Field Notes Newsletter: Conversation to Action: Why Beyond the Blueprint Exists

Keith Washington
May 4
4 min read

Updated: May 5

If you’ve spent any time in healthcare IT, you’ve probably noticed something: we’re not short on

ideas, we’re short on alignment. Alignment between strategy and execution. Between clinical teams and IT. Between what gets discussed in boardrooms and what actually works on a Tuesday afternoon in a busy hospital.

That gap is exactly why we launched Beyond the Blueprint.

The podcast wasn’t designed to be another place to talk about trends. There are plenty of those.

Instead, we wanted to create a space for real conversations with the people doing the work –

CMIOs, CIOs, nurses, operators, and innovators who are navigating the complexity of healthcare every day. The kind of dialogue where people are honest about what’s working, what isn’t, and what they’d do differently if they had the chance. Because the reality is, most transformation doesn’t fail because of bad ideas, it fails in the handoff between vision and execution, especially in environments where uncertainty is high and complexity is the norm.

This newsletter is a natural extension of that work.

Each month, we’ll pull out the most relevant insights from our latest episodes, usually two per

month, and translate them into something you can actually use. Not just what’s happening in the

industry, but why it matters and how it might apply inside your own organization. And if there’s one idea that keeps showing up across these discussions, it’s this: healthcare organizations are rethinking how they build.

That’s one of the reasons Unvendor by Harm Scherpbier has struck a chord with so many

leaders right now.

At a time when many health systems are still operating within large, single-vendor environments, Unvendor challenges that model directly. While single-vendor platforms can simplify decisions, they can also introduce friction, slow innovation, and limit flexibility, particularly when integrating new technologies at scale.

What Dr. Scherpbier proposes instead is a more modular, interoperable approach, a best of breed strategy that enables organizations to evolve over time. And here’s what’s interesting: we’re already hearing this shift in real time.

Across Beyond the Blueprint episodes, leaders aren’t just talking about technology decisions – they’re talking about how those decisions get made. They’re moving away from one-size-fits-all

procurement models and toward more collaborative, co-created environments. They’re treating

interoperability as a strategic advantage, not just a requirement. And they’re building infrastructures that can actually keep pace with AI, new care models, and rising expectations from clinicians and patients alike.

In many ways, they’re already “unvendor-ing”, even if they don’t call it that. But this isn’t just a technology shift. It’s a mindset shift. It requires new ways of thinking about partnership. About governance. About how clinical, operational, and IT teams work together. And, most importantly, it requires a willingness to challenge the idea that the way things have always been done is the way they need to remain.

That’s what Beyond the Blueprint is really about. Not perfection. Not theory. But progress.

So if these are the kinds of conversations you’re already having, or the ones you wish your

organization was having, I’d encourage you to stay connected with us.

Subscribe, share this newsletter with a colleague, forward it to a CMIO, a CNIO, or an IT leader

working through these challenges, and if something resonates, let us know. We’re building more

than content, we’re building a community. Because the more we share what’s actually working, the faster we can move, together, beyond the blueprint.

From the Field

Notable conversations you need to hear

Teaching Doctors in the Age of AI: Trust, Risk, and the Future of Clinical Thinking

AI is already showing up in the exam room, but are we actually preparing the next generation of physicians to use it well? In this episode, Drs. May Lin, Saroj Misra, Renu Agnihotri, and Shivam Vedak take an honest look at how medical education is (and isn’t) keeping up. From faculty still getting up to speed to inconsistent guidance across training sites to the very real risk of automation bias, the conversation digs into the tension between moving faster and training smarter. They also tackle a bigger question: how do you build strong clinical instincts in an era where AI is always within reach? If you care about the future of physician training or the safety of AI in practice, this episode is a must-listen.

Listen on Spotify

Watch on YouTube

What does it actually take to make an EHR "AI-ready"

In this AMDIS Roundtable, Drs. Eve Cunningham, Howard Landa, and Deepti Pandita go beyond the buzzwords to unpack what’s really happening inside health systems right now, from messy data and inbox overload to the rise of shadow AI and growing clinician frustration. They get candid about why most AI tools still fall short, where ambient tech helps (and where it doesn’t), and why the real challenge isn’t adding more technology. In fact, it’s rethinking workflows and restoring the human side of care. If you’re curious where AI in the EHR is headed, and what’s getting in the way, this is a conversation worth a listen.

Listen on Spotify

Watch on YouTube