Designing for Health

On this episode of Designing for Health, Nordic’s Chief Medical Officer, Craig Joseph, MD, is joined by Dr. Samuel Sears, a psychologist who has spent more than three decades embedded within cardiology teams. Together, they explore the often-overlooked psychological impacts of cardiac disease, implantable defibrillators, and other life-saving technologies.

Dr. Sears discusses how patients cope with fear, uncertainty, and major health events, why movement and activity can serve as powerful indicators of well-being, and how healthcare organizations can better integrate mental health into cardiovascular care. The conversation highlights the importance of validating patient experiences, overcoming fear-based disengagement, and designing healthcare systems that support both physical and emotional recovery.

Show Notes:

[00:00] Intros

[02:13] The Rise of Implantable Defibrillators

[06:30] Solving the Gap Between Patient and Clinician Perspectives

[10:50] Recognizing Sentinel Events and Fear-Based Disengagement

[15:03] Why Cardiology Needs More Mental Health Professionals

[24:17] The Future of Patient Data, AI, and Symptom Tracking

[30:15] Technology, Trust, and the Value of Recovery

[37:48] Sam’s favorite well-designed thing

[39:26] Outros

For a full transcript, click here

On this episode of Designing for Health, Nordic’s Chief Medical Officer, Craig Joseph, MD, sits down with Carla Haack, MD, VP of Financial Informatics and Perioperative Informatics at Emory, to explore a role that bridges clinical care, healthcare finance, operations, and technology. Together, they discuss how denials, prior authorizations, reimbursement processes, and electronic medical record workflows impact both clinicians and patients.

Dr. Haack also shares her unexpected journey from surgeon to healthcare innovator, offering practical insights into breaking down organizational silos, improving revenue cycle processes, and designing technology that reduces friction across the care continuum. From denials management and revenue cycle optimization to EMR implementation lessons and clinician well-being, Dr. Haack explains how thoughtful process and technology design can alleviate suffering far beyond the bedside.

Show Notes:

[00:00] Intros

[02:30] From Future Surgeon to Informatics Leader

[04:38] The Pandemic's Impact

[06:17] Understanding Documentation, DRGs, and Reimbursement

[15:14] Prior Authorizations and Revenue Cycle Frustrations

[17:13] Cracking the CPT Code Mismatch Problem

[24:26] Breaking Down Silos Across the Care Continuum

[37:30] Translating Between Clinical and Administrative Teams

[41:05] Carla’s favorite well-designed thing

[42:18] Outros

For a full transcript, click here

Craig Joseph, MD is joined by Matt Hays, Ph.D., a learning scientist and cognitive science expert at Amplifire, to explore what decades of research reveal about how people really learn, retain information, and apply it in the real world. Drawing from evidence-based learning science, Matt challenges common assumptions about training, feedback, and knowledge retention, especially in healthcare environments where performance and patient safety matter most.

They also discuss desirable difficulties, confidence-based learning, delayed feedback, spaced repetition, and why traditional classroom training often fails to create lasting behavior change. The conversation also examines the role of AI as a performance support tool, the difference between learning and doing, and practical strategies healthcare organizations can use to improve training outcomes and reduce errors.

Show Notes:

[00:00] Intros

[02:42] Why attendance doesn't equal learning

[05:29] The Power of Desirable Difficulties

[10:50] Why Delayed Feedback Improves Performance

[15:13] Confidence-Based Learning and Hidden Knowledge Gaps

[20:51] Designing Better Healthcare Training Programs

[24:27] Applying Learning Science to EHR Training

[30:07] AI, Performance Support, and the Future of Learning

[37:51] Matt’s favorite well-designed thing

[40:22] Outros

For a full transcript, click here

On this episode of Designing for Health, Dr. Craig Joseph is joined by Dr. Bimal Desai, Vice President and Chief Health Informatics Officer at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Together, they explore the implications of AI on medical education, clinical decision-making, and the future role of physicians.

Primary care physicians are facing growing demands to improve patient access, reduce administrative burden, and maintain high-quality care, all while navigating workforce shortages and increasing complexity. As healthcare organizations search for solutions, many are turning to technology. But sometimes the biggest gains come from redesigning workflows, empowering care teams, and eliminating inefficiencies that have become accepted as part of everyday practice.

On today’s episode of Designing for Health, Nordic Chief Medical Officer Craig Joseph talks with Dr. Bart Kaczmarek family physician and healthcare innovator based in Windsor, Ontario. They discuss how Dr. Kaczmarek transformed a traditional paper-based family medicine practice into a highly efficient, team-driven care model that serves nearly 4,000 patients while maintaining same-day access.

On this episode of the Designing for Health podcast, Nordic Chief Medical Officer Craig Joseph, MD, talks with Stacie Stoner, Chief Growth Officer at CareTalk Health. They discuss how consumer experience principles can be applied to healthcare to create more intuitive and accessible virtual care experiences. They also explore strategies for reducing friction for both patients and providers, improving telehealth adoption among Medicare populations, and closing preventive care gaps through proactive care navigation and follow-up.

In this episode, Craig Joseph sits down with Robert Slepin, Chief Digital Officer at SE Health, to explore lessons learned from a decades-long healthcare leadership career spanning vendor organizations, provider systems, academic medical centers, and international healthcare environments. Drawing on experience as a CDO, program leader, and advisor, Robert shares practical insights on navigating complex healthcare transformations, building resilient teams, and creating clarity in large organizations.

In this episode, Dr. Bonnie Hartstein Shweiki shares how an unconventional career path from military service to pediatric emergency medicine and healthcare leadership shaped her approach to quality, safety, and system design. Drawing on her experience leading large-scale transformation in military medicine, she explores how frustration can fuel innovation, why culture matters more than policy, and what healthcare can learn from high-reliability organizations.

In this episode, Sarah Hanbridge shares her journey from bedside nursing in the early 1990s to leading large-scale digital transformation across the NHS. She explores how clinical frustration sparked innovation, why data visualization became a turning point for operational change, and how collaboration not technology alone drives meaningful outcomes.