The 229 Podcast

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 IT

10:17 Cybersecurity and Operational Focus

17:17 EHR Systems and Operational Efficiency

23:11 Hostage Crisis and Final Thoughts

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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.

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Key Points:

• 01:07 Challenges in Patient Access
• 05:28 The Evolving Role of the CMIO
• 06:57 Success Stories and Innovations

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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.

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Key Points:

• 02:23 ROI and Client Success Stories
• 06:10 AI in Healthcare Testing
• 08:15 Wine Talk and Personal Stories

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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.

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Key Points:

• 02:20 JPM Conference Insights
• 07:07 CEO and CFO Perspectives
• 13:54 Application Rationalization Challenges
• 22:40 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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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.

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Key Points:

• 06:46 AI in Healthcare: The AI Scribe Example
• 10:23 Learning from Other Industries
• 18:15 Coordination Without Consensus
• 24:01 Mindset Shifts for Healthcare Leaders

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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 Lessons
• 04:13 JP Morgan Conference Highlights
• 16:35 Operational Challenges in Healthcare
• 22:11 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.

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Key Points:

• 04:14 Regulatory Innovations and Trust Models
• 14:46 Consumer Health Information and AI Fiduciaries
• 23:07 Healthcare System Strategies and Future Directions
• 38:04 Closing Remarks and Future Engagement

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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.

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Key Points:

• 03:32 Challenges in EHR Data Migration
• 12:03 Innovations in Just-in-Time Training
• 15:57 Intelligent Document Management
• 18:37 Final Thoughts and Advice for CIOs

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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.

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Key Points:

• 05:00 ChatGPT Health Announcement
• 17:40 Personalized GPT and Analytics in Healthcare
• 22:05 Wearable Health Tech and Personal Health Records
• 25:35 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.

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Key Points:

• 03:26 Scaling Personal Touch in Large Healthcare Systems
• 12:55 The Importance of Empathy in Healthcare
• 19:35 The Role of Standardization and Respecting Variations
• 22:09 Challenges and Strategies in AI Adoption
• 37:06 Lightning Round: Personal Insights

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