Designing for Health

Nordic Chief Medical Officer Craig Joseph, MD, talks with Eve Cunningham, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Cadence. Craig and Eve discuss the challenges faced during the pandemic and the desire to improve clinician technology experiences. They also discuss Cadence and its role in scaling remote patient monitoring across health systems, which delves into integrating technology, clinical protocols, and EMR workflows to support chronic care management.Show Notes: [00:00] Intros [00:52] Value-based care and early innovation [02:10] Challenges faced during and after the pandemic [05:34] Remote patient monitoring [10:05] Hospital-at-home challenges [14:05] Cadence’s comprehensive care model [27:35] Customization in digital care and preferences [33:16] Governance and protocol [37:29] Eve's favorite well-designed thing [38:58] Outros For a full transcript, click hereCheck out her article in the New England Journal of Medicine here

Will Morris, MD, an accomplished physician-engineer and Chief Medical Officer at Ambience Healthcare, shares insights into his fascinating career in EHR design. He discusses the evolution from early electronic health records to modern usability, emphasizing the crucial role of clinician engagement. They explore how AI can enhance medical training and decision-making while maintaining human judgment. Morris also highlights the importance of context in documentation to improve patient care outcomes and advocates for designing tools that truly support clinicians.

Nordic Chief Medical Officer Craig Joseph, MD, talks with Greg Aukerman, Co-founder of The Outcomes Institute. They discuss Greg’s unconventional journey from retail and tech support to healthcare experience design, which led to the founding of The Outcomes Institute. They also discuss accidental vs. intentional design in healthcare and further exploring how unintentional design choices affect patient experience and outcomes. Show Notes: [00:00] Intros [03:00] Founding the Outcomes Institute [04:20] The impact of a room placement [07:30] Accidental versus intentional design in healthcare [09:00] Fragmented systems [12:30] Designing for outcomes [14:50] Reimagining onboarding [24:00] Fixing the relationship not just the device [35:38] Greg’s favorite well-designed things [38:23] Outros For a full transcript, click here

Nordic Chief Medical Officer Craig Joseph, MD, talks with Matthew Denenberg, MD, Chief of Pediatrics at Corewell Health East. They discuss the transformation brought by electronic health records, the challenges of adolescent access, and the shift from punitive peer review to organizational learning. They also discussed how thoughtful design and leadership can improve care delivery, provider experience, and patient outcomes.Show Notes: [00:00] Intros [01:15] Alaska to administration [02:23] Climbing the leadership and educational ladder [04:32] Defining “systemness” in healthcare [06:01] Designing health systems that work [10:20] Data overload and AI solutions [17:25] Managing disruptive providers [20:53] EHR access [28:50] Matthew’s favorite well-designed things [31:19] Outros For a full transcript, click here

Nordic Chief Medical Officer Craig Joseph, MD, talks with Justin Schrager, MD, Founder and Chief Medical Officer at Vital.io and Nick Sterling, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Information Officer at Vital.io. They discuss their paths into medicine, and how a Thanksgiving dinner and a frustrating EHR interface sparked the creation of Vital.io. They also discussed their journey from clinical decision support to patient-centered communication offers healthcare professionals a compelling look at how thoughtful design and AI can transform the way we engage with patients in acute care settings. Show Notes: [00:00] Intros [01:02]Paths into healthcare and technology [02:55] The birth of Vital.io [05:07] From clinician tools to patient empowerment [06:56] Solving the communication crisis [14:02] Why EHR portals weren’t enough [23:50] Designing for accessibility and empathy [28:54] AI in action [39:11] Justin and Nick’s favorite well-designed things [42:37] Outros For a full transcript, click here

Nordic Chief Medical Officer Craig Joseph, MD, talks with Marina Gerner, PhD, journalist, NYU Stern adjunct professor, and author. They discuss her groundbreaking book, The Vagina Business, which explores innovation in women's health, and the cultural and financial barriers that hinder progress. They also discuss gender bias in medical diagnosis, the rise of Femtech, the stigma surrounding female-focused products, and the challenges of bringing these innovations to market. Marina shares insights from her research, including examples of transformative technologies and the importance of destigmatizing conversations around female health.Show Notes: [00:00] Intros [00:09] Marina’s background and her book: The Vagina Business [01:29] Gender data gaps [02:52] The emergence of Femtech [04:00] Innovation and obstacles in birth care [05:30] Title controversy and pushback [13:02] Femtech vs. Scamtech [14:09] The pink tax in healthcare and global innovations [27:03] Marina’s favorite well-designed thing [28:52] Outros Check out Marina's book here and follow her on Linkedin.For a full transcript, click here

Nordic Chief Medical Officer Craig Joseph, MD, talks with Mukul Mehra, MD, gastroenterologist and founder of IllumiCare. They discuss the intersection of clinical care and financial stewardship. Dr. Mehra shares his journey from practicing medicine to launching a company aimed at reducing low-value care through contextual nudging and clinical financial decision support. They also discuss perspectives on how cost transparency, provider incentives, and thoughtful design can improve patient outcomes and reduce unnecessary spending without compromising clinical autonomy.Show Notes: [00:00] Intros [01:36] Choosing gastroenterology [02:49] The start of IllumiCare [04:29] Uncovering low-value care [09:14] The therapeutic cascade [11:13] Building cost awareness [17:15] Clinical financial decision support [29:27] Incentivizing low-value care reduction [38:05] Mukul’s favorite well-designed thingFor a full transcript, click here

Nordic Chief Medical Officer Craig Joseph, MD, talks with Dr. Minal Shah, Medical Director of Virtual Care and System Medical Informaticist at CommonSpirit Health. Craig and Minal discuss Minal’s professional journey and her experiences in clinical informatics, virtual care, and AI strategy. They also discuss smarter alert design and real-time location tracking to rethinking hospital workflows and the promise of AI copilots in clinical care. In addition, they explore how a hospital built around clinician pain points led to smarter workflows, why real-time location services (RTLS) trump flashier tech, and how an evolved Epic Monitor is winning over even the most skeptical patients.Show Notes: [00:00] Intros [00:15] Minal’s professional journey [01:08] Designing smarter alerts [05:35] Digital interruptions and use of “thank you” [12:22] De-implementation [21:08] Building Saint Francis Interquest Hospital [25:29] Reimagining the Epic monitor [28:20] AI beyond the scribe [32:03] Minal's favorite well-designed thing For a full transcript, click here

Nordic Chief Medical Officer Craig Joseph, MD, talks with Brandy Parker, Senior Design Director at IDEO. We discuss Brandy’s journey from social science to design innovation, and how early-stage, even poor prototypes can drive smarter design and stronger team alignment. Brandy also takes us inside the design of Teal Health, an at-home cervical cancer screening solution aimed at increasing access and comfort for underserved communities. We unpack the importance of unboxing experiences in healthcare, and how design can remove invisible barriers that build trust for patients and providersShow Notes: [00:00] Intros [04:15] Teal Health [09:41] Why unboxing matters in healthcare design [13:16] Rethinking patient “adherence" through accessibility [18:07] History and hidden barriers to health research [20:33] The value of bad prototypes [25:21] Testing that helps teams learn [26:30] The power of workarounds [31:54] Brandy's favorite well-designed thing [34:03] Outros For a full transcript, click here

Nordic Chief Medical Officer Craig Joseph, MD, talks with Dr. Christian Pulcini, pediatric emergency medicine attending at the University of Vermont Medical Center. We discuss Dr. Pulcini’s journey into medicine, his early interest in pediatrics, and how that evolved into a focused commitment to caring for children with complex medical needs. We also discuss the role of human-centered design in healthcare innovation, and highlight its ability to generate more agile, practical solutions compared to traditional research methodologies.Show Notes: [00:00] Intros [01:16] Teacher to ER Doctor [05:05] Implementation science and human centered design [08:28] Design in action [13:52] Reimagining emergency care [22:35] The power of a name [24:57] Designing with end users [28:13] Delivering the ICAP in real life [38:29] Christian's favorite well-designed thing [40:13] Outros For a full transcript, click here To learn more, check out this article