Innovation does not have to come with a hefty price tag, according to Thomas Jackiewicz, president of UChicago Medicine.

New research on the 811-bed health system’s patient advocacy program, using six years of data, shows that minor and nonurgent emergency department visit rates decreased by 45% among patients who received appointment scheduling assistance and navigation education, Mr. Jackiewicz told Becker’s.

“Research has shown that roughly 25% of adults between 18 and 64 years old visit EDs for nonurgent reasons,” he said. “If we can reduce even a fraction of those visits, it’s better for our patients and our organization. For me, that’s innovation in action and a substantial return on investment.”

UChicago Medicine’s medical home and specialty care connection program has relatively low operational costs but supports about 17% of patients who pass through its emergency department, regardless of insurance status. Patient advocates typically spend about a week with each patient in person and over the phone, helping them navigate the healthcare system and connect with insurance resources in an approachable way.

“As an academic health system, UChicago Medicine is built for addressing seemingly intractable challenges through innovation,” Mr. Jackiewicz said. “It’s core to our mission. That said, our commitment to research and innovation brings an added degree of complexity. New economic models, changing health policies and decreased government reimbursements challenge our ability to operate on razor-thin margins and invest in innovation.

“Despite these headwinds, we are not straying from our commitment to deliver transformative innovation that aligns with our long-term strategy. Our internal teams have deep experience with driving early experimentation, evaluating implementation and scalability challenges and, also, understanding when external partners are needed.”

Becker’s connected with six other health system leaders who shared innovations their organizations have implemented that created real value — for patients, staff or operations — without requiring major new spending.

Amy Linsin. Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer of Prisma Health (Greenville, S.C.): Prisma Health launched a team member recognition program in December 2022 using the Achievers platform, quickly increasing engagement through shared appreciation. In 2024, the organization partnered with CipherHealth and Achievers to integrate patient feedback into the system, allowing team members to view recognition from both patients and colleagues in one space. Leaders can enhance these acknowledgments with rewards and celebration notes, and thanks to integration with Workday, recognitions can be included in performance reviews. This innovation required minimal new investment but delivered meaningful value by strengthening employee engagement, reinforcing organizational culture, and deepening team members’ connection to their work. Prisma Health was honored with an Achievers A-List Award for Innovation in recognition of this strategic, high-impact initiative.

Terry Metzger. CFO of ProMedica (Toledo, Ohio): One innovation ProMedica has implemented to drive value is the restructuring of our front-end processes, which has enabled us to better meet patient expectations while maintaining operational efficiency and strong financial outcomes.

Key features of this initiative include expanded payment options, streamlined check-ins, cost transparency, and enhanced digital access for scheduling, medical records, and provider communications.

To support these enhancements, we refined our patient estimate process and established new teams for financial clearance and preregistration — creating a more reliable and seamless experience for patients.

With a centralized preregistration team in place, ProMedica has achieved a 98% preregistration rate, increased pre-service collections by 19%, and reduced the number of registration-related denials.

We accomplished these goals by effectively leveraging existing resources, which included reassigning staff, enhancing training and setting clear performance expectations with incentives.

Pam Oliver, MD. Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Novant Health (Winston-Salem, N.C.): To deliver best-in-class care, we must also care for our clinicians and keep administrative burden in check. We regularly survey our care teams and act on their feedback. This year, their feedback was clear: eliminating avoidable stressors — like the constant pressure from electronic health record alerts — makes a difference.

In response, we eliminated 2.4 million noncritical pop-up alerts that were disrupting workflow, which ultimately increased productivity in our electronic health record.

Thanks to clinician feedback, we’ve implemented changes over the past six years that have eliminated nearly 75 million clicks and saved 105,000 hours — or about 12 years — of administrative work. These are low-cost, high-impact solutions that benefit both patient care and clinician well-being.

Caswell Samms III. Executive Vice President and CFO of Nemours Children’s Health (Jacksonville, Fla.): At Nemours Children’s Health, one of the most valuable innovations came from reimagining how we use what we already have. By building digital care pathways within our existing Epic platform, we standardized care for common conditions like asthma and diabetes, improving outcomes and reducing unnecessary variation, like emergency department utilization, without major new spending. It’s a great example of frontline collaboration, using data and workflow redesign to create real value for patients, our associates and the organization.

Abby Stonecipher. Vice President of Enterprise Business Transformation of Prisma Health (Greenville, S.C.): Our imaging scheduling team has launched a highly successful bidirectional texting program that’s redefining patient engagement. With over 250 daily interactions, it’s driving measurable improvements in access, operational efficiency and patient satisfaction. This scalable platform not only simplifies scheduling, it also enhances communication through reminders, prep instructions and follow-up messaging. While the direct financial return is modest, the value it delivers to patients is significant.

Laren Tan, MD. Chair of the Department of Medicine at Loma Linda (Calif.) University Health: At Loma Linda University Health, we’ve launched multiple AI initiatives, but one that truly captures our vision is the ambient AI scribe program. As I reflect on where healthcare is heading, I see this not just as an investment in technology but an investment in people and in the future of medicine itself.

Adopting new technology is never without its challenges, yet we’ve chosen to embrace them head-on by extending ambient AI opportunities to more than 1,000 learners and 1,300 clinicians across our system. The impact has been profound, freeing clinicians to focus more on patients and less on documentation, strengthening the human connection that defines our mission, while giving our learners a glimpse into the kind of compassionate, relationship-centered healthcare they will one day lead.

When you look at the continuum of what this truly means is improving patient care, expanding access, and redefining the patient and clinician experience. The impact goes far beyond dollars and data. It’s transformational.

At Loma Linda University Health, we’re not just investing in innovation; we’re investing in people, the heart of our mission and the academics shaping the future of healthcare. And what’s remarkable is that this transformation hasn’t required major new spending, just vision, intentionality, and a commitment to invest wisely in what truly matters: people and purpose.

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