In this episode of The HealthCast, host Phil Zappone sits down with the team behind Silo Med, a platform creating AI-powered patient simulations for medical education.
Dr.
Richard Selinfreund, Andrew Primous, and Elijah Meldrim explain how clinical expertise, storytelling, software engineering, and generative AI come together to create realistic virtual patients that medical students and residents can interview, diagnose, and learn from in a safe environment.
The idea began with a failed attempt to build a traditional medical video game. The team quickly discovered that preprogrammed simulations could not anticipate every question, decision, or mistake a learner might make. The emergence of generative AI changed that by allowing virtual patients to respond dynamically and adapt to each conversation.
The result is a training platform designed to identify both knowledge gaps and behavioral gaps before learners begin treating real patients.
The team explains why medical education should evaluate more than whether a learner reaches the correct diagnosis. Strong clinicians must also build trust, recognize when patients are withholding information, respond to emotional concerns, and maintain the human relationship at the center of care.
Phil and the Silo Med team also discuss accessibility, real-time scoring, responsible AI, accreditation, global medical education, veterinary applications, and the challenges of earning trust in a crowded AI market.

Episode Chapters
00:47 – Meet the Silo Med team
01:42 – What Silo Med does
02:27 – How clinicians traditionally learned
03:00 – The failed video game that led to an AI breakthrough
04:36 – Building the first virtual patient
05:33 – Expanding simulations across medical specialties
05:58 – How storytelling brings virtual patients to life
08:13 – Real-time scoring and software development
09:48 – Why Silo Med has not moved into virtual reality
10:23 – Turning an academic project into a business
11:37 – Expanding access to medical education globally
12:43 – Why simulated patients should mislead or withhold information
14:58 – Designing a patient’s backstory and emotional state
15:39 – Silo Med’s mission and the team’s individual purpose
18:18 – Measuring knowledge and behavioral gaps
20:07 – Teaching empathy during difficult diagnoses
21:04 – The responsible use of AI
21:59 – Building trust with medical institutions
23:06 – Early exploration of veterinary medicine
24:42 – Validation and the future of accreditation exams
26:18 – Integrating simulations into medical curricula
27:08 – How Silo Med defines success
28:07 – Funding and adoption barriers
28:48 – Letting the technology speak for itself
29:10 – Where to learn more about Silo Med

Episode Resources:
Website | https://silomed.ai/
LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/silomed/
Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/silomedai/
Email | sales@silomed.ai

Check out what I do helping small businesses here:
Website | https://nxaihealth.com/
LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-zappone-647957379/

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In this episode of The Healthcast, host Phil Zappone speaks with Shlomit Liberty, founder of Patient Path NYC, about helping patients and families navigate some of the most overwhelming and confusing moments in healthcare.
Shlomit began her career as a medical speech-language pathologist, specializing in swallowing disorders, communication, and cognition in adults recovering from serious illness, surgery, and acquired brain injuries. Her work placed her at the center of complex medical decisions involving nutrition, rehabilitation, discharge planning, and collaboration across specialties.
Over time, she noticed a recurring problem: patients and families were often surrounded by highly skilled clinicians but still did not understand what was happening, what their options were, or what questions they needed to ask.
That realization led Shlomit to become a board-certified patient advocate and launch Patient Path NYC.
She describes her role as medical crisis management—serving as a bridge between patients, families, and hospital teams. By reviewing medical records, attending conversations, translating clinical language, tracking recommendations, and helping coordinate communication, she works to ensure that important information does not fall through the cracks.
Phil and Shlomit discuss the emotional importance of eating and swallowing, the difference between educating patients and policing their decisions, and why informed consent requires more than quickly asking, “Do you have any questions?”
The conversation also explores discharge planning, rehabilitation options, conflicting medical recommendations, medication timing, independent versus hospital-employed advocates, and the potential for technology and AI to help patients become more informed participants in their care.

Episode Chapters
00:50 – What a medical speech-language pathologist does
02:01 – Diagnosing swallowing disorders through imaging
04:35 – How speech pathology connects across medical specialties
06:10 – The emotional meaning of food and swallowing
06:58 – Advocating for informed patient decisions
08:18 – Shifting from judgment to education
09:40 – Why families struggle to ask questions in the hospital
10:05 – Translating medical language after clinicians leave
13:23 – The idea behind Patient Path NYC
15:48 – Who typically needs hospital-based advocacy
17:56 – Why families often seek help later than they should
20:40 – Medical crises and communication breakdowns
22:58 – Building relationships with the full care team
24:02 – Translating the medical chart into plain language
25:00 – Keeping families informed and aligned
26:18 – Tracking tests, medications, and conflicting recommendations
29:41 – Why patient advocacy remains unfamiliar
32:00 – How AI can help patients advocate for themselves
35:15 – AI-assisted medical imaging and swallowing assessment
37:52 – Growing a high-touch patient advocacy business

Episode Resources:
Website | https://patientpathnyc.com/
LinkedIn | http://linkedin.com/in/shlomit-liberty-28a221113/
Email | shlomit@patientpathnyc.com

Check out what I do helping small businesses here:
Website | https://nxaihealth.com/
LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-zappone-647957379/

Thank you for watching, don't forget to like, share, and subscribe!

In this episode of The Healthcast, host Phil Zappone speaks with Dr. Kristi Reguin-Hartman, President of the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses, about nursing leadership, clinical transformation, healthcare technology, and the future of medical-surgical nursing.
Dr. Reguin-Hartman shares the experience that first inspired her to pursue nursing: caring for a college student who had become paralyzed after a traumatic hockey injury. A single line he later wrote—“In the mornings, it was better”—showed her how meaningful it could be to make even a small difference in someone’s life.
She reflects on her journey from earning an ADN to completing a DNP, the mentors who encouraged her to accept opportunities before she felt fully prepared, and the philosophy that has shaped her career: say yes.
The conversation also examines some of the most urgent challenges facing nurses today, including unsafe staffing levels, excessive workloads, limited autonomy, difficult work environments, and the continued misconception that medical-surgical nursing is simply a starting point rather than a complex specialty.
Phil and Dr. Reguin-Hartman discuss why nurses must be included in healthcare technology design from the beginning, how health systems can improve technology adoption, and why clinical workflows should be built around the people who will actually use them.
The episode closes with a look at the future of nursing, from virtual and corporate nursing roles to AI, advocacy, professional recognition, and the importance of ensuring that the best voices—not simply the loudest—shape healthcare’s next chapter.

In This Episode
- How staffing, workload, acuity, and payment models intersect
- The risks of assigning one medical-surgical nurse too many patients
- AMSN’s fellowships, awards, education, publications, and advocacy
- How AI and rapid innovation may reshape healthcare
- Why healthcare cannot always put money first

Episode Chapters
00:53 – The experience that inspired a career in nursing
03:41 – Learning to care for a patient with complex needs
05:02 – A defining moment in nursing leadership
07:10 – How saying yes shaped Dr. Reguin-Hartman’s career
10:10 – Helping nurses understand that they have a voice
11:27 – When nursing becomes part of your identity
13:09 – Bridging healthcare technology and nursing leadership
14:23 – Why healthcare technology implementations struggle
15:26 – Rethinking staffing, workload, and patient outcomes
17:48 – The biggest issues facing medical-surgical nurses
19:50 – Nursing attrition and evolving career paths
21:34 – Workflows that create the most friction for nurses
22:51 – How AMSN chooses programs and initiatives
23:17 – Fellowships, health equity awards, and professional recognition
24:36 – Expanding recognition beyond traditional medical-surgical units
25:22 – Education, publications, and member resources
26:40 – The greatest opportunities and challenges ahead
28:40 – Where listeners can learn more about AMSN

Episode Resources:
Website | https://amsn.org/
LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristi-reguin-hartman/

Check out what I do helping small businesses here:
Website | https://nxaihealth.com/
LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-zappone-647957379/

Thank you for watching, don't forget to like, share, and subscribe!