In the latest episode of The Health Literacy 2.0 Podcast, Seth Serxner is joined by Linda Macomber to explore how AI, digital health tools, and stronger health literacy can help people make better decisions and navigate healthcare with greater confidence.

Linda Macomber is a professor and health tech digital consultant who has worked at the intersection of healthcare and technology for more than 25 years. Her experience spans ICU nursing, health IT, academia, graduate education in health informatics, and consulting. She also created Renaissance.Health, a multimedia resource designed to help individuals, professionals, and healthcare organizations understand and use emerging digital health and AI tools.

Seth Serxner and Linda also discuss:

☑️ AI as a Health Partner: AI can translate test results into plain language, help people prepare questions, and support more informed conversations with healthcare professionals 22:08.

☑️ Start with Health Portals: Understanding how to access and connect personal health portals is a foundational step toward using digital health tools effectively 15:24.

☑️ Beyond ChatGPT: Claude, Perplexity, Open Evidence, Gemini, and other platforms may serve different purposes, with some offering stronger healthcare evidence and source links 07:33.

☑️ Evidence Builds Trust: Perplexity’s reference links and the ability to compare multiple AI models can help people evaluate health information more carefully 08:25.

☑️ Personalize the Message: AI can translate health information into different languages and education levels, then turn it into an infographic, video, or podcast summary 09:33.

☑️ Move from Snapshots to a Health Journey: Self-monitoring tools can provide a more continuous view of health, while AI can help identify priorities across large amounts of data 11:09.

☑️ Keep Humans in the Decision Loop: AI may identify possibilities people or professionals have missed, but individuals and healthcare professionals remain responsible for making decisions 13:14.

☑️ Replace One-and-Done Searches with Conversations: Ongoing dialogue can help AI function more like a coach, with better questions, references, and insights developing over time 17:31.

☑️ Build AI Literacy Alongside Health Literacy: The opportunity lies in learning what people can do with AI, not simply cataloging what the technology can do 20:26.

Want to discover how EdLogics empowers organizations to boost health literacy, activate healthier behaviors, and cultivate real engagement across your workforce? Visit the EdLogics website for more.

Learn About EdLogics

Want to see how EdLogics' gamified platform can boost health literacy, drive engagement in health and wellness programs, and help people live happier, healthier lives?

Visit the EdLogics website: www.edlogics.com.

Get Seth's Book

Check out The Wellbeing Effect by Seth Serxner.

In this episode of The Health Literacy 2.0 Podcast, host Seth Serxner engages in an insightful conversation with Vincent Catalano, founder of Clear Healthcare Solutions and host of the Clearly Beneficial podcast, delving into the strategies and challenges behind workforce health literacy and employee benefits.

Vincent Catalano brings over two decades of experience in the employee benefits industry, beginning his journey in a local brokerage before navigating the complexities of large firms. Now an independent consultant and thought leader, Vincent focuses on empowering organizations to make proactive, strategic choices about their benefits offerings, rather than getting stuck on the annual “benefits hamster wheel.” Through his advisory work and podcast, he facilitates conversations that shed light on what truly drives successful benefits strategies and employee engagement.

Seth and Vincent discuss:

☑️ Breaking the Benefits Hamster Wheel: Most organizations default to a reactive, year-to-year approach rather than strategic, long-term benefits planning.

☑️ The Strategy Gap in Mid-sized Organizations: Small and mid-market companies often lack the infrastructure for thoughtful benefits decision-making—relying heavily on their advisors.

☑️ Compounding Cost Concerns: Healthcare premiums have escalated dramatically over the last two decades, leaving both employers and employees paying far more than in years past.

☑️ The Five Essentials for Employees: Every employee should understand their premium, deductible, coinsurance, copay, and out-of-pocket max - basic knowledge that is often missing.

☑️ Moving Beyond Passive Open Enrollment: Benefits education should be as robust as other mandatory trainings, ensuring employees (and their families) know how to use plans effectively.

☑️ Incentives Drive Engagement: Participation in wellness programs often hinges on incentives, while newer benefit designs that reduce out-of-pocket costs for high-value care can improve outcomes.

☑️ The Importance of Informed Buyers: HR and benefits teams must be educated, strategic consumers, holding brokers accountable, understanding compensation structures, and prioritizing transparency.

Vincent’s insights reveal that the future of workforce health literacy depends on proactive education, strategic planning, and stronger partnerships across all levels of the benefits ecosystem.

Want to discover how EdLogics empowers organizations to boost health literacy, activate healthier behaviors, and cultivate real engagement across your workforce? Visit the EdLogics website for more.

Learn About EdLogics

Want to see how EdLogics' gamified platform can boost health literacy, drive engagement in health and wellness programs, and help people live happier, healthier lives?

Visit the EdLogics website: www.edlogics.com.

Get Seth's Book

Check out The Wellbeing Effect by Seth Serxner.

In this episode of The Health Literacy 2.0 Podcast, host Seth Serxner welcomes Neal Sofian - public health innovator and behavioral change expert - to examine the future of workforce health literacy and what it takes to truly activate, engage, and empower people on their health journeys.

Neal Sofian is the CEO emeritus of Tuzag and a pioneer in population health. Neal’s passion lies in transforming research into scalable practice, harnessing human storytelling, personalization, and cross-disciplinary insights to drive meaningful change in health and wellbeing at scale.

Seth and Neal also discuss:

• Personalization at Scale: Effective health engagement starts by focusing on the individual’s passions, vulnerabilities, and life circumstances—not just their risk factors or diagnoses.
• Engagement vs. Activation: Engagement is only the first step; real value happens when people are activated—taking concrete actions to improve their health.
• Rethinking ROI: Neal advocates for a blended cost-effectiveness approach—matching the right intervention to the right person and tracking real-world outcomes across programs.
• The Role of Employers: Employers are uniquely positioned to benefit from an engaged, healthy, and productive workforce, but need to think beyond short-term cost containment.
• AI as a Tool, Not a Silver Bullet: AI is well-suited to ask better questions, identify journeys, and support expert systems, but must remain grounded in behavioral models and always point back to person-to-person connection when appropriate.
• Health Literacy as Relevance: Making information truly relevant through story, metaphor, and context unlocks complex understanding—even for sophisticated topics.
• Trust as the Foundation: Building trust, even in small ways, is essential to nudge individuals from passive engagement to active participation in their health.

Neal’s core message: Start with people - see their humanity first, build trust, and everything else, from engagement to activation to measurable outcomes, will follow.

Want to discover how EdLogics empowers organizations to boost health literacy, activate healthier behaviors, and cultivate real engagement across your workforce? Visit the EdLogics website for more.

Learn About EdLogics

Want to see how EdLogics' gamified platform can boost health literacy, drive engagement in health and wellness programs, and help people live happier, healthier lives?

Visit the EdLogics website: www.edlogics.com.

Get Seth's Book

Check out The Wellbeing Effect by Seth Serxner.