Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

Salim S. Hayek, MD, cardiovascular specialist and transformation leader at UTMB who builds AI-driven operational solutions. He discusses using AI to automate referrals and lift administrative burden. He explains building internal AI teams and partnerships. He outlines strategies to improve access, de-risk growth, and prioritize investments amid financial and regulatory uncertainty.

Dr. Bashir Agboola, Managing Partner at Interdym and former Hospital for Special Surgery executive, specializes in AI strategy and operationalizing digital investments. He discusses ambient AI scribes that free clinician time. He explores predictive analytics for personalized care. He emphasizes structured governance to turn digital spend into measurable clinical and financial performance.

Ravi K. Bashyal, MD, an orthopedic surgeon specializing in minimally invasive hip and knee replacement and patient experience leader at Endeavor Health. He talks about building the busiest orthopedic hospital through patient-centered culture and standardized pathways. He covers scaling specialized care, outpatient joint replacement, and how humility and human connection shape high-performance surgical teams.

Grant Zarzour, MD, an orthopedic surgeon and founder/CEO of Sperity Health focused on proactive longevity. He recounts a personal family health journey that shaped his data-driven approach. He discusses measuring biological age, using wearables and CGMs, and building interventions like nutrition, VO2 testing, and emotional activation. He also explains how data motivates behavior change and Sperity’s in-person delivery model.

Dr. James Voos, sports medicine orthopedic surgeon and NFL team physician, and Rob Heiser, CEO of UGen Health and movement data entrepreneur. They discuss wearable movement technology, standardized movement data, reducing administrative burden, partnerships between health systems and tech, and using objective data to reshape orthopedic recovery and research.

Dr. Daniel J. Elliott, Centene’s Chief Medical Officer for Provider Experience and former primary care clinician, shares ideas on tightening payer-provider collaboration. He discusses practical AI for workflow gains. He highlights reducing prior authorization friction. He focuses on aligning strategy with usable data to tackle cost and workforce pressures.

Dr. Kara Odom Walker, Aetna Medicaid Chief Medical Officer and family physician with state health leadership experience. She discusses a new collaboration to improve hypertension control in underserved communities. Topics include data-driven targeting of four states, community health center partnerships, tackling social drivers of health, and plans to scale beyond hypertension.

Karen J. McConnell, PharmD, MBA, Chief Pharmacy Officer at Michigan Medicine and associate dean, leads systemwide pharmacy transformation. She discusses unifying services across three campuses. She explains creating a system P&T with many subcommittees and expanding specialty, ambulatory, and research pharmacy. She also covers preparing for rapid industry, policy, and pricing changes.

Harpreet Pall, CMO and pediatrics professor focused on clinical quality and care coordination. He discusses reducing unnecessary clinical variation to improve length of stay and outcomes. He explains redesigning multidisciplinary rounds to center the attending and set discharge expectations. He outlines engaging frontline teams for change, expanding virtual and hospital-at-home care, and priorities for 2026.

Scott Hurst, CEO of PPNHCo, leads a 600-provider IPA and is launching a multiple employer welfare arrangement to lower costs. He explains how MIWAs work and why employers should consider contracting directly with independent networks. He talks about preserving independent medicine through operational alignment and scaling, and urges careful, accountable adoption of AI in healthcare.