Perspectives on Health and Tech

Oracle Health
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Perspectives on Health and Tech is a podcast by Oracle, where we have conversations on creating a seamless and connected healthcare world where everyone thrives.

  1. FEB 19

    Beyond the Screen: Using Virtual Reality to Train Tomorrow's Clinicians in Suicide Risk Assessment

    In this episode of Perspectives on Health and Tech, Oracle Health sits down with Dr. Petal S. Abdool, Geriatric Psychiatrist and Medical Director of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Simulation Centre, to explore how virtual reality is transforming the way clinicians are trained to assess suicide risk and respond to opioid-related emergencies.   Together, we discuss why immersive simulation is emerging as a powerful tool in mental health education, how VR creates a safe space for clinicians to practice complex and emotionally charged conversations, and what early insights reveal about its impact on learner confidence and preparedness. The conversation also looks ahead to how technologies like VR, AI, and connected clinical systems may shape the future of training the next generation of mental health professionals.     -------------------------------------------------------------   Episode Transcript:  00;00;13;09 - 00;00;30;03 Intro Welcome to Perspectives on Health and Tech podcast. Brought to you by Oracle Health. In this series, we have conversations on creating a seamless and connected health care world where everyone thrives. Let's get started.   00;00;30;06 - 00;01;00;16 Steve Herron Hello everyone. I'm Steve Herron and I lead the continuum product group at Oracle Health. That includes behavioral and mental health rehabilitation, post-acute care, and social determinants of health. And today, I'm especially excited to talk about innovation at the intersection of mental health education, clinical readiness, and emerging technology. Suicide risk assessment is one of the most critical and most difficult skills clinicians must develop.   00;01;00;19 - 00;01;30;05 Steve Herron These are high stakes conversations that demand empathy, clinical judgment, and confidence, often formed under intense pressure. Yet historically, clinicians have had limited opportunities to practice these skills in a realistic but safe environment. That's where innovation becomes essential. At Oracle Health, we're fortunate to work with organizations that don't just adopt technology, but thoughtfully reimagine how it can support clinicians and patients.   00;01;30;08 - 00;02;00;13 Steve Herron One of those organizations is the center for Addiction and Mental Health, or CAMH in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. During a recent visit, CAMH. I had the opportunity to tour their campus and spend time in their Virtual Reality Learning center. What stood out immediately was how VR is being used not as a novelty, but as a rigorous, evidence-based training tool to prepare clinicians for some of the most complex moments in mental health care.   00;02;00;15 - 00;02;29;19 Steve Herron So today, we'll explore how CAMH is using virtual reality to train clinicians in suicide risk assessment and opioid overdose recognition. What they've learned so far, and what this means for the future of clinical education. I'm delighted to be joined by today's guest, Doctor Petal Abdool geriatric psychiatrist, educator, faculty member at the University of Toronto and medical director of the CAMH Simulation Center.   00;02;29;22 - 00;02;33;18 Steve Herron Doctor Abdool, thank you so much for joining me.   00;02;33;20 - 00;02;44;21 Dr. Petal Abdool Thank you so much, Steve, for this wonderful invitation. It's a true pleasure to be here and to have the chance to highlight this important work.   00;02;44;23 - 00;02;59;24 Steve Herron To start us off. For listeners who may not be familiar with CAMH or your role there, could you share a little bit about a CAMH's mission and your work at the simulation center? Particularly as it relates to education and training in mental health?   00;02;59;26 - 00;03;45;01 Dr. Petal Abdool Absolutely. As you said, CAMH, which is Canada's largest mental health teaching hospital, fully affiliated with the University of Toronto. And our mission is to transform the way we understand and treat mental illness to care; excellent care, research, education, and system advocacy. Our strategic mission is to get upstream advance care and to lift societal health. And at the simulation center, we see our role is to turn that mission into a concrete learning experience that can prepare clinicians for the realities of mental health and addiction care not just for today, but for tomorrow.   00;03;45;03 - 00;04;10;21 Dr. Petal Abdool In my role as a geriatric psychiatrist, an educator, and the inaugural medical director of the CAMH Simulation Center, I should also add that I'm the faculty lead for simulation at the University of Toronto. So, this gives me a wonderful position to oversee programs that use these modalities. And in the past, we've worked with standardized patients, team-based simulations.   00;04;10;23 - 00;04;40;11 Dr. Petal Abdool And now we've opened the door to technology enabled simulation like virtual reality. And this is in order to help our learners to practice high stakes communication, clinical reasoning and to afford collaborative care. A key focus that we have is to give our clinicians a safe space to rehearse difficult conversations, like the ones you mentioned around suicidal ideation, substance use, trauma, stigma.   00;04;40;13 - 00;05;03;24 Dr. Petal Abdool And we want to do this a bit before and alongside real clinical encounters with patients and families in terms of the gaps, we see a disconnect between what clinicians know on paper and how confident they feel when they're in the room with patients, and especially as it pertains to mental health and addictions. With the advent of the pandemic.   00;05;03;29 - 00;05;27;06 Dr. Petal Abdool There were there was a decrease in the number of clinical encounters that many of our trainees had. And that was a gap that allowed us, to acquire funding to build a virtual reality suicide risk assessment training that you were referring to, as well as an opioid overdose management training. So, here we see the opportunity that afforded us.   00;05;27;09 - 00;05;57;10 Dr. Petal Abdool Learners are able to address that worry they have about seeing the wrong thing, or missing subtle cues or escalating distress in the patient. And because of the pandemic, back then, they only had a handful of supervised opportunities to manage these situations in their training. And so simulation actually became so crucial and powerful back then. It allowed us to design these opportunities for repeated structured practice that allowed for what we call mastery learning.   00;05;57;12 - 00;06;12;09 Dr. Petal Abdool And they get the feedback so that by the time they get to the bedside, they're not having their very first high stakes conversation in a real with a real person in crisis.   00;06;12;11 - 00;06;38;05 Steve Herron Thank you. You know, one of the most compelling things that I saw during my visit was the intentional choice to use virtual reality. Not just simulation. More broadly, but immersive VR specifically. What led CAMH to explore VA VR as a training modality and what challenges or limitations in traditional training were you hoping it could help address, especially when it comes to suicide risk assessment?   00;06;38;07 - 00;07;03;01 Dr. Petal Abdool So the move to virtual reality really grew out of two observations. I mentioned that the pandemic had limited the ability for trainees to be in the clinical setting. Many of them had had to pivot to a virtual, platform in order to learn. And so that really allowed us to think, hey, how can we innovate here? How can we increase the authenticity of the virtual platform?   00;07;03;04 - 00;07;30;00 Dr. Petal Abdool And then the other thing is that suicide risk assessment is such a core competency for many clinicians. Yet the opportunities to practice are limited and variable and dependent on, you know, chance to a great extent. We see that the traditional methods that we're using, like lectures, checklists, even roll, please don't always capture that emotional weight and that complexity that you get when you have a real conversation.   00;07;30;03 - 00;07;45;12 Dr. Petal Abdool And so that's where we felt that the opportunity to explore and study the effectiveness of virtual reality with something, CAMH as a leading institution in mental health needed to embrace and explore.   00;07;45;15 - 00;08;07;27 Steve Herron That's exciting. And I'll tell you that being there and experiencing it firsthand, it actually did. You know, I was surprised at how much it impacted me emotionally, being in that virtual reality. And even though I was an observer in the room, I wasn't actually the one with the goggles on. But it still made my heart rate come up.   00;08;07;29 - 00;08;27;07 Steve Herron You know, as I observed what was happening in the room and the the situation as it was occurring. I am curious what other happens with other clinicians. So for clinicians who may feel skeptical about VR going into it, what tends to change once they experience that kind of immersive learning firsthand?   00;08;27;09 - 00;08;45;10 Dr. Petal Abdool Well, I'm really I'm happy to hear how moved you were by the experience. I will say that, we always do a brief with our learners, and we say, if you want to get the most out of this experience, you've got to suspend your disbelief and allow yourself to become immersed. And that's where the true learning can happen.   00;08;45;12 - 00;09;07;03 Dr. Petal Abdool I have some funny stories where we we had trainees in and we built two experiences, two avatars, and you had to interview the avatars. And of course, as someone who is in the user testing phase of that virtual reality, my goal was to try to break it. So I'm in there doing all the wrong things to see how it would evolve.   00;09;07;05 - 00;09;30;25 Dr. Petal Abdool And I jumped in and I didn't try to build rapport with the avatar, with the

    22 min

  2. FEB 18

    Empowering Clinicians with AI: Advancing Patient-Centric Care

    We stand at a transformative moment in healthcare. Artificial intelligence is moving from theory to practice, shaping the way we diagnose, treat, and engage with patients. While much of the AI conversation focuses on technology, today our focus is on the humans at the centre of care: the clinicians and their patients. This episode explores how AI can transform the NHS by driving efficiencies and productivity—core priorities in the NHS 10 Year Health Plan—while continuing to deliver personal, meaningful care. Key questions include: How can AI help enhance the clinical experience and enable clinicians to focus on what  matters most? What new opportunities arise for clinicians to help strengthen their connection with  patients as technology becomes central to healthcare delivery? How can AI continue to evolve so patients feel connected and empowered throughout  their health journey and in partnership with clinicians? Speakers Moderator: Tim James, Director and Clinician Executive, Oracle Health UK Panellists: Dominic Cavlan, Clinical Lead for Acute Medicine, Barts Health NHS Trust Deirdre Lyons, Consultant Gynaecologist, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trus ------------------------------------------------------------ Episode Transcript: 00:30 – 2:31 Tim James: Thank you for joining us. My name is Tim James, Director and Clinician Executive at Oracle Health in the U.K., and I'm your host and moderator for today's discussion. Today, we take an in-depth look at the transformative experiences of two U.K. customers who are among the first to use Oracle Health Clinical Agent note generation in an outpatient care setting.  These early adopters share valuable insights from their direct involvement in the design and testing of this innovative technology. They discuss how AI has supported frontline patient care at their hospitals, highlighting the use of Oracle Health Clinical AI Note Generation to streamline documentation, elevate note accuracy and quality, and ease cognitive and administrative burden.  This supports real-time clinician decision-making and helps strengthen the accuracy of diagnosis and care plans. Together, we'll explore how this innovative solution is redefining healthcare delivery and what it could mean for the future of care and patient interactions. Joining us today from the U.K., I am delighted to welcome our renowned experts: Dominic Cavlan, Clinical Lead for Acute Medicine at Barts Health NHS Trust, and Deirdre Lyons, Consultant Gynecologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. Welcome to you both. Let's start with the first question about your experience rolling out the Clinical AI Agent Note tool. As practitioners, can you share some specific features of the Oracle Health  Agent tool that have helped enhance your daily workflow, where you've seen the strongest adoption so far, and what you believe has enabled its success? Let's start with Dom.  2:32 – 4:42 Dominic Cavlan: I can probably share some experiences. I run an AI patient and technology clinic, and for our new patients, we allow 45 minutes per appointment. That's a long time spent speaking with patients, which also leads to a long period of time documenting what we've discussed. With this kind of appointment, I know I can press the button to record our conversation, and then I find myself, when I finish with a patient, realizing we've been speaking for 35 to 40 minutes. Then, instead of facing another half hour of documentation, I can efficiently turn that into something to share with GPs, colleagues, or the patients themselves. I finished my Monday afternoon outpatient clinic on time regularly for the first time in a decade. And it's not only during clinic time—previous workflows for producing correspondence involved thirdparty apps and dictation software with multiple steps and people involved. In terms of adoption, we've run our pilot, and a number of specialties have really taken this on board, including Orthopaedics, Gastroenterology, and Dermatology—some of which were already quite mature in their use of Millennium. We introduced this with our Red Shirts training program, training people live in the room with the patient present. That hands-on approach was one of the big things that got this rolling quickly.  4:42- 4:48 Tim James: That's great, thank you. And Deirdre, tell us a little about your experience at Imperial.  4:48 – 7:15 Deirdre Lyons: I think the most important aspect, from our point of view, was that it's actually integrated with the Oracle Health record. From a safety perspective, people aren't copying and pasting from one area to another, which was a big improvement. For example, if I discuss surgical risks with a patient, the system will detail all those risks for me. So rather than typing notes after the fact—just like Dominic described—it now automatically captures it, and I can use all or part of it for the GP letter. Like many people, we spent a lot of time post-clinic charting, but within about a day of starting this, my colleague stopped doing it. There were no more little scraps of paper to dispose of, and he found it much less painful and time-consuming. He could finish his clinic on time. We're using it across Chelsea, Westminster, London North West, and Hillingdon Hospital, so a wide variety of clinicians are now involved. The product has mainly been used for outpatients, but some clinicians have used it in other settings as well. For general gynecology, our main area, it has worked very, very well. Even some nurse specialists have adopted it. I think it's been very helpful because, for many people, the cognitive burden of constant typing is a real struggle. It takes a while to get used to, but some people adopted it right away—my dyslexic colleague did so from day one. And I think this is a big step forward. We're finding more and more people saying they like the way it works—it truly feels like the way of the future.  7:15 – 7:44 Tim James: Thanks, Deirdre. Productivity is a major focus in healthcare, both worldwide and within our national health services. You've spoken about cognitive burden, which is a real issue we're looking to address, but there's also the challenge of productivity. What are your perspectives on how this solution supports productivity?  7:45 – 9:53 Dominic Cavlan: The first thing we did was gather feedback as we introduced this into clinics—we had Oracle people in the clinics getting feedback live and running surveys. The survey found that clinicians were saving at least five minutes per patient. This is significant, especially in Orthopaedics, where appointments are only 10 minutes. When we use tools to measure time spent in the records, we saw a reduction of 10–15% per encounter. We asked doctors if this system would allow them to see an extra patient per clinic, and a third of respondents said yes. The productivity gains are clear: clinicians can see patients more quickly and spend less time on admin in clinic sessions. People want to do more, see more patients, and do less admin. Clinicians have become resistant to adding more outpatient clinics—not because they don't want to see patients, but because each clinic creates a mountain of administrative work. Recently, we've heard consistent feedback that this tool makes the overall experience easier, and it's boosting morale. With a happier workforce, people are more prepared to go the extra mile.  9:53 - 10:02 Tim James: So, happier clinicians and hopefully some happier patients as well! Thank you for sharing that.  Deirdre, how about in your context?  10:02 – 11:10 Deirdre Lyons: I think clinicians are happier with less cognitive burden, which leads to increased productivity. I agree that saving five minutes per patient adds up. When you're trying to train, type, and teach at the same time, you can't multitask that well. This lets you focus more on training, teaching, research, or improvement projects. One clinician said, "Well, I could see another patient in clinic." It gives more time to think and to talk to patients. It's difficult to quantify, but if you save five minutes per patient and see up to ten patients per clinic, that's another 50 minutes—enough to see another patient. The softer aspects of productivity are important, too. Clinicians who are happier are more likely to be more productive.  11:10 – 11:36 Dominic Cavlan: And Tim, if I can add, regarding clinician morale, not only have clinicians been happier, but our entire informatics and technical teams have enjoyed supporting clinicians with this tool.  11:37 – 12:32 Tim James: Thanks for that perspective. We've noticed that as well, from the Oracle Health side, supporting you during roll-out. There really is a sense of delight for end users getting the benefits from this functionality. On that note, I want to talk about preparing teams. There's a big global conversation around artificial intelligence, and the agent is of course using AI technology. How is your organization preparing clinicians and teams to work with AI technologies? How do you see the role and clinical oversight evolving as AI becomes more embedded in practice?  12:32 – 15:28 Deirdre Lyons: Previously, people were using unregulated products, perhaps developed for private practice, but no one knew what those tools were doing. It was important to bring in a regulated product that met all requirements. Many people were interested even before we brought the product in. Nominations came from our divisions and digital showcase events, where we talked about digital solutions, and we emailed all clinicians to gauge interest. Identifying interested people was key for starting the pilot and evaluating the product, as well as assisting Oracle in improving it. Organizationally, it's a process. We set up a steering group over a year ago to review new products from a

    23 min
  3. Connecting Canada: Interoperability, AI, and the Future of Equitable, Citizen-Centric Care

    12/09/2025

    Connecting Canada: Interoperability, AI, and the Future of Equitable, Citizen-Centric Care

    In this episode of Perspectives on Health and Tech, Oracle Health welcomes Shelagh Maloney, CEO of Digital Health Canada, for a forward-looking conversation about how Canada can build a more connected, equitable, and digitally empowered healthcare system. From advancing interoperability and clinician mobility to exploring the role of artificial intelligence in care delivery, Shelagh shares insights from Digital Health Canada's AI in Action initiative — including the "winning conditions" needed to deploy AI responsibly and inclusively. Together, we explore how technology, policy, and collaboration can unite care across provinces, empower citizens with access to their data, and help clinicians deliver smarter, more human-centered care from coast to coast to coast.   -------------------------------------------------   Episode Transcript: 00:00:00:00 - 00:00:44:03 Welcome to Perspectives on Health and Tech podcast, brought to you by Oracle Health. In this series, we have conversations on creating a seamless and connected health care world where everyone thrives. Let's get started. Welcome to the Perspectives on Health and Tech Podcast, brought to you by Oracle Health. I'm Larry Sylvestre and today we're exploring one of the most defining challenges and opportunities in Canadian health care: interoperability.   00:00:44:04 - 00:01:13:04 From enabling clinicians to practice across provincial lines to giving Canadians direct access to their health records, interoperability is key to building a truly connected health system. Joining us today is Shelagh Maloney, the CEO of Digital Health Canada, an organization at the heart of advancing digital health, professional development, and policy collaboration across the country. Shelagh, thank you for being here.   00:01:13:05 - 00:01:38:05 Before we dive in, could you tell us a bit about your vision since taking on the CEO role earlier this year? Well thanks, Larry. First, let me start by saying how thrilled I am to be on your podcast. I'm looking forward to the conversation. And yes, I did join Digital Health Canada. It's been almost a year. I joined at the end of January 2025 and it's been a whirlwind.   00:01:38:05 - 00:02:04:08 And Digital Health Canada, like other, you know, national associations that we really want to provide value to our members. We have networking events and we have influence health policy. We look at advocating for the profession. And, you know, one of the things that I'm excited about is that we've just launched a strategic plan to 2030.   00:02:04:11 - 00:02:22:06   And so a big component of that is going out and asking our members what Digital Health Canada means to them and what they're looking for. We're doing some work in the governance space. I think education is trauma, endless possibilities now, and particularly as AI is getting so big. And I know we're going to talk about that later.   00:02:22:08 - 00:02:47:10 And of course, advocacy for both professionals and the profession at large. That's a perfect set up for our discussion, Shelagh. How can Canada move forward from our fragmented systems to a pan-Canadian model of care that's equitable, citizen centric, and digitally connected? One of the biggest conversations right now in health care is around nation building, breaking down barriers between provinces and territories.   00:02:47:12 - 00:03:14:01 What are you seeing from your standpoint at the leadership role at Digital Health Canada? You know, this is such a timely question and I'll tell you why. Yesterday we had a conversation with, Doctor Anderson Chuck, the CEO of CIHI and Doctor Fahad Razak, who is the among other things, does a role at Unity Health, in Toronto, but also is the Canada research chair and data informed health care improvement.   00:03:14:03 - 00:03:34:00 And it was really interesting. And one of the things we talked about was, and, you know, you and I know this, it's not a technology issue that we're dealing with in terms of interoperability and connected care, but it's a cultural issue. And it's really interesting that, that's a different sort of change in our thinking a little bit.   00:03:34:02 - 00:03:58:22 But certainly, one of the big challenges in a federated system, having a national perspective and doing things at that large national scale is more of a challenge than we would hope that it would be. Yeah. Certainly the landscape is full of different perspectives on how to proceed. And sometimes some of these conversations do get politicized.   00:03:59:00 - 00:04:27:16 But certainly it's great to see, I think some of the federal government perspectives and agencies coming together to try and be facilitators in this discussion. And I think, Canadians in general are ready for us to meet that challenge head on. So it's really inspiring to hear how we're aligning policy and technology and how those things could potentially unlock the possibilities for clinicians and ultimately, better continuity of care for patients.   00:04:27:18 - 00:04:51:01 Let's turn a little bit to the citizen side of the discussion. How does a citizen first approach align with work happening in Canada now? Well, you know, it's kind of interesting in like 2012. So a while ago and this was all the rage when, when patient engagement and patient partners were just sort of, I think coming into mainstream.   00:04:51:07 - 00:05:09:00 Some may argue they're not quite mainstream yet, but that was where the hype really started. And it was Leonard Kish who was an IT strategist in the US. And I remember and you might remember this, Larry, there was a famous quote that he said if patient engagement was a drug, it would be the blockbuster drug of the century.   00:05:09:02 - 00:05:43:05 And so that has been frequently, you know, bantered around. But the rest of the sentence that I really love is and it would be medical malpractice not to use it. And I know and you know, my former roles at Canada Health Info way and CIHI, we did a lot of research in this area. And we know that patients, when they are engaged, when they are part of their, has access to their health records and can see their information and know where they are in the queues, they are more informed about their health care, they are more confident in the care that they receive, and they have better relationships with their care   00:05:43:05 - 00:06:09:13 providers. And all those things together mean that their outcomes are better. So we know it is. There's evidence to demonstrate that engaging patients in the process and including them, as we're developing systems, etc., will make a difference to health care. Agreed. Certainly, when we look across the country and reflecting back on, you know, just the previous question to answer that we corresponded on.   00:06:09:15 - 00:06:32:04 As you look across every province and they have their own health legislation and different policies, procedures, approaches to health care delivery, etc. It really is a bit of a thicket and even the best facilitators in that have failed historically to move the needle and hopefully we're in a much better position now to understand what the challenge is, how we can move it forward.   00:06:32:05 - 00:06:54:23 What was fascinating to me is, as you and I were both at the Infoway Partnership Conference recently was a stakeholder from Portugal who was on stage talking about how they put the patient at the center of interoperability around consent and that they adjudicate which clinicians in the care team are going to have access to their records, and that they have the opportunity to even rescind that.   00:06:55:01 - 00:07:23:09 Do you see that having any potential in Canada? Maybe not in whole, but perhaps in part? My desired answer would be to say, absolutely yes. I think we are getting there, and I think we would love to have that. And I think, frankly, patients and their family, we're getting a little bit impatient, and asking the questions if they don't think that it's already there, it's like, what do you mean   00:07:23:09 - 00:07:55:15 my specialist and my GP are not exchanging information? What do you mean the emergency department and the clinic don't have the same information? And so, I think we're recognizing that we need to get there. And frankly, one of the things that we're seeing is patients increasingly are using ChatGPT and other models, and they're collecting their own information and creating their own health records, because nobody else is doing it and the system is failing them in that regard.   00:07:55:17 - 00:08:18:21 So, you know, if we don't do it for patients with patients, I'm afraid, and rightfully so, they'll find a web mechanism to do it on their own. And that, from a health system perspective, won't be helpful because, you know, the care providers, etc. may not have the information that they need to provide the best care that's available to a patient.   00:08:18:23 - 00:08:57:23 It's excellent point. And that draws me in to sort of another sort of another train of thought about the data is the data. And, you know, there are a lot of constituents across the care continuum who feel like they're living on little islands of data and perhaps not connected with others. And as we talk about building a pan-Canadian infrastructure to enable the mobilization of that data, you start to think about artificial intelligence in that conversation, not only for the sake of the institutions and clinicians who need to deliver care, but for the individuals themselves.   00:08:58:01 - 00:09:32:13 And that becomes particularly material in Canada, where we have one of the lowest population densities on the planet, and we have a very challenging time providing equitable care to this broad and diverse population and massive geography. And so moving the data to the clinicians becomes, you know, paramount to bein

    19 min

  4. 10/06/2025

    Global Perspectives on AI and Next Generation Healthcare

    Leading organizations share how data-driven innovation transforms care delivery and patient outcomes. In this Oracle Health and Life Sciences Summit 2025 keynote, Alaa "AJ" Adel, Senior Vice President of Oracle Health International, joins distinguished leaders from West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust in the United Kingdom, Bajaj Group in India, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre in Saudi Arabia, and Western Health in Australia. Together, they reveal how hospitals and health systems are designing the future of care through artificial intelligence, advanced data strategies, and radically human-centered solutions built on Oracle technology. Hear real-world stories from West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, Bajaj Group, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre, and Western Health as they share how Oracle Health is helping each organization reimagine hospital infrastructure, improve patient engagement, and drive operational excellence. Understand how this global perspective unlocks new, scalable healthcare models for a connected, healthier world. ---------------------------------------------- Episode Transcript: 00:00:00:00 - 00:00:37:14 Welcome to Perspectives on Health and Tech Podcasts, brought to you by Oracle Health, where we dive deep into the world of innovation and transformation in healthcare.    00:00:37:16 - 00:01:18:11 Shanna Adamic I'm your host Shanna Adamic, Director of Oracle Health Executive Content and Video. In this episode of Perspectives on Health and Tech we feature a panel discussion recorded at The Oracle Health and Life Sciences Summit held in Orlando on September 10th, 2025. In this discussion distinguished leaders from West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust in the United Kingdom, Bajaj Group in India, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre in Saudi Arabia, and Western Health in Australia reveal how hospitals and health systems are designing the future of care through artificial intelligence, advanced data strategies, and radically human-centered solutions built on Oracle technology.    00:01:18:17 - 00:01:47:18 The discussion is led by AJ Adel, Senior Vice President of Oracle Health International.    AJ Adel Good afternoon. Today I get the pleasure of presenting four leaders from four different continents with six time zones. Don't ask me about the math. That's what we came out with. The topic of discussion is AI on a global scale. As we are traveling around the globe and we're visiting our clients, we get to see the cool things they all do, and they all work on.   00:01:47:20 - 00:02:09:17 So today, I have the pleasure of presenting those leaders who are thinking about things differently, whether they're building a hospital or delivering care or just engaging with their patients. They have a different view on things. So, I'm super excited to introduce them all on stage. I already told them we're going to change the questions. But what I didn't tell them is, we're all friends before anything else.   00:02:09:19 - 00:02:33:16 And we all decided this is going to be the most fun session ever. Let me start with you, Kathy. You. You come from King Faisal Hospital, a huge organization in Saudi Arabia, doing amazing things, serving 20% of the population of Saudi.   00:02:33:18 - 00:02:53:17 And you're keeping the patients and the people at the center of everything you do. When you put the patient at the center of your design, it's not always easy. Can you share? And what are some of the challenges you're facing when you're actually just focusing on the patient?    00:02:53:18 - 00:03:28:15 Kathy Sienko Delighted to be here from King Faisal Specialist Hospital. The one thing we know is that, even though we are largely an Islamic society, not all of our patients are homogenous. And as we think about how we design around patients, the first thing is really understanding what do the patients actually want and how do we use the data that we have around our patient's experience to tell us what's working and not what's not working for them, and how do we factor that into the design of services.   00:03:28:16 - 00:03:57:17 Kathy Sienko The other bigger problem, I think, is really moving from the rhetoric to the practicality. We all say that we want a better patient experience. We want to build our services around patients, but the provider workflows need to change in order to make that happen, to facilitate that. And that's not always so easy to change when people have been doing something the same way for many, many years.   00:03:57:18 - 00:04:19:14 Kathy Sienko So, we are 50 years old this year, believe it or not, and some of our people might even have been there for nearly all of that time. And so, getting those changes into practice, moving from the rhetoric of what we'd like to do to actually making the physical changes to the way that we work from a provider centric model to a patient centric model, is one of the challenges we have.   00:04:19:14 - 00:04:47:07 Kathy Sienko And then there is the question about the technology that supports that patient journey and the integration between solutions, that actually makes that patient's experience very, very different. But we also think about it in terms of design. How do we design facilities to be healing and healthy environments as well. So, we think about fine details like color and artwork and all of those sorts of things.   00:04:47:07 - 00:05:11:15 Kathy Sienko But perhaps important to know about King Feisal is that we are a specialist tertiary organization, quaternary even. And so, we see people who are really at, the most serious stage of their disease. And that actually drives for us as we think about our patient innovation, because we really want to do a great job for those patients. For many of them, we are their last port of call.   00:05:11:17 - 00:05:32:14 Kathy Sienko And so, it really drives a lot of innovation. It features in things like clinical trials. And we actually are running about 48% of all of the clinical trials in Saudi Arabia at King Faisal Hospital. So, it drives a culture of innovation and wanting to do more and better but of course, there is the cultural change that needs to happen.   00:05:32:16 - 00:05:57:17 Kathy Sienko And then there is also the technological workflows that actually support the kind of work that we want to do. So, as you say, it's not easy work. It's culture change and technology change. It's change that really focuses on why we are here. And we really are there for the patients. And so, we follow through on that as a philosophy into practice.   00:05:57:19 - 00:06:16:03 AJ Adel I've been visiting King Feisal for the last 15 out of the 50 you mentioned, and I've always looked at how all the leaders have one thing in common. Every vision has the patient at the center of it. So that's amazing. Russell, every time I open my LinkedIn, I see you building a hospital.   00:06:16:05 - 00:06:34:05 Russell Harrison Not me personally.    AJ Adel No. Not you. Well, I do see you with the hoodie and the vest and everything, but you're also, down in Australia. You're changing healthcare, and you're going to places where healthcare hasn't been before. But you're also doing it while keeping the patient at the center of this. Can you share your vision?   00:06:34:05 - 00:06:50:22 Russell Harrison Yeah. I just say we're quite fortunate, you know, why build one new hospital? One. You can do two at the same time and two little ones. So, four in total. But that's just for that. Population is growing so quickly. And for me, I don't disagree with what Kathy said, but I'm going to come out from a different angle.   00:06:50:22 - 00:07:11:16 Russell Harrison And as part of that build, we've seen the opportunity to put our patients and our staff at the center of how you design a new facility. And that's been quite challenging because a lot of the guidance is written for ten years ago, and our staff and our patients are imagining a new world, about what they want and how they want the workflows to work.   00:07:11:18 - 00:07:38:10 Russell Harrison And that's been quite challenging, going against the sort of the building regulations, they're not true regulations, but they're sort of guidance notes to actually put our staff in fabulous facilities with light and our patients in rooms with light, not the old hospitals we've got. So, it's been great to be able to do that. And through the process, the technology has changed because, you know, no offense to many clinicians, myself included, you cannot read a plan and imagine what a room will be.   00:07:38:12 - 00:07:53:21 Russell Harrison But with AI and modelling, you can kind of get a sense of how that will look. We are in a room this sort of size and it was all on the floor, and you can move walls around. So, using technology in the design really allows us to put our staff and our patients at the center and actually then feel what that facility will look like.   00:07:53:21 - 00:08:19:07 Russell Harrison So, our aim is that we get a much better facility that our staff want to work in, can work in, and our patients can be cared for in a very different environment that's healing and light, and hopefully they go home. They don't want to stay forever, but, it will be a much better experience. And I think, you know, that's the important bit about how we can design new facilities and use technology to help do that, rather than just kind of go off a plan and go, "Well, that's what you get."    00:08:19:07 - 00:08:52:22 Russell Harrison Let's challenge that and let's get the clinicians and patients pushing for the same thing.    AJ Adel Yeah. You also had a couple of go lives recently. And I remember you; you're calling up and saying, "We need this, this and this because the patient needs it. That's what I want. And I want that for them, not fo

    35 min

  5. 10/02/2025

    Trailblazers in healthcare: Experiencing Oracle Health EHR in real-time

    In this episode, we dive deep into the transformative journey of two beta customers who are among the first to experience the Oracle Health EHR system and Clinical AI Agent's in an ambulatory setting. They share their firsthand experiences while working with the design and testing of this cutting-edge technology. Joining the conversation is an Oracle Health clinical executive, Ashleigh George, who provides insights into the design, vision, and potential impact of this EHR solution on improving patient care. Together, they explore how this innovative system is reshaping the landscape of healthcare delivery and what it means for the future of ambulatory care. --------------------------------------- Episode Transcript: Welcome to Perspectives on Health and Tech Podcasts, brought to you by Oracle Health, where we dive deep into the world of innovation and transformation in health care. My name is Matt Patterson, your host and moderator for today's discussion. Today, we're thrilled to welcome three renowned experts who are pioneering change in the health care industry.    00;00;59;03 - 00;01;28;18  Unknown  Joining us today, we have Ashley George, a visionary in health care technology and leader with an Oracle health product development. Dr. Ryan McFarland, a family medicine physician based out of Hudson, Wisconsin. And Dr. Randy Thompson, an emergency physician by training who now serves as the chief health analytics officer at Billings Clinic. In today's episode, we're going to explore challenges facing health care systems and how groundbreaking innovation is paving the way for a brighter, healthier future.    00;01;28;20 - 00;01;48;22  Unknown  So grab a seat and prepare to be inspired as we embark on this insightful journey. First off, I'd like to allow the opportunity for each of you to introduce yourselves. We'll start with Ashley and then Dr. McFarland and Dr. Thompson. Ashley Yeah, Thanks, Matt. Well, I think you actually might have a new calling in as a podcast broadcaster.    00;01;48;23 - 00;02;24;09  Unknown  That was an impressive intro. You've got a radio voice almost, but that's great. Well, anyway, thanks to Matt for having me on today. I'm Ashley George. I'm a clinician, actually, by background started my career 25 years ago in a neuro ICU unit and from there have had the opportunity to work in health care I.T. for the last 20 years and have really been at the forefront of the changes that have occurred over the last several decades and and excited for the work that I hand at Oracle Health, where we're doing today within our products and serving our clinicians around the world.    00;02;24;12 - 00;02;48;16  Unknown  Thanks, Ashley. And Dr. McFarlane, why don't you tell us a little bit about your yourresponsibilities in the organization and patients that you serve? Yeah, my name's Ryan McFarland. I'm a family medicine physician in Hudson, Wisconsin, part of a large private practice group. We've got about 60 providers. I'm one of the owners in the practice on our medical board, kind of help direct our practice into the future.    00;02;48;16 - 00;03;14;05  Unknown  And one of the big parts of my job has been working with our I.T. tech and things like that. And that's how we got involved with Oracle and fortunate enough to help be in the early beta testing and help build these products and everything. Thanks. And Dr. Thompson? Yeah. Good morning. My name's Randy Thompson. I'm the chief health Analytics officer for Billings Clinic Emergency Physician by training but work full time.    00;03;14;05 - 00;03;46;09  Unknown  And it now in our system is the largest independent health care system in Montana, where those clinic at Logan Health merge in 2023, we have over 1200 providers representing 80 medical specialties. My job is to try to make their lives better. And I, I could say I'vebeen in health care for 41 years now and there has never been a more exciting time to be in health care in terms of the positive solutions coming to our providers and nurses.    00;03;46;11 - 00;04;11;16  Unknown  Wonderful. Yeah, Thanks, Dr. Thompson. And I think that's a good segway into to get right into the meat of the conversation here. So today's podcast is obviously really about exactly what you just mentioned. Randy, The opportunities that exist within health care really to raise the bar in the industry with some of the Gen AI technologies that we're entering intothis new era of beyond.    00;04;11;16 - 00;04;33;11  Unknown  So within the current landscape, I want a level set where we're at today. Ashley Can you tell us a little bit about the biggest challenges that health care systems are seeing today? Really, how is technology currently influencing health care delivery today? Yeah, I mean, I'll say as I think about this, my my response isn't just US based centric.    00;04;33;11 - 00;04;51;12  Unknown  It is also thinking about internationally as I meet with customers around the world. And hands down top of mind is how are we supporting our clinicians so that they can better take care of the patients? Right. And I think you could I could be as dramatic to say as like we're at a moment of reckoning in terms of people are tired, they're exhausted.    00;04;51;12 - 00;05;11;17  Unknown  We don't have enough clinicians around the world to serve, you know, the patients that we need to take care of. Everyone is on razor thin margins. They're trying to do more with less. And yet it doesn't stop the regulations that continue to come in. It doesn't stop almost theinability for clinicians to be able to access care appropriately.    00;05;11;17 - 00;05;43;01  Unknown  And I think that's where for us, it's not an option. We have to transform and rethink how we're delivering health care and how technology can play a pivotal role in that. It's not the only answer, but it is a big answer in terms of how we're going to approach this. And I think, you know, I feel that here at Oracle Health, we we feel that urgency is to be able to help our clinicians, like the ones that are joining today's podcast, like how can we do better for them so that they themselves can do better and help take care of their patients.    00;05;43;01 - 00;06;23;08  Unknown  And that's really what we wake up every single day, striving to deliver. Wonderful. And Dr. McFarland, Dr. Thompson, you're from your purview. Well, what trends are you seeing that that opens up opportunity to really reshape health care? You know, I think the biggest trends are, you know, trying to get more, I would say, you know, clinician and patient focused and centered resources and technology for the first time versus it's previously been just purely a data gathering billing tool that didn't serve anyone other than the insurers and certain researchers.    00;06;23;10 - 00;06;40;17  Unknown  So that's I think the biggest trend is that we're actually seeing patient forward and physician forward products for the first time, which is part of why I think it's so exciting to see what's coming. So that's what I think is really the trend that we're seeing. That'sgoing to be a huge impact to our careers and patient care.    00;06;40;20 - 00;07;22;08  Unknown  And I would just add to that, having the system work for the providers and the nurses and the schedulers and the reps cycle people rather than us working for that solution. And I'll just give an example with the new H.R., the system is working on behalf of the clinician and going out and searching the record, finding out relevant information, bringing that back, collating it and presenting it to the clinicians in a manner that makes sense to them so that so that they can make decisions and, you know, have a better chart and so now it's the opposite way.    00;07;22;09 - 00;07;42;21  Unknown  We have to go out and we have to find relevant notes and find relevant studies and try to tweak the details and gather those details so we can consider that what their interaction with the patient and then document that all in the chart afterwards. And it's just almost impossible to do with a clinicians busy schedule the amount of time that takes.    00;07;42;23 - 00;08;03;17  Unknown  So that's what I'm excited about. Yeah, I mean that's I mean, it's huge. I mean, that's what I spend the bulk of my time doing is before I see a patient. Even when I'm in with the patients, it's digging through this slog of just repetitive data, good data, bad data, what'srelevant, where is the relevant information? And it falls on me to just sift through this huge backlog of data.    00;08;03;19 - 00;08;32;03  Unknown  And this is the first time where it's being brought forward to us. It's going to help us make better decisions, not miss things. You know, just give an example. And, you know, I was looking at one patient's note and the summary, the problem based summary had gone out and looked at 11 different notes and brought that information forward and presented it in a really succinct manner that was understandable and complete.    00;08;32;06 - 00;09;00;17  Unknown  So that so that, you know, that was really actionable information that it would be almost impossible for a clinician to do in the limited amount of time they have to review the record and then bring that forward. So I mean, it's just really exciting. Well said. You know, Ashley and I were actually talking yesterday in preparation for this podcast about the acceptance that exists in the industry around training requirements when you go to a new EMR.    00;09;00;19 - 00;09;20;15  Unknown  And I think it'

    29 min

  6. 09/16/2025

    Changing the Narrative: How Data and Technology Can Save Lives

    In recognition of World Suicide Prevention Day (September 10), Oracle Health brings together leading voices in clinical care, behavioral health, and technology to explore how data-driven innovation can help prevent suicide and improve mental health outcomes. Join Oracle Health's Danny Gladden, LCSW, MBA, Director, Behavioral Health and Social Care and Dr. Keita Franklin, Chief Behavioral Health Officer at Leidos, a nationally recognized expert in suicide prevention, as they discuss how ethical, person-centered use of data can detect risk earlier, connect people to care faster, and support clinicians on the frontlines. From integrated screening tools like the PHQ-9 and C-SSRS to risk alerts, we'll examine how technology, with quality care—when paired with compassion—can close critical gaps in behavioral health. This conversation is a call to action for health systems, providers, and technology partners to change the narrative on suicide, together. If you or someone you know is in crisis, please reach out to your local helpline or call/text 988 in the U.S. and Canada. ----------------------------------------------------------- Episode Transcript:   Intro  00:00 - 00:29 Welcome to Perspectives on Health and Tech podcast. Brought to you by Oracle Health. In this series, we have conversations on creating a seamless and connected health care world where everyone thrives. Let's get started.  Danny Gladden 00:30 - 02:26 Welcome to Perspectives on Health and Tech. Thank you for joining us. I'm Danny Gladden, general manager of behavioral health and social care at Oracle Health. I'm also a licensed clinical social worker, and I've spent my career working in suicide prevention from crisis lines to community mental health to supporting national efforts with the Department of Defense and the VA. For me, the work is personal and lifelong. At Oracle Health, we believe technology has a role to play in ending suicide with one of the largest global electronic health record footprints and long standing partnerships with the VA and the DoD. We see the impact that suicide has across every community we serve. This isn't an issue that only affects certain families or certain health system. It impacts all of us. That's why we're speaking out as a technology company. Because suicide prevention is not only about crisis intervention, it's about building systems that connect people to help earlier equip clinicians with the right tools and make sure that no one falls to the cracks. Our responsibility is to use data design and technology in ways that honor the human side of care, while supporting providers who are on the frontlines every day. And today, I'm honored to be joined by Doctor Keita Franklin, chief of behavioral health at Leidos, one of the nation's foremost experts in suicide prevention, who's led this work at the highest levels of government and continues to advance the field through research, policy and practice. And so, Keita, it's so good to be with you today. I'm so glad you've joined us. You and I have had a chance to do some pretty incredible work together. You have, spent much of your career leading national suicide prevention efforts with the VA, the DoD, the Columbia Lighthouse project. How has that experience shaped your perspective on the urgency of this issue? Keita Franklin 02:26 - 03:44 Thank you so much for having me, Danny. And I always love our work together and our connection as social workers in the field over the years, so I truly appreciate the chance to talk to you this morning. You know, one of the first things that comes to mind for me is just a basic, sort of lesson is just the complexities around suicide. Now, I don't think people know, you know, when somebody dies by suicide, there is a lot of variables and factors at play. And it's never it's never one reason. But like you'll hear about people that struggle with a host of reasons, some of which are medically oriented and pain management oriented and complexities around TBI, and some of them are mental health related, and some of them are things that you and I always talk about related to social determinants of health. So just the complexities, that's probably one of my biggest sort of things to think about. And sure, in terms of shaping my perspective. And then I appreciate the upstream. I'm definitely an upstream sort of thinker in terms of like, how do we get, you know, the military used to call this left of boom, but like, how do we get, away from just intervening at the time at the single point in time of crisis? I don't know if you saw the CDC and the National Action Alliance just pushed out this new upstream toolkit or guide this week. I have that on my list of things to look at.  Danny Gladden 03:45- 04:15 Yeah, it's really great, isn't it, to have, more folks in across health care and beyond talking about suicide, suicide prevention now. So Oracle, we're a technology company. We believe we have a part to play in the bigger ecosystem of suicide prevention. If you think about a company like Oracle and Oracle Health, you know, why is it important for a company like ours to be part of this conversation?  Keita Franklin 04:15 - 05:34 Well, for a couple different reasons. And I'm in the same boat. You know, Leidos is also a technology company, and we're so thrilled for our partnership with you all around some of these issues. But really, a couple of things that we know about suicide is at the center of a public health approach is just the importance of data. Like data drives the entire public health approach. And whether you're like a brand new suicide prevention coordinator on the ground in a local county, or whether you're tackling suicide at the National level, you have to have your hands on a good set of data. And I know that you are all about data, as is Oracle at large. But then also what do we do with the data and how do we bring more technology tools to the fight when it comes to preventing suicide. By using good data, not only in mental health care systems as flags and as you know, part of predictive analytics. But also, I think we're seeing on the horizon more AI tools and advanced ways to bring self-help tools with clinician oversight. Maybe we'll talk about that more in the podcast. But definitely there is a role for technology. And I've always over the years I've put it in the pilot bucket. When you're doing good public health programing, you always have four or 5 or 6 pilots going where you're testing new interventions, trying to advance the needle with new and innovative treatments and the like. And I think technology fits in there.  Danny Gladden 05:35 - 07:22 Well, I feel a burden, a healthy burden. If we think about, say, behavioral health technology companies, of course, they're the users of their tech,  kind of have a responsibility to ensure they account for suicide prevention and screening and whatnot. As an enterprise health care EHR, that service primary care, chronic conditions and an emergency department in med surge and oncology, we have to be really diligent about where we can also infuse best practices for screening across health care delivery system. And I feel sort of, a burden there to make sure we get that right, have the right questions and the right workflows in the right place so that we can, help a doctor who's treating someone with heart disease also be able to talk about the stresses of heart disease and, risk suicide risk that comes from living with a chronic illness. And so that takes me kind of, you know, this year's World Suicide Prevention theme is changing the narrative on suicide. I'm just curious, what does that mean to you? Changing the narrative. It really struck me. I want to hear your perspective and also talk about. I think you've got some really interesting things happening in your career. So, like changing the narrative on suicide. What about small acts of kindness and community engagement and connection? How can that make a difference?  Keita Franklin 07:23 - 10:22 No. I so appreciate your question. And also the work that you're doing to embed suicide prevention into like a whole of health care system. So first and foremost, like the, early on in my career, I learned the importance of, like, if we just screen or if we just wait for mental health care alone. You know, we will have missed about many. You know, I learned this at the VA front and center where they, the veterans would go in for headaches and backaches and all of these other types of physical care issues. And when they're doing that, if we don't screen them and we don't engage around suicide prevention, it's a missed opportunity. And it's awful when we see it in the fatality reports after the fact that perhaps they've been to one of our primary care clinics in the days leading up to their death. It's just incredibly tragic for our system to, like, miss any single opportunity to say, disable that. So I'm so pleased that you're doing that. And it is hard work. Right. Because the docs will tell you, I'm busy with this, I'm busy with this, and I have a lot of things to balance. And, you know, they're here for their podiatry appointment. What do you mean? I have to screen, but you just don't know what's going on for people. So that's one thing. And then, I, I think you and I both love the theme, like changing the narrative on suicide. Right? I mean, part of the narrative is that it's upstream. The other small piece that resonates with me about changing the narrative. I'm curious what you think about this as well. Is the focus on lived experience like, I absolutely love for us as a field to never forget the voice of those that have this lived experience, whether you know it's a mom or dad that have lost a loved one, a child to suicide, and you know, of course, in the most tragic of ways, but for us to hear from them and to think about how their experiences can inform our policies and to jus

    27 min

  7. 07/14/2025

    From Bench to Bedside: Bringing Therapeutic Innovation Closer to Patients

    While science and technology have driven remarkable breakthroughs, they've also created unintended barriers between clinical research and care. The complexity and cost of research limit trials to only the most well-resourced hospitals. As a result, just 3% of patients and providers participate, and doctors often lack access to or the ability to act on life-changing therapies at the point of care. Oracle is closing this gap—embedding clinical trials, evidence-based insights, and innovative therapies directly into electronic health records. The vision: every hospital research-ready, every patient encounter fueling discovery, and therapeutic innovation reaching patients where and when it matters most. Featuring: ·       Moderator: Raj Modi, Senior Director, Global Customer Centre of Excellence, Life Sciences, Oracle ·       Panelist: Maria Clark, Market Development Associate Greenphire-Suvoda, Patient Advocate for Cystic Fibrosis Foundation ·       Panelist: Christopher P. Boone, Ph. D., Group Vice President, Research Services, Health & Life Sciences, Oracle Listen as they discuss: o   Why therapeutic innovation often stops short of the point of care—and what it takes to close that gap o   How aggregating genomic, clinical, and real-world data at scale — safely and securely — is key to unlocking this future and driving personalized medicine o   How embedding trials, insights, and therapies into the EHR will reshape access to cutting-edge treatments, lowering cost, and improving outcomes o   How the industry is approaching this shift—and what progress is already underway Notable quotes: "Because of these CFTR modulators, patients like myself are living longer than ever before. I am only 23 years old and when I was born my life expectancy was early 20's." – Maria Clark "We have to reimagine our own business processes and really put the needs and preferences of the patients at the center of everything we do." – Christopher P. Boone, Ph. D. CTA: Harness real-world evidence and data-driven insights to inform critical decisions. Our expertise spans commercialization, market access, regulatory and safety protocols, oncology, and rare diseases. Bolster your strategies with data-driven solutions tailored to the life sciences and healthcare industries: Learn More ----------------------------------------------------------------- Episode Transcript:  Raj Modi:  Hello and welcome to from bench to bedside bringing therapeutic innovation closer to patients. I'm Raj Modi and I'll be your host today. This conversation speaks directly to Oracle's vision for health and life sciences. Despite all the advances we've seen in medical research over the last few decades, there's still a significant gap between scientific discovery and care delivery. And today we're going to explore how we close that gap by embedding research directly into care utilizing unified data. Connected systems and AI. I'm joined today by two fantastic guests who bring both deep expertise and lived experience. First, we have Dr. Chris Boone, who's the group vice president for Oracle Research Services. Chris is a recognized leader in real world evidence and health data innovation. And also joining me is Maria Clarke:, who is a passionate patient advocate who lives with cystic fibrosis and also works tirelessly in our industry helping organizations better understand and support research participants. Chris and Maria, welcome. Thank you both for being here.    Chris Boone:  Thank you, Raj. It's great to be here.    Maria Clarke:  Thank you. So happy to be here.    Raj Modi:  Let's dive into the discussion. Maria, let me start with you. You've written very powerfully about your experience living with cystic fibrosis. When people talk about patient centered research, what does that really mean to you, and how far off are we as an industry from making that real?    Maria Clarke:  Well, I believe this collaborative model, you know, ensures that studies are designed, conducted and interpreted with direct input from patients reflecting on their real-world experiences, their needs and priorities. This ensures you know, patients are full collaborators, not just subject ID numbers you know, in a database. Real humans with real stories and you know, research that better reflects real needs, helps promote trust, and leads to more effective personalized care.    Raj Modi:  That's really powerful, Maria. Thank you for sharing. You've read some raised some really pertinent points here. As a follow up to you, when it comes to access, whether that's clinical trials or the latest treatments, what barriers have you personally faced in your journey and what needs to change?    Maria Clarke:  So accessing care even you know when I'm fortunate enough to have, you know, insurance and advanced medications, it still comes with its own set of hurdles. For instance, you know ordering medications can be complicated, and you know, once appointments are coordinated, the burden of traveling to the clinic and missing work or school for you know, 5 plus hours can be extremely overwhelming. I mean, for instance, yesterday I was at the clinic for five plus hours participating in a research study. It's a long term study. It's like a five year study. I've been involved in with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and I was working remotely the whole day while getting tests done and blood drawn. And after all that, you know, had to drive home very weak, especially on the school for those who are from the Philadelphia area. It's pretty brutal after a long day in the clinic so.    Raj Modi:  Maria, that's a, that's a, that's a significant burden on, you know, on your participation into research. Chris, let me bring you in here. You've spent your career at the intersection of policy evidence and strategy from the industry side - how should we be thinking about patient centered research? How do we move from theory to something that actually involves patients in the study design, in access decisions, and in outcomes.    Chris Boone:  That's a phenomenal question and I will say this, Maria, I was in Philadelphia last week and got to experience the traffic that you guys have there first hand. So I, I empathize, in fact, you were driving home after such a pretty intense treatment and and all of that. So it's tough, but I think it's a it's a perfect example that I think embodies all the things that we need to consider as industry as we're becoming you know as as we take it to your point Raj from theory to actual practice, we've been talking about this whole notion of patient centered approaches for a very long time. But I think in my in my mind what it means is that we align the business strategies and the entire, sort of drug development process around the needs and the preferences and outcomes of of patients that are most afflicted with these particular. You know we've we've we've talked that nauseam about, you know, you'll hear a lot about patient driven or patient centric R&D or clinical trials and all these things. But you know just hearing stories like Maria is very Maria is is very powerful because it reminds us that there are real people on the other side of that who have priorities who are, who are prioritizing, you know, sort of the the side effects of these therapies or the inability to drive home after a 5 hour procedure and and just improving the overall quality of life. So I think that we have to start really pivoting our thinking to - how do we design trials in light of all the the advancements we've made in, in digital technologies to the advancements we made even in in sort of scientific outcomes research? You know, I think about, you know there was a big wave of of interest over the last several years of this idea of decentralized trials was sort of was born, out of the was born out of the pandemic and and you know the idea of doing these things virtually was it was definitely embraced, I think about the the notion of utilizing to your point, Raj, real-world evidence and and patient reported outcomes more so in in in trial design and trial data collection more so than we ever did. One of the interesting things about the trial itself that people often forget is that I think randomized special trials are are still the gold standard for for for evidence generation, but they're very limited too, right? And I think that there's a lot that happens outside the walls of these sort of controlled trials that you know it's data that's reflecting the everyday lives of patients that we need to capture that's typically captured through, whether it be their health records or whether it be in this case, wearables or or any other sort of patient generated health data. So I think as the world we start to really pivot to you know, to this, this idea of patient centric, you know sort of drug development or therapy development, I think that we have to sort of reimagine our own business processes and and we and and really put the the needs and the preferences of patients at the center of everything that we do.    Raj Modi:  Thanks, Chris. And you know to follow up on that, there's a huge buzz right now about AI. What's your perspective on AI? I mean, how does AI help with things like identifying eligible patients, surfacing biomarkers, enabling more personalized treatments?    Chris Boone:  Oh, hey, you know what, man? I I know there's a significant amount of fear and and skepticism about the sheer ability of AI, you know? But but I I'm I'm a believer. I'm a fan. I thought it was something that the industry needed for a very long time and it and it is and and honestly, I think the expanded use of AI is is a patient centered approach. Because what we're effectively trying to do is personalize and get closer to precision medicine by utilizing all the available data that's

    24 min

  8. 05/28/2025

    How CAMH is Advancing Mental Health Through Innovation and Social Justice

    Perspectives on Health and Tech  How CAMH is Advancing Mental Health Through Innovation and Social Justice Listen in for a timely conversation in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month and National Nursing Week. In this episode, Dr. Gillian Strudwick from The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and Danny Gladden from Oracle Health discuss how mental health care is evolving, and how CAMH is advancing care through the dual lenses of technology and social justice. Learn how AI tools like Oracle Health Clinical AI Agent are easing clinician workloads, how CAMH is using data to drive impact, and why framing mental health as a social justice issue is key to helping the CAMH team deliver more equitable and compassionate care. Featuring: Dr. Gillian Strudwick, Chief Clinical Informatics Officer, The Centre for Addition and Mental Health Danny Gladden, LCSW, MBA, Director, Behavioral Health and Social Care, Oracle Health Listen as they discuss: o   The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) background – 2:45 o   Mental health care viewed as social justice work at CAMH and examples – 5:00 o   Technology innovations at CAMH with a human-centered approach – 9:30 Wearable devices and the impact they have on research Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (RTMS) treatment Evidence-based apps and the integration of these into clinical care processes Optimizing EHR use and exploring the opportunity to share mental health notes in Canada o   CAMH's perspective on AI technology and its potential impact on clinicians – 18:25 Notable quotes: "Mental health is social justice work." – Dr. Gillian Strudwick "To be able to deliver compassionate care in this day and age, we have to be innovative in our use of technology." – Dr. Gillian Strudwick CTA: Learn how Oracle behavioral health solutions combine real-time, clinical data from across each patient's unique healthcare journey and how Oracle is working to reduce the documentation burden on physicians and elevate the patient experience with the Oracle Health Clinical AI Agent. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Episode Transcript: Intro  0:00  - 0:29 Welcome to perspectives on health and tech podcast brought to you by Oracle Health. In this series, we have conversations on creating a seamless and connected healthcare world where everyone thrives. Let's get started.   Danny 0:30 – 01:44 Welcome to perspectives, Oracle Health and Life Sciences podcast. I'm your host today. Danny Gladden, I'm a licensed clinical social worker and general manager of behavioral health and social care here at Oracle Health. As we step into the month of May, we recognize Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to raise awareness reduce stigma and highlight progress in mental health care. I'd also like to give a special shout out to our nurses across Canada and the US as we celebrate National Nursing week. Thank you for your unwavering dedication and compassion. Social workers and nurses make great teams. Today, we're honored to be joined by a leader in mental health care innovation. Please welcome Dr. Gillian Strudwick from CAMH, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Canada's largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital and one of the world's leading research centers in its field. So, Gillian, welcome. Before we dive into big topics here, can you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about the great work happening at CAMH.   Gillian 1:45 – 03:47 Thank you, Danny, and thank you for the opportunity to be a part of this great podcast. I might break this into two sections. First, I'll introduce myself, and then I'll tell you a little bit about the organization that I'm fortunate to work for. I'm Dr Gillian Strudwick. I'm a registered nurse, and I've worked primarily in mental health clinical settings here in Toronto, Canada, and also in other parts of Canada and internationally. Currently, I am the inaugural Chief Clinical Informatics Officer at CAMH, representing our nurses and all of our non-physician health disciplines, like social work. And I have a couple of other hats as well. So one is that I'm the head scientist of the digital mental health lab, and I'm also the scientific director of our Digital Innovation Hub, which is about really accelerating our work in this digital sphere and research practice, education and beyond. So that's about me, but I'll move on to talking about CAMH. So CAMH is C, A, M, H, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and it's Canada's largest mental health and addictions teaching hospital. We think, and I think there's lots to suggest that we're true in saying this, that we're a world leading Research and Education Center on mental health, and we're located right in the heart of downtown Toronto, but we serve people across our province, Ontario and across the country as well. In terms of a few numbers that I'll share with you, we've had just over 16,000 emergency department visits in the last year, over 40,000 patients that were treated, over 80,000 virtual care appointments. And I'll provide a few more numbers here as well, almost 8000 RTMS visits, 60 million in a new research funds more than 1000 articles published. I think you get the point that there's a lot going on at CAMH, and it's a great place to be.   Danny 03:48 – 04:50 You know, I have been on your campus a number of times. I always appreciate that your campus is right in the heart of Toronto, in a bustling area, and I think there's, there's no greater way to reduce stigma than, you know, placing such a well-respected mental health and addiction treatment organization right in the heart of the city. Whereas if you go to many other communities, you'll kind of see the mental health hospitals and treatment providers kind of on the outskirts of town. Really appreciate CAMH's role right there in the heart of Toronto. And I think this goes into something Gillian that you speak about passionately, which is the idea that mental health treatment is social justice. For our audience, tell us what you mean by that. Why is it an important lens - social justice, which you view your work?   Gillian 4:51 – 07:43 I think it's quite an important point that you bring up, Danny, and it's something we're really proud of talking about, that mental health work is social justice work. Part of doing social justice work is to be informed in this space. And part of being informed is understanding that mental illness disproportionately affects marginalized communities who are also often facing barriers to things like accessing care, and this could be due to racism, poverty, stigma, geography, and I could continue so on and so forth. At CAMH, we see mental health is deeply rooted in social justice, because access to care, dignity and treatment and prevention are not actively distributed. CAMH advocates for policies and systems change that ensure mental health care is not a privilege but a right. And so that's really our social justice lens, framing and shaping the last few statements that I made. We have done some work more recently in the last couple of years on dismantling anti-black racism, which has become a more formalized organizational commitment. I'll just read a section from one of our documents around dismantling anti-black racism. And excuse me for it sounds like I'm reading here because I'm reading from a document, but systemic anti-black racism, is a barrier to high quality health care for black patients at CAMH and across the health care system, the data lay bare with those in black communities have signaled for decades. Discrimination and oppression based on race delays care and harms individuals on their way to recovery. Racism also has a negative impact on the quality of work life for black staff, beyond the damaging emotional and psychological consequences, it limits their career trajectory, and it goes on from there. I bring this out as one of the many initiatives that the organization is committed to. And as a result of this commitment, this public commitment, you can read what I just read on our website, camh.ca, that there's a number of activities that the organization is doing everywhere, from doing offering more culturally appropriate therapies to education for staff, staff support groups, creations of processes that support equity, lots of advocacy work with the government. A lot of this work is ongoing, but this gives you sort of a more grounded, more concrete example of some of the ways in which we look at social justice as being so related to mental health.   Danny 7:44 – 09:31 My goodness, you know the social worker in me is just grinning from ear to ear, as you describe, you know, the foundation in which CAMH is caring for folks. You know, I'm still a licensed clinician in Missouri and Alaska. You know, particularly, I think about a state like Alaska, with a disproportional number of folks who are Alaska Native. And we see, you know, in those communities, so much generational trauma, and the impact you know, and the impact that oppression you know has on sort of repeating traumatic occurrences across the generations and so, so very important, I think, an important perspective to look at the the experience of mental health and the treatment of mental health through a social justice lens. Gillian, I just appreciate that, that that is a focus of CAMH, and I'm sure the indigenous populations your organization works with, you see a similar, you know, a similar experience than the those in the in Alaska here. Now, as we pivot here, thinking about, you know, you're, I think the work you're describing, from a social justice perspective, is innovative. It seems like CAMH is always at the cutting edge of innovation. We're a technology company, and so, you know, from a technology innovation perspective, what are you seeing? What's CAMH doing?   G

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Perspectives on Health and Tech is a podcast by Oracle, where we have conversations on creating a seamless and connected healthcare world where everyone thrives.

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