Sanford Health leaders to discuss next generation of care at national health care conference

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Sanford Health leaders are joining top industry experts next week at one of the most prestigious health care events of the year to discuss how the business of health care is meeting the future of technology.

ViVE takes place Feb. 22-25 in Los Angeles. The four-day health care innovation event brings together leaders to accelerate strategy, evaluate technology and collaborate on solutions to transform the patient experience. 

Dave Newman, M.D., chief medical officer of virtual care at Sanford Health, Brian Hoerneman, M.D., president and CEO of Sanford Health Marshfield and Brad Reimer, chief information officer at Sanford Health, will take part in a series of panels and presentations during the conference.

Newman has two appearances at ViVE, including a featured panel entitled, No Signal to No Limits, where he will discuss how virtual care is poised to make even further breakthroughs for patients. Additional panelists include Halima Ahmadi-Montecalvo, Ph.D., MPH, vice president of research and evaluation at Unite Us and Emily Chen, senior advisor, officer of the administrator at CMS. Michael Banyas, SBIR program manager at the NIH, will moderate the session.

“I’m incredibly excited about what we’re building with virtual care,” said Newman. “We’re meeting patients where they are — expanding access, improving affordability and helping them stay engaged in their health — while leveraging technology to deliver high-quality care no matter the zip code. This is a blueprint for the future of health care — and rural America is leading the way.”

Newman will also present on how Sanford Health physicians are empowered to enhance patient care using safe and effective AI and digital tools during a luncheon sponsored by the American Medical Association. He will be joined by Margaret Lozovatsky, M.D., vice president, Digital Health Innovations, Center for Digital Health and AI, at the AMA and Barbara Levy, M.D., vice chair, CPT editorial panel. Jared Augenstein, senior managing director at Manatt Health, will moderate the presentation.

Hoerneman’s panel focuses on the mission to ensure rural communities have reliable, high-quality care close to home. This panel dives into what is at stake, and the policies, care delivery and innovation strategies needed to stabilize rural health care. Hoerneman will be joined by Gulshan Mehta, chief digital and information officer at Blanchard Valley Health System and Joe Dunn, chief policy officer at the NACHC. Katie Adams, associate editor at MedCity News, will moderate the panel.

Hoerneman will share how coming together with Sanford Health has expanded rural access, accelerated financial turnaround and strengthened the workforce. Last year, Sanford Health Marshfield hired more than 1,500 people, including over 120 providers. Marshfield recruited 32 primary care physicians — the highest number of recruits in recent history — along with anesthesiologists, surgical subspecialists, pediatric specialists and other hard-to-fill specialties. Since combining with Sanford Health, Marshfield has cut physician turnover in half and made meaningful investments into programs and practices.

“Rural health is entering a new chapter — one defined by innovation, stronger partnerships and long-term sustainability — and we are actively helping to build that future,” said Hoerneman. “Strong, sustainable health care supports the health of a community — and that drives growth, opportunity for all and quality of life.”

Reimer’s panel examines the United States’ health care system’s soon-to-be digital renaissance. Entitled, Make Health Tech Great Again, the panel will discuss how the Administration and tech giants are rallying to build a smarter, safer, and truly patient-centric health ecosystem. Reimer will be joined by Pallavi Ranade, Ph.D., M.S., FAMIA, Director of Research Informatics and Genomics at Intermountain Healthcare, and J.D. Whitlock, MPH, MBA, CHCIO, chief information officer at Dayton Children's Hospital. The session will be moderated by Dr. Aaron Miri, DHA, executive vice president and chief digital & information officer at Baptist Health.

At Sanford Health, large language models are already strengthening the patient experience by scaling preventive engagement and supporting earlier identification of health risks, particularly for health plan members.

“Sanford Health has made sustained investments in data infrastructure, analytics, interoperability and security to support responsible AI deployment,” said Reimer. “We often say what we do will never change – our mission to deliver world-class care no matter the zip code – but how we do the work must continue to evolve. AI allows us to meet patients where they are and rethink how work gets done – strengthening access, enhancing the patient experience and supporting our teams as patient demand and care needs continue to grow.” 

About Sanford Health
Sanford Health, the largest rural health system in the United States, is dedicated to transforming the health care experience and providing access to world-class health care in America’s heartland. Headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the organization has 55,000 employees and serves more than 2 million patients and nearly 415,000 health plan members across the upper Midwest including South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wyoming, Iowa, Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The integrated nonprofit health system includes a network of 58 hospitals, 289 clinic locations, 145 senior care communities, 4,500 physicians and advanced practice providers and 1,100 active clinical trials and studies. The organization’s transformational virtual care initiative brings patients closer to care with access to nearly 80 specialties. More than 400 residents and fellows are trained each year through graduate medical education with Sanford Health fully funding and supporting 29 of the 40 available programs. Sanford Health also includes Lewis Drug, a pharmacy and retail chain with 60 locations in three states and nearly 190 pharmacists. Learn more about Sanford Health’s commitment to shaping the future of rural health care across the lifespan at sanfordhealth.org or Sanford Health News.