Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

Dr. Dustin M. Riccio, President and CEO of St. Joseph's Health System, is a Jersey-born physician-executive driving strategic growth and cultural renewal. He discusses a year of listening that shaped a plan focused on primary care and ambulatory expansion. He also covers quality wins, amplifying the system’s voice to communities and payers, and the challenge of sustaining momentum amid rapid industry change.

Ada Demir, Vice President of Enterprise Support Services and Supply Chain at Dartmouth Health, is a supply chain leader focused on transformation and continuity planning. She discusses staying within budget amid rising costs. She highlights why supply chain needs C-suite alignment. She covers vendor diversification, talent strategies, and practical continuity planning.

Rapid growth in nurse and advanced practitioner training and the tradeoffs of faster pipelines. Expanding administrative and clinical AI use cases from ambient listening to predictive analytics. Rising specialist shortages and the long, costly path of medical education. Hospital financial strain and the fragile rural care market. Emerging tiers of care and the equity risks they create.

Dr. Narayana Murali, nephrologist and CMO at Geisinger who leads system-wide care redesigns. He describes transforming advanced care planning to boost engagement among high-risk seniors. He outlines embedding palliative expertise, scaling high-reliability and zero harm practices, and expanding home-based, patient-centered care.

Jessica Wells, Principal at ECG with 25 years in academic health and operations, and Katrina Anderson, SVP of Strategic Growth at Clinician Nexus, who built platforms for clinical placements, discuss aligning clinical education with workforce strategy. They cover student placement as pipeline-building, preceptor support and teaching culture, scaling learner management, and the role of tech and regional collaboration.

Erin Shipley, CEN, MSN, RN, Vice President of Consumer Experience at Cooper University Health Care, is a registered nurse with 15 years in patient and consumer strategy. She talks about launching an ED-focused experience program. She explains patient ambassador rounding, giving staff Epic and tablet access, and priorities for improving access, throughput, digital growth, and mobile care for patients with IDD.

William A. Wertheim, Executive Vice President at Stony Brook Medicine and practicing internist who runs a multi-hospital academic system. He talks about embedding care into local communities and opening a freestanding emergency center in East Hampton. He covers structural transformation and shared governance to align clinical and academic priorities. He also discusses leadership visibility and communication during growth and change.

Dr. Vineet Gupta, VP of Innovation and CEO of Medical Branch Innovations with a PhD in chemistry and startup experience. He describes making innovation a fourth pillar alongside care, research, and education. He highlights focused programs in brain health, kidney health, healthy aging, and AI-driven solutions. He also covers scaling institutes, public-private partnerships, and student entrepreneurship.

Jennifer L. Kowalski, Vice President at Elevance Health’s Public Policy Institute, leads data-driven research on Medicare Advantage and supplemental benefits. She discusses how rigorous evidence shapes strategy, tackles misconceptions about value and access, and explores integrating Medicare and Medicaid for dual eligibles. Conversations also cover affordability, care navigation, and using research to guide policy and innovation.

Dr. Kenneth Altman, Chair of Otolaryngology at Geisinger and rural head and neck cancer specialist. He discusses expanding access across a rural network, building interoperable systems and pooled tumor boards. He talks about empowering frontline clinicians, prioritizing professionalism and service, and cutting delays in cancer care to improve timeliness.