How can technology better support the individual needs of autistic people and their families?

On this episode of The Healthcast, Phil Zappone speaks with Cait Russell, occupational therapist and Chief Operating Officer at Multiple, a nonprofit accelerator supporting entrepreneurs building autism-related technology.

Cait shares how her background in business and occupational therapy led her toward systems-level change. She explains why accessibility, individualized support and meaningful outcomes should guide product development—and why even promising technologies can struggle to reach the people who need them.

The conversation explores tools that help therapists launch in-home practices, camera-free sleep tracking and personalized AI companions for everyday routines. Cait also discusses how Multiple brings families, clinicians, founders and investors together to help shape products and support their adoption.

In this episode:

• Moving from occupational therapy into nonprofit and innovation leadership
• Designing accessible, individualized technology from the start
• Evaluating whether products deliver meaningful outcomes
• Helping therapists build in-home private practices
• Using sleep data to inform support and interventions
• Why distribution and adoption are critical for startups
• Personalized AI companions for routines, work and school
• Involving autistic people and families in product development
• Multiple’s goal of connecting one million neurodivergent people to life-changing technology by 2030
• The personal story behind Multiple’s founding

CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
00:41 From Clinical Care to Systems-Level Impact
02:50 Finding a Mission in Autism and Neurodiversity
04:18 Designing Accessible Technology with Meaningful Outcomes
07:14 Cait’s Path from Occupational Therapy to Multiple
10:20 How Multiple Supports Autism Innovation
11:59 Startup Examples: Therapy Access and Sleep Tracking
15:02 Why Startups Struggle with Adoption
16:09 Connecting Startups with Families and Clinicians
17:28 Personalized AI Companions for Everyday Support
20:02 Building an Autism Innovation Ecosystem
21:09 AI and the Potential for Individualized Support
24:05 Multiple’s Vision and Its 2030 Goal
26:04 The Story Behind Multiple’s Founding
28:53 Closing Reflections

Episode Resources:
Website | https://www.multiplehub.org/
LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/multiplehub/
Ryan L. | https://www.linkedin.com/in/caitrussellotd/

Check out what I do helping small businesses here:
Website | https://nxaihealth.com/
LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-zappone-647957379/

Subscribe to The HealthCast for more conversations with the people shaping healthcare.

Can AI transform healthcare if the underlying data is incomplete, fragmented or inaccurate?

On this episode of The Healthcast, Phil Zappone speaks with Ryan Leurck, Chief Analytics Officer and Co-Founder of Kythera Labs, about healthcare’s hidden data problem and why better data—not simply more advanced AI—will shape the industry’s future.

Ryan shares how his background in aerospace engineering and complex systems optimization led him into healthcare analytics. He explains why claims and EHR data are difficult to analyze, how Kythera Labs turns fragmented records into structured information and why healthcare leaders must verify the answers produced by AI.

They also discuss how hospitals can use data to understand patient leakage, referral patterns, market share and opportunities to improve service lines. Ryan shares an example in which a health system discovered substantially more patient leakage than it previously recognized, leading the organization to revise its strategy.

In this episode:

• Ryan’s transition from aerospace engineering to healthcare analytics
• Why healthcare data is often incomplete, inconsistent and difficult to interpret
• How medical claims can be reconstructed into meaningful patient-care events
• Why raw data can produce confident but inaccurate AI answers
• Increasing AI accuracy by cleaning and structuring healthcare data
• How hospitals identify patient leakage and out-of-market care
• Reducing the data-preparation burden on analytics teams
• Protecting patient information when implementing AI
• Why verification, validation and governance are essential
• The opportunities and challenges AI may create over the next five years

CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
00:43 From Aerospace Engineering to Healthcare Analytics
03:55 The Meaning Behind Kythera Labs
05:08 Discovering Healthcare’s Hidden Data Problem
08:59 Building Companies with a Trusted Founding Team
10:38 Business Challenges and Finding Focus
12:20 How Kythera Turns Messy Claims into Usable Data
17:40 Who Uses Kythera Labs?
19:30 Helping Rural Hospitals Understand Patient Flows
21:46 Why Better AI Starts with Better Data
26:33 Customer Story: Uncovering Patient Leakage
29:24 Starting Analytics with the Right Questions
32:02 Supporting Patient Care Behind the Scenes
33:37 Healthcare’s Next Five Years: AI Opportunities and Challenges
36:02 What Hospital CEOs Should Know About Data and AI
38:41 What’s Next for Kythera Labs?
40:00 Where to Learn More and Closing Remarks

Episode Resources:
Website | https://www.kytheralabs.com/
LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/kythera-labs/

Ryan L. | https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanleurck/

Check out what I do helping small businesses here:
Website | https://nxaihealth.com/
LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-zappone-647957379/

Subscribe to The HealthCast for more conversations with the people shaping healthcare.

What does it mean to take a proactive approach to health—and where should you start?

On this episode of The HealthCast, Phil Zappone speaks with Zach Dancel, COO of Nava Health and former Division I football player, about functional medicine, longevity, and the everyday habits at the center of Nava’s approach.

Zach shares the family health experience that inspired Nava Health and explains how his football background influences his approach to leadership, teamwork, and overcoming adversity. He also discusses Nava’s emphasis on personalized care, its plans for growth through clinics and telemedicine, and its vision for bringing more health and wellness services together.

Throughout the conversation, Phil and Zach return to the foundations: sleep, nutrition, movement, stress management, and community.

In this episode:
• Lessons from football that translate to healthcare leadership
• The family story behind Nava Health
• Zach’s perspective on functional medicine and proactive care
• Why lifestyle habits remain central to the longevity conversation
• Looking beyond individual treatments to the whole person
• Building a team and operational systems that support growth
• Nava’s plans for franchising and expanding virtual care
• Connecting medicine, fitness, recovery, and oral health
• The role of patient education and ownership of health

CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
00:43 What is Nava Health?
01:50 Football, leadership, and handling adversity
04:23 Building a team that believes in the mission
08:59 The family health crisis that inspired Nava
13:16 From a personal experience to a healthcare business
18:28 Functional medicine and the foundations of health
20:54 Looking beyond hormones and peptides
22:37 Building the team and systems for growth
26:26 Nava’s expansion and franchising plans
28:29 Telemedicine and convenient access to care
29:20 Connecting oral health, fitness, and longevity
34:06 Opportunities and challenges ahead
37:12 Taking ownership of your health
38:20 Where to learn more

Episode Resources:
Website | https://navacenter.com
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/navahealth/
LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/navahealth/home/
Zach D. | https://www.linkedin.com/in/zachdancel/

Check out what I do helping small businesses here:
Website | https://nxaihealth.com/
LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-zappone-647957379/

Subscribe to The HealthCast for more conversations with the people shaping healthcare.

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