Adnan Hamid, VP/Regional CIO, CommonSpirit Health, says the next phase of “transforming care through innovation” begins with financial realism: health systems must preserve access for communities while confronting persistent cost pressure. In California, he helps support nearly 30 hospitals and more than 600 clinics inside one of the nation’s largest faith-based systems serving many underserved patients, a mission that requires disciplined prioritization as technology options proliferate.
Hamid said the core challenge is: “No margin, no mission, and no mission, no margin.” He links that equation to a practical planning horizon, noting that organizations—large and rural alike—are reworking strategies to keep doors open amid cuts in aid and rising expenses. Competing priorities are constant, he said, and leaders need credible business cases that protect cash flow and safeguard care delivery.
He said the first filter for any innovation is whether it helps the organization run a steadier operation. That spans both clinical and administrative spheres, but the immediate opportunity often sits in the latter. Executives want staffing relief, predictable revenue, and fewer operational bottlenecks. Success requires clarity about trade-offs, transparent timelines, and the willingness to deliver unwelcome news when a project does not make the cut.
AI’s Near-Term Payoff: Back Office
Hamid views AI as most ready to help in back-office domains, where automation can lift throughput and free time for frontline teams. He ties that to a decade-long shift in which documentation and clicks migrated to caregivers, diluting face time with patients and driving fatigue. “We’ve shifted the technology and administrative burden on to our clinicians,” he said, arguing that early wins should remove tasks.

He added that ambient documentation can be a bridge between patient experience and revenue integrity—but only if it improves coding accuracy and supports compliant billing. That is the heart of the CFO conversation: soft benefits like happier physicians matter, but proof of better documentation and fewer missed charges cements the case. Pilots inside ambulatory clinics have drawn strong clinician interest, and inpatient teams want in; the organization is still collecting evidence before declaring a conclusive result on coding lift. The bar, he said, is balanced impact: better visits, less burnout, and measurable contribution to the bottom line.
Clinically Led, IT-Enabled Execution
Hamid maintains that governance and execution must be owned by care leadership, with IT as an enabling partner. “It shouldn’t be even considered an IT project,” he said of ambient and similar capabilities, calling for CMO and CMIO sponsorship, shared metrics, and unified messaging to finance leaders. Physician champions, he noted, are often more persuasive than technologists when stakes are high and budgets are tight.
He described the CIO’s craft as relationship management across finance, clinical, and operations. Being proactive—returning from CHIME and other forums with concise, relevant trend summaries—builds trust when priorities collide. Partnerships with medical and nursing informatics expand expertise and speed decisions. Generative-AI tools can supplement research, but credibility still rests on judgment, clear trade-offs, and the integrity to say no when resources are constrained.
Interoperability and Legacy Workflow Reality
Hamid acknowledged meaningful progress since the Meaningful Use incentive era but warned that data exchange remains uneven across platforms and even across instances of the same EHR. Health information exchanges help, yet standardization is incomplete, leaving variation that complicates quality reporting, population health, and AI training data. He is optimistic about the trajectory but expects a long journey.
He cautioned against dreaming of starting from a clean slate,