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Imagine a hospital corridor lined with open doors and a chorus of hotel bells, each ring a patient hoping to be found. That’s the picture Julie Dearinger Smith paints from real stories of downtime, the moments when networks collapse, call systems fail, and teams fight to deliver safe care without the tools they rely on. Julie brings two decades in clinical informatics atop years at the bedside, and she turns that experience into a simple but radical premise: resilience is a clinical operations discipline, not just a cybersecurity task.

We dig into Leadership by Design, Julie’s practical framework that maps growth from novice to expert using observable skills. No more vague advice like “show initiative.” Instead, leaders get a clear coaching plan, and team members get a transparent path to advancement. This clarity becomes critical during outages, when pattern recognition, prioritization, and calm execution can prevent harm. Julie shares the mindset shift that separates “testing to pass” from “testing to break,” and why that difference defines proficient practitioners in health tech.

From there, we get tactical. Julie explains how Contingency Health Solutions approaches downtime with tools designed to run when the internet doesn’t. Bell Assist gives patients a cellular-based call capability with location awareness and prioritization, while a lightweight bed management module restores throughput and room turnover visibility when EHRs and intercoms are offline. We cover everyday value too, including meeting CMS requirements for communication in ED overflow spaces without expensive infrastructure. Along the way, we surface hidden dependencies in radiology, pharmacy, and supply chain, and outline how to run serious tabletop exercises that prepare clinical leaders for the worst-case scenario.

If you care about patient safety, informatics, nursing leadership, or hospital operations, this conversation offers a blueprint you can act on today. Subscribe for more practical health tech stories, share this episode with a colleague who owns downtime planning, and leave a review with your biggest resiliency question—we’ll tackle it next.

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Guest: Dr. Robb Kruklitis, Chief Clinical Officer at Guthrie Clinic

Host: Vik Patel

In this episode of This Week in Health Tech, Vik welcomes Dr. Robb Kruklitis, Chief Clinical Officer at Guthrie Clinic.

In this episode, Vik sits down with Dr. Robb Kruklitis to explore Guthrie Clinic’s innovative remote patient monitoring (RPM) initiative for chronic disease management. The project focuses on centralizing vital signs and biometric data from patients at home—particularly those with conditions like congestive heart failure—to enable timely interventions and reduce readmissions.

Dr. Kruklitis shares how this data flows directly into Epic, where nurses monitor dashboards and respond proactively. Guthrie is also developing a remote clinical workforce to support this model. The discussion highlights the need for smarter alerts, predictive analytics, and ultimately, a shift from reactive to proactive care.

Vik draws parallels with Tido’s MIDR-AI monitoring solution, and the conversation shifts toward the broader future of AI in healthcare. Both agree that the industry’s next leap is to fully harness EHR and external data to drive predictive insights, improve scheduling, and support providers with intelligent tools.

Dr. Kruklitis ends on an inspiring note, comparing the future of healthcare data use to Moneyball—leveraging diverse data to deliver the right care at the right time and place.

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Guest: Shane Rodabaugh, System VP of IT & Infrastructure, Baptist Health KY & IN
Host: Vik Patel

In this episode, Vik welcomes Shane Rodabaugh to discuss infrastructure modernization, cloud strategy, AI readiness, and leadership in a rapidly evolving healthcare environment.

They begin with a look at Baptist Health’s current infrastructure—a hybrid model with Epic EHR hosted on-premise and new efforts like Cogito Cloud moving to Microsoft Fabric. This transition lays the foundation for advanced analytics and future AI capabilities.

Vik and Shane explore the challenges of defining a “cloud strategy” in a world that evolves faster than any 3-year plan. Shane emphasizes the importance of flexibility and prioritization, especially when resources are limited but the demand for innovation is high. Vik introduces Tido CortexAI, an AI-ready data cloud, noting that CMIOs are often at the forefront of these initiatives. Shane mentions Baptist’s CMIO, Dr. Brett Oliver, and how he's helping drive AI strategy from a clinical lens.

As the conversation deepens, Vik asks about collaboration with clinical leadership. Shane explains that the dialogue is open and energetic—but sometimes he has to “hold the horses back.” Even with compelling ROI and excitement from clinicians, resource capacity often becomes the limiting factor. Still, the team focuses on staying agile, learning from fast failures, and pivoting quickly when needed.

They shift to discussing AI governance and risk. Shane underscores the importance of understanding the algorithms and data behind models before deploying AI solutions in clinical settings.

On the topic of build vs. buy, Shane shares insights from recent leadership discussions. While he's not opposed to building, he notes that Baptist isn't a development shop and scaling internal dev teams is a major investment. They view partners—like Epic—as their development engine for core platforms. Vik adds that a hybrid model often works best: internal teams guiding strategy while partners focus on execution. This balance helps mitigate key personnel risk and increases long-term sustainability.

The conversation rounds out with leadership and collaboration. Shane shares how closely he works with the CIO and PMO, including weekly meetings focused on project prioritization and transparent communication—something he says is a strength at Baptist.

They close the episode by talking about work-life balance. Shane shares a recent family vacation experience and how it’s important to model healthy balance from the top. Lastly, he offers a grounding reminder: no matter how complex the tech or fast the pace—it’s all for the patient.

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Vik Patel - LinkedIn
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