Judd Hollander, SVP & Chief Virtual Care Officer at Jefferson Health

Summary

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Becker’s Healthcare Podcast

Guest: Judd Hollander, SVP & Chief Virtual Care Officer, Jefferson Health
Host: Gracelyn Keller
Date: October 9, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode features Judd Hollander sharing his perspectives on the rapidly evolving landscape of digital health and the practical integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare systems, particularly at Jefferson Health. He discusses current impactful AI use cases, the vital importance of governance in tech adoption, how to balance innovation with operational constraints, and advice for healthcare leaders facing continuous change.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Judd Hollander’s Background & Approach

• Clinical & Research Roots:
  • Judd is trained in both internal medicine and emergency medicine, with extensive experience in clinical research.
    • "I come at these things from a very analytic approach, very data driven, combined with innovation. Because research is just like innovation is just like virtual care. It's trying to solve an unmet need." (Judd Hollander, 00:52)
• Analytical & Innovative Mindset:
  • His problem-solving lens melds data analytics with innovation to address unmet needs in care.

2. Effective AI Use Cases in Healthcare

• Ambient Listening Technology:
  • Jefferson Health’s largest current deployment is ambient listening AI, designed to reduce documentation burden on providers and fight burnout.
    • "The AI tool that we've most widely deployed is ambient listening. We have over 10,000 providers provisioned on it. We had over 20,000 notes documented last week alone." (Judd Hollander, 01:41)
  • AI has generated an enthusiastic response from clinicians, improving their daily work experience.
    • "For the first time ever, the administrators are getting actual love letters from the physicians because it's making their life better." (Judd Hollander, 01:41)
• Focus on Administrative Burden:
  • The organization prioritizes AI tools that directly address clinician pain points, leading to faster adoption and more positive outcomes.

3. Balancing Innovation with Operational Reality

• Governance First:
  • Effective governance is described as "paramount."
    • "If you just take what I like to call incoming missiles, which are clinicians with great ideas, it doesn't work unless it fits into a hierarchy, in a structure and a way to roll it out. So governance is paramount and I think that's where everybody needs to begin." (Judd Hollander, 02:41)
• Clinician-Driven Adoption:
  • Projects succeed when they are aligned with real, expressed clinician needs.
    • "It's very difficult to take the best thing in the world and force it on a bunch of people...What we've really done is try and say, what is your problem? And then look at how we compare that with an AI solution so we could solve that problem." (Judd Hollander, 02:41)
  • Rapid provider sign-ups for AI tools indicate how solving genuine pain points accelerates innovation uptake.

4. Responding to Health IT Legislation

• Long-term Focus Over Headlines:
  • The organization resists overreacting to shifting legislative winds and media cycles.
    • "If we go the way the breeze blows on any given day, we're not going to develop a program that is scalable and durable and meets the needs of our patients and our clinicians. So we've really tried to... have a very much a focus on going forward for what's going to be good for the long term." (Judd Hollander, 03:45)
  • While reimbursement and compliance are important, sustainable strategic development remains the priority.

5. Advice for Healthcare Leaders

• Governance and Clinician Feedback:
  • Hollander emphasizes the necessity of robust systems for product vetting and adoption, always keeping clinician needs at the forefront.
    • "Have a good system for governance, a good way to incorporate new products, a good way to evaluate and decide what new products should you incorporate, but then let the clinicians pressure points inform where you go first." (Judd Hollander, 04:49)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "For the first time ever, the administrators are getting actual love letters from the physicians because it's making their life better." (Judd Hollander, 01:41)
• "Governance is paramount and I think that's where everybody needs to begin." (Judd Hollander, 02:41)
• "If we go the way the breeze blows on any given day, we're not going to develop a program that is scalable and durable..." (Judd Hollander, 03:45)
• "Let the clinicians pressure points inform where you go first." (Judd Hollander, 04:49)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:52] Judd Hollander’s background and philosophy
• [01:41] Impactful AI use cases—ambient listening and provider engagement
• [02:41] The importance of governance and clinician-driven adoption
• [03:45] Adapting to legislative change with a long-term strategy
• [04:49] Final advice for health system leaders

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Summary

Judd Hollander spoke passionately about the practical advances in AI adoption at Jefferson Health, highlighting how ambient listening technology is directly reducing clinician burnout. He underscored that successful innovation hinges on strong governance, structured rollout, and direct responsiveness to clinician needs. Hollander also advised healthcare leaders to avoid distraction from legislative volatility, instead building programs with long-term resilience and keeping the provider experience at the heart of digital health transformation.

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]

This is Gracelyn Keller with the Beckers Healthcare podcast and we are recording live at the 2025 Health IT Digital Health and RCM Conference. I'm pleased to be joined by Judd Hollander today who is the Senior Vice President of Healthcare Delivery Innovation and Chief Virtual Care Officer at Jefferson Health. So, Judd, thanks for being here. Let's start off by having you share a little bit more about yourself and your work in healthcare.

[C]

So I am an ER doc by training. Actually I trained in both internal medicine and emergency medicine. Most of my career I practiced emergency medicine and I ran a large clinical research program for more than two decades. So I come at these things from a very analytic approach, very data driven, combined with innovation. Because research is just like innovation is just like virtual care. It's trying to solve an unmet need.

[B]

Absolutely. Well, thank you for taking the time to be here and let's start our conversation talking about AI. It's such a hot topic right now in healthcare. Nearly half of medical practices report using AI in some capacity last year and it remains a key topic for health IT leaders. So from your perspective, what are the use cases that are making a difference right now and how are you leveraging them in your organization?

[C]

I think the biggest thing we're doing right now is ambient listening. As I think everybody listening to this knows, we have problems with burnout and workforce and maintaining, you know, people who are happy to come to work every day, to be quite honest. And so we need to take away a lot of the administrative burden. So the AI tool that we've most widely deployed is ambient listening. We have over 10,000 providers provisioned on it. We had over 20,000 notes documented last week alone. And we like to say, because it's true, that for the first time ever, the administrators are getting actual love letters from the physicians because it's making their life better.

[B]

And as virtual care expands from AI enabled tools and remote monitoring to broader digital health platforms, introducing new technology brings challenges. So what advice do you have for leaders navigating everything from governance to patient engagement? And can you share an example of how your organization has balanced innovation with operational constraints?

[C]

So I'm going to take it from both ends because governance is Critical. And if you just take what I like to call incoming missiles, which are clinicians with great ideas, it doesn't work unless it fits into a hierarchy, in a structure and a way to roll it out. So governance is paramount and I think that's where everybody needs to begin. But it is really important as you're rolling out things that you roll out things that the clinicians want. It's very difficult to take the best thing in the world and force it on a bunch of people. So what we've really done is try and say, what is your problem? And then look at how we compare that with an AI solution so we could solve that problem. And that makes people jump in, like I just mentioned, with the ambient listening we can't get and the amount, the speed at which people sign up and utilize it is something we've just never seen before.

[B]

And how are you seeing recent legislation, both state and federal, affect health care organizations and health IT specifically. And have you adjusted strategies in response to this?

[C]

I think if I can answer that question, maybe I'd win a Nobel Prize. It's really hard to know. And I think we say a lot, stay the course. There's a lot of stuff in the media, a lot of stuff in the news, a lot of briefs, websites and information we get, all of which is taking a best guess. And I think if we go the way the breeze blows on any given day, we're not going to develop a program that is scalable and durable and meets the needs of our patients and our clinicians. So we've really tried to be hard, you know, have a very much a focus on going forward for what's going to be good for the long term. Obviously we don't want to spend a ton of money on something that's not going to be reimbursed at all in the short term. But having a longer term focus is the priority. And I think that makes all of the other hubbub that's going on around us in legislative circles less important to deal with.

[B]

And then as we wrap up our conversation, what is your top piece of advice for health care leaders as they prepare for further advancements in technology and rising demands for care?

[C]

I think it comes back to one of the questions you asked me, which is have a good system for governance, a good way to incorporate new products, a good way to evaluate and decide what new products should you incorporate, but then let the clinicians pressure points inform where you go first.

[B]

Absolutely. Well, Jed, thanks so much for taking the time to join me today. Today and to share these insights with us on the Becker's Healthcare podcast.

[C]

My pleasure. Thank you for having me.