Straight Outta Health IT

Hosted by Straight Outta Health IT

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Episodes

109

Latest episode

Aug 2026

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EN-US

About the show

This is Straight Outta Health IT, an unfiltered dialogue of healthcare leaders and influencers covering a wide variety of issues affecting healthcare & the health tech industry. Host Christopher Kunney covers tech in a fresh and candid way you won’t want to miss.

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August 4, 202643 min

Maximizing Your Personal Brand

Your personal brand is not just your resume; it is the story people experience before you ever enter the room. In this episode of Straight Outta Health IT, Christopher Kunney sits down with Dorothea Bozicolona-Volpe, Social Media Marketing and Execution Consultant at Social Espionage, to explore why personal branding has become essential for healthcare IT leaders, clinicians, consultants, vendors, and anyone looking to grow their influence in a competitive industry. Dorothea explains that building a strong personal brand starts with building a community and that being "open for business" means approaching others with an open mind, an open heart, and a genuine willingness to connect. She also challenges the belief that good work alone is enough to create new opportunities. In today's digital and AI-driven world, visibility matters, and professionals need to be intentional about how they present themselves both online and offline. Dorothea shares practical strategies for identifying your audience, selecting the right platforms, engaging with niche communities, and creating content that educates, engages, entertains, emotes, shows empathy, or empowers. Drawing from her global background, intelligence work, marketing expertise, and personal journey, Dorothea offers a thoughtful perspective on what it takes to stand out while remaining authentic. She reminds listeners that personal branding is not about vanity but about creating clarity, fostering meaningful connections, and communicating purpose. Tune in to learn how healthcare professionals can build a personal brand that reflects who they are, opens doors, and helps them stand out with intention! Resources: Connect with and follow Dorothea Bozicolona-Volpe on LinkedIn . Follow Social Espionage on LinkedIn and explore their website ! Watch Dorothea Bozicolona-Volpe’s TEDxNYIT talk here !

July 28, 20261 hr 4 min

Meharry Health Equity Moonshot Summit

Key Takeaways AI can either help reduce healthcare inequities or magnify existing bias, depending on how it is designed, trained, governed, and used. Responsible AI requires transparency, representative data, community participation, and clear accountability when tools fail or cause harm. Health equity work cannot be treated as philanthropy; it requires shared ownership across health systems, government, industry, nonprofits, and communities. Health systems must address existing bias in clinical language, protocols, and care delivery before expecting AI to fix systemic problems. Trust is built through transparency, shared power, community partnership, and honest conversations about the harms patients still experience today. Resources Connect with Tanisha Sullivan on LinkedIn . Follow Sanofi on LinkedIn and explore their website . Connect with Dr. Chris Pernell on LinkedIn . Follow the NAACP on LinkedIn and explore the website . Connect with Kimberly Wells on LinkedIn . Follow Ascension on LinkedIn and explore their website .

July 21, 202649 min

One Platform to Rule Them All — The AI Governance Reckoning in Medical Imaging

Healthcare AI is moving faster than many health systems can govern it. In this episode of Straight Out of Health IT, David Hilderbrand, Chief Commercial Officer at Ferrum Health, joins Christopher Kunney to discuss the rapid rise of clinical AI, medical imaging AI consolidation, and the growing need for enterprise-level governance. He explains why health systems are no longer just asking which AI tools to buy, but how to monitor, manage, and understand the tools already running across their organizations. As AI enters through devices, platforms, service lines, and vendor relationships, CIOs and clinical leaders are facing a new kind of operational complexity. The conversation explores why effective AI oversight has become essential as adoption accelerates across healthcare. David breaks down the difference between AI committees, analytics, telemetry, and true governance. He explains that governance is not simply about knowing whether an algorithm is turned on, but about understanding how it behaves in clinical care and how it performs across different patient populations. Without that level of visibility, health systems risk overlooking issues such as bias, model drift, inconsistent performance, and patient impact. He argues that meaningful governance is critical to ensuring AI delivers safe, reliable, and measurable clinical value. David also shares how Ferrum Health approaches clinical AI through platforming, observability, and neutral model monitoring. Rather than recommending which AI tools organizations should adopt, Ferrum helps health systems gain visibility into their entire AI portfolio so they can make informed decisions about expanding, replacing, or retiring algorithms. The discussion also covers measuring ROI, recognizing the costs of underperforming AI models, and the importance of early disease detection. Hilderbrand concludes by explaining why AI governance should remain independent from vendor bias to support better long-term clinical and operational outcomes. Tune in to hear why clinical AI governance is becoming essential infrastructure for health systems, and why the future of healthcare AI depends on visibility, accountability, and trust. Key Takeaways Clinical AI is expanding quickly, but many health systems lack the tools to understand what is actually running across their environments. Vendor sprawl is creating new operational, financial, and clinical risks as AI tools enter through devices, platforms, and service lines. True AI governance goes beyond telemetry and analytics; it requires visibility into how algorithms interact with patients and clinical workflows. Health systems need unbiased observability to determine whether clinical AI tools are performing as promised. AI governance can help organizations reduce the cost of failed algorithms and improve the value of their AI investments. Early detection through clinical AI can improve patient outcomes while also reducing downstream care costs. Governance must remain separate from vendor bias so health systems can make clear decisions about which tools to keep, expand, replace, or remove. The next phase of clinical AI will require stronger infrastructure, especially as agentic AI and cloud-based workflow solutions grow. Resources Connect with David Hilderbrand on LinkedIn . Follow Ferrum Health on LinkedIn and visit their website .

July 14, 202645 min

PHI De-Identification, AI Data Privacy & the Future of Clinical AI

Healthcare AI can only be as strong as the data behind it, but patient privacy cannot be treated as collateral damage. In this episode of Straight Outta Health IT, Dr. Julia Komissarchik, CEO and Founder of Glendor, Inc., joins Christopher Kunney to explore one of the most pressing challenges in healthcare AI today: how to responsibly use patient data while ensuring that protected health information (PHI) is not exposed. Julia breaks down why de-identification is far more complex than simply stripping a patient’s name from a record. She explains that PHI can be embedded in many different forms beyond structured fields, including clinical text, medical images, voice recordings, video, metadata, and even indirect contextual signals such as hospital names, locations, or physician specialties. Because of this, ensuring true privacy protection requires a much more nuanced and multi-layered approach than many assume. She also highlights the importance of diversity in healthcare data when building AI systems. According to Julia, robust models depend on exposure to a wide range of populations and care settings, including rural, urban, tribal, and underserved communities, to ensure that AI performs reliably and equitably across different real-world environments. Tune in to learn why privacy, trust, and responsible data infrastructure are foundational to the future of AI in healthcare. Resources Connect with Dr. Julia Komissarchik on LinkedIn here or reach out via email here . Follow Glendor, Inc on LinkedIn here and visit their website here.

July 7, 202648 min

WellLink CONNECTNEO 2026

What happens when healthcare organizations stop working in silos and begin treating community partnerships as part of the care model? In this special episode of Straight Outta Health IT , Christopher Kunney joins healthcare leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs, and community advocates at the WellLink CONNECTNEO 2026 Conference in Cleveland. Together, they explore how collaboration, AI, data, and community partnerships can help address some of healthcare’s most persistent challenges. Rahul Mahadevan, Founder of WITT, discusses the nonclinical barriers that often prevent patients from receiving care, including transportation, food insecurity, family responsibilities, and the reluctance to ask for help. Brian Lane, President and CEO of WellLink, explains how the organization is expanding its network to bring hospitals, businesses, faith groups, and community organizations together around shared health goals. Jason Ferri of Premier explores ongoing supply-chain challenges, including pricing volatility and shortages, and explains how collective purchasing can strengthen healthcare organizations. U.N. Amighi of HealthCorum highlights how transparent provider analytics can reduce wasteful spending while connecting patients with the right providers. John Paganini introduces Northern Ohio HIMSS' AI Center of Excellence and its efforts to advance AI literacy, governance, data management, and digital equity. Dominic Hopson of Neighborhood Family Practice emphasizes the importance of trusted, accessible primary care as the front door to the healthcare system. Across every conversation, a common theme emerges: meaningful healthcare transformation requires collaboration across organizations, sectors, and communities. Tune in to hear how Northeast Ohio’s healthcare community is connecting organizations, technology, and local expertise to build a stronger and more equitable healthcare ecosystem! Key Takeaways Patients may delay or forgo treatment because of transportation, food insecurity, family obligations, and other nonclinical barriers. Community support is more effective when patients can ask for help without feeling like a burden. AI adoption in healthcare requires strong privacy protections, robust governance, and responsible implementation practices. Healthcare technology creates greater value when integrated into existing workflows and supported by reliable data. An aging population will place increasing pressure on care delivery across the continuum. Hospitals, community organizations, businesses, and faith-based groups achieve more through coordinated action and shared resources. Group purchasing organizations help providers navigate shortages, pricing volatility, and supply-chain disruptions. Transparent provider analytics can reduce waste and guide patients toward higher-value care. AI literacy must extend across the healthcare workforce and the communities it serves. Strong primary care and strategic partnerships are essential to improving access and supporting underserved and rural communities. Resources Connect with Rahul Mahadevan on LinkedIn . Follow WITT on LinkedIn and explore their website . Connect with Brian Lane on LinkedIn . Follow Jason Ferri on LinkedIn . Follow Premier Inc on LinkedIn and explore their website . Connect with U.N. Amighi on LinkedIn . Follow HealthCorum on LinkedIn and explore their website . Connect with John Paganini on LinkedIn . Follow Paguar Informatics on LinkedIn and explore their website . Connect with Domonic Hopson on LinkedIn . Follow Neighborhood Family Practice on LinkedIn and explore their website .

June 23, 202646 min

Agentic AI & the Future of Revenue Cycle

Revenue cycle doesn’t just need more reporting; it needs smarter systems that can prevent problems before they happen. In this episode of Straight Outta Health IT , Jeff Hatfield, Co-Founder and CEO of Four Points Health, talks about how Agentic AI and intelligent automation are reshaping revenue cycle management for hospitals. He explains why denials, write-offs, payer complexity, and manual rework continue to drain financial resources and create unnecessary administrative burden. Drawing from both personal experience and years of working with hospital leaders, Jeff shares why healthcare needs to move beyond retrospective dashboards and toward real-time action. Jeff introduces the Agentic Claims Integrity System (ACIS), built to help hospitals shift from reactive denial management to proactive denial prevention. Rather than simply flagging problems after the fact, ACIS identifies issues upstream, intervenes before claims are submitted, and helps teams reduce avoidable denials and write-offs. He also explains how closed-loop systems can track payer behavior, validate whether fixes worked, and continuously improve performance over time. He also explores the human side of automation, emphasizing that AI should not replace healthcare teams but give them leverage. By reducing repetitive work, improving productivity, and speeding up reimbursement, intelligent automation can help staff focus on higher-value tasks while strengthening hospital financial performance. Hatfield also highlights the importance of making this technology accessible to rural and community hospitals, so AI does not widen existing gaps in healthcare. Tune in to hear how Agentic AI can help hospitals reduce denials, improve cash flow, ease staff burnout, and build a more sustainable future for healthcare operations! Resources Connect with Jeff Hatfield on LinkedIn here . Follow Four Points Health on LinkedIn here and visit the website here.

June 16, 20261 hr 1 min

Highlights from 2026 TX HIMSS Regional Conference

What happens when healthcare innovation is shaped not only by technology, but by the real human experiences behind it? In this SOHIT HIMSS 2026 episode of Straight Outta Health IT, Christopher Kunney speaks with healthcare leaders, informatics experts, entrepreneurs, and innovators at the Texas HIMSS Regional Conference about how technology, AI, data, and human experience are transforming healthcare. Erica Olenski, Founder of Monarch Futures and August’s Artists, shares how her experience as a caregiver and the loss of her son inspired her work in healthcare innovation. She emphasizes the importance of treating patient and caregiver experiences as valuable data that should inform the design of digital health solutions. The discussion continues with Elsie Gori, Nurse Informaticist and Program Chair for the Texas HIMSS Regional Conference, who explains how nursing informatics can improve care delivery through better workflow design, data utilization, AI, and smarter alert systems that help reduce alarm fatigue. Nayan D. Patel, SVP and General Manager for Transformation at Neteera, adds the perspective of both a former healthcare CIO and technology executive, highlighting the potential of contactless vital sign monitoring and the need for AI solutions that solve real clinical challenges without adding complexity to existing workflows. Katherine Taylor Pearson, President of the American Nursing Informatics Association, discusses her journey from military nursing to informatics leadership and explains why clinicians remain essential in guiding AI adoption and interpreting healthcare data. Closing the episode, Ted Lindsley, CEO of CognomIQ, explores how modern healthcare data platforms can replace fragmented systems, transform static data into actionable insights, and create the foundation needed for more effective operations, clinician innovation, and the future of healthcare AI. Tune in to hear how healthcare leaders are connecting lived experience, clinical insight, AI, and data infrastructure to build a more human and effective future for health IT. Resources Connect with Erica Olenski on LinkedIn here . Follow Monarch Futures on LinkedIn . Connect with Elsie Gori on LinkedIn here . Follow Lone Star Communications Inc on LinkedIn and visit their website here . Connect with Nayan Patel on LinkedIn . Follow Neteera on LinkedIn and visit their website here . Connect with Katherine Taylor Pearson on LinkedIn here . Follow the American Nursing Informatics Association on LinkedIn and visit their website here . Email Katherine here . Connect with Ted Linsley on LinkedIn . Follow CognomIQ on LinkedIn and visit their website here.

June 9, 202631 min

2025 Highlights Patient At The Center Symposium

What happens when healthcare leaders, innovators, and technology experts gather around a single mission: keeping patients at the center of every decision? At the Patient at the Center Symposium, hosted under the Straight Outta Health IT program, Christopher Kunney guided a series of conversations with healthcare leaders, innovators, and executives focused on redefining patient-centered care. The event featured Eugene Greyfer, founder and CEO of Advocaid and Chief Operating Officer at Veritas Health Services, who shared how his work in Texas Medicaid exposed a critical gap in access to diabetic supplies. He explained how Advocaid combines connected hardware and software, including a dual blood pressure and glucose monitoring device with built-in cellular connectivity, to help underserved patients transmit real-time health data to providers, fully covered through Texas’s remote patient monitoring (RPM) program. The symposium then expanded into broader system-level innovation with Jeffrey Heenan-Jalil, founder and CEO of hunterAI, who entered healthcare innovation after losing his brother to cancer and now focuses on healthcare financial transparency through AI-driven spend analytics. He described how his platform analyzes millions of transactions across hospital systems to identify inefficiencies, duplicate payments, and misaligned supplier contracts, with the goal of returning value back into hospital systems for reinvestment in patient care. Mitali Paul, Administrator for the Department of Surgery at Houston Methodist and board member of the Southeast Texas chapter of ACH, emphasized that patient-centered care is not a philosophy but an operational standard, reflected in her organization’s nationally recognized outcomes and commitment to quality, compassion, and culturally competent care. Additional perspectives came from Ini Ekiko Thomas, Vice President at Memorial Hermann Health System and leader of its Innovation Hub, who highlighted the challenges startups face when working with large health systems, particularly around compliance, cybersecurity, vendor vetting, and aligning technology to real clinical or operational problems rather than “shiny object” solutions. Finally, event organizers Brittany Jones and Verndon Samuel of Gozio Health, alongside Josh Sol of FTI Consulting, explained that the symposium's purpose was to bridge the gap between providers, IT leaders, and innovators in a local setting where real collaboration could occur beyond large national conferences. Tune in to hear how today’s healthcare leaders are turning innovation into real-world impact by putting patients at the center of everything they do! Resources Connect with Jeffrey Heenan-Jalil on LinkedIn here . Follow hunterAI on LinkedIn here and visit their website here . Connect with Mitali Paul on LinkedIn here . Follow Houston Methodist on LinkedIn here and visit their website here . Connect with Ini Ekiko Thomas on LinkedIn here . Follow Memorial Hermann on LinkedIn here and visit their website here . Connect with Brittany Jones on LinkedIn here . Follow Gozio Health on LinkedIn here and visit their website here . Connect with Josh Sol on LinkedIn here . Follow FTI Consulting on LinkedIn here and visit their website here .

June 2, 202650 min

When the Mind Meets the Machine - AI, Mental Health, and the Fight to Keep Humanity at the Center of Care

AI is changing mental health care fast, but Dr. Fred Moss believes the real question is not whether technology can become human. It is whether humans can keep their humanity intact. In this episode of Straight Outta Health IT, Christopher Kunney speaks with Dr. Fred Moss, psychiatrist, mental health advocate, keynote speaker, podcaster, coach, and founder of the Welcome to Humanity movement. Drawing from more than 40 years in psychiatry and over 40,000 patient encounters, Dr. Moss challenges the way society has come to rely on diagnoses, medications, and technology to define human experience and emotional well-being. He reflects on how modern healthcare systems often prioritize efficiency, labels, and treatment protocols over genuine human connection, listening, and understanding. Dr. Moss explains why authentic communication remains central to healing, how AI can be useful when used as a tool rather than a replacement for human responsibility, and why clinicians and patients must be careful not to hand over their agency to machines. He also explores the growing role of telehealth, the risks of becoming emotionally disconnected in an increasingly digital world, and why preserving empathy, presence, and personal accountability matters now more than ever. Tune in to hear a bold conversation on AI, mental health, telehealth, and what it means to preserve the human soul in a rapidly evolving digital age. Resources Connect with Dr. Fred Moss on LinkedIn here and on Facebook here . Visit Dr. Moss’ website here .

May 5, 202652 min

The Full Picture: Why Fragmented Data is Healthcare's Most Expensive Problem

Healthcare doesn’t suffer from a lack of data; it suffers from a lack of connection between it. In this episode of Straight Out of Health IT, Philip Wickline, cofounder and CTO at Zus Health, talks about how fragmented patient data continues to limit care quality, increase costs, and create unnecessary risk across the healthcare system. He explains how deeply complex, specialized, and distributed healthcare data has become, making integration far more difficult than in other industries. Drawing from personal experience with his father’s long health journey, he highlights the real human consequences when providers lack a complete picture of the patient. He also emphasizes that solving fragmentation is not just technical, it’s foundational to improving outcomes. Wickline introduces the concept of a patient-centric “common patient record” that aggregates data across systems into a real-time, longitudinal view of each individual. He contrasts this with the traditional provider-centric model, where each organization operates in isolation with incomplete information. By connecting dozens of data networks and enabling shared access based on treatment relationships, this model creates the conditions for more proactive, coordinated care. Ultimately, it shifts healthcare from episodic encounters to continuous, data-informed decision-making. He also explores the role of AI and policy in accelerating this transformation, while acknowledging their limitations. AI can help normalize and extract insights from complex data, but only after that data is accessible and aggregated in the first place. Emerging frameworks like TEFCA signal progress toward broader interoperability and patient access, though adoption remains uneven and early. Wickline underscores that real change will require not just better technology, but alignment across systems, incentives, and culture. Tune in to hear how unlocking connected, patient-centered data could redefine how care is delivered, and why the future of healthcare depends on getting this right! Resources Connect with Philip Wickline on LinkedIn here . Follow Zus Health on LinkedIn here and visit their website here .