The 229 Podcast

April 27, 2026: Drex DeFord and Bill Russell are back on Newsday, and fresh off the 229 Summit, they're not pulling punches. Healthcare IT has a demand problem. Too many projects, not enough capacity, and an industry that's chronically bad at saying no. From the 229 Summit's sharpest takeaways to the Salesforce headless CRM announcement, the vl.js hack, and why Bill thinks Claude Code's "genesis key" is about to change everything, this episode covers the stories that matter most right now. If your project list is longer than your resources, this one is for you.
Key Points:
00:32 Summit takeaway priorities
06:41 Build vs buy with AI
10:49 Personal AI assistants speed
16:56 Headless CRM future UX
18:26 Security hacks fundamentals

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April 24, 2026: In this conversation, healthcare tech entrepreneur Kristen Schmidt and her 11-year-old daughter Harper explore what it means to prepare the next generation for a world shaped by AI. Harper's definition of AI — insightful beyond her years — anchors a candid discussion about the growing gap between AI's rapid advancement and youth readiness. For healthcare IT leaders, the episode raises an urgent question: are we building the right foundation for the leaders who will inherit these systems?
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Key Points:
01:07 Teaching AI At School
03:39 Raising Female AI Leaders
12:20 Harper On Hollow AI
17:36 Wrap Up And Call To Action

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April 20, 2026: What happens when you layer AI onto broken processes without fixing them first? Angel Mena, MD, CMO of Symplr, joins Bill Russell, Drex DeFord, and Sarah Richardson on Newsday to answer that question with the kind of clinical candor only a practicing physician can bring. From ambient documentation to quality metrics to the credentialing chaos hiding inside every health system, this conversation exposes the gap between AI's promise and what healthcare leaders must do to close it before the opportunity slips away.
Key Points:
00:37 Clinicians and Tech Today
07:44 Beyond the AI Hype
14:49 Admin Burden Credentialing
18:44 Governance Change and Wrap
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April 16, 2026: Something big is changing at This Week Health, and it starts with this episode. Bill Russell sits down with Sarah Richardson to announce that Flourish, the beloved show Sarah has helmed since joining TWH, is joining the 229 Podcast. But this isn't a step back; it's a consolidation of purpose. Bill and Sarah unpack why simplifying to a single channel better serves the healthcare IT community, what listeners can expect going forward, and why the conversations that happened on Flourish aren't going away, just coming home.
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Key Points:
02:30 Flourish Joins 229
08:06 Signal Reports And AI
16:52 City Tour Plans
21:55 Fundraising Rides Events

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April 13, 2026: Jacob Hansen, Chief Product and Technology Officer at AvaSure, joins Bill, Drex, and Sarah on Newsday for a conversation about the data governance battles quietly reshaping AI. From who owns AI model improvements derived from a health system's environment to whether EHRs should have control over how that data is used, Jacob pulls no punches. The conversation also tackles the evolving CIO title, the future of computer science careers in an AI-driven world, and why nursing may be one of the most AI-resilient roles in healthcare.
Key Points:
01:07 CIO to CTDO Shift
06:52 Data Ownership and Governance
13:24 AI Transparency and Governance
21:00 Careers and AI Future

Keep up to date on the latest in health IT:
https://thisweekhealth.com/news/
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