Nordic Chief Medical Officer Craig Joseph, MD, talks with Farhan Ahmad and Dr. Jon Keevil, co-founders of HealthDecision, a company that provided clinical diagnostic decision-making tools. Their discussion centers around how they balanced Farhan’s software expertise with Jon’s clinical experience to make a product that provided solutions, while also being accessible and simply designed for healthcare providers. They also talk about the concept of sludge versus nudge, the challenge of interpreting medical guidelines, and how using data to inform patients can enhance decision making and outcomes.

Show Notes:

[00:00] Intros

[07:32] The beginnings of HealthDecision

[14:32] Inside the cardiovascular risk score

[19:46] Combining software with clinical knowledge

[21:38] Sludge versus Nudge

[27:05] Designing for different audiences

[29:07] Interpreting medical guidelines

[36:00] What Jon and Farhan are doing now

[38:46] Well-designed things that bring Jon and Farhan joy

[44:04] Outros

For more information, including a full transcript, click here

Nordic Chief Medical Officer Craig Joseph, MD, talks with Josh Liu, MD, co-founder of SeamlessMD, a technology platform designed to digitize patient care journeys. Their conversation centers around Dr. Liu’s background, his completion of medical school but not residency, and how he got bit by the startup bug. They also discuss the importance of clinician buy-in, the power of simple solutions, and the secret sauce to create engaging social media content.

Show Notes:

[00:00] Intros

[01:49] Dr. Liu’s background

[06:55] How he got bit by the startup bug

[11:35] The goal of SeamlessMD

[21:55] Gaining insights by simply walking around a hospital

[23:34] The value of harnessing real-world experience in design.

[31:50] Clinician input on Seamless implementation

[34:54] Secrets of social media success

[39:32] Dr. Liu’s favorite well-designed things

[44:04] Outros

For more information, including a full transcript, click here.

Nordic Chief Medical Officer Craig Joseph, MD, chats with Susan Snedaker, Chief Information Officer at El Rio Health and author of Renovating Healthcare IT: Building the Foundation for Digital Transformation. They discuss her work at El Rio Health, the challenges of implementing features like single sign-on, and designing technologies for a wide gamut of users. They also chat about the importance of clarifying language when working with others, training teams to identify problems rather than just deliver ticket requests, and the importance of leaving one’s comfort zone to get a new perspective.

Show Notes:

[00:00] Intros

[01:05] Susan’s background in healthcare

[06:33] Unexpected roadblocks in implementing new features

[13:40] Clarifying language in team problem solving

[21:48] Training problem solvers, not ticket-takers

[37:19] Leaving comfort zones to gain perspective

For more information, including a full transcript, click here.

Nordic Chief Medical Officer Craig Joseph, MD, talks with Joyce Lee, MD, MPH, associate chief medical information officer for pediatric research at Michigan Medicine. They discuss how a sabbatical spent in Silicon Valley shaped Dr. Lee’s thoughts on the intersection of design and medicine, the value of a physician-builder program for health systems, and her experiences running patient-centered design workshops.

Show Notes:

[00:00] Intros

[01:47] Dr. Lee’s background and sabbatical research

[07:45] What systems design means

[11:40] The parallels between quality improvement and design

[15:43] Physician-builder programs

[24:12] Patient-centered design workshops

[29:11] Dr. Joseph’s background in design thinking

[37:29] Well-designed things that bring Dr. Lee joy

For more information, including a transcript, click here.

Nordic Chief Medical Officer Craig Joseph, MD, talks with Founder of Health Collaboratory and Executive Director at Cancer 101, Sarah Krüg. They discuss Sarah’s work on things such as The Magic Wand Project, designing in the healthcare space to improve trust, and doing the “Patient-Doctor Tango.”

Show Notes:

[00:00] Intros

[01:15] Sarah Krüg’s background in healthcare

[02:08] The Magic Wand Project

[13:07] The patient shark tank

[20:56] Performing the Patient-Doctor Tango

[22:27] Design fails

[28:47] Developing Healthcare Confessions

For more information, including a full transcript, click here.

Nordic Chief Medical Officer Craig Joseph, MD, chats with Bon Secours Mercy Health Executive in Residence Mark Townsend, MD. They discuss Dr. Townsend’s path from internal medicine and cardiology to his current role as a health system administrator, as well as his work with emerging healthcare startups, balancing cybersecurity and customization within the electronic health record, and what it means to “fail forward.”

Show Notes:

[00:00] Intros

[00:53] Dr. Townsend’s background

[06:29] Working on Mobilizing a Million Hearts

[13:32] Challenging assumptions in product development

[16:29] Offering constructive feedback

[24:36] Innovating while respecting governance

[37:59] Things so well designed, they bring Dr. Townsend joy

For more information, including a full transcript, click here.

Nordic Chief Medical Officer Craig Joseph, MD, chats with Gary Kaplan, MD, CEO emeritus of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health. They discuss how Dr. Kaplan spearheaded a revolution in the patient experience at Virginia Mason, how a car company headquartered on the other side of the world inspired transformational change, and how his organization gained from openness and honesty in the face of adversity.

Show Notes:

[00:00] Intros

[01:40] Dr. Kaplan’s early years as CEO of Virginia Mason

[07:18] Pivoting from a physician-centered organization to a patient-centered organization

[13:30] Learning from the Toyota Production System

[27:29] Overcoming and growing from tragedy

[33:38] Implementing the Virginia Mason Production System

[40:25] Continued partnership with Toyota

[45:08] Dr. Kaplan’s favorite well-designed things

For a full transcript and more information, click here.

To learn more about Dr. Kaplan and Virginia Mason's journey, check out the book Transforming Health Care - Virginia Mason Medical Center's Pursuit of the Perfect Patient Experience by Charles Kenney. Click here to find out more

Nordic Chief Medical Officer Craig Joseph, MD, chats with David K Butler, MD, interim CMIO at KeyCare and founder of Calyx Partners. They discuss the history of early electronic health record (EHR) implementations, Dr. Butler’s journey from physician to clinical informaticist, and how to win over skeptical clinicians during implementations. They also talk about taking inspiration from other industries for future transformation, striking the balance between customization and control, and building trust within digital solutions.

Show Notes:

[00:00] Intros

[02:11] Dr. Butler’s background

[03:42] Internal medicine vs pediatrics

[05:36] Going from paper to pixels

[10:20] Dr. Butler’s “aha” moment

[15:38] Gamification of the EHR

[19:20] Balancing standardization and customization

[31:05] What it means to be a virtualist

[36:50] Handling change within the EHR

[39:55] Dr. Butler’s favorite well-designed things

For more details, including a full transcript, click here.

Nordic Chief Medical Officer Craig Joseph, MD, chats with two doctors from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, neonatologist and biomedical informaticist Kevin Dufendach, MD, and CMIO Andy Spooner, MD. Their discussion centers around their early days in the NICU, why so many pediatricians end up also working as informaticists, and the role of AI in reducing documentation.

Show Notes:

[00:00] Intros

[05:30] The early days of clinical informatics

[09:02] The exhaustion discount

[16:20] The future of progress notes

[21:32] The promise and perils of AI in healthcare

[32:36] The differences between informatics specialists and generalists

[39:14] Why pediatricians think like informaticians

[40:48] Well-designed things that bring Dr. Dufendach and Dr. Spooner joy

For a full transcript and more info, click here.

Nordic Chief Medical Officer Craig Joseph, MD, chats with Lalita Abhyankar, MD, family physician and clinic medical director at Carbon Health. They discuss her medical background, the evolving mission of Carbon Health, and her journey in understanding change management. They also discuss the emotions behind clinical care, the similarities and differences between primary care and urgent care, and how doctors can think more like engineers while still maintaining and growing relationships with their patients.

Show Notes:

[00:00] Intros

[01:25] Dr. Abhyankar’s background

[07:05] The mission of Carbon Health

[08:45] The overlaps between primary and urgent care

[14:05] Working with software developers and engineers in healthcare

[21:20] Learning about change management

[24:18] Drinking from the firehose of data and technology

[28:06] Relationship building

[33:10] Things that are so well designed, they bring Dr. Abhyankar joy

For the full transcript and more info, click here.