Executive Interview: Shrinking the Gap Between Idea and Reality with Nishith Khandwala
September 17, 2025: Healthcare is notorious for changing slowly, but does it have to be? Nishith Khandwala, Co-Founder of Bunkerhill Health, is breaking down the walls between an idea and life-saving reality. Nishith reveals how major health systems are now identifying thousands of at-risk patients through automated clinical workflows, including the story of a police officer whose dismissed "heartburn" led to emergency triple bypass surgery. Can healthcare finally match the breakneck pace of AI innovation happening everywhere else, and what would it mean if the gap between AI discovery and patient care could shrink from years to mere hours?
Key Points:
00:05 The Birth of Bunkerhill Health
03:12 Why so Slow?
08:37 Operationalizing AI
19:13 Future Vision
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LinkedIn: This Week Health
Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer
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Newsday: Possible Government Shutdown and Epic's Big Ambient Push with Ryan Bengtson
September 15, 2025: Patients now walk into doctors' offices armed with AI-generated diagnoses and treatment plans—but what happens when ChatGPT becomes your primary care physician? Ryan Bengtson, CEO and Board member at Panda Health, joins the This Week Health team to dive into this shifting dynamic while confronting an imminent government shutdown that threatens to pull the rug out from under telehealth programs and rural hospitals already hanging by a thread. As Epic makes its calculated move into ambient listening technology, disrupting yet another innovative startup space, the panel asks whether we're witnessing Epic stunt healthcare innovation or if it’s just business as usual.
Key Points:
00:55 AI in Healthcare: Patient Empowerment and Challenges
12:25 Government Shutdown and Its Impact on Healthcare
20:08 The Flawed Healthcare System and AI's Role
30:18 Epic's Impact on Innovation and Future Trends
X: This Week Health
LinkedIn: This Week Health
Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer
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The 229 Podcast: Breaking Down UPMC’s Ambitious Epic Implementation with Chris Carmody
September 11, 2025: Chris Carmody, CTO and SVP at UPMC, discusses their ambitious Epic implementation less than a month out. How does UPMC consolidate 10 different EHR systems serving 108,000 users while maintaining 43 million daily transactions? They discuss their controversial two-wave strategy, the new AI voice analytics model they're launching called "Vana," and why 17 years of coaching seventh-grade basketball might be Chris’s secret to leading healthcare IT transformations.
Key Points:
01:35 Epic Go-Live Strategy and Challenges
13:47 AI and Data Integration at UPMC
19:27 Industry Leadership and Data Integration
20:24 CIO Community and Knowledge Sharing
30:50 Future Prospects and Team Building
X: This Week Health
LinkedIn: This Week Health
Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer
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Newsday: Healthcare Under Siege - Cybersecurity Expert Ed Gaudet on AI Threats & Third-Party Risks
September 8, 2025: Ed Gaudet, CEO and Founder of Censinet, joins the This Week Health team for the news. When SalesLoft's Drift chatbot breach exposes over 700 companies through a single API vulnerability, it raises an unsettling question: are we witnessing a preview of something much larger? The security experts shift seats and play the role of the hackers, answering where they would attack first if they were the bad guys. With critical cybersecurity legislation potentially expiring and government support drying up, can healthcare keep up?
Key Points:
02:01 AI and Cybersecurity Threats
06:34 Phishing Attacks and Security Measures
12:57 Legal Hurdles in Cybersecurity
19:02 Managing AI Risks
X: This Week Health
LinkedIn: This Week Health
Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer
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The 229 Podcast: Making Sense of Epic's Transformation - From UGM to Your Health System
September 4, 2025: In the inaugural episode of The 229 Podcast, Bill Russell sits down with John Lee, MD - practicing physician and founder of HIT Peak Advisors - for an insider's deep dive into Epic's game-changing UGM announcements.
Lee, who describes himself as "firmly in Camp Epic," brings a unique dual perspective as both a clinician and Epic consultant to decode what really matters from the conference. The conversation explores how Epic's Cosmos platform could compress medical innovation cycles from 20 years to potentially just hours, fundamentally rewiring how healthcare discovers and implements new insights.
From real-time prior authorizations to state-wide Epic deployments, Lee and Russell cut through the hype to deliver practical insights on what health IT leaders need to know now. Whether you're evaluating AI adoption, preparing for Epic implementations, or trying to make sense of where healthcare technology is headed, this conversation provides the strategic clarity you need.
The best conversations don't end when the event does. They continue here.
Key Points:
00:00 - Introductions & UGM Conference Impressions
06:00 - AI, Cosmos, and the Future of Medicine
13:00 - Industry Partnerships, Competition, and Market Dynamics
20:00 - Statewide Interoperability & Monopoly Concerns
26:00 - AI in Healthcare Operations, Trust, and Adoption
32:00 - Making Sense of Change & Closing Thoughts
X: This Week Health
LinkedIn: This Week Health
Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer
Some conversations are too important to stay in the room. The 229 Podcast, hosted by Bill Russell, continues the dynamic discussions from our community events, bringing together healthcare leaders who are actively transforming the industry.
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