Healthcare Doesn't Move in Seconds | Newsday with 229Project
hosted by Bill Russell and Drex DeFord
Apple PodcastsQuestions answered in this episode
- Are you judging Epic UGM by the headline — or by what still matters 12 months later?
- If healthcare moves in months and years, not seconds, what should CIOs do with a single big announcement?
- Why are large systems locking 3-year Bridge renewals while Epic runs the ambient marathon?
- Does single-platform statewide Epic (see Washington) actually bend the cost curve?
- If Judy steps back, is the culture she built ready to outlast her — and is your org ready for that kind of succession?
About this episode
August 10, 2026: Bill Russell and Drex DeFord preview Epic UGM (Sarah is on a plane to Charlottesville). Bill opens with the reframe that sets the lens for the whole episode: don't mistake a single big announcement for the real pace of change — healthcare moves in months and years, not seconds. Then the preview itself: AI and Agent Factory framed around clinician experience, ambient documentation a year after the freeze, the Bridge/Epic interoperability standoff and the 3-year hedge, the entire state of Washington on Epic, pharmacy as Epic's next growth line, and the leadership exodus — including Bill's real odds on Judy Faulkner's succession at UGM.
Key Points:
0:00 Healthcare Doesn't Move in Seconds
5:23 Sponsor: Cloudticity
7:09 Epic vs the Federal Government
12:43 The 3-Year Hedge
20:32 Epic Leadership Exodus
22:48 Judy's Exit, on Bill's Terms
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