Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

Michael Wiggins, Assistant Professor of Healthcare Management and Leadership and former academic medical center CEO, shares his shift from executive life to teaching. He spotlights fragmented care and costly patient flow issues. He reframes costs as investments and explores partnerships, vertical integration, and tough choices leaders must make to protect safety-net and academic missions.

Olu Jegede, MD, Senior VP and Chief Health Equity and Community Impact Officer at Cone Health and clinician in sickle cell care. He discusses community-driven programs like CATCH 5 in 5, blood pressure equity efforts, measurable early outcomes, scaling access in high-need neighborhoods, embedding equity into culture, and the challenge of sustaining equity investments amid financial pressures.

Krista Drobac, co-founder of Health Policy Futures Lab and former CMS/state policy leader, discusses the $50B Rural Health Transformation Program. She breaks down the program’s 11 funding buckets. She highlights innovations like mobile units, community paramedicine, remote monitoring and hub-and-spoke models. She outlines what hospitals should expect as states issue RFPs and ramp up activity into 2026.

Kyle Glass, Regional CFO and SVP steering the UChicago Medicine–AdventHealth partnership, drives expansion of oncology, neuroscience and orthopedics in Chicago's western suburbs. He discusses boosting local access and patient navigation. He also tackles competition in crowded markets, consolidation risks, and realistic uses for AI in care and revenue-cycle efficiency.

A rapid rundown of nine current healthcare headlines. Topics include major insurer layoffs and a dramatic profit drop at a national pharmacy chain. Rural maternity services winding down and a regional health system bankruptcy are covered. A large philanthropic gift to a major clinic is noted. Discussion touches on rising uninsured patient preparation, staffing shortages, and GLP-1 drug price and market shifts.

Dr. Sidney H. Raymond, CMO at Ochsner Health Network, oversees population health for ~600,000 lives and scales value-based care. He discusses extending value-based strategies beyond contracts. Topics include care model redesign, prevention and chronic disease management, digital health and home-based care, and building a patient-centered, collaborative culture.

Joseph Pollino, PA-C, a Northern Nevada primary care physician assistant and former coroner/EMT, spotlights frontline struggles with rising premiums and high deductibles. He recounts preventable harms from delayed care. He explains where affordability gaps form and urges policy, system, and clinic-level fixes to help patients access care.

Cecilia Trujillo, Regional Chief Human Resources Officer at Hawaii Health Systems Corporation who focuses on process optimization and AI for HR. She discusses mapping HR workflows and closing gaps. She explains adopting sprint-based Agile for faster change. She explores generative AI priorities, governance with IT, and easing staff concerns while boosting workforce resilience.

Bob Taylor, Senior VP and Chief Supply Chain Officer at RWJBarnabas Health with decades in healthcare supply chain leadership. He discusses rigorous IT contracting wins and capital equipment standardization. He explains consolidating support services, partnering closely with clinicians and business leaders, and preparing procurement for tariffs, AI-driven tech demand, and system growth.

Todd Dunn, CEO of Accuryn and kidney-monitoring innovator, discusses why acute kidney injury is now a top patient safety and financial priority. He highlights blind spots in kidney care and limits of legacy tools. He explores how automation and continuous urine monitoring can improve detection and reduce clinician burden. He also covers scaling innovations and aligning operations and data for adoption.