The 229 Podcast

June 10, 2026: In healthcare where downtime means lives, identity security is no longer just about who logs in. Bill Russell sits down with Peter Barker, Chief Product Officer at Ping Identity, to unpack why the agentic AI era demands a fundamental rethinking of identity. From giving AI agents first-class credentials to shifting the security boundary from login to the point of action. If your health system is deploying AI and you have not addressed non-human identity, this conversation is where to start.
Keep up to date on the latest in health IT:
https://thisweekhealth.com/news/
Key Points:
01:18 Why Agents Change Identity

07:43 Runtime Identity And Authorization

15:00 Healthcare Passwordless Trust

20:11 CISO Playbook And Wrap Up

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That UAC prompt -- the little shield asking you to approve a publisher -- is one of the most foundational trust signals in Windows security. Your tools rely on it. Your team relies on it.
Two people figured out how to sell it. What they built, and which ransomware gangs bought access, has a direct line to at least one recent health system breach. Drex breaks it down.
Remember, Stay a Little Paranoid

CISA -- the federal agency whose job it is to protect America's critical infrastructure -- had its own internal credentials sitting in a public GitHub repository for six months. Plain text passwords. AWS GovCloud keys. SSH access tokens. Visible to anyone on the internet with a browser.What makes this worse: the contractor who created the repository didn't slip up accidentally. They actively disabled the default GitHub protections designed to prevent exactly this from happening. And when the repository finally came down, those AWS keys stayed valid for another 48 hours before anyone thought to revoke them.Drex brings this back to the question every health system CISO should be sitting with: How many contractors have access to your most sensitive systems right now -- and if one of them made this choice six months ago, would you even know today?Remember, Stay a Little Paranoid Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ThisWeekHealth Twitter: https://twitter.com/thisweekhealth Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer - https://www.alexslemonade.org/mypage/3173454

June 8, 2026: Bill Russell, Drex DeFord, and Sarah Richardson break down three headlines every health IT leader needs to hear. New York City Health and Hospitals suffered a breach that exposed biometric data, fingerprints, palm prints, and geotagged photo metadata through a third-party vector. Unlike passwords or Social Security numbers, that data cannot be replaced. Second, the long-anticipated HIPAA Security Rule update is overdue, and organizations that had two years to prepare are still unprepared. Lastly, Microsoft burned through its entire AI budget in five months. As AI spending spirals, the panel asks the harder question: Does every AI project reduce spend or increase revenue? If not, why is it funded?
Key Points:
02:31 Biometric Breach Fallout

10:41 Data Retention and Hoarding

12:59 HIPAA Security Rule Update

21:10 AI Spend and ROI Reality

Keep up to date on the latest in health IT:
https://thisweekhealth.com/news/
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Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer

June 5, 2026: Bree Bacon doesn't just talk about burnout; she survived it. Author, Speaker, & Elite Energy™ Coach, Bree spent years giving 110% to everything until panic attacks and her miscarriage forced her to crash. What she discovered in the aftermath became a life-saving framework that challenges everything healthcare leaders think they know about performance, capacity, and sustainable success. Elite Energy isn't just a theory; it’s tested through fertility loss, chemotherapy, and the impossible choice between career and survival.
Key Points:
02:54 The Reality of Burnout

07:37 Bree's Personal Journey with Healthcare

10:52 The Elite Energy Framework

21:07 Overcoming Cancer and Embracing Life

X: This Week Health
LinkedIn: This Week Health
Donate: Alex’s Lemonade Stand: Foundation for Childhood Cancer