In this episode, host Sandy Vance sits down with Kristen Valdes founder and CEO of b.well, and Ryan Howells from Leavitt Partners for a lively and insightful conversation about the future of digital healthcare. This discussion dives into not only the policies and programs making headlines but also the practical, on-the-ground changes needed to make healthcare more connected, accessible, and patient-centered.
Together, they unpack some of the biggest shifts happening in the industry right now, including:
The latest updates from CMS on modernizing digital healthcare
b.well’s transition to becoming a CMS-aligned network
CARIN Alliance’s accomplishments and bold vision for what’s ahead
National initiatives shaping the healthcare landscape—and what they mean for patients, providers, and innovators
How organizations can work alongside TEFCA
The three key steps needed to finally “kill the clipboard”
The critical role of the private sector in advancing progress
A Little About Kristen:
Kristen Valdes is the founder and CEO of b.well Connected Health. She is a transformative force in today’s healthcare marketplace, spearheading the conversation on how empowering consumers can transform healthcare delivery. Kristen is a seasoned healthcare executive with over 20 years in the industry and has dedicated her life to pioneering inventive solutions. This quest has been largely driven by her powerful personal story as the mother of a child suffering from a significant autoimmune disorder.
A Little About Ryan:
Ryan Howells is a nationally recognized expert in digital health policy and interoperability. Based in Leavitt Partners’ Washington, D.C. office, he collaborates with the private sector, the White House, Congress, HHS, and the VHA to improve health care nationwide.
Ever wonder why your healthcare providers can't just send each other your medical records with a simple click? Or why coordinating care between your primary doctor and a specialist feels like watching a game of telephone played in slow motion?
In today's episode, host Sandy Vance sits down with Kathryn Ayers Wickenhauser, Chief Strategy Officer for DirectTrust, to unpack the complex world of healthcare communication security. DirectTrust are the architects working behind the scenes to build the digital bridges that could revolutionize how your medical information travels safely between providers. Identity-verified communication is absolutely critical for patient safety
In this episode, they talk about:
Why identity-verified communication is critical in healthcare
Push-based interoperability vs. query-based exchange: What’s the difference and why it matters
How DirectTrust enhances healthcare interoperability and secure communication
Understanding Direct Secure Messaging and its role in protected health information (PHI) exchange
The challenges of creating a national directory of healthcare providers
How the Elizabeth Dole Veterans Act improves care coordination between the VA and community providers
A Little About Kathryn:
Kathryn Ayers Wickenhauser, MBA, CHPC, CHTS, is the Chief Strategy Officer at DirectTrust, where she leads strategic partnerships, community engagement, and national efforts to advance trusted health information exchange. With over 15 years in health IT, she’s helped shape standards, policies, and technology around privacy, interoperability, and provider communication. A former HIPAA compliance officer, Kathryn’s insights have been featured across top health IT publications and podcasts. She’s been recognized as one of Healthjump’s “10 Healthcare IT Leaders You Should Know” and the 2022 HITMC Marketing Professional of the Year. She also founded the Interoperability Hero and Team Interop initiatives, celebrating innovation and collaboration in healthcare tech.
When you hear T-Mobile, you probably think about smartphones and streaming—but there’s a whole lot more happening behind the scenes. In this episode of the InteropNow Podcast, host Sandy Vance sits down with Jay Noschese from T-Mobile to explore how their cutting-edge 5G Standalone (5GSA) network is revolutionizing the healthcare industry.
In this episode, they talk about:
How 5G is reshaping healthcare communication and workflow
The hidden impact of next-gen networks on healthcare infrastructure
Why many organizations are rethinking their connectivity strategies
The real limits of Wi-Fi—and why 5G is the perfect companion
Built-in security: How T-Mobile keeps sensitive data safe
Making the numbers work: How to track ROI on your network investments
A deep dive into T-Mobile’s collaboration with SAVA Systems—and how their latest innovations are accelerating remote diagnostics
A Little About Jay:
Jay is a T-Mobile senior sales manager, 5G ANS/Enterprise Connectivity Sales - T-Mobile for Business. As a Senior Sales Manager within T-Mobile for Business Solution Sales Organization, Jay leads a dedicated team of sales specialists who are knocking down walls and barriers to drive the adoption of T-Mobile’s 5G Standalone (5GSA) Advanced Network Solutions in the healthcare sector. Their mission is to empower healthcare providers with cutting-edge secure connectivity, including Hybrid and Private Networks, to enhance patient care, streamline clinical operations, and support digital health innovations.
In this episode, host Sandy Vance sits down with Charlie Harp, the CEO of Clinical Architecture to talk about the importance of data quality. They discuss the Patient Information Quality Improvement (PIQI) Alliance, an open-source framework for measuring healthcare data quality. The framework is designed to provide a standardized way to assess the usability and trustworthiness of clinical data across different formats like FHIR, CCDA, and HL7. Charlie emphasizes the importance of data quality for healthcare analytics, decision support, and AI, and explains how PIQI scores data quality with detailed metrics.
In this episode, they talk about:
PIQI Alliance provides a standardized framework to measure healthcare data quality.
The framework is vendor-agnostic and works across multiple data formats (FHIR, CCDA, HL7).
PIQI scores data at holistic and data-class levels (labs, medications, and immunizations).
PIQI is open source to make it available for everyone.
Clinical Architecture offers a commercial implementation called PIQXL Gateway for practical use.
The framework is being balloted through HL7 for validation, but is not rooted solely in HL7 standards.
Data quality is critical for effective AI use in healthcare.
The alliance encourages industry participation to improve the framework.
PIQI can help organizations meet regulatory requirements and improve data governance.
The PIQI website offers resources, documentation, and ways to get involved.
A Little About Charlie:
Charlie Harp is the founder and CEO of Clinical Architecture, a pioneer in healthcare data innovation. With over 35 years in the industry, he led the creation of the first deterministic engine for semantic interoperability. Today, he drives Clinical Architecture’s mission to transform healthcare through cutting-edge software and expert-led services. A frequent speaker and thought leader, Charlie also hosts the Informonster podcast, where he dives into data quality, interoperability, and the future of health IT.
Host Sandy Vance chats with Chris Sault from Ping Identity. They discuss the importance of digital identity management in healthcare.
Ping Identity aims to eliminate trust challenges in authentication and identity management, acting as a digital front door for organizations. The conversation highlights the importance of user experience and security, particularly in regulated environments like healthcare, where adherence to standards such as HIPAA is essential.
Sault emphasizes the need for proactive measures in identity verification and the role of APIs in improving data interoperability. They also cover the evolving landscape of healthcare technology, the balance between security and user experience, and the importance of patient empowerment in selecting providers.
In this episode, they talk about:
The critical role of identity management in ensuring secure and efficient healthcare delivery
Ping monitors API traffic, detects threats, and preemptively eliminates threats
Specific challenges organizations face in healthcare identity management
Give up privacy for convenience
How Ping Identity differentiates itself from competitors in the identity management space
Future trends in healthcare tech regarding interoperability and how healthcare security systems will look
A Little About Chris:
Chris Sault is a passionate and results-oriented sales leader with over 24 years of experience in the software industry, focusing primarily on analytics and identity management. Throughout his career, he has spearheaded go-to-market development for the healthcare verticalization at Qlik, ForgeRock, and Ping Identity, driving massive business growth and revolutionizing user experiences. Chris resides in the Boston, MA area with his wife and two daughters. In his free time, he enjoys traveling with his family, golfing, practicing yoga, and engaging in various outdoor activities.
In this episode of the podcast, Sandy sitsdown with Sheetal Jain, Chief Technology Officer at HorizontalDigital, to explore how connected digital experiences aretransforming healthcare. From building patient trust to streamlining data access for stakeholders, this conversation dives deep into the technology,strategy, and heart behind healthcare’s digital evolution.
Sheetal shares insights on how Horizontal Digital is bridging gaps between patients, providers, and systems—makinghealthcare more accessible, efficient, and secure. Got questions or feedback? Reach out to the Horizontal Digital team at contact@horizontal.com.
In this episode, they talk about: 🚀 The journey of Horizontal Digital and its mission to humanize digital experiences in healthcare 🔗 How interoperability is key to connecting patients, providers, and platforms⚙️ Frictionless integration enabled by cutting-edge healthcaretechnology💡 Top challenges facing healthcare CIOs today—and what’s being done to solve them📊 Why FHIR implementation is still lagging and what that means for the industry
🌐 Addressing the digital divide and healthcare accessibility
🛠️ How Horizontal Digital supports organizations by implementing custom tech solutions 🤖 AI’s growing role in healthcare and how to build a thoughtful, strategic AI roadmap
💬 Why AI should enhance—not replace—human interaction📈 How data + AI can drive actionable insights for better health outcomes
A Little About Sheetal:
With over a decade in technology consulting, Sheetal has grown from guiding enterprise digital transformation programs for global enterprises to leading a worldwide team of nearly 300 architects, engineers, developers, and analysts. His team is tasked with planning and implementing programs that align people, processes, technology, and data to deliver meaningful business ROI. He is a Salesforce Data Cloud Partner Advisory Board member, and his technology expertise spans multiple clouds, including Experience, Engagement, Content, Commerce, and Data.
In today’s episode of the InteropNow! podcast, host Sandy Vance sits down with Elad Benjamin from Philips to explore the company's efforts in achieving medical device interoperability. They dive into how Philips is ensuring seamless data exchange to improve patient care, and discuss the readiness of health systems' data strategies for this transition. Elad highlights the importance of thoughtful decision-making when managing healthcare data and the value of adopting a vendor-neutral infrastructure. Tune in for insights on the future of healthcare data integration and its impact on both providers and patients.
In this episode, they talk about:
How Phillips is achieving interoperability for patients
Are health systems' data strategies ready for this transition?
Sit down with your team and make thoughtful decisions about how to manage data
The importance of putting in a vendor-neutral infrastructure
How the acquisition of Capsule has impacted advancement in Philips
Ensuring patients’ privacy and help them be more comfortable around devices
A Little About Elad Benjamin:
Elad Benjamin is the newly appointed Head of AI Innovation at Philips, bringing over 20 years of experience in Healthcare IT. With expertise in enterprise informatics and imaging, Elad has held senior roles including GM of Radiology and AI Informatics at Philips. Before joining Philips, he co-founded Zebra Medical Vision, a leader in AI and Deep Learning for radiology. Elad also played a key role in Lumenis' NASDAQ IPO and led Carestream’s Healthcare Information Solutions group. He holds an MBA from Stanford and a BSc from Tel Aviv University.
In this episode, host Sandy Vance sits with two leading voices in healthcare cybersecurity: Jason Sherwin, the Sr Director, Healthcare Business Development at CLEAR and Anil Sethi the Founder & CEO of Selfii. Together, they explore how innovation in identity verification and data access is reshaping the healthcare landscape—making it more secure, seamless, and patient-centered.
In this episode, they talk about
How CLEAR and Selfii are helping patients and healthcare organizations reduce friction and enhance data security
Selfii’s mission to empower individuals and enterprises to unlock the full value of their health records
The surprising ways HIPAA has been weaponized—and what it means for patients and providers
The difference between interoperability and portability, and why both matter
A Little About Jason and Anil:
Jason Sherwin is a healthcare innovator with 15 years in health tech, specializing in business development and product strategy. Known for leading technology-driven change, he thrives in cross-functional collaboration across the C-suite, IT, operations, and marketing. While earning his MBA at NYU Stern, he applied his studies in real time—sharpening his focus on leadership, change management, and metrics-driven transformation.
Anil Sethi is the CEO of Selfii, a healthcare data company driven by personal loss and professional vision. A serial entrepreneur, Anil has built and sold several companies, including Gliimpse (acquired by Apple) and Ciitizen (acquired by Invitae). His mission is deeply personal—after caring for his sister Tania through her battle with cancer, Anil witnessed firsthand the failure of structured data to capture a patient’s true story. Today, he’s redefining how healthcare data is accessed and understood—putting people, not paperwork, at the center of care.
In this episode of InteropNow, host Sandy Vance sits down with BJ Schaknowski, CEO of symplr, to explore how platform-driven strategies are revolutionizing healthcare operations. As health systems navigate increasing internal and external pressures, BJ shares valuable insights on how CIOs are leading the charge in this transformation. The discussion delves into key topics like consolidating tech stacks, application rationalization, and improving interoperability—critical steps to boosting operational efficiency, saving time, and ultimately enhancing patient-centered care. Tune in to learn how these strategies are shaping the future of healthcare.
In this episode, they talk about:
How symplr is transforming healthcare operations and patient care.
Key steps for integrating symplr’s platform into healthcare systems.
How market trends are shaping exciting new interoperability solutions.
The current wave of positive change in the healthcare industry.
Collaborating with Redox and LK to enhance healthcare connectivity.
Working with competitors to benefit the overall healthcare system.
How AI will drive the next wave of innovation for symplr and healthcare.
A Little About BJ:
BJ Schaknowski is a seasoned software executive with over 25 years of leadership experience. Prior to becoming CEO of symplr, he served as Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at Vertafore, a leading insurance technology provider, and held senior roles at LexisNexis, CA Technologies, Intuit, and Sage Software. BJ is committed to creating value for employees, customers, and shareholders. He holds a BA in Communications from the State University of New York at Geneseo and an MBA from the University of Georgia. BJ also served 8 years in the U.S. Marine Corps infantry. He lives in Denver with his wife, Heather, and two children.
In this episode, Sandy Vance chats with Jason Barr, the VP of Healthcare for ID.me, about the crucial role of patient identity in achieving true interoperability among various healthcare systems. In a previous episode, Jason and Sandy discussed how ID.me is innovating the healthcare industry. Today, they continue that conversation and explore where healthcare stands on its journey toward full interoperability. If you have any questions or comments about what you’ve heard today, feel free to reach out to Jason at jason.bar@id.me.
In this episode, they talk about:
Understanding Healthcare Interoperability: Breaking down the definition of interoperability and its impact on patients and healthcare professionals.
ID.me’s Role in Advancing Interoperability: How ID.me is helping reduce administrative burdens and allowing patients to access healthcare applications online using a single login.
Fraud Prevention in Healthcare: How experts in identity, like ID.me, are staying ahead of fraud tactics used by cybercriminals.
A Little About Jason Barr:
Jason Barr is the VP of Healthcare for ID.me, the leading digital identity wallet in the United States. His team is focused on improving healthcare interoperability with trusted and portable identity verification and SSO to remove friction and fraud from healthcare for both patients and providers. The ID.me wallet works across EHRs, Hospitals, Pharma, Payers, and other healthcare applications.
Jason has more than 20 years of leadership experience, primarily focused on delivering technology solutions that have helped many healthcare organizations enhance the delivery of care. He started his career as an Army Officer with combat tours in Iraq, followed by leading growth organizations to solve complex technology problems. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, followed by an MBA from The Ohio State University.
In this episode, host Sandy Vance is joined by Frank Harvey, Chief Executive Officer for Surescripts to explore the company's innovative technological approaches to tackling inefficiencies in prior authorization. They also discuss interoperability’s vital role in improving healthcare and highlight Surescripts’ upcoming innovations for the year.
In this episode, they talk about:
The story behind Surescripts and its impact on the healthcare industry
The challenges of prior authorization for prescriptions and its effects on clinicians, pharmacists, payer organizations, and patients
How healthcare interoperability enhances patient care and improves efficiency
The implementation and impact of the Surescripts system
Surescripts’ partnership with TEFCA (Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement)
A Little About Frank:
Frank Harvey joined Surescripts as CEO in 2022, bringing over 35 years of experience in leadership and investment roles within the healthcare technology, pharmacy, and pharmaceutical industries. With a deep understanding of healthcare’s challenges, Frank is dedicated to advancing health information sharing and empowering clinicians to deliver safer, more informed, and cost-effective care.
In this episode of the InteropNow! Podcast, Sandy Vance sits down with Claire Reilly, RN MSc from Imprivata. Together, they recap the key takeaways from Imprivata's participation at the ViVE 2025 conference, focusing on mobile device access and security innovations, passwordless authentication, and predictive analytics in the context of healthcare organizations' digital transformation strategies.
In this episode, Claire and Sandy discuss:
Their experiences at ViVE 2025
The primary use cases for ambient listening AI, like Abridge
Imprivata's showcase at ViVE: authenticating and digitally cleansing devices for medical staff, and securing medical device access
How Imprivata’s approach to authentication differs from others: passkeys and facial recognition
Concerns and pushback regarding facial recognition and other passwordless authentication methods
The role of clinicians in healthcare digital transformation as technologies and AI continue to evolve
Imprivata’s efforts to address cybersecurity challenges in digital transformation
Claire Reilly, RN MSc, is the Chief Nursing Informatics Officer and VP of Clinical Operations at Imprivata, where she leads the integration of healthcare IT security with clinical practice. With over 25 years of experience, she has worked globally as an Emergency Room RN in locations like Qatar, the UK, Massachusetts, Bermuda, and Saudi Arabia. She holds a Master’s in Health Informatics from the University of Central Lancashire and is passionate about enhancing end-user efficiency and security to drive higher adoption of healthcare technologies.
A Little About Claire:
In this episode, host Sandy Vance chats with Mike Stover, the Director of Product Management at Concord Technologies, about Concord’s straight-through processing system for healthcare. Research shows that manual processing creates billions of dollars of waste. Straight-through processing, which started in the financial industry, is a touchless approach to data management. It reduces admin burden by simplifying document processing and allowing customers to rapidly clear data from a document or inbox.
In this episode, they talk about:
The story behind straight-through processing and what it looks like for healthcare
Straight-through processing can help the healthcare industry using:
Secure document exchange
Classify documents
Pull and transform information
Validating data and information
What is the ROI of implementing this system?
How Concord allows customers the opportunity to customize their experience
Collaborative STP and how Concord will use it to partner with other tech companies
A Little About Mike:
Mike has spent 20 years working in the digital fax and intelligent document processing space. He joined Concord in March of 2023 and is the Director of Product Management for Concord Technologies. Mike brings his expansive knowledge of a myriad of distinct enterprise scale fax environments and customer interoperability needs and requirements to set the course for the Concord Connect platform of the future. He holds a B.S. in Management Information Systems from the University of Arizona.
Episode Summary
In this episode, Sandy Vance speaks to Rich Foster, Head of Enterprise Communications at Tata Communications. Tata Communications, a part of the Tata Group, is a global company that works across verticals., In healthcare, it integrates seamlessly with existing systems to enable dynamic and interactive patient communications.The Customer Interaction Suite helps healthcare providers meet patients where they are, both through their communications platform as well as their call center service. Sandy and Rich discuss the types of solutions Tata Communications provides, how healthcare organizations can catch up with rapidly changing technology, and the future of AI in healthcare.
Episode Notes
Sandy and Rich begin by discussing Tata Communications’ acquisition of Kaleyra, Inc., and how the acquisition helped them reach new heights in improving patient experiences. They move into the specific services theyprovide within the Customer InteractionSuite (CIS) and how these services help healthcare organizations communicate with their patients efficiently. Rich also offers advice for how healthcare practices can keep up with technological changes and discusses the future of AI in healthcare and for CISspecifically.
In this episode, they discuss:
The primary use-cases for the the Customer Interaction Suite (CIS)
Its two key services, which are Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) and Call Center as a Service (CCaaS)
How it enables healthcare organizations to communicate with patients where they would prefer to be reached
How healthcare organizations can keep up with changing technology
Why healthcare has lagged behind major technological shifts on the patient communications side
Simple changes that healthcare organizations can make with high ROI on invoice payment times, staff satisfaction, and more
Future opportunities for Tata to innovate, particularly around AI
A little about Rich:
Rich Foster is the Head of Enterprise Business at Tata Communications. He has led technology sales for over 20 years, driving multi- million-dollar growth and orchestrating successful turnarounds in diverse settings. He saw Kaleyra through its acquisition by Tata Communications and has been with the organization for a year.
Renowned for strategically revitalizing customer experience, Rich has made impressive progress at Tata by swiftly achieving profitability across multiple sales channels. A masterful relationship builder and sales strategist, Rich has earned a reputation as a trusted business development leader in the CPaaS space.
In this episode, Sandy Vance interviews Dominique Gross, the CEO of Hart, Inc. Hart was started in Irvine, California with the mission of building a healthcare API for other healthcare community members to develop on. Dominique explains Hart’s niche as a healthcare API with an open standards approach, and how this approach fills in the gaps that other APIs cannot. She also explains Hart’s role in helping healthcare systems through mergers and acquisitions and the future of Hart as it moves into helping clients beyond data access.
Episode Notes
Sandy and Dominique begin by discussing Hart’s open standards approach, which allows it to provide information on non-standardized areas of data like notes. This approach makes Hart uniquely equipped to help healthcare systems through mergers and acquisitions; aggregating data and driving access on the physician side. Sandy and Domonique also explore hart’s work in quality metric reporting and discuss Hart’s future in helping its clients make sense of the data.
In this episode, they discuss:
How Hart’s open standards approach works, and how it allowed Hart to carve out a niche in healthcare API
The unique challenges that healthcare organizations face during mergers, and how Hart helps them with data accessibility through those challenges
Data management and access during mergers from the physician side
The system interactions and lack of standardization that Hart addresses
Trends like consolidation in private equity
The evolution of quality metric reporting, and Hart’s role in helping clients with reporting
How Hart provides healthcare systems with a complete picture by fully representing the complexities and grey spaces of the data
A little about Dominique:
Dominique Gross is a seasoned executive and leader with extensive experience in the healthcare industry, known for scaling businesses and driving growth through strategic, customer-centric marketing. With a background in mechanical engineering and an MBA in Technology, she combines technical expertise with business acumen to launch innovative products and lead cross-functional teams.
As the CEO of Hart Inc., Dominique Gross leads a company known for being a trusted healthcare IT partner, leveraging a tech-first approach to deliver cost-effective and time-efficient data solutions. Hart's offerings include data migration, continuous data feeds, cloud migrations, and archival services, all designed to ensure data is secure, compliant, current, and easily accessible.
Under Dominique's leadership, Hart focuses on maximizing resources through streamlined data transformation technologies that reduce costs and minimize the time required from healthcare teams, enabling clients to close care gaps, deliver precise analytics, and efficiently manage data, all while enhancing patient care.
Summary :
In this conversation, Sandy Vance discusses the pivotal role of mobility in boosting clinical efficiency and ensuring patient safety, while discussing best practices for optimizing and adopting shared mobile devices for workforces, and utilizing identity and access management solutions to navigate complex workflow and security challenges with Dr. Sean Kelly, Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Customer Strategy, Healthcare at Imprivata. Dr. Kelly is also an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, part-time at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Laney Health. The discussion highlights Imprivata's latest advancements in mobility, interoperability, password-less authentication technologies, and data analytics, underscoring how healthcare organizations can harness the power of innovation to accelerate and optimize their digital transformation strategy.
Episode Notes
Sandy Vance and Dr. Sean Kelly speak about Imprivata’s role in enabling and securing digital healthcare access; both in letting the right people in and keeping bad actors out. The cybersecurity environment in healthcare is increasingly high-stakes as bad actors ramp up attacks on healthcare providers. Imprivata is helping providers mitigate risks and enhance efficiency with adaptive security, leveraging innovative tools for user identification, such as password-less authentication. Dr. Kelly emphasizes the importance of using a variety of user identifiers in different situations, allowing for a frictionless experience for healthcare providers while keeping patient records and healthcare data safe.
In this episode, they discuss:
The role that Imprivata plays in ensuring seamless workflows while maintaining security in the EHR and digital systems
The changing cybersecurity environment in healthcare and the sector’s growing push for mobility
The key measures required to enable efficient and secure mobile device access
How Imprivata’s technology helps organizations enforce security protocols like two-factor authentication without hindering workflows or care processes
Adaptive security measures based on user behavior, including remote access protections and two-factor authentication
Password-less authentication mechanisms, like biometrics and passkeys
How Imprivata utilizes different identity verification tools to keep bad actors out while reducing or eliminating security friction
A little about Dr. Kelly:
Dr. Sean Kelly, MD, is the Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Customer Strategy for Healthcare at Imprivata. He leads the company’s clinical workflow team and advises on the clinical practice of healthcare IT security. He has worked with Imprivata for over a decade, seeing its growth from a startup into a key player in the healthcare software industry.
In addition, Dr. Kelly practices emergency medicine at Beth Israel Lahey, an academic training hospital and trauma center. He is an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Harvard Medical School, where he has won several awards for his work.
In this episode, Host Sandy Vance is speaking with Duncan Weatherston, the Co-Founder and CEO of Smile Digital Health. Smile Digital Health is an enterprise-level data platform that uses AI and automation to parse its vast collection of data. Duncan explains how AI acts as an accelerator in healthcare delivery, how increased data access allows AI to produce more accurate results, and the challenges that AI adopters still face. Weatherston also discusses Smile’s focus on data quality, and how this focus has expanded alongside AI adoption.
Sandy Vance and Duncan Weatherston discuss AI and automation at Smile Digital Health, specifically as it applies to structured data. As Weatherston explains, artificial intelligence acts as an accelerating force in healthcare, and allows Smile to deliver care faster than ever. Sandy and Duncan also take an in-depth look at data quality at Smile Digital Health; and Duncan explains the AI and automation innovations that he is watching moving into 2025.
In this episode, they discuss:
The challenges healthcare data platforms face when scaling
How Smile Digital Health helps practitioners deliver care by providing them with access to data
How AI works as an accelerator in healthcare
How the amount of data behind Smile Digital Health allows it to produce verifiable answers with AI
The value of structured data in transforming care
Smile Digital Health’s strategies to maximize data quality
Why data quality is higher and more reliable than it’s ever been
A little about Duncan:
Duncan is the Co-Founder and the CEO of Smile Digital Health.
Duncan has a long history of technical solutions leadership, delivery and implementation stretching back to the late 1980s. With a career spanning more than 30 years and a multidisciplinary background in business and product development, systems integration and support, Duncan has been recognized as one of the key thought leaders and innovators in the healthcare IT industry today.
His impact in the healthcare sector includes lead roles in designing and delivering integrated health records, Electronic Health Record (EHR) services, and identity and security infrastructure. He also served as the Lead Architect for the Ontario Digital Health Drug Repository (ODHDR), managing a database with billions of records containing critical medication history for Ontarians in Canada.
While working as the chief architect for the Connecting GTA project in 2011, Duncan and his co-founders realized that the industry needed a high-performance, efficient, interoperable, and secure solution for shared health data; and that the HL7® (Health Level 7) FHIR® (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) open standard was the perfect fit for their goals. Together they began Smile Digital Health, which kicked off its first commercial release of Smile CDR in December of 2016. Today, Smile Digital Health is a company of over 300 staff with over 200 global implementations of the Smile Health Data Fabric.
Duncan holds the vision of #BetterGlobalHealth where the future of healthcare is grounded in a seamless integration of electronic health and healthcare delivery, eliminating artificial distinctions. Duncan's management style is characterized by team-building with a practical and results-oriented approach and inspirational real-life vision of what healthcare should look like for every person. His focus is driving digital health transformation at the organizational, regional and global levels so that appropriate and timely healthcare can be accessed by every person, when they need it, wherever they are.
Today Sandy is joined by two key figures from Santech—President and CEO Neeraj K. Sharma and Chief Growth Officer David Van Houtte. Together, they’ll explore how Santech is driving forward interoperability in healthcare through cutting-edge solutions and automation. Tune in to discover how Santech is reshaping data management by enhancing better provider-payer interactions, and building a more connected healthcare ecosystem. If you have any questions for Santech, you can reach them via their website or product websites for iNetwork and MyEnroll.
In this episode, they talk about:
Santech’s automation solutions streamline data management for healthcare providers.
Santech’s integration with FHIR APIs allows providers to directly access and update their listings in payer directories.
Santech Provider Management System lower administrative time while increasing Provider and Patient interaction during medical visits.
How Santech leverages FHIR standards to enhance interoperability across payer networks and infrastructure.
The process and benefits of transitioning from existing systems to Santech’s innovative solutions
How Santech is transforming the healthcare industry through improved data management and interoperability
How Santech contributes to creating a more cohesive and efficient ecosystem in the healthcare sector
A Little About Neeraj:
Santech President & CEO Neeraj K. Sharma is a distinguished leader in healthcare technology with over 25 years of experience, dedicated to simplifying Healthcare IT for healthcare organizations. As the President & CEO of Santéch, Neeraj has been instrumental in driving innovation and transformation within the healthcare industry.
Santéch, under Neeraj’s leadership, has carved a niche in developing simple, scalable solutions that empower hospitals, practices health plans and networks to enhance efficiency, improve patient outcomes, and reduce costs. The company focuses on transforming network and provider management through advanced technology and strategic insights. His leadership at Santéch is characterized by a relentless focus on innovation, customer-centricity, and operational excellence.
A Little About David:
Chief Growth Officer David Van Houtte brings more than 25 years of extensive experience in healthcare to Santech. Previously, he served as Vice President of Network at CVS Health Aetna, where he led provider network and value-based strategies.
As the Chief Growth Officer at Santéch, David is passionate about improving provider data accuracy and creating operational efficiencies through improved provider onboarding workflows. He is responsible for implementing Santéch's go-to-market strategy with both payor and provider organizations, promoting the company's innovative Provider Data Management solutions, I-Network and I-Enroll. Outside of work, David loves sailing and Spartan Racing.
Check out today’s podcast as Sandy chats with Corrine Micklos (dbMotion at Altera) and Al Kinel (Strategic Interests LLC) about the evolution of HIEs over the past decade, the current challenges they face, and the future direction. They'll discuss how Altera addresses these challenges, meeting unmet needs by aggregating and harmonizing discrete data from hospitals and communities across regions, states, and the nation while presenting complete patient records at the point of care. If you would like to learn more or connect with us, visit here.
In this episode, they talk about:
How data sharing has progressed and evolved in the healthcare industry
Current challenges in the healthcare data sharing process
How dbMotion facilitates healthcare data sharing
How dbMotion has transformed systems and leveraged FHIR
Future projections for dbMotion and healthcare data interoperability
Advancing healthcare interoperability on a global scale
A Little About Corrine:
Corrine Micklos has had a distinguished career in the healthcare technology industry, delivering excellence in award-winning sales, account management, and the building of strategic client relationships. Her role encompasses the alignment of Altera solutions with hospitals’ and health systems’ business and clinical goals, ensuring long-term client satisfaction with the technologies and success in their delivery of high-quality care to their patients and communities.
Corrine’s extensive experience and proven track record in the healthcare technology sector highlight her ability to drive business growth with her comprehensive understanding and execution of client-specific strategies through the delivery of the innovative solutions we are here to talk about today, all of which help her prospects and clients meet the evolving needs of the healthcare industry and their specific healthcare organizations.
A Little About Al:
Al Kinel is the founder and President of Strategic Interests, LLC, (SI) a consulting firm transforming healthcare through innovation. SI works with providers, payers, collaboratives, and vendors to create a long-lasting, positive impact on outcomes and financial performance with advisory and implementation services on HIT, interoperability, population health, and value-based payment programs. Before starting SI, Al worked for top-tier professional services firms and served as a leader in technology management for Xerox and Kodak Health Group. In these roles, he helped transform several industries. Al is a strategist, activist, and catalyst who helps leaders address their “strategic interests” while simultaneously addressing the challenges of communities. Al has enjoyed playing this role introducing and supporting major initiatives in his community and beyond. Al has frequently helped a myriad of stakeholders to collaborate and advance the effective use of HIT, and interoperability has been a key aspect of strategies and initiatives.
The last time Sandy talked with Bevey Miner (in episode 38, “Clarity in the Cloud”), they chatted about how Consensus Cloud Solutions is solving the problem of creating structured documentation from unstructured documents.
Today, they delve into the impact of these advancements on health equity across the nation. They also explore the role of the EVP of Healthcare Strategy & Policy at Consensus Cloud Solutions in enhancing interoperability within healthcare systems. For more information or if you have any questions for Bevey, reach out to her at bevey.cminer@consensus.com or check out the Consensus website.
In this episode, they talk about:
Consensus focuses on the mission to bring healthcare to structured data
Unstructured data is particularly concerning in underserved markets
The funding needed to change from paper to electronic health records
Incentivizing investments in this technology
Health Equity by Design
Companies are hindered from interoperability due to lack of funding
A Little About Bevey:
Bevey Miner has over 25 years of experience in healthcare technology. Serving in senior and executive positions, she has been instrumental in leading strategy, product management, business development and go-to-market programs. She is an expert in established and emerging healthcare IT markets.