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Heartline: Changemaking in Healthcare

Heartline: Changemaking in Healthcare

By: Andrea Austin MD
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Welcome to "Heartline," a podcast dedicated to exploring the inspiring journeys and impactful work of healthcare changemakers leading the charge in transforming healthcare. Despite the United States spending more on healthcare than any other developed nation, key quality outcomes like life expectancy and maternal mortality lag behind. With over half of American physicians experiencing burnout, the challenges within the system are clear. Join us as we delve into the stories of patients, medical professionals, and other experts who defy the status quo. We’ll uncover the unique characteristics and experiences that propel them to be effective changemakers and the organizational factors that support change. Dr. Austin, host of the podcast, is an emergency physician with real-world experience with the dysfunction in the system. Along with working in the emergency department, she is a medical educator focusing on healthcare worker well-being and how innovative approaches like simulation can improve healthcare. In addition, she researches how we can accelerate changemakers in healthcare. Dr. Austin also uses coaching-informed thinking to unlock the potential of healthcare changemakers, and she will guide you through these narratives with insightful commentary and expert analyses. Through in-depth interviews and real-world examples, this podcast aims to inspire and equip the next generation to drive meaningful change in healthcare. Whether you're a physician, a medical student, or simply passionate about the future of healthcare, "Heartline" will offer valuable perspectives and actionable ideas to help you thrive in a challenging environment and contribute to improving our healthcare system. Seasons 1-4 focused on gender bias in the medical system and shared the uplifting stories of women and allies who stay true to their values, boundaries, and priorities, improving their career fulfillment and increasing their impact on healthcare. Season 5 will expand the guests beyond physicians and tackle issues beyond gender bias that impact healthcare. Tune in to the "Hearline" for a deep dive into healthcare transformation and be inspired by the changemakers making a real difference.© 2024 Heartline Hygiene & Healthy Living Personal Development Personal Success Physical Illness & Disease Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Creating Space Between Stimulus and Response: How Physicians Can Change Their Impact | Dr. Rob Orman

    Creating Space Between Stimulus and Response: How Physicians Can Change Their Impact | Dr. Rob Orman
    Jun 23 2026
    What happens when a lifelong emergency physician steps back from clinical practice and dedicates himself to helping other doctors navigate the impossible job of medicine? In Part 1 of a two-part episode, Dr. Rob Orman joins Dr. Andrea Austin to share his remarkable path, from documenting mass casualty events to becoming a technical advisor for the hit HBO series The Pit, and ultimately building a coaching practice that helps physicians create meaningful change in their behavior and careers. Together they discuss the importance of awareness, the space between stimulus and response, cognitive empathy, and why art and storytelling may be powerful vehicles for transforming healthcare. Rob also opens up about his own career struggles and the deep fulfillment he finds in one-on-one behavioral coaching. They discussed: How documenting mass casualty events led to advising on The PitThe career shift from full-time clinician and educator to physician coachWhy “not everyone thinks like you do”, and the power of cognitive empathyBuilding awareness and creating the pause between stimulus and responseBehavioral coaching for physicians on performance plans or struggling with reactivityThe role of storytelling and art in driving healthcare changeLessons from burnout, skill decay, and career transitions 🩺 About the Guest Dr. Rob Orman is a physician coach, author, and former emergency physician with two decades of clinical experience. He is the author of Supernormal: A Field Guide for the Impossible Job, which helps physicians recover from burnout, navigate conflict, and build sustainable careers. He hosts the top-ranked podcast Stimulus, co-founded Guidewire Coaching, and previously hosted Essentials of Emergency Medicine. Rob also served as technical advisor on the Emmy-winning HBO series The Pit. 🔗 Resources Mentioned Supranormal: A Field Guide for the Impossible Job by Rob OrmanStimulus PodcastGuidewire CoachingThe Pit (HBO series) 🔑 Top 3 Key Takeaways: Awareness creates the pause: Real change begins with noticing your patterns and reactions in the moment. Building this awareness is the foundation of behavioral coaching and personal growth.Cognitive empathy changes everything: Not everyone thinks or processes the world the way you do. Learning to truly understand another person’s perspective reduces conflict and improves leadership and patient care.Storytelling and art can transform healthcare: Sharing authentic medical stories through podcasts, books, television, and other media has the power to build public understanding and drive systemic change. 🩺 About the Host: Dr. Andrea Austin is a board-certified emergency physician, educator, and passionate advocate for system-level change in healthcare. As the creator and host of Heartline: Changemaking in Healthcare, Dr. Austin brings curiosity, compassion, and bold honesty to conversations with leaders who are challenging the norms and reshaping medicine from the inside out. With decades of experience in high-pressure clinical environments, Andrea has seen firsthand the cracks in the system—and the people working to repair them. Whether she’s mentoring residents, speaking on national stages, or recording with a fellow disruptor, she centers one theme: change doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens heart to heart. 💫 About the Show: Heartline: Changemaking in Healthcare isn’t just a podcast—it’s a pulse check on what’s possible. Hosted by emergency physician and educator Dr. Andrea Austin, Heartline features conversations with healthcare leaders, innovators, and quiet disruptors who are challenging the way things have always been done. Each episode explores real stories of change—from redefining leadership and communication, to reimagining systems built on burnout and hierarchy. This is a space for truth-telling, for asking better questions, and for reconnecting with the reason we all got into medicine in the first place: to make it better. This isn’t about perfection. It’s about progress—with heart. Follow Your Heartline and transform healthcare today! 🎓 Upcoming Events & Opportunities 🔥 ⁠⁠⁠⁠Recalibrate: Group Coaching for Physicians⁠⁠ Starting 2026, I’ll be co-leading Recalibrate with psychologist and coach Sharee Johnson. This 6-month group coaching program supports physicians in rediscovering mindfulness, meaning, and wholehearted practice. I'm an alum myself—this program transformed my career. Learn more and enroll here, and please share with colleagues who may benefit.⁠⁠ Heart of Medicine in Uluru, Australia o Join us for this incredible one of a one-of-a-kind event in the heart of Australia at one of our most spectacular locations—Voyagers Resort in Central Australia in 2026. o Learn from some of the world's medical leaders in compassionate care, and how heart-centered healthcare can empower and heal healthcare workers and their patients. o For: Doctors, Nurses, Allied Health ...
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    37 mins
  • The Missing Link in Healthcare: Connecting Patients, Clinicians, and AI with Dale Ellicott

    The Missing Link in Healthcare: Connecting Patients, Clinicians, and AI with Dale Ellicott
    Jun 16 2026
    Healthcare is filled with great ideas, promising technologies, and passionate clinicians, but why do so many innovation efforts fail? In this episode, Dale Ellicott joins Dr. Andrea Austin to explore what it really takes to create sustainable change in healthcare. From his early experiences introducing groundbreaking rehabilitation technologies to his current work at Rely Health, Dale shares lessons about resistance to change, organizational alignment, and the importance of putting patients first. Together, they discuss the realities of value-based care, the challenges clinicians face when navigating fragmented healthcare systems, and the growing role of AI in supporting, not replacing human connection. Dale explains how Rely Health combines agentic AI with human care navigators to help patients schedule appointments, access transportation, connect with primary care, and overcome barriers that often lead to poor outcomes and avoidable readmissions. The conversation offers practical guidance for clinicians, leaders, and innovators who want to move beyond pilot programs and build solutions that truly improve healthcare delivery. They discussed: How a values-based decision shaped Dale's career in healthcare innovationWhy healthcare organizations struggle to adopt new technologyThe dangers of "pilotitis" and failed innovation projectsHow AI-powered care navigation improves patient follow-upLessons for clinicians who want to become successful change-makers 🩺 About the Guest Dale Ellicott has built a career at the intersection of healthcare, technology, and patient-centered innovation. Beginning in athletic training before moving into rehabilitation, medical devices, telehealth, and digital health, he now works with Rely Health to help health systems connect patients to the right care at the right time through a combination of AI-powered solutions and human support. Website: relyhealth.care LinkedIn: Dale Ellicott 🔗 Resources Mentioned Rely Health – https://relyhealth.careIt Takes 5 to Tango by Verena Volek 🔑 Top 3 Key Takeaways: Healthcare innovation succeeds when relationships come first: The best ideas often fail because organizations focus on technology before alignment. Successful change requires clinicians, operational leaders, financial decision-makers, and frontline staff working together from the beginning. AI should reduce burden, not replace human connection: Technology is most effective when it removes administrative tasks that prevent clinicians from focusing on patients. By combining AI with human oversight, organizations can improve efficiency while preserving empathy, trust, and personalized support. The goal isn't to replace people, it's to free them to do what humans do best.Better care navigation improves outcomes for everyone: Many patients struggle not because they lack motivation, but because healthcare systems are difficult to navigate. Helping patients schedule appointments, arrange transportation, understand insurance, and connect with primary care can reduce readmissions, improve health outcomes, lower costs, and ease the moral burden clinicians often feel when patients fall through the cracks. 🩺 About the Host: Dr. Andrea Austin is a board-certified emergency physician, educator, and passionate advocate for system-level change in healthcare. As the creator and host of Heartline: Changemaking in Healthcare, Dr. Austin brings curiosity, compassion, and bold honesty to conversations with leaders who are challenging the norms and reshaping medicine from the inside out. With decades of experience in high-pressure clinical environments, Andrea has seen firsthand the cracks in the system—and the people working to repair them. Whether she’s mentoring residents, speaking on national stages, or recording with a fellow disruptor, she centers one theme: change doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens heart to heart. 💫 About the Show: Heartline: Changemaking in Healthcare isn’t just a podcast—it’s a pulse check on what’s possible. Hosted by emergency physician and educator Dr. Andrea Austin, Heartline features conversations with healthcare leaders, innovators, and quiet disruptors who are challenging the way things have always been done. Each episode explores real stories of change—from redefining leadership and communication, to reimagining systems built on burnout and hierarchy. This is a space for truth-telling, for asking better questions, and for reconnecting with the reason we all got into medicine in the first place: to make it better. This isn’t about perfection. It’s about progress—with heart. Follow Your Heartline and transform healthcare today! 🎓 Upcoming Events & Opportunities 🔥 ⁠⁠⁠⁠Recalibrate: Group Coaching for Physicians⁠⁠ Starting 2026, I’ll be co-leading Recalibrate with psychologist and coach Sharee Johnson. This 6-month group coaching program supports physicians in rediscovering mindfulness, meaning, and ...
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    46 mins
  • Civil Discourse & Team Power: Transforming Healthcare from the Inside Out | Jessica Bunin

    Civil Discourse & Team Power: Transforming Healthcare from the Inside Out | Jessica Bunin
    Jun 9 2026
    What does it take to drive meaningful change in healthcare when systems feel broken and institutional betrayal runs deep? Dr. Jessica Bunin, a retired Army Colonel with deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, joins Dr. Andrea Austin to discuss her remarkable journey from psychiatrist to critical care physician and senior academic leader. Through compelling stories; including dramatically reducing ICU central line infections by empowering unexpected team members, Jessica reveals how shifting from “extreme ownership” to true team-building, practicing moral courage, and mastering civil discourse can rebuild trust and create healthier healthcare cultures. The conversation explores self-awareness as the foundation of effective leadership, the CLEAR framework for civil discourse, navigating institutional betrayal, and why leadership development must become central to medical education. You’ll hear how they: Address institutional betrayal and moral injury by focusing on micro-cultures and small-team empowermentBuild high-impact teams by including unexpected voices and shifting from doing things to people to doing things with themPractice moral courage in everyday healthcare settings, from challenging hierarchy to protecting patient safetyUse the CLEAR framework (Create safety, Listen actively, Establish common ground, Adjust thinking, Respond skillfully) for productive conversations across differenceDevelop self-aware leaders who build trust and drive system-level transformation About the Guests “Civil discourse is our way forward.” – Dr. Jessica Bunin Dr. Jessica Bunin is a retired Army Colonel, critical care physician, and former psychiatrist with 23 years of service including deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. She has held numerous leadership roles in academic medicine including critical care program director, assistant dean of faculty development, associate dean of DEI and community, and professor of medicine and health professions education. She is the co-founder and Chief Architect of All Levels Leadership, an International Coaching Federation certified executive leadership coach, and the author of the upcoming book From the Inside Out: How Self-Aware Leaders Build Trust and Transform Healthcare. 📍 Connect with Jessica Website: www.allevelsleadership.com Email: jess@jessbuninmd.com LinkedIn: Jessica Bunin Instagram: @jess_bunin_all 📚 Resources + Mentions The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené BrownDare to Lead by Brené BrownSimon Sinek leadership principlesIra Chaleff – Courageous FollowershipRushworth Kidder – Moral Courage frameworkFrom the Inside Out: How Self-Aware Leaders Build Trust and Transform Healthcare by Jessica Bunin (coming Fall 2026) 🔑 Top 3 Key Takeaways Broaden your team: The most valuable solutions often come from unexpected people. Include all stakeholders who touch a process, especially those who are rarely asked.Self-awareness is the foundation: Great leadership starts with deep inner work; reflection, values clarity, bias awareness, and self-compassion, before trying to change systems.Master civil discourse: Use the CLEAR framework to have honest, respectful conversations across difference. Legitimize other perspectives without needing to agree, and respond with skill instead of defensiveness. 🩺 About the Host: Dr. Andrea Austin is a board-certified emergency physician, educator, and passionate advocate for system-level change in healthcare. As the creator and host of Heartline: Changemaking in Healthcare, Dr. Austin brings curiosity, compassion, and bold honesty to conversations with leaders who are challenging the norms and reshaping medicine from the inside out. With decades of experience in high-pressure clinical environments, Andrea has seen firsthand the cracks in the system—and the people working to repair them. Whether she’s mentoring residents, speaking on national stages, or recording with a fellow disruptor, she centers one theme: change doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens heart to heart. 💫 About the Show: Heartline: Changemaking in Healthcare isn’t just a podcast—it’s a pulse check on what’s possible. Hosted by emergency physician and educator Dr. Andrea Austin, Heartline features conversations with healthcare leaders, innovators, and quiet disruptors who are challenging the way things have always been done. Each episode explores real stories of change—from redefining leadership and communication, to reimagining systems built on burnout and hierarchy. This is a space for truth-telling, for asking better questions, and for reconnecting with the reason we all got into medicine in the first place: to make it better. This isn’t about perfection. It’s about progress—with heart. Follow Your Heartline and transform healthcare today! 🎓 Upcoming Events & Opportunities 🔥 ⁠⁠⁠⁠Recalibrate: Group Coaching for Physicians⁠⁠ Starting 2026, I’ll be co-leading Recalibrate with psychologist and coach Sharee ...
    Show More Show Less
    54 mins
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