This Week Health: Conference

August 13, 2025: Eric Utzinger, Co-Founder and Chief Client Officer at Revuud, tackles the world of healthcare consulting. Drawing from 15 years in healthcare consulting, Eric reveals how the industry shifted around 2013, creating a system where traditional staffing firms often add little value beyond letterhead while charging substantial markups. What happens when technology enables direct access to pre-vetted talent pools? The conversation explores how marketplace platforms can eliminate intermediary costs while maintaining quality control, and why the assumption that higher costs equal better consultants may be costing health systems more than they realize. Eric addresses the critical balance between project success, talent vetting, and transparent pricing in an industry where finding the right IT expertise quickly can make or break major implementations. Key Points: 02:08 Challenges in Healthcare Consulting 04:53 Client and Talent Interaction 06:52 Vetting and Quality Assurance 09:56 Common Mistakes in Hiring Contractors X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

August 12, 2025: Dr. Zafar Chaudry, SVP, CDIO, and AI Officer, speaks with Dr. Vittorio Gallo, Chief Scientific Officer at Seattle Children's Research Institute, about the transformation happening in pediatric research. As healthcare shifts from traditional lab work to data-driven science, how are research institutions keeping pace with the explosion of information they're generating? Vittorio discusses breakthrough therapies currently in development, including the first clinical trial for cell immunotherapy in pediatric lupus and innovative approaches to treating neonatal brain injuries. But with massive datasets requiring decades of storage and AI models now identifying developmental disorders through behavioral analysis, what does this mean for the relationship between technology teams and researchers?Key Points:03:40 Innovative Pediatric Therapies10:53 Future Directions in Data Science16:02 Future Projects and AI Applications22:44 Mentorship and Advice for Young ScientistsX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

August 7, 2025: In this Keynote recap, Bill takes viewers through the untold reality behind digital transformation: the biggest obstacles aren't technological, they're human. What happens when you're tasked with building an entire IT department from scratch, or when you have to justify why a hospital even needs a CIO? As organizations develop their fourth digital roadmap and AI promises to revolutionize care delivery, seasoned executives reveal how clinical experience shapes risk tolerance, why traditional hiring practices miss diverse talent, and the critical mistake of treating innovation as a separate function. From Penn Medicine's team-building challenges to Utah's rural care initiatives, these leaders offer candid insights about balancing budgets with human resources, communicating effectively up and down the chain, and preparing organizations for an AI-enabled future without creating costly silos.Key Points:[00:01:00] - Michael Restuccia [00:02:00] - Deborah Proctor - Donna Roach [00:03:00] - Susan Ibanez [00:04:00] - Lee Milligan [00:06:00] - Chuck Podesta [00:07:00] - Joel Klein [00:08:00] - David Butler, MD [00:09:00] - Tressa SpringmannX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

August 6, 2025: Lisbeth Votruba, Chief Clinical Officer at AvaSure and a third-generation nurse, discusses how virtual care technology is transforming healthcare delivery. How can AI-powered platforms help nurses return to more personalized, joyful patient care while addressing the growing crisis of workplace violence in hospitals? Lisbeth shares her journey from ICU nurse to tech executive, discussing innovative solutions such as ambient monitoring and wake word technology that protect both patients and staff. What role should nurses play in shaping healthcare's digital future, and how can the profession leverage its trusted status to drive meaningful change? The conversation also touches on the emotional toll of caregiving and Lisbeth’s advocacy work supporting healthcare workers in recovery. Key Points: 03:45 Innovations in Nursing Technology 08:12 Challenges in Nursing Violence 11:49 Emotional Well-being of Nurses X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

July 31, 2025: Bill Russell, Drex DeFord, and Sarah Richardson preview their upcoming show changes while tackling critical CIO challenges. They discuss "CIO escape rooms"—high-pressure scenarios such as your EHR vendor going out of business or handling a 3 AM security breach. How do healthcare IT leaders navigate the treacherous waters of CEO transitions, and what's the real difference between a wartime and peacetime CIO? The conversation turns to compensation strategy for a hospital system, examining whether geography or specific leadership "phenotype" should drive salary decisions. They explore what CIOs would prioritize with unlimited budgets, from infrastructure overhauls to real-time data platforms, while questioning who truly deserves the CIDO title in an industry where keeping the lights on battles against driving transformation. Key Points:03:45 CIO Challenges and Escape Room Scenarios06:52 New Podcast Channels and Formats14:03 Real-Time Data Governance and ROI15:51 Automation and Patching in Health Systems17:47 Hiring and Compensation for Health System CIOs20:56 The Role and Value of a good CIDOsX: This Week HealthLinkedIn: This Week HealthDonate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

July 30, 2025: Marco Casale, Systems Integration Architect at the University of Rochester, and Drew Ivan, Chief Architect at Rhapsody, join Bill to discuss healthcare interoperability. What would happen if these critical integration platforms suddenly went down, and why does even Epic need hundreds of external connections to keep hospitals running? The discussion covers the evolution from HL7 V2 to FHIR standards, how the pandemic necessitated the massive scaling of data exchanges, and the ongoing challenge of integrating disparate healthcare systems to communicate. Key Points: 03:10 Interoperability and Integration Solutions 10:27 Automation in Healthcare 11:07 Integration During the Pandemic 18:57 Future of Healthcare Integration X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

Even cyber pros have technical issues sometimes – our camera caught a bug, but the audio is clean and packed with security insights! July 28, 2025: Aaron Heath, CISO and Cybersecurity Counsel at the Medical University of South Carolina, and Brian Zegers, Information Security Officer at Lee Health, discuss a variety of security topics. The conversation takes a turn when both leaders address their growing concerns about AI's rapid evolution from helpful tools to autonomous agents with privileged network access. How do you prepare for ransomware recovery when your backup strategies have blind spots? And what happens when AI agents start operating independently within healthcare networks? As these security leaders balance innovation with protection, they ask: Are we moving too fast with AI automation, and how do we secure technologies that are changing faster than our security frameworks can keep pace? Key Points: 03:08 Brian's Ransomware Recovery Initiative 08:41 The Role of AI in Cybersecurity 13:47 Talent Recruitment Strategies 17:48 Career Journeys in Cybersecurity 21:32 Fun and Personal Insights X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

July 24, 2025: Theresa McDonnell, Chief Nursing Executive and SVP at Duke University Health System, discusses how she maintains her clinical practice while leading strategic transformation across a billion-dollar organization. What specific changes helped Duke reduce nurse turnover from 21% to 11%? Theresa discusses her role in orchestrating the complex $1.7 billion merger that created the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and shares how Duke's innovation hackathons have engaged over 10,000 frontline staff. As healthcare faces mounting workforce shortages and an aging population, what role should AI play in enhancing rather than replacing human care? The conversation explores practical approaches to empowering healthcare workers and how the future of care is centered on preventing sickness rather than just treating illness. Key Points: 05:03 Nurse-Led Innovation at Duke 11:03 Strategic Transformation and Mergers 19:04 Balancing Patient Care and Innovation 24:22 Advice for Early Career Clinicians 27:08 Speed Round and Closing Remarks X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

July 23, 2025: Michael Vipond, Head of Healthcare Provider GTM at ServiceNow, discusses everything from the basics to the cutting edge of AI. As health systems face mounting pressure from Medicare cuts and operational costs, how do leaders navigate the difference between traditional automation and the emerging world of agentic AI? Michael reveals how AI agents are already handling IT incidents and care team requests, but warns that simply layering AI onto broken processes won't deliver transformation. With healthcare drowning in spreadsheets and administrative tasks, what are the practical steps CIOs can take today while building toward a long-term AI strategy? The conversation uncovers specific examples of AI reducing administrative burden and explores the critical foundation work—from data quality to governance—that health systems need to get right before AI can truly amplify human connection in patient care. Key Points: 02:54 Understanding Agentic AI 07:04 AI Use Cases and Benefits 11:01 Governance and Implementation of AI 20:33 Future of AI in Healthcare X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

July 22, 2025: Charles Christian, VP of Technology and CTO at Franciscan Health, joins Nayan Patel, SVP of FinThrive, to discuss their healthcare innovation lab and supporting clinicians. What happens when a tech giant realizes it can't just provide a platform but must become a true partner in life-safety systems? Charles reveals how Franciscan's tech innovation lab uses donated equipment and a "fail fast" approach to test everything from ambient listening to virtual care solutions before rolling them out. How do you balance innovation with the reality that clinical staff expect technology to work seamlessly? The conversation explores application rationalization strategies that eliminated over 150 redundant systems and the ongoing challenge of measuring ROI when reimbursement rules constantly shift. Key Points: 03:49 Challenges and Solutions in Cloud Migration 07:17 Tech Innovation Lab and Pilot Projects 17:23 Application Rationalization and Cost Management 23:14 Final Thoughts and Fun Questions X: This Week Health LinkedIn: This Week Health Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer