The Beat

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.

About Liana Guzmán:Liana M. Douillet Guzmán is a seasoned CEO and consumer-tech leader known for driving transformative growth across healthcare, finance, education, and professional services. As CEO of FOLX Health, she has expanded the company’s national reach and service offerings, helping establish it as the leading digital healthcare provider for the LGBTQIA+ community. With nearly two decades of experience scaling disruptive companies, she previously served as CMO at Skillshare and COO at Blockchain, where she played a key role in growing the platform from 4 million to 40 million users and building a globally recognized brand. Liana also spent nine years shaping Axiom’s international expansion and marketing strategy across the U.S., EMEA, and APAC regions. A Henry Crown Fellow and three-time Fast Company Queer 50 honoree, she is a sought-after speaker at global forums including DAVOS, Fortune Brainstorm, Web Summit, and HLTH. Beyond her executive work, she co-founded The Pink Agenda and serves on the boards of GLAAD and The Elizabeth Park Conservancy. Born and raised in Puerto Rico, she brings a global mindset and people-first leadership style to every role.Things You’ll Learn:Whole-person, patient-centered, community-oriented care is the future. When these three pillars align, outcomes improve and trust increases across populations.Telehealth is not a compromise; it’s often the safest, most accessible option. For many people, digital care is the only environment where they feel safe, respected, and willing to seek support.AI can either transform healthcare or exacerbate and dangerously amplify inequality. Without careful oversight and representative data, large language models can reinforce harmful misinformation.Affirming care is a clinical and financial necessity, not a niche service. Avoiding preventive care can lead to dangerous delays and significantly higher system costs.Demographic shifts make inclusive care a strategic imperative. With a quarter of Gen Z identifying as LGBTQIA+, employers and payers who invest early will capture long-term loyalty and economic value.Resources:Connect with and follow Liana Guzmán on LinkedIn.Follow FOLX Health on LinkedIn and Instagram, and visit their website. 

About Ben Forrest:Ben Forrest is the CEO of Olio, a care coordination technology company focused on improving collaboration among payers, health systems, and post-acute providers for the most complex patients. With a 14-year background in the medical device industry, Ben saw firsthand how fragmented workflows and siloed care settings created barriers to quality and efficiency—an insight that led him to build Olio. Under his leadership, the platform now enables real-time engagement across hundreds of care sites, helping organizations reduce administrative burden, improve outcomes, and better manage medical spend. Ben is dedicated to bringing modern software, thoughtful workflows, and emerging AI capabilities to one of healthcare’s most persistent challenges: truly connected care.Things You’ll Learn:Care coordination is deeply fragmented, especially for complex patients moving across hospitals, skilled nursing, home health, behavioral health, and other community settings.Olio’s platform connects payers, health systems, and post-acute providers in one shared workflow, enabling daily engagement and reducing administrative burden.Better downstream provider engagement directly improves outcomes and lowers costs, especially in Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, ACO, and bundled payment environments.Scaling coordination statewide requires more than EMRs; it requires workflow technology that ensures transparency, accountability, and consistent communication across 100+ care sites.Economics drive engagement: care coordination intensity increases where organizations hold risk or face pressure to manage total medical spend.The future of AI in care coordination is still emerging, and smart companies will focus on doing one operational problem exceptionally well before expanding.Payers will face mounting pressure to reduce medical spend, making true care coordination, not just better authorization practices, a strategic necessity.Olio was born from the realization that healthcare excels at delivering care in silos but struggles when patients move between settings, especially under value-based models.Resources:Connect with and follow Ben Forrest on LinkedIn.Follow Olio on LinkedIn and discover their website. 

About Trudy McKanna:Trudy McKanna is an accomplished medical affairs leader with extensive experience across medical education, field medical strategy, and people management. Currently serving as Senior Field Medical Director at GRAIL, she brings more than two decades of expertise spanning oncology, organ health, genetics, and medical ethics. Prior to GRAIL, she spent nine years at Natera in progressively senior roles, including Senior Director of Medical Affairs for Organ Health, where she led medical strategy, built and managed high-performing teams, and shaped national KOL engagement efforts across transplant and renal genetics. Her background includes over a decade as a genetic counselor and supervisor at Spectrum Health, leadership roles in professional organizations such as the Michigan Association of Genetic Counselors, and academic appointments with Michigan State University. As co-founder and vice president of the Rockford Food Allergy Network, she also helped strengthen community education and advocacy around food allergy awareness. Trudy holds a Master of Science in Genetic Counseling from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Science in Biology/Biochemistry from Hope College.Things You’ll Learn:Early detection significantly changes survival outcomes; identifying cancer before it metastasizes can quadruple five-year survival rates.Multi-cancer early detection utilizes cell-free DNA and methylation patterns to detect signals from over 50 cancers with a simple blood draw.Adding this test to standard screening results in seven times more cancers being found, with over half detected at early stages.The false-positive rate is exceptionally low at 0.4%, making it viable for population-scale screening.Access and equity improve significantly when screening can be conducted in primary care settings, mobile units, employer sites, and underserved communities.Resources:Connect with and follow Trudy McKanna on LinkedIn.Follow GRAIL on LinkedIn and visit their website.Learn more about Galleri here.

About David Cohen:David Cohen, FACHE, serves as the Chief Product and Technology Officer at Greenway Health, leading the company’s technology and product strategy to drive digital healthcare innovation. Since joining in 2019, he has played a key role in modernizing Greenway’s solutions and driving better outcomes for providers and patients. He also serves on the Board of the CommonWell Health Alliance, promoting interoperability across the healthcare ecosystem.Previously, David spent over 13 years at Cerner Corporation in leadership roles spanning Cerner Intelligence, Clinical Solutions, and Innovation. He began his career in technology and consulting with Pfizer and ThoughtWorks. David holds an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BA in Integrated Science and Mathematics from Northwestern University.Things You’ll Learn:Intelligent automation is central to transforming ambulatory healthcare, enabling providers to reduce administrative tasks and allocate more time to patient care.Greenway’s “agentic-first architecture” treats AI not as a tool but as the core product, enabling end-to-end workflow automation across the encounter-to-cash spectrum.By working closely with customers and using a “working backwards” approach, Greenway designs solutions that directly address real-world practice challenges.Automation in documentation, chart review, and revenue cycle management enhances efficiency and improves care coordination through platforms like AWS HealthLake.David emphasizes “time compression,” focusing on delivering innovation within months rather than years to meet the urgent needs of healthcare providers.Resources:Connect with and follow David Cohen on LinkedIn.Follow Greenway Health on LinkedIn and visit their website. 

About Ariel Garten:Ariel Garten is a visionary neuroscientist, entrepreneur, and thought leader best known as the co-founder and chief evangelist of Muse, the brain-sensing headband that makes meditation easier through real-time neurofeedback. With a foundation in neuroscience from the University of Toronto, Ariel’s early research at the Krembil Neuroscience Centre focused on Parkinson’s disease and hippocampal neurogenesis. Her work bridges science, art, and mental wellness, a fusion evident in Muse’s elegant design and its mission to help users strengthen their minds through technology.Before founding InteraXon, the parent company of Muse, in 2009, Ariel worked as a therapist in private practice, helping clients uncover clarity and overcome self-limiting beliefs. Her interest in brain-computer interfaces began in 2003 in Dr. Steve Mann’s lab, where she explored thought-controlled technologies—an experience that later inspired InteraXon’s debut project, Bright Ideas, which allowed participants at the 2010 Winter Olympics to control the lights on the CN Tower and Niagara Falls with their minds.Things You’ll Learn:Daily brain tracking gives individuals and clinicians the kind of insights previously only available in labs, making brain health far more accessible.MUSE’s new AI sleep coach and Digital Sleeping Pill adjust audio in real time to help users fall asleep faster and return to sleep when they wake.The device’s dual EEG and fNIRS sensors measure electrical activity and blood oxygenation, enabling both sleep analysis and cognitive training.Research from the Mayo Clinic indicates that just five minutes of daily use resulted in a 54% reduction in burnout among healthcare professionals.Pharmaceutical companies, clinicians, and researchers are turning to MUSE for distributed sleep studies, cognitive data, and medication response tracking.Resources:Connect with and follow Ariel Garten on LinkedIn.Follow MUSE on LinkedIn and visit their website.Email the MUSE team directly here.