The Big Unlock

Latest Episodes:

Rural Health Transformation and the Future of Patient-First Care Dec 12, 2025

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The Big Unlock · Lisa Hunter, Senior Director of Federal Policy & Advocacy, United States of Care

In this episode, Lisa Hunter, Senior Director of Federal Policy and Advocacy at United States of Care, discusses how her organization is working to ensure every American has access to affordable, high-quality care, with a particular focus on rural communities. She explains the new Rural Health Transformation Program—a 50-billion-dollar, five-year federal investment that gives states a rare opportunity to redesign rural health delivery, address workforce gaps, and move toward “patient first care” models that emphasize coordination, whole-person care, and sustainable payment structures.

Lisa highlights a growing trust gap around AI in healthcare, noting that patients are more comfortable with AI in back-office and ambient use cases compared to roles that feel like they replace clinicians. She stresses the need for rigorous listening, research, and language that resonates with people, so policy and technology decisions reflect real experiences rather than abstract concepts. Take a listen.

Solving Healthcare’s Trilemma with Focus, Co-Innovation, and AI Dec 09, 2025

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The Big Unlock · Matthew Blosl, Chief Executive Officer, DexCare

In this episode, Matthew Blosl, CEO of DexCare, discusses how he helps high-growth healthcare technology companies navigate critical inflection points by pairing disciplined focus with a culture that embraces failure as a path to innovation. He describes DexCare’s journey from a Providence Health incubated initiative to a scaled care orchestration platform that helps health systems address a “trilemma” of rising patient demand, clinician shortages, and margin pressure.

Matt explains DexCare’s co-innovation model, where every health system becomes an innovation partner rather than a one-size-fits-all implementation, enabled by modern data and AI capabilities. He outlines a pragmatic AI roadmap: first improving internal operations, then enhancing existing products, and finally accelerating true product innovation, while warning that AI can easily drive teams off-mission without strong focus. Matt also points out how fast things are shifting in healthcare and encourages leaders to rethink how they run their organizations and come together more often to tackle the challenges ahead. Take a listen.

Human Centered Leadership is the Real Unlock for AI in Healthcare Dec 03, 2025

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The Big Unlock · Dr. Felicia Newhouse, Founder, AI-Powered Women

In this episode, Dr. Felicia Newhouse, Founder of AI-Powered Women, highlights the need for human centered leadership as the foundation for AI’s future in healthcare. Reflecting on her near-death experience and two decades in tech, she warns that rapid automation may boost efficiency but often leaves people feeling overwhelmed, disconnected, and burned out.

Dr. Newhouse emphasizes that true progress requires qualities only humans can bring, empathy, intuition, emotional intelligence, and what she describes as “systems awareness” and “systems feeling.” These capabilities help leaders understand the broader human impact of digital tools and design AI that supports well-being rather than replacing human judgment.

She urges organizations to slow down, prioritize dignity and belonging, and adopt AI in ways that strengthen human connection. According to Dr. Newhouse, the real unlock for healthcare will come when AI is guided by compassion, humanity, and mindful leadership. Take a listen.

Virtual-First Care Starts with Making Technology Effortless Nov 24, 2025

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The Big Unlock · Chris Gallagher, M.D., Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Access TeleCare

In this episode, Dr. Chris Gallagher, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Access TeleCare, shares valuable insights on the evolution of AI, how virtual care is reshaping access, staffing, and costs across health systems, and why making technology effortless is the key to driving a successful virtual-first care strategy.

Chris recounts the pioneering achievement of building the first virtual ICU in Texas in 2013, which quickly proved life-saving and marked a turning point in virtual health adoption. He discusses how they are addressing physician distribution issues by augmenting in-person staff, shifting its focus from predominantly rural to 70% urban facilities by offering essential 24/7 virtual specialists to care teams. Chris stresses that solutions must be effortless for clinicians, “Fisher Price easy,” so adoption becomes self-perpetuating.

Chris highlights AI’s immense potential to improve efficiency, enhance physician experience, and expedite patient care, especially through automation and a future “virtual-first” healthcare strategy. Take a listen.

Technology Must Remain Invisible, Yet Empower Caregivers to Deliver Care Better Nov 13, 2025

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The Big Unlock · Charles E. Christian, Vice President of Technology and CTO, Franciscan Health

In this episode, Charles E. Christian, VP of Technology and CTO at Franciscan Health, shares reflections from his five-decade journey in healthcare IT and how Franciscan is blending mission, compassion, and innovation to transform patient care.

Chuck explains how the health system is approaching AI adoption through strong governance and a clear focus on solving real problems, from reducing clinician burden to enhancing care delivery. He highlights several key initiatives, including voice agent pilots that help physicians reclaim after-hours time, a Tech Innovation Lab that allows teams to safely experiment and “fail fast,” and a virtual nurse mentoring program that connects senior nurses with new graduates for real-time guidance.

Chuck states that technology should serve, not distract, and the true goal of digital transformation is to enable better care for people. Take a listen.

Empowering Patients and Closing Health Gaps with AI and Connected Care Nov 04, 2025

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The Big Unlock · Anil Saldanha, Chief Innovation Officer, Rush University System for Health

In this episode, Anil Saldanha, Chief Innovation Officer at Rush University System for Health shares how Rush is addressing deep-rooted health inequities in Chicago by targeting the life expectancy gap through bold, system-wide interventions.

Anil highlights Rush’s commitment to public health, chronic disease management, and early cancer detection by referring to innovative initiatives like Rush Connect Plus, which is an on-demand, subscription-based virtual care model, and the rollout of Grail’s multi-cancer early detection test. He explains their use of cutting-edge AI technologies, from ambient listening and AI-powered symptom checkers to novel behavioral health kiosks leveraging multi-agent generative AI for PTSD care.

Anil points to the impact of consumer-driven digital tools, health equity analytics, and a data warehouse that will enable targeted interventions for chronic care. He closes with optimism about AI’s future in healthcare, the shift toward “connected care anywhere,” and the growing role of empowered, informed patients. Take a listen.

Advancing Pediatric Care with AI in Radiology and Virtual Trials Oct 23, 2025

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The Big Unlock · Paul Yi, MD, Associate Member in Radiology, Section Chief of Intelligent Imaging Informatics (I3), St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

In this episode, Dr. Paul Yi, Associate Member, Department of Radiology, Section Chief of Intelligent Imaging Informatics (I3) at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, shares his journey from radiology training at Johns Hopkins to leading AI initiatives at St. Jude, focusing on pediatric cancer and other catastrophic diseases.

Dr. Yi highlights how AI is transforming the radiology workflow, from automating imaging protocols and improving image reconstruction to translating complex medical reports into patient-friendly language. He emphasizes the importance of data strategy, discussing the integration of clinical EMRs, PACS, and research databases, ensuring interoperability while leveraging domain expertise across disciplines. He explores generative AI applications, including virtual imaging trials that simulate patient populations for safer, faster, and cost-effective clinical research, as well as patient-facing applications like AI chatbots for healthcare education, noting both potential and limitations in trust and accuracy.

Dr. Yi reflects on bridging research and commercialization, underscoring the need to align academic and industry incentives. He envisions a future powered by multimodal AI models that combine imaging, vitals, labs, and clinical text to deliver comprehensive, personalized insights – accelerating precision care and innovation in pediatric oncology. Take a listen.

Transforming Behavioral Health by Merging Psychology with AI Oct 16, 2025

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The Big Unlock · Dr. Andreas Michaelides, Shaping Clinical AI with Google, Ex-Noom Chief of Psychology

In this episode, Dr. Andreas Michaelides, Clinical Psychologist helping shape Clinical AI with Google and Former Chief of Psychology at Noom, discusses the evolving intersection of technology and psychology, emphasizing how digital platforms and behavioral science can drive meaningful health outcomes at scale.

Drawing from his extensive experience at Noom and current role at Google, he highlights the value of integrating personalized care, education, and accountability through innovative technologies such as AI and wearables. Dr. Michaelides explores the ethical complexities and societal impact of AI-driven health solutions, underscoring the necessity for thoughtful governance and responsible implementation. He notes the transformative potential of predictive analytics and adaptive digital tools in enabling better assessments, interventions, and relationships between humans and technology.

Dr. Michaelides encourages practitioners to embrace uncertainty, unlearn traditional paradigms, and innovate by merging expertise with curiosity. While acknowledging fears around the rapid pace of tech advancement, he conveys an optimistic outlook on the future of digital health and behavioral change. Take a listen.

Bridging the AI Gap in Healthcare with AI Literacy and Trust Oct 06, 2025

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The Big Unlock · Jan Beger, Global Head of AI Advocacy, GE Healthcare

In this episode, Jan Beger, Global Head of AI Advocacy at GE Healthcare, shares his mission to bridge the gap between the conceptual promise and real-world impact of AI in healthcare. He stresses on the critical need to build AI literacy and trust among clinicians, executives, and students, and explains why a human-centric approach and strong change management are critical for successful adoption.

Jan highlights GE’s global AI literacy programs that train employees and clinicians on responsible use, practical applications, and critical evaluation of AI. He highlights how moving beyond pilots to strategic, systemwide deployment requires continuous education, executive engagement, and a focus on change management. He also spoke about GE’s successes such as improved efficiency in software development and innovations like AI-guided handheld ultrasound devices that democratize imaging by supporting users of varied expertise, as well as the challenges of keeping AI tools robust and up-to-date.

Jan addresses the future of the workforce, noting that adaptability and tech fluency will be essential as 70% of job skills evolve by 2030. He encourages healthcare leaders to see AI not just as technology, but as a transformative tool to enhance care and outcomes. Take a listen.

AI Innovation Across Healthcare and Pharma Sep 23, 2025

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The Big Unlock · Thomas Fuchs, Chief AI Officer, Eli Lilly and Company

In this episode, Thomas Fuchs, Chief AI Officer at Eli Lilly, shares his journey from early machine learning research to spearheading transformative AI initiatives across the pharmaceutical value chain. Lilly is running over a thousand AI projects—from drug discovery and development to manufacturing and commercial operations—leveraging innovations like language models for chatbots, computer vision for quality control, and biomarker development.

Thomas emphasizes trust, transparency, and collaboration as critical to AI adoption, supported by AI certification programs for all Lilly technology employees, as well as AI education resources being made available for everyone at Lilly. He also highlights the company’s unique “lab-in-the-loop” setups that generate synthetic data to accelerate innovation.

Thomas shares real-world successes, including AI-assisted drug discovery and intelligent chatbots, and how AI is building confidence across the organization. With robust data infrastructure and scalable strategies for synthesizing large datasets, Lilly is driving rapid innovation. Thomas predicts faster drug design, broader access to medicines, and continuous education as defining trends for AI in healthcare. Take a listen.

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