Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

Dr. Neil Roy, emergency physician and CMO at Adventist HealthCare, leads clinical and operational innovation. He discusses marketplace rounds that sped surgeries and cut stays, high-risk discharge clinics and remote monitoring that lowered readmissions, and pilots for SNF bed leasing and AI tools to detect care delays. He also highlights tactics to boost physician engagement and staff retention.

Eric C. Hunter, President and CEO of CareOregon with decades in Medicaid managed care, discusses aligning payers and providers to improve quality and access. He talks about using AI to reduce administrative burden and boost engagement. He covers regulatory hurdles that raise costs and the financial strain from rising behavioral health needs. He describes shifting leadership toward convening partnerships for sustainable solutions.

Tracey Spangenberg, Associate Chief Pharmacy Officer at UC San Diego Health and former retail/mail-order pharmacist with international training. She discusses scaling outpatient and retail pharmacy, building a centralized prior authorization team, tackling EMR and change management, handling 340B uncertainty, and using partnerships and measurement to drive system growth.

Scott MacLean, Senior VP and CIO at MedStar Health, leads digital transformation and EHR modernization for a major Baltimore–Washington health system. He discusses platform strategy and application rationalization. He covers retiring legacy systems, preparing for a 2027 EHR go-live, AI opportunities, and improving patient access through digital channels.

Brandy Thompson, CEO and co-founder of Benefitbay, brings an operations and finance background focused on employer benefits and cutting administrative complexity. She discusses payer–provider tensions, regulatory pressure driving cooperation, the execution gap at carriers, and investments—like talent and tech—that could reshape plan operations and margins.

Michelle Stansbury, Associate Chief Innovation Officer and VP of IT Applications at Houston Methodist, leads AI and smart-hospital tech efforts. She discusses the Cypress smart hospital and voice/ambient tools for clinicians. They cover operational AI for supply chain and finance, remote monitoring and control centers. The focus is on scaling high-impact innovations and maximizing value from core systems.

Dr. Randi Goldman, reproductive endocrinologist and REI fellowship director at Northwell Health. She discusses scaling fertility preservation and oncofertility pathways across a large system. Topics include ovarian tissue and egg freezing, improving access and referral speed, coordinating multidisciplinary care, and using data and navigation to sustain and expand services.

Dr. Nicholas Gavin, an emergency physician and clinical informaticist leading digital front door and asynchronous care initiatives. Girish N. Nadkarni, clinician-scientist and Chief AI Officer building AI governance and assurance labs. They discuss expanding asynchronous care, persona-based AI oversight, generative AI for access and chatbots, regulatory and reimbursement headwinds, and prioritizing patient-centered, scalable tech.

Dr. Michael Han, VP and CMIO at MultiCare and former urologist, leads informatics work on ambient clinical documentation and AI governance. He discusses a large vendor bake-off for ambient tools, dramatic burnout reductions, measuring adoption and ROI, building multidisciplinary AI governance, and the need for safety, bias and drift monitoring.

Michele Szkolnicki, Senior VP and Chief Nursing Officer at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey, leads efforts to rebuild and stabilize nursing after COVID. She describes achieving zero percent vacancy on med-surg units. She explains unit specialization, building nurse leaders, and how nursing can drive value amid insurance and regulatory headwinds.