The Minimum Viable Hospital: Protecting Patient Care When Everything Is Offline
In this episode of Building Cyber Resilience: A Healthcare Leader’s Guide, host Josh Howell sits down with Dr. Sam Bhatia, Medical Director for Innovation in Microsoft’s Health & Life Sciences division. With a career that spans clinical practice, pathology-focused informatics, and global technology leadership, Dr. Bhatia brings a rare dual perspective on how hospitals can protect patient care when core systems fail. He breaks down how to define the Minimum Viable Hospital, why clinicians must shape recovery priorities, and how hybrid downtime models powered by AI can help health systems navigate the next decade of cyber disruptions.
🎧 You’ll learn:
How clinician insight sharpens risk decisions during recovery
Why the Minimum Viable Hospital centers on 3–5 essential systems
How identity, communication, and documentation sustain safe operations
Why manual workflow readiness matters as automation expands
How AI can support hybrid downtime procedures
Why attestation slows recovery and how a shared standard can help
How to prioritize life-saving work with the “grandma test”
Why disciplined decisions made before an incident shape true resilience
YouTube Chapters:
[00:00] Welcome and Introduction to Dr. Sam Bhatia
[00:39] From Clinician to Tech Leader: Sam’s Career Path
[01:29] How Meaningful Use Shaped His Shift Into Informatics
[04:59] Defining the Minimum Viable Hospital (MVH)
[06:20] What Belongs on a 3–5 System MVH List
[07:21] Identity and Infrastructure: The Fragile Core
[08:19] The Grandma Gate: Prioritizing What Saves Lives
[09:44] Relearning Manual Workflows in an Automated Era
[12:09] Why Clinicians Must Keep Security Top of Mind
[14:00] The Attestation Bottleneck and How to Fix It
[14:51] A Clinician-Centered Approach to Cyber Recovery
[15:30] Closing Reflections and Next Steps for Leaders
👉 You can explore the resilience framework discussed in this episode and access the supporting asset here : https://www.rubrik.com/lp/white-papers/building-cyber-resilience-a-healthcare-leaders-guide.
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