Improve Healthcare

Jamie Schanbaum was a University of Texas student when she contracted meningitis in 2008. After two days in the hospital, Jamie was diagnosed with meningitis, and given only a twenty percent chance of survival. Jamie ultimately was faced with the difficult decision to amputate her lower legs and all fingers.

Today, Jamie is a passionate advocate for vaccination for meningitis. In 2009, then-Texas Governor Rick Perry signed the Jamie Schanbaum Act, mandating meningitis vaccination for college students. With her mother, Jamie founded the J.A.M.I.E. Group (Joint Advocacy of Meningococcal Information & Education), supporting continued work toward meningitis prevention. 

In addition to her advocacy, Jamie is an accomplished cyclist, having competed with the U.S. Paralympic Cycling Team. Jamie works in sales and currently lives with her husband, Chris, and their dog, Billie Jean, in Austin, Texas.

 Dr. Iriny Salib  who is a vaccines researcher and educator, works at GSK as a Field Medical Liaison supporting vaccines. Passionate about immunizations, she uses her vast experience and medical knowledge to educate, inform  and simplify medical concepts. She works towards helping all individuals have access to CDC recommended vaccines and immunization information.  Dr. Salib earned her doctorate of pharmacy degree from Temple University in Philadelphia and has worked in various clinical pharmacy settings before coming to GSK in 2011.

Learn more The J.A.M.I.E Group,
- Ask2BSure Campaign
- CDC Information on Meningitis B

Cody Hall is the Founder and CEO of Octiva Healthcare. Cody has a diverse background in military, technology, and healthcare making him capable of leading organizations and teams effectively. Cody led customer service and Human Resource teams from early-stage startups to industry-leading tech giants, creating benchmark customer experiences and employee journeys for teams, large and small.

Following his time with larger organizations, he set off to impact innovative companies, starting and assisting multiple startups in developing world-class teams, customer experiences, and technology workflows.

After years in technology, Cody was recruited to join the Titanium Healthcare Team as the Chief Compliance Officer. Cody led the company’s cultural development, policy and refined the organization’s human capital management abilities. Cody’s time at Titanium inspired the creation of Octiva in 2020.

Learn more at Octiva Healthcare

Tom joined Engooden Health as President and CEO after two years as a member of the board. Prior to Engooden, for nearly 20 years Tom was CEO of Curaspan, a discharge planning technology company that he co-founded in 1999 and sold in 2016. Before Curaspan, Tom held multiple business development roles at American Hearing Centers, Thermo Electron Corporation, and Specialty Chemicals Business, a division of Monsanto.

Learn more at Engooden Health 

Beth Cavenaugh, RN, BSN, CHPN, is a certified hospice and palliative care nurse. With over 25 years in internal medicine, short stay surgery, and both home and inpatient hospice, she understands firsthand that compassion in health care can be elusive.

In collaboration with Dr. Dominic Vachon, an expert in the science of compassion, and MJ Murray Vachon, a counselor with over 40 thousand hours of experience, Beth helps nurses develop, strengthen, and maintain compassion in their career.

Compassion, patient autonomy, and transparent communication are at the core of Beth’s care philosophy. Her first book, “Some Light at the End: Your Bedside Guide for Peaceful Palliative and Hospice Care” provides personal stories, tender candor, and a touch of humor to help terminal patients understand the dying process.

Beth is also a reiki master, a four-mile hiker, and a resistant tea drinker. Learn more at https://www.bethcavenaugh.com/

In this episode Michelle Troseth and Dr. Tracy Christopherson share insights into their seminal work on addressing burnout in healthcare.

Michelle Troseth and Dr. Tracy Christopherson are co-founders of MissingLogic®. They help healthcare organizations and healthcare leaders combat burnout through the power of a framework driven approach founded on Polarity Intelligence™. The core of their work is leading healthcare organizations through transformational change that results in the best place to give and receive care, and for leaders to live their best lives both personally and professionally.

Learn more at MissingLogic®

Also have a listen to their fabulous podcast Healthcare's Missing Logic

Download the FREE resource The 3 Biggest Mistakes Healthcare Leaders Make When Trying To Achieve Work Life Balance

In this episode, I sat down with a technology leader Sandeep Akkaraju and physician leader Joseph Minardi to discuss point of care diagnostic imaging.

Prior to founding Exo, Sandeep was Founder and President of Jyve Inc. (acquired by a major semiconductor corporation at an exit valuation of more than $60M). Previously, he was CEO of IntelliSense, a leading provider of micro-mechanical integrated circuits (MEMS) and nanotechnology-based software and solutions. Under his guidance, IntelliSense expanded its physical presence into China and India and its sales presence into 30+ countries. Sandeep helped the company rapidly grow from a startup to its eventual acquisition at a valuation of $750 million. In 2003, he led the re-acquisition of IntelliSense from Corning.

Sandeep holds a B.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology, an M.S. from LSU and an M.B.A. from INSEAD, France.

Dr. Joseph Minardi a Professor and Director at West Virginia University’s Medicine Center for Point-of-Care Ultrasound. He is also the Chief of the Division of Emergency and Clinical Ultrasound.

Learn more about Exo 

In this episode, I sat down with movers and shakers in Clinical Data Management!

Brian Foy, Chief Product Officer of Q-Centrix

Brian Foy joined Q-Centrix in 2014 to lead product development, by 2017 he led both the product and engineering teams. As Chief Product Officer, Foy led the development and launch of the only enterprise clinical data management software on the market. The  Enterprise Clinical Data Management (eCDM™) combines technology and expertise to enable healthcare systems to capture, submit, and analyze clinical data from varying service lines throughout the hospital as an enterprise.

Prior to joining Q-Centrix, Foy has spent most of his career with strategic accountability for software applications in the health information technology (HIT) space. At TransUnion Healthcare and later, at Altegra Health, Foy led a Healthcare Analytics application through an acquisition while overseeing the addition of key quality reporting and care management features. At Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois (HCSC), Foy oversaw the implementation of a care and condition management reporting system, which fulfilled a key gap in that company’s care management product offering. Foy has an M.A. in Health Services Administration from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a B.A. in Economics from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.

Sara Bienvenu, Manager, Clinical Quality Growth, Q-Centrix

Sara is the Manager of Clinical Quality Growth for Q-Centrix Advisory Solutions serving to grow services which support facilities in Quality data management, Performance Improvement and Infection Prevention. Sara is a registered nurse and holds a Masters of Science in Nursing: Healthcare Systems Management degree with over 25 years of nursing experience. Sara is CIC certified with more than 10 years in infection prevention and has worked to promote patient safety at acute-care and ambulatory settings. 

Before joining Q-Centrix in September 2018, Sara served as corporate Infection Prevention Manager at a large 168 acute care hospital system where she developed and led the training for standardized infection prevention workflow within an IP solution. Sara also developed and managed an organization-wide public reporting validation program for health care-associated infections (HAIs).

 Learn more about Q-Centrix

In this special episode, I sat down with Men's Health and Wellness Coach Dennis Procopio. He shares his history and some really insightful ideas and methods for wellness in a stressful world!

Dennis is the Founder of Man-UP Life Coaching and focuses on men's health in terms of mindfulness, building positive relationships, and working through mental health issues from trauma. Dennis says that “His single biggest passion in life is to help other men see the value in themselves and to achieve the success that has so often eluded them.” His 30 plus years of experience and approach of focusing on the root causes of his clients issues have help them achieve their goals and him achieve high success.

Learn more at https://www.manuplifecoaching.com/

In this episode, we hear from Ari Tulla ;  he is passionate about developing innovative solutions that improve peoples’ lives, and is a proponent of food as medicine. 

Ari Tulla is a San Francisco-based entrepreneur and the co-founder & CEO of the smart nutrition service, Elo, whose mission is to transform food from the leading cause of disease to medicine. Ari is also an active angel investor and advisor with a portfolio of 40 startups, including Virta Health, Good Eggs, and Ōura. Previously, Ari was the CEO of Quest Analytics, the market leader in doctor data and network management. When not working or co-parenting his two young children with his wife, Ari spends his time on the steep cliffs, powdery slopes, and big cold waves that only Northern California can offer.

Ari has shared details as well as a promotion for Improve Healthcare podcast users in the U.S.

Improve Healthcare does not endorse this or any products, its claims or validity . The above promotion is shared on behalf of Elo and not Improve Healthcare nor its creator/host.

Sanjeev serves as the President and Chief Operating Officer at LeanTaaS, the leading health care predictive analytics company based in Silicon Valley. LeanTaaS has an expanding customer base and is currently working with over 490 hospitals across 125 health systems with remarkable success. Sanjeev co-authored a book published by Forbes - "Better Healthcare Through Math", has been featured on CNBC, and has been named one of the top 100 entrepreneurs in Healthcare.

Before LeanTaaS, Sanjeev was Google’s first Head of Product Marketing, and led three successful startups - CEO at Aloqa (acquired by Motorola), VP Products & Marketing at TellMe Networks (acquired by Microsoft) and Founder & CEO at College feed (acquired by AfterCollege). 

Sanjeev graduated with BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT. He started his career at McKinsey & Company and Cisco Systems before joining Google. Sanjeev has been named by Becker's Hospital Review as one of the top entrepreneurs innovating in Healthcare.

Listeners can learn more about LeanTaas and the fabulous work that they are doing at LeanTaaS.com

Checkout Sanjeev's book Better Healthcare Through Math