The COVID-19 pandemic has propelled the healthcare industry into a new era, prompting hospitals and health systems to embrace telehealth, artificial intelligence (AI), and automation more deeply. As the industry moves towards a future less reliant on traditional healthcare practices, leaders at UC Davis Health (UCD Health) recognize the need to leverage AI fully.

Despite facing the challenges of the past three years and committing $7 billion for construction on its aging campus, UCD Health’s strong operating results in 2022 (33% net operating revenue compared to 15% for hospitals nationwide, according to Kaufman Hall data) and consistent patient volumes (ranging from 85% to 90% on most days) have given it the financial traction to invest in more advanced IT with the potential of becoming an AI-powered organization.

During the HealthLeaders webinar “Leveraging Innovation Technology to Impact the Bottom Line and Top Line of a Health System,” sponsored by U.S. Bank, Cheryl Sadro, CPA, MSM, CFO, and colleague Ashish Atreja, MD, MPH, CIO, and chief digital health officer, shared UCD Health’s vision for maximizing the value of technology, outlining the decision-making process required to drive exponential ROI. Their insights, summarized here, include a four-step roadmap for hospital leaders looking to build an integrated digital health and AI ecosystem.