Lessons I Learned From Starting a Podcast During the Pandemic

I started the Health Analytic Insights podcast during the pandemic for two reasons. Firstly, I started working in a field I was passionate about and I wanted to find a community of like-minded individuals to geek out with 😀 and secondly, I realized how difficult it was to break into the health informatics field and I wanted to provide others with actionable tips.

Starting a podcast has been a great learning opportunity for me to meet with people (virtually) from a variety of backgrounds, especially during the pandemic which has been an isolating situation for many. Starting this podcast for me was a way to connect and make new relationships with people during this difficult time.




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I had never started a podcast before so I watched a TON of YouTube videos to learn everything from what low-cost microphones you should buy, what podcast platform you should use and how to choose a show format. Learning something new was a saving grace to help break up the mundanity of lockdown life, which consisted of work, watching YouTube videos and bed. I felt lucky to still be using my brain towards a creative endeavor that made me happy, I was grateful that I had the opportunity to do all of this online, interviewing guests through Zoom and recording my own solo episodes in Audacity.

One of the lessons I learned starting this podcast is, there is so much knowledge out there to solve healthcare problems. Some of these issues that have been prevalent in healthcare for decades such as, health inequity, interoperability issues and clinician burnout might seem impossible to solve but through interviewing guests who work as patient advocates, healthcare actuaries, nursing informaticists and more, their wealth of knowledge and creativity gives me hope that these solutions are solvable, when taking an interdisciplinary approach.

Another lesson I learned, is that you can learn from anyone in the health informatics field regardless of if you are a student getting your degree or if you have 20+ years in the field. One of the great things about the health informatics field is that people come into this field from a variety of backgrounds. Some people fall into health informatics after working as a nurse for 10 years, some people have worked at a help desk in the hospital and transition into a health informatics role. Therefore, people come into this field bringing their own unique perspective about issues they see in healthcare and this perspective is so key to making advances. This field is at the intersection of healthcare and technology and therefore, we need those vast perspectives if we want to make significant changes.

One of the final lessons I learned from starting the Health Analytic Insights podcast is the importance of data governance in an organization. Data governance is the foundation to drive advanced analytics and interoperability. Data governance will drive the privacy and security of healthcare data, as well as, standardizing the format to enable sharing within and between healthcare organizations.

I am grateful for the students that the podcast has helped and for the kind messages listeners have left regarding the podcast, it makes the time spent, worth it!

P.S. The Health Analytic Insights podcast made the Top 60 Healthcare Industry Podcasts By Health Professionals in 2021 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆



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