The 229 Podcast

July 16, 2025: Aaron Neinstein, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Notable Health, explores breaking down the barriers to the patient experience with AI. The conversation examines the human side of AI implementation and how leaders can address workforce fears while ensuring automation enhances rather than replaces care delivery. How do you shift from thinking about AI as labor replacement to embracing what Neinstein calls "scalable privilege"—democratizing access to high-quality healthcare for everyone? This episode unpacks the operational friction driving healthcare worker burnout and presents a practical vision for how intelligent automation can bridge the gap between what care providers want to deliver and what the current system allows.

05:57 Customer Innovations and Success Stories

13:12 Enterprise-Level Transformation 

16:05 Organizational Change Management

25:11 Speed Round Questions\

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July 11, 2025: Mick Coady, CTO at Armis, tackles a problem that has been haunting healthcare IT for decades: you can't protect what you don't know you have. The conversation reveals how hospitals still rely on manual processes to track everything from IV pumps to imaging equipment, often discovering critical vulnerabilities only when it's too late. What's the real cost when imaging machines sit idle, losing over $26,000 per hour, or when "good" IV pumps hide in closets while staff struggle with failing equipment? The discussion explores how healthcare teams can finally move beyond overwhelming alert fatigue to focus on what truly threatens patient care.

02:55 Challenges in Medical Device Security

08:53 Business Context and Risk Management

11:16 Asset Lifecycle and Utilization

13:51 Real-World Examples and Stories

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July 10, 2025: Christopher Scanzera, Interim CIO at Lurie Children's Hospital, and Judy Kirby, Executive Recruiter at Kirby Partners, join Bill for a discussion around interim roles. With 53% of sitting healthcare CIOs having been in their roles for only three years, what Bill dubs “the great CIO musical chairs,” the conversation dives into the critical differences between interim and permanent leadership roles. What unique qualities does an interim leader need to succeed when they have just weeks, not months, to build relationships and drive results? The conversation explores what it really takes to transition from interim to permanent leadership in today's rapidly evolving technology landscape.

 

01:21 The Interim Leadership Landscape

07:24 Building Organizational Alignment

25:11 Compensation and Workload for Interim CIOs

28:40 Preparing for Full-Time CIO Role

 

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July 9, 2025: Todd Barton, AVP, Enterprise Sales Engineering at Rubrik, and PV SubbaRao, SVP of Global Healthcare and Life Sciences from Rackspace, reveal how they're revolutionizing healthcare's approach to cyber resilience through their groundbreaking partnership. The conversation delves deep into the concept of Isolated Recovery Environments (IRE) and the "Minimum Viable Hospital" - but what exactly does it mean to operate at bare minimum while maintaining patient care, and how do you determine what systems are truly essential when every second counts? As healthcare organizations grapple with doing more with less, these experts explore how proper cyber recovery planning can actually unlock 20-25% cost savings that can be reinvested into the innovations hospitals need. 

05:04 Preemptive Recovery 

10:21 Minimum Viable Hospital and IRE

20:21 Cost and Productivity Optimization

July 3, 2025: Alan Smith, SVP and CIO of Lifepoint Health, joins Bill for a discussion on the top challenges facing CIOs. How do you balance immediate system stability when your organization is built through constant acquisitions? Al discusses his approach to the "CIO escape room" scenarios that define modern healthcare IT, from major partner outages to the ongoing tension between cloud-first strategies and financial realities. As healthcare organizations grapple with cost pressures while demanding more from their IT departments, Alan reveals how LifePoint navigates these competing forces and what it takes to build resilient systems in an industry where failure isn't an option.

04:57 CIO Escape Room

14:14 The Importance of Inquisitiveness

17:31 Strategies in Virtual Leadership

26:12 Advice for Future Healthcare IT Leaders

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July 1, 2025: Sue Schade, Principal at StarBridge Advisors, sits down with Brian Sterud, VP of IT, CIO, and CISO of Faith Regional Health Services. Brian tackles a pressing question facing healthcare leaders today: how do we regulate AI without killing innovation? His perspective on finding the right balance between safety and progress offers valuable insights as the industry navigates uncharted territory. The conversation reveals how rural health systems face unique operational challenges, from patients driving three hours for care to IT staff covering vast geographic territories. Brian shares details about an innovative college partnership program designed to address workforce shortages by combining education with hands-on experience. 

01:38 Challenges of a Rural Health System

06:11 Balancing CIO and CISO Roles

08:02 Addressing Workforce Challenges

13:05 Navigating Regulatory Challenges

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June 26, 2025: Michael Han, MD, Enterprise CMIO and VP of MultiCare Health System, discusses his transition from the operating room to the boardroom. He argues that the path forward isn't through automating clinical decisions, but through revolutionizing call centers, scheduling, prior authorizations, and referrals. Michael reveals how ambient clinical documentation must evolve beyond simple note-taking into a treasure trove of unstructured data that can drive actions across the entire care continuum—from pre-visit chart preparation to post-visit care coordination. The conversation explores how leaders establish credibility as they transition from the operating room to the boardroom.

02:43 Impact of Ambient Clinical Documentation

05:51 AI and Large Language Models in Healthcare

10:27 The Role of CMIO in Digital Transformation

15:05 Leadership and Credibility in Healthcare

24:51 Speed Round: Personal Insights

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June 24, 2025: Mathew Moss, SVP and CIO at New England Donor Services, joins Sarah to discuss the amazing stories and stubborn challenges in the world of organ donation. When hospitals process over 100,000 death referrals annually, how do cutting-edge systems determine which cases have life-saving potential? The conversation delves into the sobering reality that less than 50% of organ donors are registered, leading to hundreds of preventable deaths on waiting lists, while exploring how machine learning and real-time data streaming are revolutionizing a field where every minute counts. As Mathew shares the emotional weight of working with families on the worst day of their lives and the rush of innovating with technology that enables organs to be pumped outside the body for extended viability, listeners gain insight into a world where compassion meets precision engineering.

03:13 Technology Integration in Organ Donation

08:30 The Emotional and Logistical Side of Donating

12:06 Community Outreach and Education

17:46 Future Innovations and Standout Stories

23:37 Lightning Round

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June 23, 2025: Chris Plummer, Senior Cybersecurity Architect from Dartmouth Health, discusses the realities of defending healthcare systems against sophisticated threats. Chris shares his path from childhood computer enthusiast to cybersecurity leader, including the surprising story of how he discovered a major Google security flaw that made national headlines. Why do over 6,000 hospitals still fight cyber battles independently when other sectors have found strength through consolidation? Chris and Drex examine whether AI can truly become the force multiplier cybersecurity teams desperately need, or if current limitations keep it relegated to assistant roles. From burnout stories to breakthrough moments, this discussion reveals both the struggles and innovations shaping healthcare cybersecurity today.

03:19 Career Beginnings and Challenges

10:39 The Role of AI in Cybersecurity

21:46 Building Networks and Information Sharing

23:59 The Google Bug Story

28:20 The Blue Sky Viral Post

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June 19, 2025: In this webinar re-run Jill McCormick, Co-Founder and EVP of Design and Product Development at Pixel Health, and Daniel Small, Vice President of Digital Services at Hartford HealthCare, discuss the process of creating a world-class patient experience. The conversation explores Hartford HealthCare's bold approach to reimagining digital and physical spaces, where defining the experience vision precedes technology decisions. Through human-centered design methodologies, they navigate the complex challenges of aligning stakeholders, excavating outdated technologies, and creating a "digital campus" that extends care beyond facility walls. 

 

02:55 Improving Patient and Provider Experiences

08:06 The Importance of Intentional Design

13:12 Aligning Vision and Technology

25:07 Human-Centered Design in Healthcare

43:36 Q&A and Final Thoughts

 

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