In this episode of the Coleman Associates Innovation Podcast, Amanda Laramie sits down with four leaders from Cherry Health in Michigan to discuss their organization's journey toward truly integrated, whole-person care.

What started as an effort to better connect medical and behavioral health services evolved into a broader transformation of workflows, culture, patient access, and team-based care. Cherry Health shares how they redesigned operations, embedded behavioral health consultants, community health workers, nurse care managers, and other team members into primary care workflows, and created a more coordinated approach to serving patients.

The results have been significant. Listen for their No-Show rate reduction improvement, how they organically improved their patients per hour as a result of lower No-Shows, how they expanded integrated care to offer patients more services during one visit, and how that impacted their quality and financial stability too.

Throughout the conversation, the Cherry Health team discusses both the operational and cultural changes required to make integration successful, including redesigning workflows, clarifying team roles, creating accountability systems, and moving away from a permission-based culture toward one focused on finding ways to meet patient needs.

Guests:

Bill Joure, Chief Operating Officer

Julee Geib, Director of Practice Operations

Cynthia Wagenhofer, Chief Financial Officer

Anna Gerard, Director of Behavioral Health

Host: Amanda Laramie

Resources Mentioned:

The 4 Disciplines of Execution

Bill Joure references The 4 Disciplines of Execution by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling. The book's concepts around focusing on lead measures, creating visible scoreboards, and establishing a cadence of accountability influenced Cherry Health's approach to performance management and operational improvement.

Learn more: https://www.4dxbook.com

Mastering Leadership the Coleman Way by Melissa Stratman

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What happens when nurses are empowered to practice at the top of their license?

In this episode, Amanda sits down with Maria Durazo, RN and Isabelle Lunsford, RN, PHN, MSN, of Open Door Community Health Centers in CA, to discuss how they transformed the nursing role to improve access, support providers, and strengthen patient care in a highly rural environment.

Learn how Open Door built a Tactical Nursing model, developed nurse-led flip visits, created career pathways for nurses, and more than doubled the number of patients served through nurse visits through innovative nursing workflows.

Whether you're a clinical leader, nurse manager, or healthcare executive, this episode offers practical lessons on change management, workforce development, and maximizing the impact of your nursing team.

Guests: Maria Durazo, RN, and Isabelle Lunsford, RN, PHN, MSN

Host: Amanda Laramie

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In Part 2 of this powerful conversation, Amanda Laramie sits down with leadership researcher and author Zach Mercurio, PhD, to explore how leaders can create workplaces where people truly feel seen, valued, and connected.

Zach shares practical, everyday ways leaders can apply the principles of mattering — not through grand gestures, but through intentional interactions that build trust, belonging, and purpose within teams.

Together, they discuss how meaningful leadership impacts engagement, retention, resilience, and organizational culture.

Whether you lead a team, support patients, manage operations, or influence workplace culture, this episode offers actionable insights you can immediately apply to strengthen relationships and help people thrive personally and professionally.

Zach Mercurio is an author, researcher, and speaker specializing in purposeful leadership, meaningful work, and mattering. His work focuses on helping organizations create cultures where people feel valued and connected so they can thrive personally and professionally.

In This Episode:

• What “mattering” really means in leadership
• Why small moments of acknowledgment have a lasting impact
• Practical ways leaders can help employees feel valued
• How connection influences performance and well-being
• Building cultures where people thrive

Guest: Zach Mercurio
Host: Amanda Laramie

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What makes people feel valued at work? Why do some teams thrive even under pressure, while others struggle with burnout, disengagement, and turnover?

In Part 1 of this episode of the Coleman Associates Innovation Podcast, Amanda sits down with author, researcher, and speaker Zach Mercurio to explore one of the most important — and often overlooked — drivers of workplace performance and wellbeing: mattering.

Zach Mercurio, author of The Power of Mattering, shares the research behind why people need to feel seen, valued, and essential to do their best work. Together, Amanda and Zach unpack how leaders shape culture through everyday interactions — especially in fast-paced healthcare environments where stress, overwhelm, and constant demands can easily crowd out meaningful connection.

This conversation dives into:

• What “mattering” actually means in the workplace
• Why feeling valued impacts engagement, retention, and performance
• How leaders unintentionally create disconnection
• The difference between recognition and truly helping people feel seen
• How healthcare leaders can lead with greater intention during difficult seasons

Whether you’re leading a clinic, managing a frontline team, or simply trying to create a healthier work culture, this episode offers practical insights and powerful reminders about the human side of leadership.

Zach Mercurio, PhD, is an author, researcher, and speaker specializing in purposeful leadership, meaningful work, and mattering. His work focuses on helping organizations create cultures where people feel valued and connected so they can thrive personally and professionally.

And don’t miss Part 2 of this conversation up next, where Zach shares practical ways leaders can apply the principles of mattering in everyday interactions with their teams.

Guest: Amanda Laramie

Host: Zach Mecurio

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What’s possible in the first few weeks of true transformation work? This episode answers that question with clarity—and proof.

In this episode of the Coleman Associates Innovation Podcast, Amanda sits down with a powerhouse frontline team from a rural clinic in North Carolina that is already seeing remarkable results through the DPI™ (Dramatic Performance Improvement) Collaborative. In just two months, this small but mighty team has:

• Reduced No-Show rates consistently for 7 straight weeks
• Increased productivity by 27% at the time this was recorded. Since then, the average increase is 33% from baseline.
• Decreased cycle times overall by over 25%

And they’re just getting started.

You’ll hear directly from the people doing the work every day—provider Ashley, nurse Maddie (Madison), PSR Vanessa, and Peer Support Specialist Hannah, alongside Coleman coach Gabriel DelMuro. Together, they share what it really takes to turn intention into action, and action into measurable results.

This episode pulls back the curtain on:

• What the early days of DPI™ actually look like on the ground
• The specific challenges this team faced—and how they pushed through them
• How aligning roles across the care team unlocks rapid improvement
• The unexpected wins that come from doing this work the right way

Most importantly, this conversation highlights a powerful truth: you don’t have to wait months—or years—to see meaningful change.

Whether you’re a frontline team member actively in DPI™ or a leader wondering what’s possible in your own organization—especially in rural settings—this episode offers both inspiration and practical takeaways you can act on immediately.

Host: Amanda Laramie

Guests: Ashley, Maddie, Vanessa, Hannah, and Coleman Coach, Gabriel DelMuro

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What does it really take to turn empty appointment slots into a high-performing, fully utilized schedule—and keep it that way?

In this episode, Amanda sits down with three leaders from MLK Community Healthcare, a hospital-based primary care system in South Los Angeles. Five months after they graduated from the DPI™ Collaborative, they share how they didn’t just improve access—they fundamentally transformed how their system meets the demand of their patient community.

The results speak for themselves: cycle times reduced by 31% (from 73 to 50 minutes), productivity increased by 16%, No-Shows dropped from 22% to 15%, and chart completion soared from 53% to 88%. But the real story? Capacity utilization—starting at 66% and climbing as high as 96%—unlocking access without adding more resources.

Now, five months post-graduation, they’re sustaining those gains and continuing to build.

If you’re still struggling with access issues despite having open appointments, this episode will challenge how you think about capacity—and what’s truly possible.

Host: Amanda Laramie

Guests: Chad Vargas, Nyree Ramos, & Julie Castillo

Book shoutouts in this episode: Mastering Leadership, the Coleman Way High Impact Management Program™ by Melissa Stratman.

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In this special redux episode, we’re revisiting one of the most impactful episodes of the Coleman Associates Innovation Podcast: Change is a Game Changer #7.

Featuring Dr. Tim Spurrell, this conversation has surpassed 1,000 downloads—and continues to be the episode we recommend when health centers, especially providers, want a clear picture of how this work comes to life day-to-day.

In a time when burnout remains a defining challenge in healthcare, Dr. Spurrell offers more than perspective—he shares his own personal path forward. By focusing on what was within his control and rethinking how he engaged his team, he found a more sustainable way to practice.

This episode also introduces the core of our “sheep and shepherd” approach: clinicians remain the medical decision-makers, but the responsibility for care is shared across a well-designed, trusted team. The result is care that feels more connected, more manageable, and ultimately more human.

If you’re exploring what meaningful, practical change can look like in your setting, this episode offers a place to begin.

Because when the conditions are right, change doesn’t just happen—it transforms everything.

Hosts: Amanda Laramie & Ryan Jury

Guest: Dr. Timothy Spurrell

Book shoutouts in this episode: Mastering Leadership, the Coleman Way High Impact Management Program™ by Melissa Stratman.

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In this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Sarah Smith—family physician, charting coach, and host of the Sustainable Clinician Podcast—for a crossover conversation on how clinicians can get their charting and in-basket work done today, not tonight.

After years of taking work home and feeling the strain of burnout, Sarah rethought how clinical work gets done. Now, she helps clinicians break free from after-hours documentation and build more sustainable habits.

We explore what keeps clinicians stuck, what sustainable clinicians do differently, and how to take back control—one note at a time.

Guest: Sarah Smith, MD

Host: Amanda Laramie

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