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January 15, 2026
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On this episode of The Digital Patient, Dr. Joshua Liu, Co-founder & CEO of ǶƵ, and colleague, Alan Sardana, chat with Dr. Sameer Badlani, Chief Strategy Officer & Chief Digital Officer at Fairview Health Services, about "Creating New Platforms for Healthcare Delivery, Bringing Retail-Quality Consumer Experiences to Healthcare, Proven Frameworks for Evaluating Tech Value, and more..." Click the play button to listen or read the show notes below.
Audio:
Guest(s):
- Dr. Sameer Badlani, Chief Strategy Officer & Chief Digital Officer at Fairview Health Services
- Dr. Joshua Liu, Co-founder & CEO at ǶƵ
Episode 201 - Show Notes:
[00:00:07] Episode preview
[00:05:24] How childhood hospital visits in New Delhi inspired Dr. Badlani’s early fascination with healthcare.
[00:07:20] Realizing the potential of technology after manually managing lab results and missing a medication toxicity case.
[00:08:46] Discovering biomedical informatics at the University of Utah and joining one of the earliest CPOE development teams.
[00:10:10] Transitioning from academia to becoming the first CMIO at the University of Chicago as the U.S. digitization wave began.
[00:12:28] How being “extremely practical” shapes his philosophy of frugal innovation and focus on real patient and provider outcomes.
[00:13:22] Introducing his five-part framework for technology value: trust, quality, engagement, cost reduction, and new revenue streams.
[00:18:30] How Fairview’s specialty pharmacy and lab businesses became diversified revenue platforms reinvested into care.
[00:20:23] Exploring retail-inspired healthcare delivery in physical therapy, imaging, and perimenopausal health to improve access and experience.
[00:23:40] Why digital care is not a full replacement for in-person care—and how hybrid models mirror airline check-in flexibility.
[00:26:58] The importance of learning from consumer industries and partnering with experts to design healthcare experiences people want.
[00:28:33] Preparing Fairview for a future where patient education shifts from written materials to short-form video and social media.
[00:31:01] Teaching the next generation to use AI for repetitive tasks—“knowledge workers must learn to work with AI to stay relevant.”
[00:32:55] Transforming a closed hospital into a community health hub addressing food access, vaccinations, and social determinants of health.
[00:36:39] What separates great from good digital health leaders: obsessing over the problem, not the solution.
[00:39:46] Lessons from surveying parents of pediatric patients—convenience and coordinated care matter more than flashy digital apps.
[00:43:59] Launching “Q-Rounds,” an app that predicts rounding times so families can plan their day and join virtually.
Fast 5 Lightning Round:
- What is your favorite book or book you’ve gifted the most?
The Difficulty of Being Good by Gurcharan Das - If you could instantly master any skill, what would it be?
"How not to procrastinate" - Would you rather have Super strength, super speed, or the ability to read people’s minds?
"Some variation of super speed—so I could get things done quickly and read or sleep for the rest of the day." - What is something in healthcare you believe that others might find insane?
“How much of healthcare is built around waiting" - What is the last movie or TV show you saw?
“The Diplomat”
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