McLeod Health approached AI deployment with a focus on removing friction from clinical workflows rather than chasing financial returns, says CMIO Bryon Frost.
LAS VEGAS– Healthcare leaders evaluating AI are finding that its value cannot be measured by financial return alone.
While cost savings remain important, many organizations are focusing just as heavily on improvements in clinician experience, patient care and operational efficiency.
At the HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition panel “Beyond ROI: What AI Is Really Worth in Healthcare,” executives and clinical informatics leaders discussed how AI is beginning to deliver measurable benefits in areas that traditional ROI models often overlook — particularly in reducing administrative burden and restoring clinician satisfaction.
Craig Levoy, medical director of clinical informatics at Community Quality Alliance, said his organization’s experience with ambient AI documentation has demonstrated how dramatically the technology can change physician workflows.
“One of our priorities is clinician satisfaction — bringing back the joy in medicine,” Levoy said. Early pilots showed strong engagement, but the level of enthusiasm among clinicians still surprised leadership.
“What we heard back was providers who said they’d come after us if we took the technology away,” he said. “I’ve never seen excitement around technology like this.”
The shift has been particularly visible among clinicians who previously struggled with documentation demands. Levoy said some physicians who once spent weekends completing charts are now reclaiming personal time.
“Suki has totally given these providers their lives back,” he said. “It’s one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve been a part of.”
Bryon Frost, chief medical information officer at McLeod Health, said his organization approached AI deployments with a narrow focus: removing friction from clinical workflows rather than chasing financial returns.
“We were laser focused on the value proposition—removing friction from the system,” Frost said.
Frost emphasized that the goal was not to increase physician workloads. Instead, clinicians were encouraged to use the time savings however they preferred.
“We told our physicians to go home early or spend more time with their patients, not take on additional patients,” he said.
Sap Sinha, president and chief operating officer of Allied Digestive Health, said adoption patterns within his organization were also surprising. Contrary to expectations, more experienced physicians were often the earliest adopters of ambient AI.
“I thought the younger people would adopt it first, but it was the opposite,” Sinha said. “The older physicians realized it allowed them to go back to seeing their patients.”
The technology has also helped Allied Digestive Health adapt to workforce shortages. With limited physician availability, the organization increasingly relies on nurse practitioners who must document extensive clinical notes.
Sinha said AI-powered summarization tools have improved both documentation quality and workflow efficiency.
“We now train our nurse practitioners on Suki when we hire them,” he said.
All three said choosing the right technology partner is becoming just as important as selecting the technology itself, with Frost noting innovation capability and long-term development roadmaps were key factors in evaluating vendors.
“I’m not interested in it just for the ambient documentation,” Frost said, pointing to broader opportunities for AI to streamline administrative tasks and clinical workflows.
Looking ahead, participants said AI may also help clinicians manage the growing complexity of modern medicine. Frost noted that medical knowledge is expanding rapidly, making it increasingly difficult for clinicians to stay current.
“Medical knowledge is doubling every 76 days,” he said, explaining AI-driven knowledge graphs and digital assistants embedded in clinical workflows could help physicians access relevant insights during patient care.
For many organizations, the long-term promise of AI lies in its ability to synthesize vast amounts of healthcare data and support more personalized treatment decisions.
“Data is everything to us,” Levoy said. “Without AI, it would be impossible to synthesize that data.”