Healthcare is on the brink of transformation, and in 2024, the Leader to Leader podcast captured the voices of top executives driving that change. Hosted by Ben Hilmes, CEO of Healthcare IT Leaders, these conversations peeled back the layers of healthcare’s most complex challenges—including technological disruption, workforce shortages, and more—to reveal an industry ready to reimagine itself through technology, strategic vision, and an unwavering commitment to patient care.
For healthcare leaders looking to the future, here are some of the most insightful quotes from this year’s episodes that will help shape healthcare in 2025 and beyond:
1. “Innovation is not always just about technology…that psychological safety is really important to developing a culture of innovation.”
– Scott Arnold, CIO, Tampa General Hospital, on the importance of allowing employees to feel safe to experiment and learn.
2. “It drives me crazy that you can order Christmas presents on Amazon faster than you can connect with your healthcare provider.”
– Crystal Broj, Enterprise Chief Digital Transformation Officer, Medical University of South Carolina, on the need to transform the digital consumer experience in healthcare.
3. “I like to date, but I don’t often marry”
– Richard Miller, Chief Strategy Officer, Northwell Health, quoting CEO Michael Dowling to explain the health system’s conservative approach to mergers and acquisitions.
4. “We’re really leaning hard into not doing digital but being digital.”
– Tressa Springmann, Chief Information and Digital Officer, LifeBridge Health, on the importance of leveraging data.
5. “There’s no cavalry of nurses on the horizon. We need to create capacity by using technology.”
– Chris Mate, CIO, Elara Caring on AI adoption in home care.
6. “The traditional office visit is dead.”
– Eve Cunningham, MD, Chief of Virtual Care and Digital Health at Providence, explaining why innovative care models are essential for improving patient outcomes.
7. “A lift-and-shift to the cloud doesn’t create any real value unless you’re thinking about the operations you’re enabling along the journey.”
– Shannon McGovern, GVP for Healthcare, Workday, emphasizes how the transformation journey starts with evaluation.
8. “There’s a plethora of tech-backed, VC-backed point solutions in the market…but they are treating only one condition instead of treating you as a whole person.”
– Chelsea Glenn, Chief Growth Officer, Northwell Direct on fragmented health tech versus holistic care management.
9. “You don’t have an AI strategy. AI is a tool that can enable your strategy.”
– Robert Adamson, CIO, RWJBarnabas Health, explains why governance and ethics are critical for the responsible and safe use of AI in healthcare.
10. “Management is doing things right, and leadership is doing the right things.”
– Paul Brian Contino, CIO, University Hospital, quotes management guru Peter Drucker on the mindset required to be a leader.
For more conversations with healthcare’s brightest leaders on the industry’s biggest problems, check out the Leader to Leader podcast. You can also submit a guest suggestion or nominate yourself to appear on a future episode here.