E187: Steve West on Turning Failed Pilots Into Wins Inside a Health System

Most health systems write a check and call it innovation. Steve West built something different. In this episode of the Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show, host Michael Stamatinos sits down with Steve West, Managing Director of Healthliant Ventures, the innovation arm of Tanner Health, a five hospital system serving western Georgia and east Alabama. Steve runs a live clinical environment where healthcare startups get a real verdict. Real staff. Real patients. Real results. No press release. No logo deal. Just proof. Michael and Steve pull back the curtain on what it actually takes to get a startup through a health system. The contracts. The security reviews. The champions who can't actually close. The pilots that fail. And the ones that don't. Steve also shares something most operators never say out loud. The emotional waves of being a startup CEO. The exhilaration. The despair. The payroll anxiety at 2am. And why that experience makes him a better partner to the founders he works with today. What Michael and Steve cover: How Healthliant Ventures finds and structures startup partnerships without writing a check upfront Why most founders identify the wrong champion inside a health system The Care Sherpa story: a failed pilot, a pivot, and a 40% reduction in resource utilization What culture fit really means when you're a regional community health system The wound care technology that started in a clinic and is now headed system wide Why once you've seen one health system you've only seen one health system Timestamps: 03:45 Steve West Background and Early Career 06:54 From Russian Politics to Healthcare 10:19 Product Leadership at Anthem 13:32 Going All In on Fiona Tech 16:47 The Hardest Part of Being a Healthcare Startup CEO 19:51 How Steve Joined Healthliant Ventures 22:17 What Healthliant Ventures Actually Is 27:19 How They Prioritize Problems Inside Tanner Health 30:31 The Kent Imaging Wound Care Story 36:30 When Pilots Fail: Lessons From the Trenches 37:44 The Care Sherpa Pivot Story 40:18 What Founders Get Wrong About Health Systems 43:34 Pitching vs Being Pitched To 45:24 How to Follow Steve West and Healthliant Ventures 📣 LIKE, COMMENT & SUBSCRIBE If this conversation moved you, challenged your thinking, or sparked an idea, share it with someone who needs to hear it. Subscribe for more episodes with healthcare leaders who are not just thinking differently, they’re building differently. About the Show The Advancing Healthcare Innovation Show is hosted by Michael Stamatinos, a nationally recognized connector, strategist, and advocate for innovation with purpose. Each week, Michael interviews healthcare leaders who are driving meaningful change—highlighting stories of access, resilience, equity, and transformation. The AHI Show started with the idea of wanting to highlight stories of what healthcare innovation truly looks like in action. Our mission, highlight real people who are really innovating within healthcare. Guests include healthcare entrepreneurs, providers, payers, and professionals from the investment community. We showcase little wins as well as valuable lessons learned from setbacks through these interviews. The real innovators in healthcare are often the ones in the trenches doing the work with razor-sharp focus. We find these innovators and bring their stories to light. 🔗 Michael’s LinkedIn:   / michaelstamo   🎧 Subscribe for more episodes that move beyond theory and into the heart of what’s really possible in healthcare. Join our group, Advancing Healthcare Innovation Forum on LinkedIn:   / 7056196