The Beat

About Ryan Weber:

Ryan Weber is a solutions consultant for TruLookup at TransUnion, where he helps healthcare organizations harness the power of data intelligence to enhance patient access, engagement, and trust. With over eight years of experience at TransUnion’s Specialized Risk Group, Ryan collaborates with clients to integrate non-credit data assets, AI-driven analytics, and automated solutions that streamline the patient journey and enhance financial performance. His expertise lies in connecting complex data systems to real-world healthcare challenges, ensuring that providers can efficiently reach patients, reduce administrative friction, and support equitable care for underserved populations.

Before joining TransUnion, Ryan served as managing partner at Next Level Sailing Chicago, a high-performance sailing experience focused on team building and leadership through competition. He also held account executive roles in technology and trading, developing a strong foundation in business development and client relations. A graduate of Fort Lewis College with a degree in business and marketing, Ryan combines technical insight with a passion for innovation and customer success.

Things You’ll Learn:

• TransUnion utilizes non-credit data sources, including phone and property information, to assist healthcare organizations in updating and verifying patient contact details for enhanced engagement.
• Their data-driven solutions support the entire patient journey, improving scheduling, verification, and financial accessibility to reduce barriers to care.
• AI and automation play a key role in streamlining patient onboarding, minimizing manual data entry, and enhancing the overall care experience.
• The company focuses on inclusive data strategies that ensure historically underserved populations are represented and supported in healthcare innovation.
• Trust and compliance remain central, with strict adherence to HIPAA, FCRA, and ethical data use ensuring patient privacy and transparency.

Resources:

• Connect with and follow Ryan Weber on LinkedIn.
• Follow TransUnion on LinkedIn and visit their website. 
• Email Ryan directly here. 

About John Harrison:

John Harrison is a seasoned digital marketing and client experience leader with over 20 years of experience shaping innovative brand, product, and business strategies. As president and general manager at WebMD Health Services, he leads initiatives that help organizations build cultures of well-being, improving health and happiness across millions of lives.

Known for his blend of creative vision and operational discipline, John has led high-performing teams at companies such as WebMD, Webtrends, and Yesmail Interactive, delivering measurable growth and client success for Fortune 1000 organizations. His expertise spans customer experience leadership, P&L management, M&A strategy, and organizational development.

Based in Portland, Oregon, John is recognized for his ability to inspire teams, navigate change with clarity, and translate complex business challenges into purposeful, people-centered solutions. He holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from the University of Oregon, a background that fuels his strong communication and leadership style.

Things You’ll Learn:

• Holistic well-being replaces generic wellness by integrating digital tools with human services to enhance overall well-being. This approach personalizes support to each employee’s goals, risks, and life context.
• Partnerships and interoperability are crucial because employees require a seamless experience. Disjointed handoffs create gaps that cause people to disengage.
• Leadership advocacy and employee champion networks turn initiatives into culture. When leaders participate in and communicate effectively, programs earn trust and adoption.
• Outcomes, not optics, define success. Measuring year-over-year health risk reduction and cost impact separates true results from “check the box” efforts.
• The next leap is AI plus people working in sync. Timely digital nudges paired with human guidance unlock personalization and reach at scale.

Resources:

• Connect with and follow John Harrison on LinkedIn.
• Follow WebMD Health Services on LinkedIn and visit their website. 

About Nikhil Buduma:

Nikhil Buduma is a San Francisco–based entrepreneur, scientist, and engineer working at the cutting edge of AI and healthcare. He is the co-founder and CEO of Ambience Healthcare, an AI platform built to supercharge every healthcare worker with intelligent automation. Under his leadership, Ambience has grown into one of the most well-funded AI healthcare startups in the world, raising over $343 million from top investors, including a16z, OpenAI, Kleiner Perkins, Oak HC/FT, Optum Ventures, and industry pioneers such as Jeff Dean and Pieter Abbeel. Before becoming CEO, Nikhil served as Ambience’s Chief Scientist, leading the development of its core AI systems that streamline documentation, coding, and clinical workflows for healthcare systems, including the Cleveland Clinic and St. Luke’s.

Prior to Ambience, Nikhil co-founded Remedy Health, where he applied machine learning to advance value-based care models, backed by Khosla Ventures and Greylock. He also co-founded Lean On Me, a nonprofit organization that supports mental health and wellness across U.S. college campuses through anonymous peer-to-peer text support networks at institutions such as MIT, Duke, and UC Berkeley.

A graduate and valedictorian of Bellarmine College Preparatory, Nikhil earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science and engineering from MIT. His career reflects a rare blend of technical mastery, compassion, and vision—using AI not to replace clinicians, but to restore the human joy in the practice of medicine.

Things You’ll Learn:

• Health systems often see low real-world usage of ambient tools; when daily adoption crosses most clinicians and visits, the ROI conversation becomes meaningful. This requires solving fundamentals across specialties, not just shipping features.
• If AI generates notes that don’t align with payer rules and codes, organizations incur rework and risk. Integrating HCC, ICD-10, and CPT selection, along with supporting language, at the point of care helps prevent denials.
• Revenue integrity upside: Bringing CDI intelligence forward can reclaim large sums from work already done but not credited. This strengthens both financial sustainability and compliance posture.
• Continuous third-party auditing and domain-specific modeling are essential because general reasoning models often struggle with the nuances of revenue cycles. Independent validation builds organizational trust.
• Patient Summary anticipates questions and data needs before the visit, while Chart Chat answers complex, EHR-aware queries in seconds, helping to democratize top-tier standards of care in rural settings.

Resources:

• Connect with and follow Nikhil Buduma on LinkedIn.
• Follow Ambience Healthcare on LinkedIn and visit their website. 

About Kyle M.K.

Kyle M.K. is an Executive Strategy Advisor, keynote speaker, and best-selling author based in Austin, Texas. As Indeed’s Senior Talent Strategy Advisor, he helps employers navigate the future of work—simplifying complex labor market challenges and inspiring people-focused leadership. His book, The Economics of Emotion, explores how emotional intelligence drives business success. Before Indeed, Kyle founded The Heart Company, where he helped global brands like The Ritz-Carlton, Uber, and Disney elevate brand loyalty through emotionally centered strategies. He also led ventures such as Human Planet and No. 4 St. James, combining data, storytelling, and design to humanize business experiences. With roots at Apple, where he shaped retail training and technology, Kyle’s career centers on one mission: making work more human.

Things You'll Learn: 

• Retention begins long before a new hire’s first day, authentic communication and realistic expectations set the foundation for longevity.
• Feeling underappreciated by supervisors is one of the most unique and powerful drivers of burnout in healthcare.
• Leadership empathy directly shapes workplace culture; when senior leaders lack compassion, it cascades down the organization.
• Transparency in job postings and work environments helps reduce turnover by aligning expectations with reality, thereby fostering a more effective work environment.
• Treating healthcare teams as communities rather than machines fosters a sense of belonging, purpose, and ultimately, better patient care.

Resources:

• Connect with and follow Kyle M.K. on LinkedIn.
• Follow Indeed on LinkedIn.
• Visit Indeed’s website.
• Get a copy of Kyle’s book, The Economics of Emotion, here.
• Read Indeed’s Pulse of Healthcare 2024 here.
• Read Indeed’s Pulse of Healthcare 2025 here.

In this episode Sandy Vance sits down with Dr. Kenneth Stein, Senior Vice President and Global Chief Medical Officer at Boston Scientific, to explore how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing cardiology from diagnosis to treatment.

Dr. Stein shares how Boston Scientific is tackling one of healthcare’s biggest challenges: too much data and too little insight. From AI-driven heart monitors that detect dangerous rhythms before doctors can see them, to tools that democratize expert-level cardiac imaging, to predictive algorithms that warn clinicians of heart failure weeks before hospitalization. Tune in to hear how AI is not replacing doctors but empowering them, why clinical rigor still matters in the age of algorithms, and what it means for the future of cardiology.

• What it means to have too much data
• Three key use cases for AI in cardiology
  • Scaling expertise with BeatLogic
  • Democratizing Expertise with Avigo Plus
  • Predicting outcomes with Heartlogic
• AI transforms raw data into actionable insights that improve patient outcomes.
• Radiology and cardiology are examples of how AI enhances (not replaces) medical professionals.
• Clinicians who embrace AI will outperform those who don’t.
• Ongoing education on AI’s role, limits, and evidence base is crucial for healthcare providers.

Kenneth Stein is senior vice president and global chief medical officer at Boston Scientific. In this role, he has oversight for the clinical trials, medical safety and medical affairs functions and is responsible for ensuring a cohesive clinical community of practice across the company. Prior to Boston Scientific, Stein held the position of associate director of clinical cardiac electrophysiology at Weill Cornell Medical Center and associate professor of medicine at Cornell University. Stein is a graduate of Harvard College (in economics) and New York University School of Medicine. He is widely published, having authored more than 160 papers in the peer reviewed medical literature.  

About Harpaul Sambhi:

Harpaul Sambhi is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of Magical, where he’s building Agentic AI for healthcare to transform how people and systems interact in one of the world’s most vital industries. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Harpaul combines a deep technical background with a passion for human-centered innovation. Before founding Magical in 2020, he built and sold Careerify to LinkedIn, where he later led product initiatives within LinkedIn Talent Solutions and Microsoft, helping shape the future of talent acquisition and HR technology.

Alongside building companies, Harpaul has served as Entrepreneur in Residence at Bain Capital Ventures, Advisor at On Deck, and a Limited Partner in leading VC funds, including Bain Capital Ventures, iNovia Capital, and OnDeck. Earlier in his career, he authored Social HR (published by Thomson-Reuters) and lectured at the Schulich Executive Education Centre on innovation, technology, and the evolving workplace.

At his core, Harpaul is guided by simple principles—striving to be a good human and a dedicated father, husband, son, brother, and friend—while working with great people to build great products that make a difference. A graduate of the University of Waterloo with a degree in electrical engineering, he continues to live by curiosity, humility, and the drive to create technology that serves people, not the other way around.

About Doug Hires:

Douglas Hires is a seasoned healthcare executive, consultant, and entrepreneur with over 35 years of leadership experience across the healthcare and information technology sectors. Based in Dallas, Texas, Douglas has built a distinguished career driving operational excellence, business transformation, and financial performance for some of the nation’s leading healthcare organizations. His expertise spans providers, payers, government, and life sciences, and his track record includes accelerating growth, restructuring operations, and guiding organizations through strategic reinvention.

Currently, Douglas serves as Executive Advisor at Magical, Managing Partner at JD Hires Advisory Group, and Founder & President of New World Wine Designs, where he combines his business acumen with his passion for fine wine and craftsmanship through bespoke wine cellar design and building. He also advises healthcare and sales organizations through roles with Healthcare IT Leaders and SalesSparx LLC, lending his strategic insight to help teams scale with precision and purpose.

Previously, Douglas held multiple senior leadership roles at Optum, including Chief Operating Officer for OptumInsight Provider and COO of the Hospital Services Division, overseeing end-to-end revenue cycle operations for Dignity Health’s 36 hospitals. His earlier career includes executive roles at Santa Rosa Consulting, 3M Health Information Systems, SoftMed Systems, and First Consulting Group, where he earned recognition as a respected thought leader and sought-after industry speaker.

Things You’ll Learn:

• Agentic AI surpasses automation by reasoning, adapting, and executing end-to-end workflows, thereby freeing healthcare workers from repetitive tasks.
• Healthcare organizations are already seeing results, such as doubling prior authorization volume while cutting staff needs and decision times in half.
• The shift from RPA to agentic AI mirrors the evolution from MapQuest to autonomous vehicles, smarter, smoother, and self-correcting.
• Successful AI adoption requires attention to change management and staff reallocation, not just technology deployment.
• Evaluating AI vendors using six key pillars (reasoning, adaptability, interoperability, agility, scalability, and fault tolerance) helps cut through the hype and identify real solutions.

Resources:

• Connect with and follow Harpaul Sambhi on LinkedIn.
• Connect with and follow Doug Hires on LinkedIn.
• Follow Magical on LinkedIn.
• Visit Magical’s website.

About Charlie Harp:

Charlie Harp is the CEO of Clinical Architecture, where he has led the company for over 16 years in its mission to revolutionize healthcare data quality and interoperability. Under his leadership, Clinical Architecture has become the industry’s leading provider of healthcare terminology management solutions, empowering organizations to enhance the accuracy, usability, and value of clinical data across systems. With deep expertise in electronic health records (EHR) and healthcare information systems, Charlie has spearheaded the development of cutting-edge software products and driven major initiatives in process improvement, project management, and data strategy—boosting efficiency and profitability across the organization.

Before founding and growing Clinical Architecture, Charlie held senior technology and leadership roles at First DataBank, Zynx Health, Medi-Span, Covance, and SmithKline Beecham Clinical Labs, where he consistently delivered innovative solutions that advanced healthcare IT infrastructure. Beyond his executive work, Charlie is a healthcare data quality evangelist and host of the Informonster Podcast, where he explores the evolving intersection of healthcare, technology, and data. A graduate of California State Polytechnic University–Pomona and the Hearst Management Institute, Charlie remains deeply committed to enhancing the healthcare ecosystem through improved data and advanced technology.

Things You’ll Learn:

• AI in healthcare is only as good as the data it’s trained on; poor data leads to dangerous outcomes and lost trust.
• The Patient Information Quality Improvement Framework (PIQI) aims to measure and improve healthcare data quality through an open-source, industry-wide standard.
• Data quality has a direct impact on everything from reimbursement accuracy to clinical decision-making and patient safety.
• Healthcare’s transformation won’t come from disruption but from gradual, data-driven evolution focused on interoperability and usability.
• Investing in data quality is like adopting a healthy lifestyle; it’s hard work, but the long-term benefits far outweigh the short-term effort.

Resources:

• Connect with and follow Charlie Harp on LinkedIn.
• Follow Clinical Architecture on LinkedIn.
• Visit the Clinical Architecture website. 
• Listen to Charlie’s previous interview on the podcast here.
• Check out The Informonster Podcast here.

About Patrick Schinzel:

Patrick Schinzel is the Chief Operations Officer at Strive Pharmacy, where he has been instrumental in driving operational excellence and patient-focused innovation since 2023. With over two decades of experience in pharmacy leadership, Patrick brings a deep understanding of both clinical care and business strategy. Before stepping into his current executive role, he served as a pharmacist at Strive Pharmacy and Walgreens, where he spent nearly 20 years ensuring top-quality patient care and operational efficiency. Beyond pharmacy, Patrick has also demonstrated entrepreneurial drive as the long-time owner of Potential Home Buyers LLC, a real estate venture he has led since 2008. He earned his PharmD and bachelor’s in pharmaceutical sciences from South Dakota State University, following his studies at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and Clarke Community. Based in Mesa, Arizona, Patrick combines his expertise in healthcare and business to advance Strive Pharmacy’s mission of delivering accessible, personalized, and high-quality pharmaceutical care.

Things You’ll Learn:

• Usage analytics revealed five consistently effective testosterone formulations from 370 variations, enabling faster fulfillment, lower prices, and maintained clinical autonomy.
• A thoughtful cash-pay strategy can enhance affordability today, even as broader reimbursement for underserved populations remains a significant industry challenge.
• Proactive potency testing on sterile lines (including GLP-1s) goes beyond basic safety to verify therapeutic effectiveness.
• “Preferred” formulations can coexist with precision medicine, extracting bulk efficiencies without eliminating personalization.
• The next leap is software that coordinates interdepartmental nuance, paving the way for robotics to deliver true “lot size of one” at scale.

Resources:

• Connect with and follow Patrick Schinzel on LinkedIn.
• Follow Clinical Architecture on LinkedIn and visit their website. 
• Email Patrick here.

About Lori Logan:

Lori Logan is the president and CEO of NASCO, where she leads with a vision to merge innovation with a strong foundation in healthcare. Based in Englewood, Colorado, she brings over two decades of leadership across healthcare’s payer, provider, and technology sectors. Known for her curiosity, analytical mindset, and collaborative leadership, Lori has consistently driven growth, transformation, and measurable impact. Her career includes leading multimillion-dollar projects, overseeing teams of hundreds, and managing large-scale integrations and mergers, and acquisitions (M&A) initiatives. Previously, she held senior roles at athenahealth, Geneia, Paladina Health, TriZetto, UnitedHealthcare, Cigna, and McKesson—where she launched groundbreaking products and strategies that improved care coordination and operational efficiency. Recognized for her strategic acumen and results-driven approach, Lori has earned industry accolades, including the TriZetto CEO Pinnacle Award and the Thomson Reuters Healthcare Advantage Award. Her mission remains clear: to reimagine healthcare and create healthier outcomes and lives.

Things You’ll Learn:

• Legacy infrastructure hinders scalability; health plans require a modern administrative “chassis” to package benefits, administer payments, and operationalize innovation. This goes well beyond traditional claims systems.
• Analytics must merge claims, clinical, and engagement data with medical economics precision. Insights then have to reach providers and advocates so care is both effective and reimbursable.
• A significant amount of value now resides outside of claims in disease management, digital tools, and condition management programs. Members need clear navigation and transparency on what they have, where to go, and what it costs.
• Provider enablement is essential for value-based care. Success depends on aligned incentives, shared operations, coaching, and trust between plans and providers.
• Strategic investments should prioritize scalable administration, robust operations, and data pipelines. These foundations let plans attribute value, manage risk, and drive affordability at scale.

Resources:

• Connect with and follow Lori Logan on LinkedIn.
• Follow NASCO on LinkedIn and explore their website.

About Dr. Julie Schulz:

Dr. Julie Schulz, MD, MPH, is a physician executive and product leader based in Los Angeles with a proven track record of driving innovation at the intersection of healthcare, technology, and business. Over the past 15 years, she has built and led teams developing healthcare decision support, analytics, and consumer health products across value-based care, women’s health, and life sciences. As VP of Product at Avalon Healthcare Solutions, she leads strategy for next-generation diagnostics platforms. Previously, at HALO Diagnostics and Doctor Evidence, she guided product and business development efforts that integrated imaging, laboratory, and evidence-based analytics to improve patient and physician experiences. Earlier roles at Lumere and Sg2 honed her expertise in clinical data, product-market fit, and scaling evidence-driven solutions. Published in leading journals, Dr. Schulz combines deep clinical insight with strategic leadership to advance innovations that improve healthcare outcomes and drive measurable business impact.

Things You’ll Learn:

• Diagnostic intelligence can transform diagnostics from a cost center into a strategic asset that improves quality and lowers costs.
• Physicians face overwhelming volumes of new tests and guidelines, and AI-powered decision support can ease their cognitive burden.
• By removing prior authorization barriers, patients can transition from diagnosis to treatment in just 15 days, rather than the typical 60 days.
• Data shows that healthier patients are more likely to receive GLP-1 prescriptions, revealing a need for better risk-adjusted care strategies.
• True innovation in healthcare depends on communication, simplifying complexity and aligning clinicians, payers, and technologists toward shared goals.

Resources:

• Connect with and follow Dr. Julie Schulz on LinkedIn.
• Follow Avalon Healthcare Solutions on LinkedIn and explore their website.
• Read Avalon Healthcare Solutions’ Annual Lab Trend Report here.