MedAxiom HeartTalk

In this MedAxiom HeartTalk, host Melanie Lawson, MS is joined by Paula Furcron, director of Specialty Solutions at NextGen Healthcare, to discuss how AI can be designed specifically for cardiology to reduce administrative burden while building physician trust. The conversation explores the role of agentic AI, specialty-specific workflows, and the financial and operational gains healthcare organiza...

As the demands of cardiovascular care continue to evolve, preparing the next generation of cardiologists requires a new approach to training. In this MedAxiom HeartTalk, host Melanie Lawson is joined by Ana Mercurio-Pinto, vice president of Care Transformation Services at MedAxiom, and Doreen DeFaria Yeh, MD, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of Cardiovascular...

Cardiology practices are under pressure to deliver high-quality patient care while navigating complex workflows, operational challenges and the realities of running a sustainable practice. In this episode of MedAxiom HeartTalk, host Melanie Lawson, MS, sits down with Patrick O’Keefe of Upbeat Cardiology Solutions who shares how his firsthand experience in the imaging lab shaped his approach to hel...

In this MedAxiom HeartTalk, host Melanie Lawson, MS, talks with Jacob Corbell, MBA, CEO of Midwest Cardiovascular Institute, about the administrative strain pulling time away from patient care. Corbell shares how partnering with Basata helped his team cut call abandonment to 1% and reduce hold times to under 30 seconds. He also explains why the real opportunity is not replacing staff but freeing t...

How much time do you spend looking at a screen when you’d rather be making eye contact with your patient? In this MedAxiom HeartTalk, R. Kannan Mutharasan, MD, MBA, FACC, FAHA, cardiologist at Northwestern Medicine, shares how AI is helping clinicians stay focused on patients and uncover insights that could lead to earlier diagnoses. As the technology advances, the real work of realizing AI’s pote...

In this episode of MedAxiom HeartTalk, host Melanie Lawson, MS speaks with Byron Lee, MD, professor of medicine and cardiology at Stanford, about the growing importance of remote cardiac monitoring in patient care. Dr. Lee shares how extended 30-day monitoring helps improves arrhythmia detection and guides long-term treatment. He also discusses how real-time data transmission and streamlined repor...

In this MedAxiom HeartTalk, host Melanie Lawson, MS, is joined by Nicole Knight, LPN, CPC, CCS-P, executive vice president of Revenue Cycle Solutions and Care Transformation Services at MedAxiom; Nathan Myers, president and CEO at AccuCode AI; and Joe Sasson, PhD, chief commercial officer and executive vice president of Ventures at MedAxiom. They discuss AccuCode CV, a new artificial intelligence...

In this “Meet the Experts” HeartTalk, host Melanie Lawson, MS, talks with MedAxiom’s Nicole Knight, LPN, CPC, CCS-P, executive vice president of Revenue Cycle Solutions and Care Transformation Services, along with Jammie Quimby, CPC, CCC, CEMC, CCS-P, CPMA, CRC, CDEO, CPCO, director of coding, Revenue Cycle Solutions, and Joline Bruder, CPC, CPMA, CCVTC, CGSC, CCC, manager of surgery coding, Reven...

On this episode of MedAxiom HeartTalk, host Melanie Lawson, MS sits down with April Mann, MBA, CNMT, NCT, RT(N), MASNC, FSNMMI-TS, stakeholder engagement lead at GE HealthCare. Together, they discuss a collaborative two-part webinar series establishing shared cardiac PET services. Learn about operational, technical, and business case considerations for building a sustainable program. Expert insigh...

Cardiovascular ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are no longer a future concept — they are quickly becoming a critical part of care delivery. In this episode of MedAxiom HeartTalk, host Melanie Lawson talks with Jerry Blackwell, MD, MBA, FACC, president and CEO of MedAxiom, and Aric Burke, founder and CEO of Atlas Healthcare Partners, about the momentum behind cardiovascular ASCs and the role MedA...

In this “Meet the Experts” HeartTalk, host Melanie Lawson, MS, sits down with MedAxiom’s Lori Walsh, MHSA, executive vice president of Member Services and Operations, and Karen Wilson, MHA, vice president of Member Services. Lori shares why the relationships she built as a member still matter and how MedAxiom was founded on the idea that if you can’t learn from your peers, where else can you learn...

In this MedAxiom HeartTalk, host Melanie Lawson, MS, sits down with Jasen Gundersen, MD, CEO and Christie Yoder, COO at CardioOne. Together, they explore practical strategies for immediate growth in cardiology practices, emphasizing small, achievable changes over long-term planning. 

In this MedAxiom HeartTalk, host Melanie Lawson, MS, sits down with Maureen Knechtel, DMSc, PA-C, academic coordinator and associate professor of physician assistant studies at Milligan University, and Jerry Blackwell, MD, MBA, FACC, president and CEO of MedAxiom. They challenge the idea that onboarding begins and ends with orientation, revealing a gap many organizations don’t recognize until it’s...

In this MedAxiom HeartTalk, host Melanie Lawson, MS, talks with Ali Rahimi, MD, MPH, CEO of ALYKA Health, about a revolutionary digital platform enhancing patient access and outcomes. Together, they discuss how this personalized solution bridges care gaps, improves engagement, and creates a scalable, affordable system for better patient health.

In this "Meet the Experts" HeartTalk, host Melanie Lawson, MS speaks with Nicole Dellise, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, NEA-BC, CHFN, CCK, FACC, vice president of Care Transformation Services at MedAxiom. With an extensive background in advanced heart failure and structural heart care, Nicole shares insights on her leadership style, passion for patient access and where she believes cardiovascular programs ca...

In this MedAxiom HeartTalk, host Melanie Lawson, MS sits down with Craig Strauss, MD, MPH, vice president of Quality, Innovation and Advanced Analytics at Minneapolis Heart Institute. They explore the innovative "C5 program," developed for comprehensive cardiovascular care, that offers 24/7 physician support, significantly improves patient triage and hospital access, and reduces ER wait times. 

Cardiology is shifting from inpatient to outpatient care. In this MedAxiom HeartTalk, host Melanie Lawson, MS, talks with Amy Brownell, MSN, FNP-C, FACC, cardiovascular service line director at Ascension Illinois Market about strategies for expanding ASCs and office-based labs while maintaining clinical quality. They also discuss operational and financial considerations that help health systems th...

Cardiovascular programs often evolve over time — but without intentional structure, silos can form, creating operational and strategic challenges. In this episode, Joel Sauer, MBA, executive vice president of Care Transformation Services at MedAxiom, is joined by Kootenai Health’s Kevin Kavanaugh, MD, cardiologist, and Rhonda Powell, MBA, CNMT, executive director of the cardiovascular division. Th...

Explore the strategic partnership between MedAxiom and Heartflow, as Nicole F. Knight, LPN, CPC, CCS-P, executive vice president of Care Transformation Services and Revenue Cycle Solutions at MedAxiom, sits down with Cara Santillo, senior vice president of Market Access and Reimbursement at Heartflow. Together, they detail how MedAxiom amplifies HeartFlow's message across the cardiology community....

A major change in outpatient cardiac care is underway. In this MedAxiom HeartTalk, host Melanie Lawson, MS, sits down with David Kenigsberg, MD, FACC, FHRS, a clinical cardiac electrophysiologist based in Northern Broward County, Florida. Together, they unpack the shift toward performing ablation procedures in ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) — why it’s happening, how it improves patient access...

In this “Meet the Experts” HeartTalk, host Melanie Lawson, MS, sits down with Katie Willerick, vice president of Care Transformation Services at MedAxiom, to explore what it really takes to move from dashboards to better patient care. Katie shares why “trust in the data” is essential to driving change and how building that trust across teams makes analytics fully actionable. She pulls back the cur...

Cardiology and emergency medicine teams are coming together to transform cardiovascular care. In this MedAxiom HeartTalk, host Melanie Lawson, MS, is joined by David Wohns, MD, FACC, FACP, FSCAI, division chief of cardiology at Corewell Health, and Meredith Busman, MD, emergency physician at Corewell Health, to discuss how shared pathways, trust, and streamlined communication are improving patient...

In this “Meet the Experts” HeartTalk, host Melanie Lawson, MS, talks with Joel Sauer, MBA, executive vice president of Care Transformation Services at MedAxiom, about building trust, aligning physicians and hospitals, and moving beyond purely transactional relationships. Joel reflects on what keeps him motivated—“I wanna be part of something bigger. And what’s bigger than patient care?” He also te...

What does it really take to build a successful ECMO program? In this MedAxiom HeartTalk, host Melanie Lawson, MS, speaks with John Mehall, MD, president of Integration Health and senior vice president of Heart & Vascular Partners, about the expanding role of ECMO in cardiac care. Dr. Mehall discusses rising utilization, improved survival outcomes, economic benefits for hospitals, and the criti...

Population health strategies and technology are reshaping cardiovascular care. In this MedAxiom HeartTalk, host Melanie Lawson, MS sits down with Chanel Swartz, MBA, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, vice president of value-based care operations at US Heart and Vascular. They explore how remote patient monitoring is enabling care teams to scale, improve outcomes, and manage large patient populations, all while red...