Beyond the Picnic Cooler: Redefining Organ Preservation with Dr. Xiaoxi Wei, Founder and CEO of X-Therma

Healthcare has no shortage of technology, but too many disconnected tools can create more work for clinicians, patients, and administrators. In this episode, Amit Kumthekar, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Sully, talks about building AI that expands healthcare’s human capacity. Amit traces his path into healthcare innovation through his experience with a chronic condition and his early work in diabetes research. He explains how Sully brings clinical documentation, billing, patient engagement, inbound and outbound calls, and front-office workflows into one system to reduce friction across the care journey. They also discuss how to design voice AI that feels natural and empathetic, why agentic AI needs a strong technical foundation to deliver real-world value, and how consolidating fragmented tools frees organizations to put more resources into patient care. Tune in to learn how connected AI can make healthcare more efficient, accessible, and patient-centered! Resources: Connect with and follow Amit Kumthekar on LinkedIn. Follow Sully on LinkedIn and explore its website.

Finding the right behavioral health provider can be surprisingly difficult, even with hundreds of thousands of practitioners across the country. In this episode, Jaffer Traish, Chief Operating Officer at findhelp, talks about the challenges of making behavioral health services easier to find and navigate. He explains why social care and behavioral health need to be integrated into a single workflow and how fragmented, outdated provider directories can create unnecessary barriers to care. Jaffer also discusses the problem of “ghost networks,” where provider listings may no longer reflect who is actually available, and why greater transparency, accuracy, and accountability are needed. Finally, he shares how better matching, closed-loop referrals, and more integrated search tools could help connect people with the care and support they need. Tune in to hear how findhelp is working to build a more connected and transparent approach to behavioral health access! Resources: Connect with and follow Jaffer Traish on ⁠LinkedIn⁠. Follow findhelp on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ and explore their ⁠website⁠.

Organ preservation still runs on a plastic bag, wet ice, and a picnic cooler. In this episode, Dr. Xiaoxi Wei, Founder and CEO of X-Therma, discusses extending the lifespan of organs, cells, and other living medicines. Her grandfather's death set the work in motion. She explains why the method used to carry a donated organ has barely changed in 50 years, and why a four-hour window decides which patients get matched. X-Therma's answer is a peptoid-based material modeled on nature's antifreeze proteins, designed to hold tissue at sub-zero temperatures without freezing damage. Wei also walks through the changes that occur when preservation stretches from hours to days, including broader donor matching, more room for cell and tissue therapies, and a path away from DMSO. Tune in to hear how a new class of preservation materials could turn more donated organs into transplants! Resources: Connect with and follow Dr. Xiaoxi Wei on LinkedIn. Follow X-Therma on LinkedIn and explore the X-Therma website. Contact the X-Therma team at [email protected].

Managers are often the first people to notice when something is off with an employee. But do they have the tools to know what to do next? In this episode, Brad Swingruber, CEO at meQuilibrium (meQ), talks about how managers can play a bigger role in connecting employees with mental health support. He explains why giving managers another training course or dashboard isn't enough, and why support needs to be simple, practical, and available where managers already work. Brad also shares examples of how meQ has helped organizations make these resources easier to use, including work with Citizens Bank that led to higher engagement and lower burnout. He discusses what organizations should measure, why psychological safety is an important place to start, and how understanding the needs of different groups within the workforce can shape a more effective approach. Tune in to hear Brad's take on what managers actually need to support their teams! Resources: Connect with and follow Brad Swingruber on LinkedIn. Follow meQuilibrium on LinkedIn and explore their website.  Check the Burnout Impact calculator from the meQ team here. 

Healthcare interoperability fails if the data moving through the system isn't accurate. In this episode, Saul Marquez, Founder and CEO at Outcomes Rocket, speaks with Martin Cody, Senior Vice President of Sales and Growth at 4medica, about the overlooked but critical issue of patient identity accuracy. Martin explains how duplicate, incomplete, and mismatched records lead to costly downstream denials and shares how 4medica combines technology, data, and human expertise to clean and maintain patient data at scale. Because the company understands the cascading effects of bad data, it brings a proactive approach to fixing identity issues upstream, especially during hospital mergers and acquisitions. Martin is also candid about the clinical risks of patient record overlays and why strong human relationships still matter in a rapidly changing healthcare industry. Tune in to hear what it takes to make clean patient data the foundation of safer care and true interoperability! Resources: Connect with and follow Martin Cody on LinkedIn. Follow 4medica on LinkedIn and explore its website. Stay tuned for 4medica’s upcoming podcast, Dirty Data Done Right.

Providers won't adopt technology that adds steps to their day. In this episode, Hanna Mundy, Vice President of Strategic Operations at iScribeHealth, discusses building ambient AI that fits how providers already work. She traces her path from an orthopedic and sports medicine provider to a healthcare technology leader, and explains how iScribeHealth pairs ambient documentation with deep EHR integrations to reduce the documentation and billing load providers carry. Because the company came up working with human scribes, it brings a working knowledge of clinical workflow, note quality, and the customization that high-volume specialty practices need. Hannah is also candid about provider resistance to change, and why iScribeHealth treats that resistance as a design constraint. Tune in to hear what it takes for documentation technology to earn a provider's trust! Resources: Connect with and follow Hanna Mundy on LinkedIn. Explore iScribeHealth and learn more about its ambient AI documentation solutions.

Why the success of an ASC relies on preserving the physician's voice and cultivating a strong, unique culture. In this episode of ASC Insights, recorded live at ASCA SAMBA 2026, Lindsay Alexander is joined by Allison Stock, Chief Operating Officer at Surgical Management Professionals (SMP). Drawing on 20 years of experience in the ASC space, Allison shares what it takes to build a successful surgery center from the ground up and the importance of keeping independent physicians at the center of clinical decisions. She discusses the evolving challenges of the ASC marketplace, including the impact of private equity, the shift toward higher case complexity, and the pressures of supply chain and reimbursement. Looking ahead, she emphasizes that while innovations like AI and robotics offer new operational efficiencies, human relationships and collaborative teams will always be the true drivers of an ASC’s success. Tune in as Allison Stock explores why a customized approach to culture and staffing is critical, and how ASC leaders can navigate a rapidly changing landscape while delivering exceptional outpatient care. Resources: Connect with and follow Allison Stock on LinkedIn. Follow Surgical Management Professionals (SMP) on LinkedIn and explore their website!

Patients are the largest unorganized constituency in American healthcare—and Matthew Zachary believes that needs to change. In this episode, I speak with Matthew Zachary, CEO and Co-Founder of We The Patients, brain cancer survivor, author of the book: We The Patients, founder of Stupid Cancer, and host of Out of Patients. Matthew shares why traditional advocacy built around awareness and moral arguments has not been enough to change healthcare policy. He explains his vision for organizing patients around shared economic interests, using the 3.5% rule as a framework for building real civic power. We also discuss how insurance barriers, administrative burden, medical debt, and delayed access to prevention continue to harm patients, and why aligning patient protections with economic incentives could create meaningful reform. Tune in to learn why an organized patient constituency could become one of the most powerful forces in healthcare! Resources: Connect with and follow Matthew Zachary on LinkedIn. Visit Matthew Zachary’s website. Get a copy of We the Patients: Understanding, Navigating, and Surviving America’s Healthcare Nightmare. Listen to Out of Patients with Matthew Zachary. Learn more about Stupid Cancer. Read Matthew’s The Hill op-ed on patients sharing a civic identity. Explore Erica Chenoweth’s research on the 3.5% rule. Learn more about Lucid Diagnostics and the EsoGuard test.

High-quality care only improves outcomes when patients can access it, navigate it, and complete the next step in their care journey. In this episode, I speak with Todd Gottula, Co-Founder and CEO of Clarify Health Solutions, about his personal experience navigating a serious back injury and how it reinforced the importance of timely access to care. Todd shares how Clarify Health uses nationwide claims data, AI-enabled insights, and outcome-based partnerships to help health systems identify where patients are leaving their networks or facing barriers to care. He also discusses Clarify Meridian, which supports physician activation, and Arrival, a patient activation solution designed to help more patients complete specialty referrals and receive the care they need. Tune in to learn how better data, patient engagement, and aligned incentives can help health systems improve access and outcomes! Resources: Connect with and follow Todd Gottula on LinkedIn. Follow Clarify Health Solutions on LinkedIn and explore their website.

Cancer care is complex, emotional, and often difficult for patients to navigate alone. In this episode, Marcia Macphearson, Chief Operating Officer at ThymeCare, discusses how the company is working to transform cancer care through value-based care and a connected approach to the oncology ecosystem. She explains how ThymeCare brings together health plans, oncology practices, health systems, and multidisciplinary care teams to help patients navigate the financial, social, clinical, and emotional challenges of a cancer journey. Marcia also shares how building trust with patients and connecting the different parts of the healthcare ecosystem can help care teams respond quickly when patients need support. She explores the potential of AI to support clinicians by reducing administrative work, consolidating information, and giving care teams more time and insight to focus on individual patient needs. Tune in to learn how coordinated, whole-person cancer care can close gaps, build trust, and improve outcomes! Resources: Connect with and follow Marcia Macphearson on LinkedIn. Follow ThymeCare on LinkedIn and explore their website. Learn more about Thyme Companies.