The Big Unlock

Rohit Mahajan & Ritu M. Uberoy

5.0 (7)
Technology
Updated Weekly

THE BIG UNLOCK PODCAST is a Healthcare Digital Transformation Podcast. Stay Updated on Healthcare’s Digital Transformation Trends. Featuring C-suite Leaders and Insights on Digital Health Innovation. Explore Emerging Healthcare Technologies with Rohit Mahajan and Ritu M. Uberoy.

4d ago

Episode 213 – Innovation is About Solving Problems, Not Chasing Technology

The Big Unlock · Julie Demaree, VP, Chief Technology and Digital Innovation Officer, St. Mary’s Healthcare In this episode, Julie Demaree, Vice President and Chief Technology and Digital Innovation Officer at St. Mary’s Healthcare, shares a pragmatic approach to digital transformation in rural healthcare, where innovation is driven by operational realities rather than technology hype. A former physician assistant turned technology executive, Julie argues that successful innovation begins with culture, governance, and clinician engagement, not new tools. She discusses how St. Mary’s has improved patient safety and clinician experience by rethinking clinical decision support, reducing alert fatigue through careful curation, and involving frontline clinicians in governance decisions. Julie also highlights the importance of optimizing existing technology before investing in new solutions, noting that many organizations overlook capabilities already available within their EHRs. Julie sees significant potential for automation and agentic AI to reduce administrative burden, improve patient access, and help lean teams operate more effectively. She emphasizes that AI adoption must be accompanied by strong governance, user education, and critical thinking. Her message is clear: innovation is not about adding more technology, it’s about solving the right problems, eliminating unnecessary work, and building systems that better support patients, clinicians, and communities. Take a listen.

30 min
6d ago

Episode 212 – Value-Based Care is the Optimal Canvas for Generative AI

The Big Unlock · Marshall Glanzer, Chief Technology Officer, Town Square Health In this episode, Marshall Glanzer, Chief Technology Officer of Town Square Health, outlines a bold model for scaling fully capitated risk programs for Medicare recipients. Transitioning from food-delivery logistics at GrubHub, Marshall brings critical structural insights for digital health innovators seeking to scale clinical models without eroding patient trust. The core theme of the discussion centers on a counter-intuitive tech strategy: utilizing advanced digital infrastructure to intentionally deepen human relationships rather than automate them away. Town Square orchestrates unified “coordinated care visits,” bringing the patient, primary clinician, and a remote specialist into a single conversation to act as a multi-disciplinary “healthcare oracle” at the point of care. For technology vendors, Marshall defines a safe clinical AI deployment roadmap using an “augmented clinician” framework. Advanced workflows, like chat-first patient portals managed by an automated “AI judge,” rely on the licensed physician as the ultimate orchestrator. This approach elegantly bypasses commercial barriers like malpractice liability, credentialing, and fractured billing, leveraging the financial alignment of value-based care to fully absorb modern R&D costs. Take a listen.

22 min
Jun 16

Episode 211 – Shifting from Episodic Failures to Proactive Population Health in Rural Care Delivery

The Big Unlock · Ben Long, MD, Director of Hospital Medicine, Magnolia Regional Health Center and Weston Blakeslee, Ph.D., VP of Clinical Intelligence, DrFirst In this episode, Dr. Ben Long, Director of Hospital Medicine at Magnolia Regional Health Center and Weston Blakeslee, VP of Clinical Intelligence at DrFirst, break down a critical industry starting point – the reality that one in five new prescriptions is never filled and half of all refills are eventually abandoned. Sharing the results of their peer-reviewed study published in PLOS Digital Health, Dr. Long and Weston offer a grounded blueprint for how resource-constrained community health systems can conquer chronic heart failure readmissions. The core theme of the conversation underscores an industry-wide shift from reactive, episodic care silos toward a proactive, connected population health management. While automated SMS nudges provide real-time cost transparency and essential medication education, the ultimate force multiplier lies in pairing those digital touchpoints with frontline, nursing-led care navigation. By connecting digital prescribing insights with real-world human validation, this “trust-first” design bridges the gaps between discharge and the home medicine cabinet. Take a listen.

26 min
Jun 9

Accelerating Pediatric Digital Health Innovation Through Deep Institutional Collaboration

The Big Unlock · Omkar Kulkarni, VP, Chief Transformation & Innovation Officer, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) In this episode, Omkar Kulkarni, VP, Chief Transformation & Innovation Officer at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), outlines the stark funding gap in pediatric innovation, which receives less than 1% of digital health investments despite children making up 20% of the population. To combat this, the CHLA-led KidsX consortium unites children’s hospitals nationwide to scale early-stage digital solutions through collaboration over competition. Omkar suggests that pediatrics requires entirely separate technological blueprints, hence digital tools must be designed for adult caregivers, accommodate strict adolescent privacy laws at age 12, and scale across diverse physiological sizes. He highlights vital innovation pipelines, including AI tools targeting the youth mental health crisis, longitudinal chronic care management, and 24/7 validated conversational interfaces for parents. For healthcare startups entering this space, Omkar emphasizes that the key to building institutional trust relies on presenting deep, heterogeneous clinical evidence, establishing commercially viable billing frameworks, and practicing deep humility when approaching complex clinical partnerships. He believes that generative AI will not replace clinicians but will instead automate administrative tasks, empowering them to focus on top-of-license, human-to-human care. Take a listen.

26 min
Jun 2

Restoring the Intimate Physician Patient Relationship with Ambient AI

The Big Unlock · Podcast with Dr. Nele Jessel, Chief Medical Officer, athenahealth In this episode, Dr. Nele Jessel, Chief Medical Officer at athenahealth, explores the rapid shift in physician sentiment toward AI and why healthcare may finally be reaching a true inflection point in digital transformation. Dr. Jessel explains how decades of EHR-induced administrative burnout initially made clinicians wary of new technology. However, the arrival of ambient note generation changed the game almost overnight, removing immense cognitive load and restoring the intimate, face-to-face physician-patient relationship. A core theme of the discussion is the critical pivot toward clinician-guided development rather than vendor-driven solutions. Dr. Jessel details how athenahealth uses rapid “pre-alpha” prototyping to tackle the modern challenge of interoperability data-overload, deploying large language models to synthesize complex clinical records into actionable insights at the point of care. While emphasizing that medicine remains an art that requires a human in the loop for diagnostics, she outlines a future where autonomous, agentic AI conquers administrative burdens like prior authorizations. Ultimately, healthcare is reaching a true inflection point, transforming the EHR from a passive data repository into an invisible, intelligent assistant. Take a listen. This guest appearance was facilitated through conversations initiated at ViVE.

26 min
May 26

Pilot Purgatory to Enterprise Impact and the Unicorn Protocol for AI Success

The Big Unlock · Sally Ann Frank, Global Lead – Health & Life Sciences, Microsoft for Startups In this episode, Sally Ann Frank, Global Lead for Health and Life Sciences at Microsoft for Startups, discusses how AI is moving beyond experimentation toward measurable enterprise impact. She emphasizes that the most successful startups differentiate themselves not just through technology innovation, but through evolving business models, strong customer discovery practices, and a coachable mindset grounded in strategic mentorship. Sally explores the challenge of “pilot purgatory,” noting that founders must design for production from day one. Establishing clear ROI frameworks and demonstrating early value are essential to maintaining momentum and avoiding the law of diminishing interest often seen in stalled pilots. Looking toward 2026, Sally envisions a “show me the money” era centered on four bridges: expanding global access through virtual technology to democratize care, closing the investment gap in women’s health beyond reproductive care, advancing AI-driven precision medicine through genetics for individualized treatment, and shifting healthcare from reactive treatment toward preventative longevity. Ultimately, the conversation highlights that lasting success in AI will belong to organizations that evolve into trusted advisors, consistently delivering value at every interaction. Take a listen. This guest appearance was facilitated through conversations initiated at HIMSS.

22 min
May 19

Rural Resilience and Balancing Clinical Care with AI Innovation

The Big Unlock · Andrew Porter, CEO, Wayne General Hospital In this episode, Andrew Porter, CEO of Wayne General Hospital, shares how a community-based health system is navigating the dual pressures of financial sustainability and rural healthcare delivery. Drawing on his unique “three-legged stool” perspective as a clinician, administrator, and academic, Andrew highlights the necessity of staying nimble in a rapidly evolving market. Wayne General is taking a pragmatic approach to AI by focusing on real problems instead of technology hype. Andrew details the successful implementation of ambient AI documentation, which has improved provider satisfaction and restored the intimacy of the patient-physician relationship. He also discusses leveraging AI partnerships to bring high-sophistication care, such as heart murmur detection, to rural populations. Andrew emphasizes the critical need for AI-driven transformation in the revenue cycle to alleviate the administrative complexity burdening small hospitals. Take a listen.

20 min
May 13

Reimagining Healthcare Through AI-Native Orchestration and Digital Platforms

The Big Unlock · Bharat Sutariya, MD, Senior Vice President and Chief Health Officer, Oracle Health In this episode, Dr. Bharat Sutariya, Senior Vice President and Chief Health Officer at Oracle Health, discusses the radical transformation of healthcare through AI-native digital platforms. As an emergency physician with over 25 years of experience, including leadership roles at Cerner and Deloitte, Dr. Sutariya provides a unique perspective on moving past the “burden” of legacy EHR systems. The core of the conversation centers on Oracle’s bold bet: moving away from the industry-standard “bolt-on” AI approach. Instead, Oracle is rebuilding the healthcare stack from the ground up, embedding AI into the foundational layer. Dr. Sutariya argues that the future of healthcare technology isn’t just about capturing data but about systems of orchestration. This means AI that doesn’t just transcribe a note but listens to the clinical intent to automatically queue orders, handle referrals, and initiate prior authorizations. Dr. Sutariya predicts that within a year, the conversation will shift from documentation efficiency to a truly connected, intelligent ecosystem that gives time back to both providers and patients. Take a listen. This guest appearance was facilitated through conversations initiated at HIMSS.

26 min

5

out of 5

7 Ratings

THE BIG UNLOCK PODCAST is a Healthcare Digital Transformation Podcast. Stay Updated on Healthcare’s Digital Transformation Trends. Featuring C-suite Leaders and Insights on Digital Health Innovation. Explore Emerging Healthcare Technologies with Rohit Mahajan and Ritu M. Uberoy.

Creator

Rohit Mahajan & Ritu M. Uberoy
Years Active

2018 - 2026
Episodes

197
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© 2025 The Big Unlock Podcast
Show Website

The Big Unlock