Ginny Torno, Senior Director, Innovation & IT Clinical Systems at Houston Methodist

Summary

Becker’s Healthcare Podcast: Ginny Torno, Senior Director of Innovation & IT Clinical Systems at Houston Methodist

Date: November 15, 2025
Host: Chanel Bunger
Guest: Ginny Torno

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Episode Overview

This episode features an insightful conversation with Ginny Torno, Senior Director of Innovation and IT Clinical Systems at Houston Methodist. Recorded live at the 10th Annual Health, IT, Digital Health and RCM Meeting in Chicago, the discussion centers on the practical applications and challenges of digital innovation in healthcare—especially artificial intelligence (AI), virtual care, technology governance, legislative pressures, and actionable advice for healthcare leaders.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Ginny Torno’s Background & Role

• [00:52] Ginny oversees inpatient IT clinical teams and is a member of the innovation team at Houston Methodist.
• The innovation team consists of individuals with dual roles across the organization, engaging in projects from workflow automation to patient entertainment systems.

  "I oversee all the inpatient IT clinical teams... and I'm also a member of the innovation team. ... From that side I can get into anything from building automation to TVs." – Ginny Torno [00:52]

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Impactful AI Use Cases at Houston Methodist

• [01:37–03:22]
  • Predictive Patient Monitoring: AI solutions predict when a patient may decline or code, providing opportunities for timely interventions and better patient outcomes.
  • OR Operational Efficiency: AI identifies inefficiencies in operating rooms—monitoring cleaning times, identifying unused spaces—and recommends improvements, leading to more surgical cases and faster care.
  • Radiology:
    • AI composes initial radiology reports by analyzing images, allowing radiologists to simply confirm or edit as needed.
    • Diagnostic imaging tools leverage AI to interpret images, flagging urgent findings (e.g., stroke, pulmonary embolism) and alerting emergency response teams.
  • Ambient AI for Documentation: Voice recognition tools transcribe clinician conversations, saving time and boosting efficiency.

  "We have several pieces of technology that can use AI to predict a patient will decline before they actually do, before they code... Seen some really good outcomes... avoiding issues with patients with those tools." – Ginny Torno [01:37]
  "One provides the report as written in the radiologist's own language by looking at the image..." – Ginny Torno [02:22]

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Navigating Technology Adoption: Governance & Patient Engagement

• [03:47–05:38]
  • Governance Councils: It’s vital to establish multi-disciplinary councils (legal, IT, nursing) for sound decision-making regarding virtual care technologies.
  • Patient Experience Involvement: Incorporate feedback from patient experience councils when considering new tech implementations.
  • Tech Hub for Pilots & Feedback: Houston Methodist operates a tech hub to pilot new tools, gathering input from both clinicians and patients (real or simulated).
  • Solving Real Problems: Innovation must target operational challenges (e.g., nurse shortages, overtime reduction) rather than focusing on technology for technology's sake.
  • Change Management: Educating staff about new tools and their impact is critical to easing fears and minimizing resistance.

  "It needs to be solving a problem that is either... causing the organization money or... could provide better patient care..." – Ginny Torno [04:32]
  "So really making sure that everybody understands what the tool does, what it does not do. And that really alleviates some fear and possible resistance..." – Ginny Torno [05:32]

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Responding to Legislative and Regulatory Changes

• [05:52–07:00]
  • Reimbursement Pressures: Medicare and Medicaid changes require ongoing adjustment of organizational strategies.
  • Legal Team Involvement: Dedicated legal counsel monitors, interprets, and communicates relevant legislation.
  • Active Government Affairs: Participation in state and federal groups ensures Houston Methodist stays ahead of regulatory developments.
  • Case Example—Automatic Release of Results: New legislation mandates timely patient access to test results, prompting the organization to adapt physician documentation and workflows.

  "One example of a legislative change... was releasing results... automatically within a certain period of time. So that... required some change management on the part of our physicians..." – Ginny Torno [06:22]

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Top Advice for Healthcare Leaders

• [07:13–07:55]
  • ROI and Measurability: Every technology investment must have a clear, quantifiable return on investment and address a genuine organizational need.
  • Problem-Solving over “Cool Factor”: Avoid implementing technology that doesn’t solve a real problem, no matter how innovative.
  • Vendor Caution: In markets with many new entrants, be mindful—companies may merge or exit, possibly impacting long-term viability of solutions.

  "Really, everything has to have an roi, and there has to be a way to measure that." – Ginny Torno [07:13]
  "Be careful when there's multiple new competitors in an area... they might end up being taken over or merged..." – Ginny Torno [07:43]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On AI transforming patient care:

  "We have several pieces of technology that can use AI to predict a patient will decline before they actually do... Seen some really good outcomes and, you know, avoiding issues with patients with those tools." – Ginny Torno [01:37]

• On governance and patient-centric design:

  "A key place to start is setting up the appropriate governance councils... and leveraging a patient experience counsel..." – Ginny Torno [03:47]

• On change management:

  "Really making sure that everybody understands what the tool does, what it does not do. And that really alleviates some fear and possible resistance..." – Ginny Torno [05:32]

• On the importance of ROI:

  "Really, everything has to have an roi, and there has to be a way to measure that." – Ginny Torno [07:13]

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Segment Timestamps

• 00:52 – Ginny introduces her background and dual role in innovation
• 01:37 – Deep dive into AI use cases and their impact
• 03:47 – Advice on governance, patient feedback, and practical innovation
• 05:52 – Impact of legislation on healthcare IT and operational adjustments
• 07:13 – Top advice for healthcare leaders preparing for new tech and care demands

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Summary

Ginny Torno’s conversation offers a grounded, practical look at how Houston Methodist approaches healthcare innovation—with an emphasis on AI’s clinical and operational benefits, the need for robust governance, patient-centric technology adoption, and the importance of ROI-driven, problem-solving innovation. Flexibility in response to legislative developments and a strong focus on change management are underscored as critical factors for future-ready healthcare organizations.

Transcript

[A]

Philips is a health tech leader focused on innovation that improves the health and well being of people. Our healthcare technology and informatics solutions help care teams diagnose, treat and manage more patients with greater precision, speed and confidence. Across the care journey with Philips, clinicians are empowered with streamlined insights in the moments that matter for every patient. Better care for more people. Philips.

[B]

Hello and welcome to the Becker's Healthcare Podcast. My name is Chanel Bunger and I'm recording live at the 10th annual Health, IT Digital Health and RCM meeting in Chicago and currently sitting down with Jenny Torno, the Senior Director of Innovation and IT Clinical Systems at Houston Methodist. Jenny, thank you so much for joining me today.

[C]

Thank you. Happy to be here.

[A]

Perfect.

[B]

Well, to get us started, can you please share a bit about yourself and your work in healthcare? Sure.

[C]

So I oversee all the inpatient IT clinical teams at Houston Methodist and I'm also a member of the innovation team. The innovation team all has dual roles where we all have a role somewhere else in the organization as well. And from that side I can get into anything from building automation to TVs. It kind of goes all over the place on the innovation side, but I've been at Houston Methodist for 13 years now and really enjoying the role that I'm in.

[B]

Perfect. And so AI is a huge buzzword right now. Everyone's talking about it. Nearly half of medical practices reported using AI in some capacity last year. So I'm curious, from your perspective, what are some use cases that are making a huge difference for you right now and how are you leveraging them in your organization for use cases?

[C]

We like, we have seen the most success in solutions that improve patient care or the clinician experience or provide some kind of operational improvements for us. So some examples are we have several pieces of technology that can use AI to predict a patient will decline before they actually do, before they code based on various vital signs that IT collects and trends. Seen some really good outcomes and, you know, avoiding issues with patients with those tools. We also have an OR operational efficiency tool that uses AI to tell us, you know, maybe there's too much time spent cleaning one or compared to another, maybe one is empty more than another. And really recommends ways for us to improve efficiency in our ORs, which has allowed us to open up more surgical cases, which of course provides better patient care and faster patient care. On the diagnostic side, we're doing a lot of AI tools in the radiology space. One provides the report as written in the radiologist's own language by looking at the image and all they have to do is confirm and change anything if needed. We also have a diagnostic imaging tool that we're standing up that will interpret images and, you know, identify things that need to be looked into. But it will also alert emergency response teams if something is detected that shows a patient is in an emergent situation, such as stroke or pulmonary embolism. And then finally, we're using ambient AI tools to dictate what our clinicians are saying and which, of course saves time and increases efficiency as well.

[B]

Absolutely. Now, moving forward, as virtual care expands from ENABLE AI enabled tools and remote monitoring to broader digital health platforms, introducing technology always comes with its own challenges. So what advice would you give to leaders navigating everything from governments to patient engagement? And can you share an example of how your organization has balanced innovation with operational constraints?

[C]

Sure. So I think a key place to start is setting up the appropriate governance councils with different people across the organization that are needed. You know, anything from legal to IT to nursing, to make sure all aspects are considered when you're looking at these type of tools for virtual care. So that is something that we have stood up and then also from the patient side, leveraging a patient experience counsel that's been valuable to say, this is something that we're considering doing. What feedback would you have? At Houston Methodist, we also have a tech hub where we can stand up these new tools that we're trying out and get both clinician feedback and people that are pretending to be patients, or maybe real patients as well, to really test things out and see is this going to work? Do we want to do a pilot of this or do we need to tweak it first? Another thing I would say is to really identify operational issues and solve those. There's all kinds of neat technology out there, but it needs to be solving a problem that is either, you know, causing the organization money or, you know, could provide better patient care, things like that. Some of the things that we tackled were nursing shortages. You know, what technology can we use to improve nursing shortages? Because no matter how much money you throw, there's still going to be a shortage for the actual people, as well as reducing overtime, which is caused by the same issue. And really a big key is change management. So, you know, when you're putting in these tools, there is going to be changes typically to either a patient care workflow or an operational workflow. So really making sure that everybody understands what the tool does, what it does not do. And that really alleviates some fear and possible resistance that you can have when some of these tools are put into place.

[B]

Absolutely. And I'm kind of curious about how are you seeing recent legislation, either the state or federal level, affect healthcare organizations and specifically healthcare it, and have you adjusted strategies in response?

[C]

Yeah, for the organization, of course, we're seeing a difference in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates. So having to adjust things, you know, for that, we do have an attorney focused on governmental affairs that really keeps an eye on everything and brings things to us when it applies to us and that we. When we have to make some changes. We also have some members of our organization, including it, that participate in different governmental groups at the state level. And our CEO is also very involved in government affairs as well. So we've got our bases covered pretty well. On the IT side, one example of a legislative change that forced us to do something was releasing results, you know, patient tests or patient visits automatically within a certain period of time. So that caused, you know, that required some change management on the part of our physicians to really make sure they were writing notes in a way that would make sense to patients and also making sure that, you know, only things that they wanted the patient to see would be included in there, things like that. So those. That's a good example of one legislative decision that forced us to change.

[B]

Got it. Got it. Well, Jenny, I want to thank you for your time today, but before I let you go, can you share your top piece of advice for healthcare leaders as they prepare to for further advancements in technology and also raising demands in care?

[C]

Yeah, really, everything has to have an roi, and there has to be a way to measure that. So really make sure that you understand what that is going to be before you decide to implement something and that it can be measured. Also make sure that the technology is solving a problem and that it's not just a nice thing to have. That might be cool, but isn't really an issue for the organization. And the last thing I'd say is to be careful when there's multiple new competitors in an area, because typically there'll be some problem that they're trying to solve, all kinds of cool solutions, but they might end up being taken over or merged or things like that. So that's just something to keep an eye on when those type of situations come up.

[B]

Absolutely. Well, Jenny, I want to thank you once again for your time today and for sharing your insights on the Becker's Healthcare podcast.

[C]

Thank you.