsX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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-ThisWeekHealthKey Points:02:23 ROI and Client Success Stories06:10 AI in Healthcare Testing08:15 Wine Talk and Personal StoriesX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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-ThisWeekHealthKey Points:02:20 JPM Conference Insights07:07 CEO and CFO Perspectives13:54 Application Rationalization Challenges22:40 Conclusion and Final ThoughtsX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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-ThisWeekHealthKey Points:06:46 AI in Healthcare: The AI Scribe Example10:23 Learning from Other Industries18:15 Coordination Without Consensus24:01 Mindset Shifts for Healthcare LeadersX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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 Lessons04:13 JP Morgan Conference Highlights16:35 Operational Challenges in Healthcare22:11 Security Concerns and Future Outlook

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-ThisWeekHealthKey Points:04:14 Regulatory Innovations and Trust Models14:46 Consumer Health Information and AI Fiduciaries23:07 Healthcare System Strategies and Future Directions38:04 Closing Remarks and Future EngagementX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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-ThisWeekHealthKey Points:03:32 Challenges in EHR Data Migration12:03 Innovations in Just-in-Time Training15:57 Intelligent Document Management18:37 Final Thoughts and Advice for CIOsX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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-ThisWeekHealthKey Points:05:00 ChatGPT Health Announcement17:40 Personalized GPT and Analytics in Healthcare22:05 Wearable Health Tech and Personal Health Records25:35 Community Events and LinkedIn Series

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-ThisWeekHealthKey Points:03:26 Scaling Personal Touch in Large Healthcare Systems12:55 The Importance of Empathy in Healthcare19:35 The Role of Standardization and Respecting Variations22:09 Challenges and Strategies in AI Adoption37:06 Lightning Round: Personal InsightsX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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-ThisWeekHealthKey Points:01:27 Signature Healthcare's Core Challenges03:58 MEDITECH's Impact on Clinicians06:25 Adoption and Advanced Features12:18 Future of Interoperability and ConclusionX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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 202614:18 Staffing and Workforce Implications21:10 Epic's Legal TroublesX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

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-ThisWeekHealthKey Points:05:14 The Green Button Initiative09:29 Ambient Listening in Clinical Settings15:32 Stanford's Unique Approach to Innovation26:03 ChatEHR: A Game Changer34:09 Capturing Patient Stories with TechnologyX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer