Leaders from Ozarks Healthcare describe how their rural system is improving patient access through MEDITECH portal tools, including a new self-scheduling feature that quickly increased appointment volume and convenience for patients. They also highlight “virtual rounding,” where a remote specialist conducts visits via video while patients remain in the clinic, expanding access to care without requiring onsite presence. Overall, the conversation emphasizes using technology to streamline workflows, empower patients, and extend services despite rural constraints, with future plans for broader scheduling options and on-demand virtual care.

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Links for this episode:

Ozarks Healthcare | Healthcare in West Plains, Missouri

Priscilla A Frase, MD | LinkedIn

Brenda Cotter | LinkedIn

Patient Empowerment | MEDITECH

Aditya Bansod discusses operational AI in healthcare – technology that automates the processes between a patient seeking care and receiving it. Rather than just generating insights, this approach streamlines workflows like scheduling, communication, and intake, integrating directly with systems like MEDITECH to reduce administrative burden and improve access, especially for resource-constrained hospitals. A key example is fax automation: AI can read, classify, and route large volumes of incoming documents, eliminating manual work and delays. This allows staff to shift to patient-facing roles and supports broader improvements like automated calls, scheduling, and no-show recovery – ultimately making care more efficient and accessible.

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Links for this episode:

Luma | Operational AI for Healthcare

Aditya Bansod | LinkedIn

Leaders from two hospitals shared their experiences implementing MEDITECH as a Service (MaaS), highlighting why they chose it to streamline systems and support limited IT teams. Both emphasized strong governance with cross-functional committees, plus blended training approaches (online, in-person, and at-the-elbow) to prepare staff for a completely new system. At go-live, they reduced patient volumes and relied on internal teams and super users for support, avoiding external consultants. Key lessons included improving timing of training and increasing provider support, while ongoing optimization is managed through structured governance processes that prioritize requests based on impact and feasibility.

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Links for this episode:

MaaS Summit - 2026 Inspire Conference

Huggins Hospital

Bingham Memorial Hospital | Critical Access Hospital in Blackfoot, Idaho

MEDITECH as a Service (MaaS) | MEDITECH

Hear from Joe Corone, MEDITECH’s AI Product Manager, about the company’s strategy for integrating AI into its Expanse EHR. MEDITECH’s approach builds on prior investments in cloud infrastructure, mobile tools, and interoperability, aiming to embed AI directly into workflows. The goal is to reduce clinician burden, improve patient engagement, and support organizational sustainability – shifting from simply documenting care to “orchestrating care.” Learn about several AI tools in development, including a MyHealth assistant chatbot for patient self-service, ambient listening for physicians and nurses to automate documentation, and “Ask Expanse,” an in-chart assistant that summarizes data and generates clinical content. Additional pilots include AI agents for analyzing claim denials and drafting appeals. Joe emphasizes a future of more “agentic” AI that proactively gathers and presents information, helping care teams work more efficiently while staying in control.

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Links for this episode:

Expanse Artificial Intelligence | MEDITECH

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joecordone/

EHR Mobility | MEDITECH

This podcast features Willis Knighton Health’s team discussing how their large, integrated healthcare system implemented a structured, people-first change management process. The need arose during their MEDITECH Expanse rollout, when even small changes created unintended system-wide impacts – revealing gaps in coordination across departments and technologies. In response, they introduced a formal governance model with a Change Advisory Board (CAB), standardized request workflows, defined change windows, and strong leadership backing to ensure all changes are reviewed, communicated, and aligned across clinical and technical teams.

The new approach improved communication, reduced unexpected disruptions, and strengthened collaboration across IT and clinical staff. By centralizing change tracking and requiring cross-team input, they gained better visibility into system impacts and could proactively plan downtime or updates. The team emphasizes that success depends on continuous communication, clear criteria for emergency changes, and an iterative mindset – refining the process over time to balance efficiency with patient safety and operational stability.

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Links for this episode:

Blog post on change management by Maylin - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mailan-nguyen-ph-d-c-mpa-a85a051a8_people-first-change-management-activity-7386832252049088513-P7_8?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAADCPH8UBd_ixxa8bDF7CuBHcaLaC6sXEDIY

Willis Knighton Health - Top Hospitals and Doctors in Shreveport - Bossier City and the Ark-La-Tex

Methodology - Kotter International Inc

AI is rapidly transforming healthcare by automating routine administrative and support tasks – such as scheduling, patient inquiries, and documentation – allowing clinicians and staff to focus on higher-value, patient-centered care. Margaret Patachek highlights that AI-driven service desks can resolve issues faster, improve patient access, and achieve high satisfaction rates while reducing staff burnout and enabling organizations to invest in more skilled roles. Successful adoption requires a phased approach grounded in clear workflow assessment, strong stakeholder alignment (including IT, clinical, legal, and marketing), and attention to privacy and compliance. Looking ahead, AI has the potential to connect fragmented healthcare systems, analyze large-scale data, and guide best practices, ultimately improving outcomes, operational efficiency, and financial performance across organizations.

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Links for this episode:

LinkedIn – Margaret Ptacek

Experis – Tech Staffing & IT Solutions

Experis IT – Service Management Solutions

In this episode of MUSE Views, Brett Wangman discusses his role overseeing the organization’s technology strategy and digital member experience. He manages the Higher Logic platform that powers the MUSE website and community forums, along with systems for membership, payments, and analytics. Much of his current focus is preparing for the upcoming MUSE Inspire conference in Chicago (May 19–22), including managing registration, exhibitor logistics, conference website updates, and the event mobile app.

A key highlight of the conversation is Aidan, a new AI-powered search tool available to logged-in members. Aidan helps users find relevant information across forums, webinars, presentations, and other member resources by allowing natural-language questions and summarizing results with links to the original sources. While it only searches within the MUSE platform, it is designed to surface existing knowledge, reduce duplicate forum questions, and make community resources easier to access. Brett also encourages members to try the tool and share feedback to help improve it.

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Links for this episode:

Home - 2026 Inspire Conference

Member Engagement - Higher Logic Consulting - TCAG

In this episode of MUSE Views, host TJ Temple speaks with Josh Bessler about his path from bedside nursing to healthcare IT and his role in the hospital’s transition to MEDITECH Expanse. With a long-standing interest in technology, Josh joined the Expanse implementation team and now primarily supports providers, helping physicians navigate the EHR, improve workflows, and bring forward enhancement ideas through advisory meetings and PAC involvement.

A key topic is Morris Hospital’s expanded change control process, which Josh helps coordinate. The process goes beyond MEDITECH-required approvals to provide organization-wide visibility into system changes, using a tiered model for informational, standard, and emergency changes. This approach has improved communication across IT teams, helped the help desk anticipate issues, supported regulatory and audit needs, and encouraged cross-department collaboration.

The conversation closes with reflections on how change control evolved from a perceived burden into a valued practice, inspired similar efforts outside IT, and with Josh’s enthusiasm for attending the upcoming MUSE Inspire Conference in Chicago, close to home for Morris Hospital.