The Beat

About Beth McCombs:Elizabeth “Beth” McCombs is the executive vice president and chief technology officer of BD, where she leads the company’s global research and development organization. She oversees the full spectrum of innovation—from early-stage concept development to product launch—and ensures the continued advancement of BD’s existing portfolio. As a member of the BD Executive Leadership Team, she plays a central role in shaping the company’s long-term technology and growth strategy. Beth joined BD in 2019 as Senior Vice President of R&D for the BD Medical segment, co-leading portfolio strategy and major growth initiatives. Before joining BD, she spent over two decades at Johnson & Johnson, including serving as Vice President of R&D for Ethicon, the company’s surgical devices franchise. She holds both a B.S. and an M.S. in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.Things You’ll Learn:BD approaches innovation by deeply studying clinical workflows and ensuring new technologies solve meaningful, scalable problems. Real-world evidence and clinical validation are built into the process from the start.Connected medication management solutions can eliminate waste, prevent errors, and free up clinical resources. Tracking drugs from the central pharmacy to the bedside improves safety and system-level efficiency.Vascular access improvements achieved through product design and standardized training dramatically reduced cost, blood exposure, and catheter failure rates. This proves that outcomes hinge on combining the right device with the right practices.AI and machine-learning capabilities, such as predicting hypotension during cardiac surgery, aim to reduce complications, costs, and length of stay. These tools evolve by partnering with health systems to measure real-world impact.BD Incada represents a shift to cloud-based, interoperable, AI-enabled infrastructure that unifies data across entire health systems. This foundation accelerates the future of personalized care and integrated device ecosystems.Resources:Connect with and follow Beth McCombs on LinkedIn.Follow BD on LinkedIn  and visit their website.

About Priya Abani:Priya Abani is the CEO, president, and a board member at AliveCor, where she leads the company’s mission to advance patient-centric remote cardiac care using cutting-edge AI and machine learning. With over 20 years of experience driving innovation across global technology organizations, she has built and scaled high-performing teams, launched industry-shaping products, and forged strategic partnerships that accelerate growth. Her leadership has earned recognition across the health tech landscape, including being named one of The Healthcare Technology Report’s Top 50 Healthcare Technology CEOs of 2022. Priya also serves on the Board of Directors for Jacobs and the Board of Trustees for TIAA, extending her influence across various sectors and shaping the future of technology, healthcare, and infrastructure.Things You’ll Learn:AI-powered cardiac monitoring is enabling earlier detection of subtle abnormalities that patients and clinicians often miss, improving the likelihood of timely intervention. These tools empower patients to monitor their own health without waiting for episodic visits.Affordability is crucial for expanding access, enabling individuals in underserved regions to utilize medical-grade ECG technology at home. This reduces unnecessary hospital visits and helps bridge geographical care gaps.Portable devices and continuous monitoring shift cardiac care from reactive to proactive. Real-time data sharing creates a tighter feedback loop between patients and clinicians.New clinician-facing tools offer advanced diagnostics in a pocket-sized form, enabling high-quality cardiac assessments to be performed anywhere. This supports healthcare workers who lack access to full clinical equipment.AI models trained on massive ECG datasets are evolving from simple detection tools into comprehensive health companions for the whole person. They synthesize patterns, prompt actions, and help guide personalized preventive care.Resources:Connect with and follow Priya Abani on LinkedIn.Follow AliveCor on LinkedIn and visit their website. Learn more about Kardia 12L here.

About Web Golinkin:Web Golinkin is a seasoned healthcare executive, entrepreneur, and author with more than 35 years of leadership experience, including six CEO roles and three companies he co-founded. Over the last two decades, he has focused on expanding access to affordable, basic healthcare, establishing himself as a pioneer in both retail-based clinics and urgent care. His insights into the evolution of consumer-focused healthcare have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Today Show, Fox Business, and numerous industry conferences. Web is also the author of Here Be Dragons, published by Forbes Books in 2024. His career spans leadership positions across healthcare delivery, population health management, medical communications, and consumer health media, including his current role as president of Babson Diagnostics and previous leadership at FastMed Urgent Care, Health Dialog, RediClinic, America’s Health Network, and American Medical Communications. A graduate of Harvard University, Web continues to shape the future of healthcare through innovation, accessibility, and patient-centered design.Things You’ll Learn:Better Way can deliver 67 clinically equivalent tests from a fingertip blood sample, covering more than 80% of common primary care needs. This allows patients to avoid the traditional needle-based blood draw.Nearly a decade of validation, including thousands of study participants and hundreds of thousands of tests, demonstrates the scientific rigor behind the technology. This long research runway enabled FDA clearance and strong clinical confidence.About one-third of patients avoid blood testing due to needle phobia or inconvenience, contributing to major gaps in preventive care. A more straightforward, painless collection method directly addresses this barrier.Health systems can increase patient adherence and reduce reliance on phlebotomists by cross-training staff to use the system within 2.5 hours. This unlocks staffing flexibility and operational efficiency.Better Way focuses on reducing friction across the entire testing journey, including simplified, graphic-rich patient result reports. This empowers patients to understand their health without having to decipher complex medical language.Resources:Connect with and follow Web Golinkin on LinkedIn.Follow Babson Diagnostics on LinkedIn  and visit their website.

In this episode, host Sandy Vance sits down with someone who has been shaping the future of digital health long before AI became the headline Mike Serbinis, Founder and CEO of League.League was built on a simple but ambitious idea: if companies like Netflix can instantly understand what we need next, why can’t healthcare do the same? Now, more than a decade into transforming the way people access and experience care, Mike joins Sandy to talk about how his team is helping organizations deliver truly personalized healthcare at scale.Together, they explore Mike’s path into the world of AI, the early sparks that led to League’s creation, and the lessons learned from 11 years of reimagining patient and member journeys. They delve into how League works alongside existing EHRs and health systems, not replacing anything, but weaving intelligence and interoperability through the cracks that slow down care.It’s a thoughtful, future-forward discussion with one of the industry’s most seasoned innovators—and a must-listen for anyone curious about where healthcare AI is truly headed.In this episode, they talk about:Mike’s journey into AI and the origin story of LeagueHow League integrates with EHRs and other core health technologiesLessons from 11 years in healthcare—and why speed and scale matter more than everIf Netflix can recommend your next show, why can’t healthcare do the sameReducing AI hallucinations and improving reliability for healthcare organizationsHow League delivers coverage, oversight, service, and increased productivityWhat different countries can teach us about healthcare modelsWhy we’re entering “pilot season” for AI in healthcareA Little About Mike:Mike Serbinis is widely recognized as an innovative leader and serial entrepreneur who has built transformative technology platforms across many industries. Serbinis founded and helped build Kobo, Critical Path, DocSpace, and now League. Founded in 2014, League is a platform technology company powering next-generation healthcare consumer experiences (CX). Payers, providers and consumer health partners build on the League platform to accelerate their digital transformation and deliver high-engagement, personalized healthcare experiences. Millions of people use and love solutions powered by League to access, navigate and pay for care.Serbinis is also Chair of the Board of Directors for the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, the world’s leading center for scientific research in foundational theoretical physics. He is a founding board member of the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence, an institution co-founded by Nobel Prize winner Geoffrey Hinton.

About Seth Cohen:Seth Cohen is a seasoned business leader with a long record of driving growth across healthcare, technology, and finance. As president of Cedar, he leads strategy and execution for a fast-scaling health tech company, building on over a decade of leadership in the industry. He also serves on the boards of Firefly Health and previously served on the board of Castlight Health, reflecting his deep credibility in the healthcare ecosystem. Before joining Cedar, Seth co-founded OODA Health and served as its CEO, introducing innovative payment solutions to the market. His earlier career includes senior commercial roles at Castlight, where he helped large employers adopt modern health benefits, as well as consulting work at McKinsey, focused on healthcare reform and consumerism. Seth began his career in investment banking, private equity, and international development, providing him with a broad strategic and financial foundation. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School, and a BA from Stanford University.Things You’ll Learn:Patient out-of-pocket costs have been rising faster than the overall medical trend for two decades, pushing most Americans into high-deductible plans they cannot realistically afford.A relatively small percentage of uninsured patients, roughly 5–12% depending on the state, accounts for approximately 35% of the dollars owed to providers. The episode challenges providers to rethink the concept of “healing” by asking whether repairing someone’s heart while ruining their credit can truly be considered care.Cedar Cover is positioned as a proactive digital coverage safety net that identifies patients in need and connects them to Medicaid, ACA plans, financial assistance, and pharmacy copay programs. Looking ahead, the guest expects affordability pressures to intensify and plans to expand into areas such as workers' compensation and Social Security benefits. The goal is to ensure that patients are not forced to choose between groceries and medical bills by making financial support an integral part of the core care experience.Resources:Connect with and follow Seth Cohen on LinkedIn.Follow Cedar on LinkedIn and discover their website.Learn more about Cedar Cover here.Email Seth directly here.

In this episode, host Sandy Vance sits with Adam Siskind from ZS, a global consulting and technology firm known for transforming data, science, and human ingenuity into real-world impact. With more than 13,000 employees across 35+ offices, ZS partners with companies to improve life and how we live it. Sandy and Adam dive into how AI and advanced analytics are reshaping operations, the insights coming out of ZS’s Future of Health Report, and what it will take to overcome lingering distrust in AI across healthcare. From predictions and concerns to practical advice for payers and providers, they explore whether we’re headed toward a tipping point or an AI bubble.In this episode, they talk about:How AI is facilitating solutions for ZSHow ZS uses analytics to drive how businesses operateZS’s Future of Health ReportGetting past the distrust in AI in healthcareWhat a tipping point might look like in the futureAdvice for payers and providersFuture implementation predictions and worriesIs there an AI bubble?A Little About Adam:Adam is a leader in ZS’s provider practice area, helping to transform hospitals and health systems and supporting them from strategy through to execution. He has extensive experience across healthcare with health plans, providers, pharmaceutical, biotech and medtech companies. Adam has also led ZS’s European and North America West regions. Adam’s background is in actuarial science. Before joining ZS, Adam worked with health plans and group insurance at Mercer, helping employer groups achieve high-quality and affordable healthcare.

About Lynne Nowak:Lynne Nowak, MD, is a seasoned physician executive and Chief Data and Analytics Officer with deep expertise at the intersection of clinical care, data, and technology. With 15 years of frontline experience as a board-certified internist and a decade leading large-scale data, interoperability, and clinical strategy initiatives, she has built a career transforming how information improves healthcare quality, access, and cost. She has overseen major enterprise investments, driven compliance with national interoperability standards, led advanced analytics and product development teams, and guided provider-focused digital solutions across complex organizations. Known for her high-energy, collaborative leadership style, she is committed to fixing a fragmented healthcare system while empowering patients, providers, and payers through smarter, connected data.Things You’ll Learn:Interoperability between providers, payers, pharmacies, and patients is becoming a powerful driver of access and outcomes. When information flows cleanly, underserved communities benefit the most.AI is only valuable when applied to problems that require deeper analysis, not simple workflows. The real gains come from using AI to handle complex record reviews while leaving simpler tasks to traditional automation.First-fill abandonment affects 20–30% of prescriptions, and most systems fail to notice because no claim is generated. Having visibility into these “silent failures” allows clinicians and plans to intervene earlier.Electronic benefit verification replaces days of manual phone calls with instant eligibility checks for patient assistance programs. This significantly reduces friction for patients attempting to initiate therapy.Automating prior authorizations can cut decision times from days to under 30 seconds. That speed directly affects access, adherence, and overall patient health.Resources:Connect with and follow Lynne Nowak on LinkedIn.Follow Superscripts on LinkedIn and visit their website.

About Ajay Gannerkote:Ajay Gannerkote is a global healthcare leader with deep experience spanning life sciences, medical devices, and healthcare services. Now serving as president of Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT), a Danaher company, he oversees the organization’s growth and strategic direction from Redwood City, California. Before IDT, he led Siemens Healthineers’ global ultrasound business as president and head, steering a complex, vertically integrated operation across more than 30 countries. Under his leadership, the business moved from negative growth and margins to strong, sustainable performance, becoming an industry leader in AI-driven clinical technology. Prior to that, he served as Director at KKR Capstone, where he co-led healthcare operations, drove large-scale transformations for portfolio companies, and created significant enterprise value across services and medical device sectors. Ajay spent more than a decade at McKinsey & Company as a partner in the Global Medical Products practice, advising Fortune 500 companies on product development, commercialization, operations, growth strategy, and large-scale turnarounds. Earlier in his career, he held leadership roles at Federal-Mogul, Cambridge Technology Partners, and Infosys, building a foundation in operations, technology, and global business integration. He holds an MBA in Corporate Strategy and Marketing from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering from the University of Mysore.Things You’ll Learn:Genomic technologies, such as NGS and MRD, are enabling earlier cancer detection, sometimes years ahead of traditional diagnostic methods. This early visibility allows clinicians to intervene sooner and build more personalized treatment strategies.Precision medicine is rapidly maturing as high-quality genomic data becomes central to diagnosis, monitoring, and therapy planning. The next era of oncology will rely heavily on personalized, data-driven decisions.Collaboration across industry, researchers, and regulatory bodies is essential for breakthrough medical innovations. A recent case of a rare disease demonstrates how a coordinated effort can compress the journey from diagnosis to therapy into just a few months.Custom manufacturing and high-quality reagents are critical enablers of clinically reliable genomic insights. Tailored solutions allow researchers and clinicians to analyze tumor-specific markers with greater accuracy and confidence.Strong leadership in genomics requires trust, transparency, and a willingness to challenge assumptions. Ajay’s “obligation to dissent” principle encourages continuous innovation and pushes teams to think beyond the status quo.Resources:Connect with and follow Ajay Gannerkote on LinkedIn.Follow Integrated DNA Technologies on LinkedIn and visit their website.

About Dylan Papa:Dylan Papa is a seasoned healthcare technology executive with more than a decade of leadership experience at Zelis, where he has played a central role in driving commercial growth, transformation, and data-driven strategy. Now serving as Senior Vice President of Commercial Growth, he brings a strong track record of expanding revenue, shaping organizational direction, and guiding high-impact initiatives across the payments and cost-management ecosystem. Throughout his tenure, Dylan has held progressive leadership roles spanning growth and transformation, payments transformation, business insights and analytics, and business solutions—each one sharpening his expertise at the intersection of healthcare, technology, and financial operations. His career began in analytics and business development, giving him a grounded, operational understanding of the industry he now helps steer at a strategic level. Backed by a foundation in finance from Montclair State University, Dylan combines analytical rigor with a forward-looking mindset, making him a trusted leader in navigating complex healthcare challenges and scaling innovative solutions.Things You’ll Learn:Providers increasingly want secure, simple, and expedited transactions supported by actionable data. This shift gives them more control while improving payer efficiency.Modernizing payments isn’t just about speed; it's about giving providers a single, transparent view of all transactions across multiple payers. This visibility helps them reduce denials, identify payment discrepancies, and forecast revenue more accurately.Consumer expectations for transparency and personalized benefits are pushing healthcare toward more flexible, customized models. Younger generations especially demand clearer information and greater financial control.Fragmentation remains the biggest obstacle in modernizing healthcare payments, from legacy tech stacks to inconsistent treasury processes. Harmonizing these systems is essential for building a seamless, end-to-end experience.The next frontier is transforming payments from an administrative task into a strategic asset. When speed, transparency, and control converge, every stakeholder—payer, provider, and consumer—wins.Resources:Connect with and follow Dylan Papa on LinkedIn.Follow Zelis on LinkedIn and visit their Website.

Introduction: In this episode, host Sandy Vance sits down with Joerg Schwarz, Senior Director of Industry Strategy & Solutions for Healthcare Interoperability at Infor, and Adam Luff, a healthcare technology executive and VP of Solution Consulting at Infor. Together, they take a fascinating look at the real-world state of healthcare data. Together, they unpack what AI is actually doing for the industry, why pulling meaningful information from existing systems is so challenging, and how proprietary schemas and non-queryable databases keep organizations stuck with costly “zombie systems.” They explore the promise of using AI to finally unlock that trapped data, along with the critical measures needed to ensure accuracy, quality, and transparency as new technologies evolve. Make sure to check out this episode if you’ve ever wondered what’s behind the “black box” of healthcare data.In this episode, they talk about:What AI does for the healthcare industryThe challenges that come with extracting dataWhy the data in current databases isn’t searchable and queryableProprietary schemas Unable to pull one data table at a timeUsing AI to extract data from zombie systems The time and money it takes to keep zombie systems aliveMeasures with new tech that need to be taken to ensure accuracy and qualityTransparency and rejecting the “black box” approachA Little About Joerg and Adam:As a trusted and highly skilled Global Business Strategy Executive and seasoned thought leader in the Healthcare IT domain, Joerg keeps an acute focus on the customer while leading teams, building strategic partnerships, and delivering solutions with measurable outcome improvements. His knowledge runs wide and deep with a 360-degree vantage point through the lenses of Technology, Sales, Marketing, and Academia. He combines the realities of leading key stakeholders and teams through innovation with respect to Healthcare IT and Life Sciences throughout his distinguished career. Joerg is highly motivated towards the evolution of connected managed care, population health, and clinical analytics. Communicating complexity is a signature quality Joerg possesses in service to delivering mutual benefit "win-win-win’s" by successfully navigating complex problems, accelerating brand and product growth, and being a key contributor in go-to-market decisions.Adam Luff is a healthcare technology executive and VP of Solution Consulting at Infor. With his 25 years in the Healthcare Technology industry, Adam focuses on operational efficiency that leads to providers getting paid faster and simpler.