HealthLeaders' Michelle Ponte sits down with Rob St. John, senior clinical director and technical fellow for the Acute Care and Monitoring Division of Medtronic, to learn how HealthCast's portfolio can allow nurses and clinicians to deliver better care without replacing them.
This week’s The Winning Edge panel set the stage for AI in clinical support, from compiling a better patient record to identifying the care gaps in population health.
Clinical care is the next big thing for AI integration, and healthcare leaders have a lot of ideas about how the technology can be used.
In this week’s The Winning Edge, sponsored by Lightbeam Health Solutions, Michael Wells, president of OSF HealthCare’s Saint Francis Medical Center in Illinois, and Ishani Ved, MHA, CPHQ, FHELA, director of transformational population health and outcomes for Saint Peter’s Healthcare System in New Jersey, explained how AI is slowly and carefully being used to help with care management.
Ved noted the benefits to population health, particularly in gathering and assessing data from disparate and siloed sources to understand the social determinants of health that are keeping underserved populations from accessing the care they need. And Wells pointed to the possibilities in improving inpatient care, from capturing conversations in the hospital room to improving the patient’s medical record, even monitoring patients when no one else is in the room.
Both said the key to using AI in clinical care is ensuring that the data used in AI programs is up to date and reliable, and that means good governance and continuous monitoring. It also means making the entire process transparent, and helping doctors and nurses understand how AI will improve their workflows and give them more time to spend with their patients.
As Danielle Bergman, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, AVP of clinical development at Lightbeam Health, noted, AI has the opportunity to take a lot of time-consuming and administrative tasks off the provider’s “mental bandwidth” and help them focus on patient care.
Here’s the YouTube presentation of Tuesday’s webinar.
Nurses are overworked and feeling burnt out, and that plus high cost of living pressures is a recipe for increased turnover rates.
As cost of living continues to rise, nurses, like many other professionals, are feeling the strain. Financial insecurity has a significant impact on every aspect of a person's life, and inadequate compensation can be a major driving factor in employee turnover at an organization.
According to Bankrate's 2024 Financial Freedom Survey, Americans report needing to make a six-figure salary of $186,000 on average to live comfortably, which is more than double the $79,000 that the average full-time employee makes annually. Additionally, about 75% of Americans report that they are not completely financially secure.
When thinking about the nursing workforce shortage and why it's happening, it's critical that CNOs take a look at compensation. To get a full picture of nurse compensation in 2025, let's take a look at some facts and figures.
The current state of compensation
As of June 4, 2025, the average RN salary is $43.97 an hour, according to a report by Vivian. If a nurse works the standard 52 weeks at 40 hours per week, this number comes out to be $91,457 annually. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median annual wage for RNs was $93,600 in 2024, which translates to $45 an hour.
In 2025, the highest paying state for RNs is California, with an average hourly salary of $73, and a max hourly salary of $91, according to the Vivian report. The next highest paying states are Oregon ($69 average), New York ($62 average), Minnesota ($61 average,) and North Carolina ($56 average). Vivian also reports that the average travel nurse salary is $2,147 per week, and the highest paying state is California, with an average weekly salary of $2,570 and a maximum of $4,491 per week for traveling nurses.
When comparing the average and max hourly rates in each state, it becomes clear that many nurse salaries are hovering below the six-figure salary threshold needed to live comfortably without worry. According to the 2024 National Nursing Workforce Study conducted by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), one of the top five reasons nurses are leaving the workforce is inadequate salary.
While many health systems are operating on thin margins, it's important to keep in mind that nurse turnover also comes with a price tag. The average cost of turnover for a bedside RN is $61,110, according to the 2025 NSI National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report.
Nurses are overworked and feeling burnt out, and that plus high cost of living pressures is a recipe for increased turnover rates. CNOs must do what they can to advocate for their nurses and define the value of their work to build more sustainable workforces that benefit the nurse, the patient, and the organization.
This week’s Winning Edge webinar focused on the benefits and challenges of adding AI to clinical care pathways
After seeing success with AI in back-end operations and the revenue cycle, healthcare executives are eager to see how the technology can benefit clinical care.
But as the executives in this week’s The Winning Edge webinar, sponsored by Lightbeam Health Solutions, pointed out, there are a lot more checks and balances in play when patient care is affected. The data used in these programs has to be reliable and up-to-date, requiring strong governance and continuous monitoring. And both providers and patients have to confident that AI is being used to make things easier.
That said, Michael Wells, president of OSF Healthcare’s Saint Francis Medical Center; Ishani Ved, MHA, CPHQ, FHELA, director of transformational population health outcomes at Saint Peter’s Healthcare System; and Danielle Bergman, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, AVP of clinical development at Lightbeam Health noted, there are key pain points in clinical care – both inside and outside the hospital – that AI can address.
Here are three ideas. Also read today’s wrap-up in HealthLeaders and check back tomorrow for the YouTube video of Tuesday’s webinar.
The health system's virtual nursing program has morphed quite a bit in the med surg realm, says this nursing science leader.
While virtual nursing will likely have an impact in all areas of health systems, many organizations are beginning their programs on med surg units and have seen great successes in doing so. As virtual care technology continues to evolve, med surg units will also change and patient care workflows will become more efficient.
Monique Bouvier, corporate director of nursing science at Emory Healthcare and assistant professor at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, recently gave HealthLeaders an update on the health system's virtual nursing progress over the past year.
Bouvier is part of the HealthLeaders Virtual Nursing Mastermind program, which brings together several health systems to discuss the ins and outs of their virtual nursing programs and what their goals are for now and the future.
What's changed?
Since last year, Bouvier told HealthLeaders that Emory's virtual nursing program has morphed quite a bit in the med surg realm.
"A year ago, we did a pilot to show the value," Bouvier said. "Now, we are hard-wiring bidirectional virtual nursing systems into our patient rooms, and hope to have 1,000 medical-surgical rooms hard-wired for virtual care by the end of the year."
Right now, Emory uses patient care metrics to measure outcomes, including length of stay, readmissions, number of ED visits, patient satisfaction, and quality metrics.
“Additionally, for our nurses we are capturing retention, contract utilization, nurses' perceived workload, work satisfaction, [and] time spent in the EHR," Bouvier said.
In terms of staffing, Bouvier explained that they are on a journey to discover the right model.
"We are really listening to our nurse and patient needs, desires, and critiques to create a staffing strategy that meets the needs of not only our patients, but our nursing staff as well," Bouvier said.
Currently, the health system is working with several vendors for virtual care technology, but the goal is to consolidate as much as possible.
"Our end goal is to have a virtual platform that is a one-stop shop across all sectors of care," Bouvier said.
Overcoming obstacles
As this is a huge financial investment for hospitals to take on, Emory Healthcare is intentionally measuring impact of such a significant investment. Bouvier explained that right now, literature is limited to rely upon for metrics, staffing, and financial benefits, which can make virtual nursing programs a hard sell.
"We are kind of building the ship as we sail because inpatient medical-surgical virtual care is truly a new nursing care delivery model," Bouvier said. "As nurses, we follow evidence-based practices, and because the inpatient virtual landscape is developing, I can understand the hesitancy of investing time and money."
However, Bouvier believes that this technology is not going to go away, and it's the responsibility of partners in the technology space to ensure that the technology is working for providers. Bouvier also pointed out how the virtual care boom is happening concurrently with the rise of AI.
"These huge shifts have revealed a level of unknowns with new technology," Bouvier said. "Hospital organizations need to acknowledge that shift and work with their medical staff to ensure informed, safe, [and] ethical roll outs."
The future is bright
As of right now, Bouvier does not expect much to change on the technological front as the health system is still working on deploying and implementing all of the new technologies for inpatient virtual care, with a current focus on integrating translation services. However, going forward, Bouvier said that Emory plans to expand the virtual care program to outpatient settings.
"We are starting a pilot program for a virtual transition of care platform for our patients from the inpatient to outpatient setting," Bouvier said. "We want our patients to experience uninterrupted care across their care journey."
So far, nurses have reported experiencing benefits from the virtual care program, and have expressed to Bouvier that they appreciate it.
"Hearing nurses who were initially hesitant to be part of the virtual nursing trial transform their thoughts from uncertainty to praise for the platform has been the best part," Bouvier said. "We are taking the time and listening to our nurses via an empathy-based PDSA cycle, [and] that is what has made this great."
The HealthLeaders Mastermind seriesis an exclusive series of calls and events with healthcare executives. This Virtual NursingMastermind series features ideas, solutions, and insights intoexcelling your virtual nursing program.Please join the community at our LinkedIn page.
To inquire about participating in an upcoming Mastermind series or attending a HealthLeaders Exchange event, email us at exchange@healthleadersmedia.com.
Drowning in data? Healthcare teams use AI to turn information into impact.
AI is moving into the healthcare management at a rapid pace, as healthcare executives look for ways to apply the technology to care pathways both inside and outside the hospital room.
In this week’s The Winning Edge webinar, sponsored by Lightbeam Health Solutions, executives from Saint Peter’s Healthcare System in New Jersey and OSF HealthCare in Illinois discussed how they’re using AI to improve care delivery. This includes:
Using the technology to draw from disparate and often siloed data sources and create a complete patient care record for nurses and doctors, giving them ideas on future treatments and improving handoffs to other care team members;
Using ambient technology to record conversations between patients and their care team in the hospital room, sifting through the details to enter relevant data into the EMR; and
Integrating AI with video technology to monitor patients, especially when no one else is in the room, reducing patient falls and alerting care team members if someone shows signs of physical or mental distress.
Michael Wells, president of OSF HealthCare’s Saint Francis Medical Center, says the technology, while still in its earlier stages in clinical care, offers opportunities for care teams to gather and process large amounts of data more quickly, helping to fine-tune nursing workflows and improve bedside care.
Ishani Ved, MHA, CPHQ, FHELA, director of transformational population health and outcomes at New Jersey-based Saint Peter’s, sees the benefits from a population health angle. AI, she says, can address care gaps caused by social determinants of health, giving providers insights into barriers and offering recommendations on care pathways.
For example, she says, AI might better identify patients who have transportation problems and need help getting to and from the hospital or doctor’s office. Or the technology could identify environmental hazards for patients with chronic conditions, such as air quality concerns for those with asthma or COPD, and help clinicians devise care plans that can address those hazards.
The key, both executives said, is in integrating the technology with current workflows and giving clinicians the support and education they need to use AI. That might mean pointing out to reluctant doctors and nurses how AI gives them important data and insights at the point of care, or, as Wells pointed out, sometimes reining in over-enthusiastic clinicians who have seen how AI works and want to move more quickly than standards or guidelines dictate.
As Danielle Bergman, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, AVP of clinical development at Lightbeam Health Solutions, noted, AI has the potential to “offload mental bandwidth” for clinicians, allowing them to prioritize their time, giving them the tools to know what actions to take, enabling them to see which patients need more attention sooner, and identifying at-risk populations and events.
Transparency, Reliability, And That Ever-Elusive ROI
In care management, AI tools are only as good as the data they use. And that means making sure governance and continuous monitoring have high priority.
For Ved, that means making sure AI tools are kept up to date with the latest data, so that the insights they provide accurately reflect the populations they’re addressing. Health system and hospital leaders not only need to check the data (or, if working with a vendor, meet often to discuss data quality) but ensure that both patients and clinicians see that transparency.
Both Ved and Wells noted that as AI integrates into clinical care, the idea that the technology must produce a financial return on investment will grow fuzzy. That’s because benefits like improved clinical outcomes, better workflows and reduced provider stress and burnout don’t always show clear monetary results. And that’s where the industry’s move towards value-based care will help develop new definitions of ROI.
Ved points out that population health isn’t always about profit but more about outcomes – it won’t make money for hospitals, but it will save money in reduced expenses, from better healthcare management that reduces adverse health events like ED visits and hospital stays, to more proactive care that curbs chronic and preventable health concerns.
Wells says AI improves efficiency, which has clear financial benefits when a health system or hospital can reduce hospital stays, opening up beds for more patients in need of care and enabling more timely procedures and surgeries. At the same time is frees up clinicians to be better caregivers, reducing the stress around repetitive administrative tasks and helping executives manage their workforce.
Both see AI developing into a clinical decision support tool, not only giving clinicians the date they need for helping to point them in the right direction on treatment. As well, it will give consumers the insight they need to live healthier lives, empowering them to make better decisions and to have more valuable interactions with their doctors and nurses.
CNOs need to take a look at their health system's policies and provide guidance to nurses who might have future interactions with ICE or CBP agents.
On Jan. 20, the Trump Administration revoked a policy that protected sensitive locations, including hospitals, from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) enforcement actions.
In the wake of these removed protections, preparedness is key. Earlier this year, the ACLU released a fact sheet titled Immigration Enforcement Guidance for Health Centers, which contains several tips for how to prepare for immigration enforcement in health systems.
Here are 8 tips that CNOs should know, according to the ACLU.
Reducing upfront burdens helps nurses take stressors of their plate so they can work on some of the professional pathways they want to pursue, says this nurse leader.
On this episode of HL Shorts, we hear from Abby Rudy, VP of Nursing, Adult Critical Care at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, about professional development programs that health systems can offer to improve nurse retention. Tune in to hear her insights.
AI is being developed in the inpatient space to improve clinical care. Here's what you need to know.
Many of the early wins for AI in healthcare have come in administrative tasks, where the technology can gather and assess large amounts of data faster and more efficiently than humans. Now that the technology has evolved, clinical leadership is turning its focus to care management.
Ai offers a number of opportunities to improve clinical care, from tracking conversations and compiling transcripts to developing care summaries, facilitating handoffs and even coordinating patient outreach and communications.
This week’s HealthLeaders Winning Edge panel, sponsored by Lightbeam Health Solutions, will explore how health systems and hospitals are developing AI to handle those tasks, giving clinicians better, more complete patient histories and more time to spend with them, rather than on a computer. The panel will also discuss the challenges to using AI in the clinical space, including securing clinician support, educating clinicians on how to use these tools and facilitating workflow changes.
This week’s panel consists of Michael Wells, president of OSF Healthcare’s Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, Illinois; Ishani Ved, MHA, CPHQ, FHELA, director of transformational population health and outcomes for Saint Peter’s Healthcare System in New Jersey; and Danielle Bergman, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC, AVP of clinical development for Lightbeam Health Solutions.
Tune in Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET to learn how AI is helping leading health systems and hospitals improve their care management strategies.
Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, part of the CommonSpirit Health network, is eliminating 116 jobs and revising its virtual care strategy following passage of the Washington state budget, which officials estimate will cost the hospital $30 million annually.
A Washington health system is cutting 116 employees, many of them in virtual care services, to remain “financially sustainable.”
Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, a Seattle-based, 1,500-bed health system affiliated with CommonSpirit Health, announced the job cuts, which will affect some 200 people in total and close an office in Tacoma, on Thursday. In a letter to the public, officials said the hospital is “realigning resources and improving operational efficiency.”
Officials cited “significant financial pressures” for the realignment, in particular a new Washington state budget that would add new taxes and reduce reimbursements for care provided to state and school employees. Officials said the changes are expected to cost the health system an additional $30 million a year.
“To protect access to care long term, we are realigning resources and improving operational efficiency,” the letter reads. “This includes transitioning several virtual services and administrative functions, which will impact approximately 200 team members. Affected employees have been notified and are receiving personalized support, including placement assistance and access to open roles within our organization.”
The impact of the 2025-27 budget, which was approved in April, is being felt by hospitals across Washington. It includes, among other things, $100 million in cuts per year to hospital payment rates in public and school employee healthcare contracts, a 1% reduction in Medicaid managed care organization contracts, and the elimination of several post-acute and long-term care programs.
On top of state cuts, health systems and hospitals are eyeing potential federal cuts to Medicare, as well as the September 30 expiration of several pandemic-era waivers that expanded the scope and coverage of telehealth services that receive Medicare reimbursement.
Telehealth advocates have warned that hospitals would curtail or even cancel virtual care programs and strategies if those waivers were not extended or made permanent.
