Designing With Nurses, Not For Them : A Playbook for Health IT Founders

Designing With Nurses, Not For Them : A Playbook for Health IT Founders

In this episode of Rockin’ HIT Sales, David Hacker sits down with Hiyam M. Nadel, MBA, RN, Director, Center for Innovations in Care Delivery at Massachusetts General Hospital, to give Health IT founders and investors an unfiltered, nurse-led view of why “great” technology still fails on the floor—and what it takes to earn real adoption. Hiyam works at the intersection of bedside reality, nursing leadership, and innovation. She makes a clear case that nurses can’t be treated as “end users” who get trained at the end—they need to be co-designers from day one. If your product touches workflows, staffing, safety, documentation, or patient experience, this episode is a practical playbook for how to build with nurses, not for them. You’ll hear what strong vendor partnerships look like—and what immediately breaks trust. Hiyam breaks down the signals that tell her a team has done its homework (and the red flags that say they haven’t). She also explains how innovation programs and nurse-led initiatives evaluate outside partners: what gets attention, what gets stalled in governance, and what it takes to move from an “interesting pilot” to something worth scaling. The conversation also tackles the current wave of AI in nursing: where she’s optimistic, where she sees risk, and what founders should be prepared to answer before they show a demo—especially around safety, workflow impact, and equity. If you’re building automation or “AI copilots” for frontline teams, Hiyam offers a grounded way to talk about change that feels supportive rather than threatening. What you’ll take away: * How frontline clinicians actually experience new tools (and why adoption fails before rollout) * What makes a vendor easy—or painful—to work with during pilots and co-development * How to co-design workflows that nurses will actually adopt and sustain * How to engage innovation centers and nurse leaders in a way that builds trust and momentum * What it takes to move from pilot to scale without running over governance, change management, and the people doing the work If you’re building for care delivery, this is the episode that helps you “get out of the boardroom” and design for reality.

Standards That Scale: Building healthcare AI that’s testable, reliable, and safe

In this episode of Rockin’ HIT Sales, David Hacker sits down with Ram D. Sriram, a long-time AI researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), to translate “trustworthy AI” from a buzzword into a practical checklist for digital health leaders. Ram has worked across the major waves of AI—from early knowledge-based systems to neural networks and today’s large language models—and explains what’s genuinely new, what’s simply being rebranded, and why the next leap may be neuro-symbolic AI. From there, the conversation goes deep on what many founders and product teams underestimate: measurement. If AI is an “instrument” used in clinical and operational settings, what does it mean to calibrate it? What is the ground truth? How do we measure accuracy, reliability, and failure modes—especially when a model is seeing something it was not trained for? Ram breaks down why metrology for AI, and even “AI for metrology,” matters now that AI is becoming pervasive in healthcare workflows. You’ll also hear practical guidance on: • Designing for a world of smart networked systems, including wearables, devices, EHRs, registries, and multiple data sources • Why standards and interoperability are often the missing ingredient, and how to use what already exists instead of reinventing the wheel • Applying the NIST AI Risk Management Framework in healthcare terms • Why uncertainty quantification—knowing when a model does not know—can change clinical pathways and risk • The red flags that make AI leaders nervous, including data or model manipulation and why guardrails matter This is a no-fluff episode for digital health founders, product leaders, and GTM teams who want to move beyond demos and build with more credibility, stronger market readiness, and better sales strategy for real-world adoption.

Inside GPOs: How Health IT Actually Gets Evaluated and Purchased

In this episode of Rockin’ HIT Sales, David Hacker sits down with James Ludwig, a former Premier GPO leader, to demystify Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) for Health IT founders and go-to-market teams. James breaks down GPOs using a simple “bridge” analogy: on one side are health systems, on the other are suppliers, and the GPO operates the contracting and competitive-bid “toll bridge” that makes commerce easier—funded through supplier administrative fees (often shared back with member providers). You’ll hear what vendors routinely misunderstand (hint: you don’t just “show up” and get a contract), what has to be true for a technology solution to be taken seriously, and how value analysis and member collaboration work behind the scenes. James also explains why scale readiness is non-negotiable in a GPO environment—because a solution must be deployable across hundreds (sometimes thousands) of member facilities. The conversation also covers how GPOs can partner with vendors beyond contracting—through licensing models and, in some cases, investment + technology deployment—and why a GPO contract doesn’t commoditize you; it simply removes friction so you can sell faster (if you’re ready to execute). If you’re building or scaling a provider-facing Health IT company, this episode will help you build a practical GPO strategy: what to do, what to avoid, and how to position your solution so it can win—and scale—inside the GPO ecosystem.

How CFO's Evaluate Health IT: Value, Risk and the Business Case that Wins

In this episode of Rockin’ HIT Sales, David Hacker sits down with Robin Damschroder, Chief Financial Officer at Henry Ford Health, for a rare, practical look at how health systems evaluate—and ultimately approve—digital health, data, and AI-enabled investments. Robin explains why the CFO sits “in the center” of these decisions: investment dollars flow through finance, but the outcomes depend on the teams who must deploy and own the change. She shares how Henry Ford approaches governance for AI and IT, including how the organization thinks about core enterprise platforms (like major EHR and ERP systems), strategic large-scale partners, and more specialized one-off solutions—each with different risk, integration, and longevity considerations. You’ll hear the questions financial and operational leaders instinctively ask when a new technology proposal hits the desk: Does it align to enterprise priorities and existing platforms? What people and process changes are required to make it successful—and what upskilling or role shifts should be planned? Is the solution a narrow one-off, or something robust and “evergreen” that can be embedded and improved over time? How does it integrate into the core systems without creating fragmentation, new security exposure, or long-term maintenance burden? Robin also breaks down what separates a credible business case from a shiny proposal. Her lens is total cost of ownership—not just licensing or subscription price. She wants a holistic view of costs and impact: implementation and integration effort, security and governance needs, workflow redesign, training, and ongoing operational ownership. And she emphasizes the importance of a balanced KPI scorecard that includes more than ROI: operational improvement metrics, payback period, patient/consumer engagement, and workforce impact. One of the most actionable parts of the conversation: downside scenarios and assumption stress-testing. Robin is clear—if a vendor doesn’t model downside, the health system will. But she explains why this isn’t about “shooting holes” in a proposal; it’s about assessing readiness and building a rollout plan that actually works. Adoption and engagement—especially clinician adoption—often determine whether a business case holds or slips. We also discuss the realities vendors often underestimate: The CFO is rarely the lone decision maker—health systems rely on process, governance, and cross-functional ownership. Budget cycles and prioritization windows are real; miss them and timing can slip significantly. Organizations may reserve funds or approve out-of-cycle investments when priorities emerge mid-year—but only if the initiative is already moving through governance with internal champions. With today’s margin pressure and reimbursement headwinds, systems are increasingly prioritizing initiatives with near-term returns and clear cost-structure impact. Robin closes with a direct challenge to Health IT leaders: be crystal clear on how your solution will reduce operating issues and improve cost structure in the near term, not just in theory. At the same time, she shares why she’s genuinely optimistic—excited, even—about how AI can drive workplace transformation across the enterprise when implemented responsibly. If you build, sell, or invest in Health IT, this episode is a must-listen to understand what it takes to become fundable, approvable, and scalable in a real health system.

Interoperability, AI, and Policy: What Health IT Builders Need to Know Now from Steve Posnack at HHS

In this episode of Rockin’ HIT Sales, David talks with Steve Posnack, Principal Deputy National Coordinator for Health IT and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy at HHS, about how federal policy really shapes digital health and AI go-to-market. We cover: * How interoperability, FHIR APIs, and TEFCA affect Health IT vendors * What information blocking and data-sharing rules mean for startup roadmaps * How federal AI and technology policy will impact healthcare innovation * Practical advice for founders and investors selling into hospitals and health systems If you’re building or selling Health IT or healthcare AI, this is a playbook-level conversation on staying aligned with ONC and HHS policy.