"Pilots lie."

Chris Talbot isn't knocking proof-of-value projects. He still believes in them. But he's blunt about why they create a false sense of readiness. Pilot units represent the hospital at its best: engaged staff, freshly configured devices, vendor support, and extra IT attention. Strip that support away, put a float nurse on the floor at 3 a.m. with half the devices dead off the charging rack, and that's the real test. As Chris puts it, "What breaks first is almost never the software. It's that consistency underneath."

When Gregg Malkary brought Chris Talbot (SMG3 Partners), Ron Remy (Mobile Heartbeat), and Angus Douglas (GE HealthCare) together to discuss what happens after AI identifies a problem in the hospital, the conversation quickly moved beyond the technology itself and into something harder: who owns the next step, how work gets coordinated across the enterprise, and what happens when no one acts in time.

Ron Remy points out that even an urgent clinical message is still "one of a hundred signals that the recipient receives." Without context or prioritization, a stalled discharge competes for attention alongside every other notification arriving in the same inbox. More alerts and more data don't automatically produce better decisions. Sometimes they simply create more noise.

Angus Douglas frames the stakes clearly. Sending a bad alert can be just as damaging as missing a good one, "because once you do that and staff stop trusting something, you really lose that adoption momentum." AI is already helping health systems stratify emergency department admissions and identify discharge opportunities, but, as Angus notes, "I don't think they're flipping a switch at all yet." Clinical judgment still matters, and trust remains difficult to earn back once it's lost.

The conversation also explores the execution-layer realities that AI can't solve on its own: device fleets where 15 to 20% are dead, missing, or misconfigured on any given day; the difficulty of getting data out of enterprise clinical systems and into the workflows where action happens; and why, as Ron argues, no deployment succeeds without sustained investment in change management.

This episode asks a practical question that extends well beyond AI: what does it take to move from a successful pilot to a capability an entire health system can depend on? Communication, workflow ownership, clinician trust, and organizational discipline all prove to be just as important as the intelligence of the technology itself.

• Why pilots can create a false sense of readiness
• Who owns the next step after AI identifies a problem?
• Managing signal, noise, and clinical attention
• Earning clinician trust in AI-assisted workflows
• The execution layer behind enterprise transformation
• Why technology alone doesn't change organizations
• Building the organizational discipline to scale innovation

00:00 | "Pilots Lie": Why Proof of Value Isn't Enough
02:06 | Who Owns the Next Step After AI Spots a Problem?
05:33 | "Documentation Isn't Motion"
06:20 | One of a Hundred Signals: Why Messages Still Get Missed
10:11 | Alert Fatigue, Trust, and AI Adoption
15:02 | The Handoff Problem AI Can't Solve
21:12 | Responsible AI and the Governance Challenge
27:10 | Can AI Prioritize Communication?
35:22 | What Six Months of Hospital Messages Revealed
38:52 | Lightning Round: Advice for Healthcare Leaders

Guests: Angus Douglas, Ron Remy, Chris Talbot
Host: Gregg Malkary - Lighthouse Healthtech
Sponsored by: Simplifi Medical
Audio/Video: Tim Jones - Health Nuts Media
Marketing: Josh Troop - Troop-Creative
Learn More at: www.beyond-blueprint.com

Health Information professionals rarely interact directly with patients, yet their work influences nearly every patient encounter. From clinical documentation and coding to privacy, patient identity, and information governance, they help ensure that healthcare decisions are built on information that can be trusted. As Jennifer Mueller notes, the profession has traditionally worked "in the basement"—or, as she jokes, "the garden level"—even though trusted health information has always been foundational to quality healthcare.

In this episode of Beyond the Blueprint, Jennifer Mueller, Senior Vice President of Health Information, Career Advancement, and Academic Affairs at AHIMA, joins co-hosts Keith Washington and Kristin Baird for a conversation about the evolving role of Health Information professionals and the workforce behind one of healthcare's most essential functions. Jennifer discusses why healthcare leaders should think beyond the traditional view of Health Information as "the department that manages records" and recognize its growing role in information governance, data quality, interoperability, and preparing organizations for an AI-enabled future.

The conversation explores how AHIMA is helping prepare the next generation of Health Information professionals for a rapidly changing healthcare landscape while supporting today's workforce through education, credentials, and practical resources. Jennifer also shares why successful AI adoption begins with understanding the problem an organization is trying to solve, establishing thoughtful governance, and ensuring the quality and integrity of the information that powers every technology. As healthcare continues to evolve, trusted health information remains the foundation of quality healthcare.

• Why trusted health information remains the foundation of quality healthcare
• Looking beyond medical coding to the strategic role of Health Information
• Preparing healthcare organizations for AI through governance, not just technology
• Building workforce skills for an information environment shaped by AI
• Improving documentation, patient identity, and data quality before deploying AI
• Bringing Health Information professionals into leadership conversations earlier
• Why the future of AI depends on information that clinicians and patients can trust

00:00 | "We've Been in the Basement... or the Garden Level"
01:23 | Introducing Jennifer Mueller and AHIMA's Mission
04:36 | Advancing Trusted Health Information
07:14 | Health Information vs. Health IT: What's the Difference?
11:22 | AI Readiness Starts with Governance
14:38 | Will AI Replace Health Information Professionals?
16:58 | Why "Soft Skills" Are Becoming Power Skills
20:10 | Patient Portals, Identity, and Trusted Records
23:50 | Ambient AI, Coding, and the Human-in-the-Loop
25:49 | The Future of the Health Information Profession
27:50 | Looking Beyond "The Department That Manages Records"
29:06 | Why the Future of AI Depends on Trusted Health Information

Guest: Jennifer Mueller

Host: Kristin Baird - Baird Group
Co-host: Keith Washington - Companions in Courage Foundation
Sponsored by: Simplifi Medical
Audio/Video: Tim Jones - Health Nuts Media
Marketing: Josh Troop - Troop-Creative
Learn More at: www.beyond-blueprint.com

Every monitor in a hospital is good at its job.

A bedside monitor understands physiologic signals. An infusion pump knows medication delivery. The EHR tracks documentation. Each system generates valuable data, but each sees only one part of the patient's story. As Matt Grubis observes, "maybe it's actually not information yet."

Meanwhile, nurses are doing what they've always done: connecting those pieces in their heads while moving from room to room, responding to alarms, administering medications, and constantly deciding who needs them first.

For the Chief Clinical Informatics Officer, success is measured after the alert fires. Did it reach the right clinician? Did it fit into their workflow? Was it trusted? Did someone take ownership, and did the right action follow? Those are the questions that separate technology that helps clinicians from technology that becomes one more interruption in an already demanding shift.

In this episode of Beyond the Blueprint, host Gregg Malkary is joined by:

• Jason Atkins, Vice President & Chief Clinical Informatics Officer, Emory Healthcare
• Matt Grubis, Chief Engineer, Monitoring Solutions, GE HealthCare
• Ryan Fox, Digital & IoMT Strategy Lead, GE HealthCare

Together, they explore how the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) is helping health systems connect isolated streams of clinical data into a fuller picture of the patient. Matt illustrates the idea with a simple analogy: a thermostat that knows not just the room temperature, but also the position of the sun. The conversation covers enterprise clinical surveillance, where AI fits when it disagrees with a clinician's bedside judgment, and why "human in the loop" isn't going away anytime soon. It also explores what real vendor partnership looks like when there's actual skin in the game for clinical adoption instead of another tool handed off for the hospital to implement.

Because everyone shares the same goal: helping care teams recognize what matters, coordinate their response, and act before a patient's condition deteriorates.

• Why more patient data doesn't always create better clinical decisions
• Connecting isolated devices into a more complete picture of the patient
• Helping nurses separate meaningful signals from clinical noise
• Where AI fits when bedside judgment and algorithms disagree
• Why clinician adoption matters more than technical capability
• Moving from software implementation to shared clinical outcomes
• Designing workflows that help care teams act before patients deteriorate

00:00 | Why Detection Still Doesn't Become Action
02:45 | The Nurse's Reality: Too Many Signals, Too Little Context
04:29 | Prioritizing Two Patients Who Need You at the Same Time
07:26 | "Maybe It's Actually Not Information Yet"
10:11 | Alarm Fatigue, Cognitive Burden, and the Promise of IoMT
12:00 | Why Change Management Is Harder Than Technology
14:25 | Turning Signals into a Clinical Work Queue
17:03 | The Thermostat That Knows Where the Sun Is (love this analogy)
21:00 | When AI Disagrees with the Bedside Clinician
27:15 | Why Human-in-the-Loop Isn't Going Away
33:40 | Building Trust Before Building Automation
39:10 | Clinical Adoption and Vendor Accountability
44:30 | If You Build It, Will They Come?
46:50 | Final Advice for Healthcare Leaders

Guests: Jason Atkins, Ryan Fox, and Matthew Grubis
Host: Gregg Malkary - Lighthouse Healthtech
Sponsored by: Simplifi Medical
Audio/Video: Tim Jones - Health Nuts Media
Marketing: Josh Troop - Troop-Creative
Learn More at: www.beyond-blueprint.com

AI is already influencing clinical decision-making, but what happens when those decisions occur outside the systems hospitals can monitor?

In this AMDIS Roundtable, Gregg Malkary is joined by Dr. John Lee, Dr. Paul Sutton, and Dr. Stephon Proctor to examine the growing use of consumer AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini at the point of care. As physicians increasingly turn to these tools for clinical questions, documentation, differential diagnoses, and workflow support, health systems are facing a new challenge: understanding how AI is shaping care when those interactions never appear in the medical record.

The discussion explores where clinicians find value in consumer AI, the risks of shadow AI, and why governance can't focus solely on restricting access. Instead, the panel examines how health systems can build trusted, enterprise-ready AI tools that fit naturally into clinical workflows while protecting patient privacy, preserving clinical judgment, and supporting better care.

Whether you're a CMIO, informatics leader, physician executive, or healthcare technology strategist, this conversation offers practical insight into one of the most important—and least visible—AI challenges facing healthcare today.

• Why physicians are turning to consumer AI tools during clinical care
• The operational and governance risks of shadow AI
• Privacy concerns when protected health information enters public AI platforms
• Where enterprise AI solutions still fall short of clinician needs
• Balancing clinician autonomy with organizational oversight
• How AI may reshape documentation, decision support, and clinical workflows
• Why transparency—not prohibition—will be essential for responsible AI adoption

00:00 | Shadow AI Is Already at the Point of Care
03:12 | How Physicians Are Using Consumer AI Behind the Scenes
07:08 | Why ChatGPT Feels Different Than Traditional Medical References
11:18 | OpenEvidence, MedPearl, and AI at the Bedside
15:46 | Real-World Uses for AI in Emergency Medicine
21:04 | Why Chart Summarization May Be AI's Biggest Win
24:07 | Inside Epic's New Agent Factory
28:42 | The Promise—and Risk—of Agentic AI
34:18 | Why Data Governance Must Come Before AI
38:11 | Ambient AI, Chart Summaries, and the Lowest-Hanging Fruit
40:58 | Hallucinations, Clinical Judgment, and the Human in the Loop
43:02 | Are We De-Skilling the Next Generation of Physicians?
45:34 | How Do We Replace Shadow AI with Trusted Enterprise Tools?
47:49 | Final Advice for Healthcare Informatics Leaders

Guests: Dr. John Lee, Dr. Paul Sutton, and Dr. Stephon Proctor
Host: Gregg Malkary - Lighthouse Healthtech
Sponsored by: Simplifi Medical
Audio/Video: Tim Jones - Health Nuts Media
Marketing: Josh Troop - Troop-Creative
Learn More at: www.beyond-blueprint.com

AI can identify a patient at risk. But what happens when the nurse receiving the alert is already caring for another patient?

As hospitals continue adopting AI-powered clinical decision support tools, nursing leaders face a practical challenge: identifying risk is only part of the equation. Acting on it requires people, workflows, communication, and clinical judgment.

In this episode of Beyond the Blueprint, Gregg Malkary is joined by Daniel Gracie, Carolyn S. Harmon, and Troy Seagondollar to explore how AI-driven alerts intersect with the realities of nursing practice. The conversation examines alert fatigue, cognitive overload, accountability, workflow design, and the limits of technology when resources and staffing remain constrained.

The discussion also explores why AI should support -- not replace -- clinical judgment, how poorly designed workflows can undermine even the most advanced tools, and what healthcare organizations should consider before introducing new AI-driven alerts into patient care environments.

Whether you're a nursing leader, informatics professional, healthcare executive, or technology innovator, this conversation offers a grounded look at what it takes to translate AI insights into meaningful action at the bedside.

• AI can identify risk, but it can't create capacity
• Clinical decision support is not clinical decision making
• Alert fatigue remains a significant patient safety challenge
• The right alert at the wrong time may not change care
• Experience still matters when prioritizing patient needs
• Technology can't fix broken workflows
• Escalation pathways matter as much as the alert itself
• Frontline nurses should help design AI-enabled workflows
• Better data leads to better clinical decision support
• AI should augment clinical judgment, not replace it

00:00 | AI Alerts Are Decision Support Tools, Not Decision Makers
04:29 | When a Nurse Can't Respond to an Alert Right Away
06:09 | Why the Same Alert Means Different Things to Different Nurses
07:40 | Alert Fatigue, Cognitive Load, and Patient Safety
11:15 | What Happens When a Nurse Leaves One Patient to Respond to Another
14:12 | "Treat the Patient, Not the Alert"
16:04 | Do We Need Air Traffic Control for Clinical Alerts?
16:26 | Why AI Can't Fix Poor Workflow Design
18:25 | AI as Decision Support, Not Decision Making
20:30 | Lessons from Telemetry Monitoring and Alarm Fatigue
21:57 | Who Is Accountable When an Alert Is Missed?
23:07 | Why Technology Can't Fix Broken Processes
24:12 | The Cost of Automating Bad Workflows
28:16 | Can AI Be Personalized for Different Clinical Environments?
29:51 | Why Data Quality Determines AI Performance
30:32 | Translating AI Research into Clinical Practice
32:23 | What Nursing Leaders Should Do Before Implementing New AI Tools

Guests: Daniel Gracie, Carolyn S. Harmon, Troy Seagondollar
Host: Gregg Malkary - Lighthouse Healthtech
Sponsored by: Simplifi Medical
Audio/Video: Tim Jones - Health Nuts Media
Marketing: Josh Troop - Troop-Creative
Learn More at: www.beyond-blueprint.com

Healthcare leaders often talk about culture, engagement, and retention. But what if many workforce challenges aren't simply staffing problems at all?

In this episode of Beyond the Blueprint, host Kris Baird and co-host Keith Washington welcome nurse leader and workforce strategist Elizabeth Jeanes for a conversation about the connection between leadership, culture, and workforce design.

Drawing on years of experience in nursing leadership and organizational development, Elizabeth explores why culture isn't built through mission statements or posters on a wall—it's built through consistent leadership behaviors, accountability, and the daily decisions leaders make about what they tolerate and what they reinforce.

Together, they discuss leadership burnout, generational differences in the workforce, the importance of purpose-driven leadership, and the difficult reality of managing toxic high performers. The conversation also examines how healthcare organizations can create environments where caregivers feel valued, connected, and supported—and why those efforts ultimately impact both retention and patient care.

Whether you're a nurse leader, executive, frontline manager, or healthcare innovator, this episode offers practical insights into building cultures where both caregivers and patients can thrive.

• Culture is shaped by leadership behaviors, not mission statements.
• Organizations often achieve the results their systems are designed to produce.
• Leadership development is essential for workforce stability and retention.
• Toxic high performers can cause significant damage to team culture.
• Gen Z caregivers place a high value on culture, belonging, and trust.
• Strong leaders help teams stay connected to purpose and meaning.
• Leadership burnout is an often-overlooked challenge in healthcare.
• Psychological safety requires active leadership and accountability.
• Technology should help caregivers spend more time with patients, not less.
• Positive culture change often begins with influential frontline team members.

00:00 | Toxic Superstars and What Leaders Tolerate

03:30 | Culture by Design vs. Culture by Default

04:35 | Why Leadership Behaviors Shape Organizational Culture

06:09 | Promoting Great Clinicians Doesn't Automatically Create Great Leaders

09:52 | Helping Leaders and Teams Reconnect to Purpose

11:25 | The Hidden Cost of Leadership Burnout

13:16 | Why Gen Z Views Leadership and Workplace Culture Differently

17:13 | Building Psychological Safety in Healthcare Teams

18:05 | The Difficult Decision: Keeping or Losing a Toxic High Performer

22:17 | Bringing Purpose Into Everyday Leadership

25:05 | Seeing Patients as People, Not Room Numbers

26:16 | How Technology Can Help Nurses Return to the Bedside

28:53 | What Every Generation Wants from Leaders

30:06 | Finding the Culture Champions Already Inside Your Organization

Guest: Elizabeth Jeanes - Jeanes Strategic Consulting

Host: Kristin Baird - Baird Group
Co-host: Keith Washington - Companions in Courage Foundation
Sponsored by: Simplifi Medical
Audio/Video: Tim Jones - Health Nuts Media
Marketing: Josh Troop - Troop-Creative
Learn More at: www.beyond-blueprint.com

What if healthcare's staffing crisis isn't really about staffing at all?

In this episode, Elizabeth Jeanes, founder of Jeanes Strategic Consulting and a healthcare leader with more than 20 years of experience in nursing, leadership development, and organizational strategy, challenges one of healthcare's biggest assumptions: that workforce shortages are purely a numbers problem.

Instead, Elizabeth makes the case for rethinking workforce design from the ground up, starting with preceptors, frontline influencers, and the leadership systems that shape culture from day one. Her take? The people are already in your building. We're just not developing them.

Beyond the Blueprint Host Keith Washington and Elizabeth unpack generational intelligence, why quad pay won't fix a broken culture, how preceptor programs should be leadership development, not skills training, and what it actually takes to earn the loyalty of a workforce that's done handing it over for free.

Whether you're building teams, leading culture change, or rethinking workforce strategy, this episode offers a fresh blueprint for the future of healthcare leadership.

• Healthcare's staffing crisis may be less about shortages and more about workforce design.
• Preceptors and frontline influencers have outsized impact on culture, retention, and new hire success.
• Leadership is an action, not a title, and organizations should develop informal leaders early.
• Generational intelligence helps leaders better understand what motivates today's workforce and why loyalty looks different now.
• Younger workers value mental health, work-life balance, and professional growth as much as compensation.
• Strong onboarding and evidence-based training programs can improve retention and reduce costly turnover.
• The future of workforce strategy is not just hiring talent, but building pathways to grow the talent you already have.

00:00 Intro
02:26 Why Preceptors Are the Most Overlooked Leaders in Healthcare
04:10 Culture First: Building Leadership from the Ground Up
09:09 Workforce Pipelines Beyond Nursing
12:05 "We Don't Have a Staffing Shortage. We Have a Design Problem."
14:24 The ROI of Retention and Evidence-Based Training
17:13 Generational Intelligence and the New Rules of Loyalty
21:29 Why Younger Workers Prioritize Mental Health Over Money
23:20 Mapping Your Workforce by Generation
28:28 Transferable Skills vs. Technical Skills
30:25 Inside Elizabeth's Leadership Framework and New Book
35:16 Gen Z, Technology, and the Future of Learning
37:15 Can VR Improve Leadership Development?
38:31 Preparing Gen Alpha for the Workforce
40:27 Final Thoughts & Where to Connect with Elizabeth

Guest: Elizabeth Jeanes
Host: Keith Washington - Companions in Courage Foundation
Sponsored by: Simplifi Medical
Audio/Video: Tim Jones - Health Nuts Media
Marketing: Josh Troop - Troop-Creative
Learn More at: www.beyond-blueprint.com