Michael Mutterer, RN, LCPC, NCC, CADC, LNHA, President & CEO, Silver Cross Hospital

Summary

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Podcast Summary

Podcast: Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Episode: Michael Mutterer, President & CEO, Silver Cross Hospital
Date: January 30, 2026
Host: Will Riley (R1)
Guest: Michael Mutterer, RN, LCPC, NCC, CADC, LNHA, President & CEO, Silver Cross Hospital

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Episode Overview

This episode features an in-depth conversation with Michael Mutterer, President and CEO of Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, Illinois. The discussion centers on leading as an independent hospital in a competitive Chicago suburban market, top priorities for 2026, the hospital’s approach to technology and AI, payer relationships, and strategies to improve both patient and clinician experience. Mutterer provides candid insights into balancing growth, access, and quality in a rapidly evolving healthcare landscape.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. About Silver Cross Hospital and Its Community

• Facility Snapshot
  • 348-bed, Level 2 trauma center
  • Services ~80,000 emergency department patients/year
  • Freestanding emergency department (rare in Illinois)
  • Replacement hospital built in 2013 (newer facility)
  • Level III perinatal center
  • Busy, fast-growing hospital
  • [00:55–01:32]
• Community Demographics
  • Located in New Lenox, a south suburban, mostly middle-class area
  • Payer mix is largely favorable; small portion of public aid/charity care
  • [01:39–02:09]

2. Top Priorities for 2026: Access and Growth

• Access as a Central Focus
  • Ensuring convenient physical locations and fast appointment scheduling
  • "How quickly do we answer the phone, how fast is it to get an appointment…really focusing access for us."
    — Michael Mutterer [02:17]
• Growth in a Competitive Setting
  • Only one of three independent hospitals left in Chicagoland
  • Focused marketing even in areas without physical sites
  • Differentiators: 22 consecutive Leapfrog 'A' ratings, CMS 4-5 stars, Healthgrades #1 surgical hospital in Illinois (last 2 years)
  • "We focus on quality and patient safety, and I think our communities respond to that."
    — Michael Mutterer [04:04–05:00]

3. Technology and AI: Enthusiasm and Caution

• Strategic Adopter, Not on Bleeding Edge
  • Evaluates trending solutions carefully before adoption
  • "We’re one of those hospitals that sit back a little bit and evaluate what’s out there. Not to say we aren’t in the AI space."
    — Michael Mutterer [05:43]
• Notable Use Cases
  • Ambient listening in physician documentation: strong demand
    • “Every doctor asks me every day, when can I get it, right?”
      — Michael Mutterer [05:43]
  • AI-assisted colonoscopy for better polyp detection
  • AI tools in CDI and revenue cycle for coding/statusing
  • [05:43–07:12]
• Partnering with New and Legacy Vendors
  • Open to new vendors; competition breeds excellence
  • [07:29]
• Managing Physician Demand & Governance
  • Careful rollout starting with high-volume primary care physicians
  • Oversight by Chief Informatics Officer and team
  • Evaluating outcomes (documentation, billing) to shape further expansion
  • "Our physicians…hearing other physicians talk about how it’s making their job easier…the notes seemingly are a little bit better."
    — Michael Mutterer [09:57]

4. Physician Buy-in and Change

• Notable Quote:
  • "I would say our physicians have not been super open to change…this has been a little bit of a refresh."
    — Michael Mutterer [09:57]
• Peer validation and time-saving drive enthusiasm for AI-enabled tools

5. Payer Mix and Relations

• Favorable Payer Mix, Persistent Challenges
  • Relations are stable but denials & downcoding are increasing
  • "It’s always a struggle…the heat is a little bit higher than what maybe it’s been in the past."
    — Michael Mutterer [10:50–11:31]

6. Revenue Cycle: People to Technology Shift

• Historic Labor-centrism to AI Adoption
  • Gradually shifting from concurrent review by people to AI-led tools
  • "We did recently implement an AI-focused solution…now the software is going to help guide them."
    — Michael Mutterer [12:00–13:11]
• Anticipated Benefits
  • Improved accuracy, speed, transparency; potential to ease payer tensions
  • [13:19]

7. Patient Experience and Access

• Improvements in Call Center Operations
  • Reduced phone call abandonment from 15% to 3% through focused efforts
  • "As a CEO, you don’t want to hear that 15% of your patients are hanging up before they actually get an appointment scheduled."
    — Michael Mutterer [14:07]
• Adoption of Digital Access Tools
  • Patients still prefer person-to-person interaction over digital tools
  • Working with patient base to grow comfort with technology
  • Ongoing exploration for what works for their unique demographic
  • [14:07–15:30]

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Access and Market Positioning:

  • "We're an independent hospital, not part of a larger system…so we have to be focused on our market, making sure we continue to keep our market share and capture market share from the competitors around us."
    — Michael Mutterer [02:17]

• On Technology Adoption:

  • "We’ve branched out a little bit over the last 12 to 24 months in some of the partnerships we’ve decided to go with in the AI space…competition breeds excellence."
    — Michael Mutterer [07:29]

• On Physician Experience with Ambient Listening:

  • "They're not spending as much time after-hours…notes seemingly are a little bit better than even what they would have produced had they written the notes themselves."
    — Michael Mutterer [09:57]

• On AI in Revenue Cycle:

  • "We're in the first couple of months of launching that, so really keeping an eye on if it's going to continue driving the performance that we saw with the concurrent reviews."
    — Michael Mutterer [12:00]

• On Call Center Success:

  • "We've had very focused efforts over the past 12 months bringing that abandonment rate below the industry average of 5%. We're running at around 3% right now."
    — Michael Mutterer [14:07]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Silver Cross Snapshot & Community: [00:55–02:09]
• Strategic Priorities for 2026: [02:17–03:49]
• Growth Amid Competition & Differentiators: [04:04–05:00]
• Technology & AI in Healthcare: [05:08–07:12]
• Choosing Vendors & New Partnerships: [07:29–08:01]
• Managing Demand for AI Tools: [08:01–09:50]
• Physician Buy-In: [09:57]
• Payer Relations & Revenue Cycle Shift to AI: [10:50–13:38]
• Call Center Improvements & Patient Technology Adoption: [14:07–15:30]

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Conclusion

Michael Mutterer’s discussion highlights Silver Cross’s navigation of the shifting health care landscape by doubling down on access and growth, taking a strategic—but not reckless—approach to technology, and focusing on both patient and provider experience. The organization’s independence, willingness to experiment in the right areas, and commitment to quality and patient safety set a tone of careful optimism in an industry marked by rapid change.

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Transcript

[R1 Representative]

R1 is the leader in healthcare revenue management, helping providers achieve new levels of performance through smart orchestration. With more than 20 years of experience, R1 partners with 1,000 providers, including 95 of the top 100 US health systems and handles over 270 million payer transactions annually. If you want to learn more about how you can transform your revenue cycle operations, Visit us at www.r1rcm.com.

[Will Riley]

Hello and welcome to the Becker's Healthcare Podcast. My name is Will Riley from R1. I'm joined today by Michael Mutterer. Michael is president and CEO of Hill Silver Cross Hospital in Illinois. Welcome to the podcasts.

[Michael Mutterer]

Thank you, Will. Pleasure to be here.

[Will Riley]

Good to have you. Good to have you. Tell us a little bit please, about yourself. Tell us about Silver Cross. Sure.

[Michael Mutterer]

As you said. I'm Michael mutter, president and CEO at Silver Cross Hospital. We are a 348 bed, level 2 trauma center located in the suburbs of Chicago. We are a. We service about 80,000 patients per year through our emergency departments. We have a freestanding emergency department, one of the only one of very few in the state of Illinois that has a freestanding emergency department, level three perinatal center. So busy, busy hospital. We were a replacement hospital built in 2013, so newer hospital as well.

[Will Riley]

Okay. Okay, tell me a bit about the area around you, the demographic, the community. What's it like?

[Michael Mutterer]

Yeah, so New Lenox is a south suburban suburb of Chicago. We are, I'm going to say, a mixed community. I'm going to say probably mostly middle class. So we're very blessed with our payer mix within our primary and secondary service areas. You know, we obviously do service a small portion of public aid and certainly do our charitable work for the community as well. But, but definitely blessed from a, from a payer mix.

[Will Riley]

Got it. Okay, cool. Tell me please about some of the big priorities that you have going into 2026.

[Michael Mutterer]

Well, lots, lots of priorities I'm going to say, you know, obviously with the ever changing world of healthcare, you know, you've, you've constantly gotta be, I think, nimble and be able to p. At a, at a moment's notice. I would say our largest priorities right now, first would be access. You know, really looking at how do we, you know, how do we not only make sure that we're open for business and have locations, bricks and you know, brick and mortar available for, for populations, you know, throughout our primary and secondary service area, but really looking into the intricacies of, you know, how quickly do we answer the phone, you know, how fast is it, to get an appointment, you know, with a, with a physician or a specialist, you know, so really focusing access for us. We're an independent hospital, not part of a larger system. So we have to be, in my opinion, focused on our market, whether it be the primary service market, secondary service market, making sure that we continue to keep our market share and, or, you know, capture market share from the competitors around us. So access is a huge initiative, and right along with that, I would say, is growth. So making sure that we're looking at the service areas that are, you know, within, you know, both our primary and secondary markets to, to help us figure out points of care, where do we open new urgent cares, where do we open new physician practices? So, so growth, definitely a big piece of that for us as well.

[Will Riley]

And so you're a, you're a smaller player surrounded by, in a competitive space. So I'm interested in growth. And, and how are you, how are you making that work? And how do you have the resources and how do you, how do you allocate those resources to support that?

[Michael Mutterer]

Sure, sure. Yeah, we, we're one of, I'm going to say in the Chicagoland area, one of three hospitals that are still independent, so not part of a larger health system. And so as we look at growth, for us, it is looking at the competitive landscape out there and, you know, figuring out from a population perspective where it makes sense to, you know, add new buildings, brick and mortar. And then I'm going to say from a marketing perspective, even if we don't have bricks and mortar, how do we market to that community some of the, you know, great things that we have to offer at Silver Cross? You know, we've been blessed to be a leapfrog, a rated hospital 22 consecutive times in a row. You know, we've vacillated between a CMS four and five star, you know, health grades. We've been the number one surgical hospital in the state of Illinois for the last two years, so beating out all of the major players, I would say. So we focus on quality and patient safety, and I think our communities respond to that.

[Will Riley]

Yeah. Okay. Okay. So you have some differentiators, really, that we do. Yeah. Yeah. I'd like to ask you about technology.

[Michael Mutterer]

Yes.

[Will Riley]

And technology innovation, another area, because that requires investment. I'm curious how you think about this. One of the questions I'm asking everybody on the podcast is about healthcare's new, seemingly new enthusiasm for technology because of AI.

[Michael Mutterer]

Yes.

[Will Riley]

Feels like healthcare has traditionally been rather conservative in how it's been adopting technology. But it feels like that's changing with AI and people are finding use cases that are genuinely valuable and getting excited about that. Are you seeing that too?

[Michael Mutterer]

So I am. We definitely see it around us. I'm going to say we're probably definitely not on the bleeding edge of AI. So I'm going to say we're one of those hospitals that sit back a little bit and, and evaluate what's out there. Not to say that we aren't in the AI space. So we have a number of different areas where we've implemented some AI solutions. We're working right now with ambient listening with our physicians. I mean, obviously that's the biggest. I'm going to say, buzz around right now. Every doctor asks me every day, when can I get it right? So that's been interesting. We recently partnered with an organization that has AI detection in their colonoscop, you know, in colonoscopy procedures. So again, having that artificial intelligence behind the eyes of our, of our proceduralists to be able to detect polyps that maybe the naked eye wouldn't see. So that's been interesting as we implement that because I feel like that from a quality perspective is great for the communities that we serve. You know, we've recently partnered on the revenue cycle area with a solution that helps our CDI team that looks at appropriate diagnosis and coding for the patients and appropriate staticing whether a patient's observation are fully admitted into the hospital. So yeah, we're dipping our toes in it and interested in seeing where it takes us.

[Will Riley]

When you think about that and you think about who to work with, well, I suppose the question is how are you thinking about who to work with? Are you working with your traditional partners that you've always had by your side? Are you working with new kinds of companies?

[Michael Mutterer]

Yeah, no, I think we've branched out a little bit. I mean, I'm a big believer in competition breeds excellence. So I think as we, as we look at the landscape out there, you know, we definitely look at, you know, sort of the top player, but then also very interested in looking at who else is in the, in the space. So we've branched out a little bit over the last, you know, 12 to 24 months in some of the partnerships that we've decided to go with in the AI space. So, so yeah, I would say we're, we're definitely to new players in the market as well.

[Will Riley]

You mentioned clinicians coming to you looking for the solution. Is that an interesting experience? And I mean like a new experience. Right. And is it giving you challenges in terms of then governing some of these projects and thinking about how you do it because like you said, you don't want to be on the bleeding edge. So how do you sort of restrain the enthusiasm if that's, if that's the right way of saying it.

[Michael Mutterer]

So it is not easy. Especially as it looks as we look at the ambient listening for the physicians. I mean, literally every day I have somebody coming in and asking can they get on the platform? And you know, right now we're really focusing on our, on our high volume physicians and staying within the primary care space.

[Will Riley]

I see.

[Michael Mutterer]

Initially I would say our, my chief informatics officer and her team are very closely monitoring from a governance perspective, A, what companies we partner with, B, how quickly we implement and launch these solutions. So I think we're starting, you know, with a, with a core group of physicians and evaluating how that's going and you know, looking at, you know, what, what opportunities it's giving those physicians and evaluating on the back, you know, as, you know, as we look at those physicians from a, you know, billing and coding perspective, is it similar to where they were prior to using the ambient listening? Are we seeing improvement in, you know, in their, their billing documentation? Their documentation and billing and you know, I think just really kind of keeping a close eye on, on what it's how it's helping us organizationally and, and going.

[Will Riley]

So keeping physicians close guide, using them to help guide you, focusing on outcomes.

[Michael Mutterer]

Yeah, for sure. Yeah. I think, you know, they inherently, I would say our physicians have not been super open to change. Right. And so I, I think this has been a little bit of, of a refresh and, and I think what's happening is they're hearing other physicians talk about how it's making their job easier. I'm going to say that they're not spending as much time after hours, doc. That the notes seemingly are a little bit better than even what they would have produced had they have written the notes themselves. So I think overall the product is helping speak for itself. And so I think that's what's also pushing, you know, our physicians to, to ask what about me? Or when can I, when can I get on the platform?

[Will Riley]

Sure.

[Michael Mutterer]

Yeah.

[Will Riley]

You touched on Pay A Mix earlier on and you said you had a pretty favorable payer mix. How are relations with your payers right now?

[Michael Mutterer]

I'm gonna say, I'm gonna say I, I believe we have good relations with payers, but it's always a struggle. I'm, you know, the denials are increasing you know, just challenging. I'm gonna say every day there's a challenge with, you know, of peer to peer or you know, a denial that comes through or, you know, just challenges on down coding, etc. So at the end of the day, I don't know that it's, that our relationship has changed year over year. I just think it, it's, it's seemingly a little bit more heat. You know, the, the heat is a little bit higher than what maybe it's been in the past.

[Will Riley]

You've touched on technology potentially having the potential to improve payment performance, improve revenue cycle performance.

[Michael Mutterer]

Yes.

[Will Riley]

Revenue cycle's been an area historically that's been always very labor driven, labor centric, using technology as a sort of aid or a tool. But it seems now that it is an area that can become technology led and human supported. Do you agree with that?

[Michael Mutterer]

I think it can transition to that. I'm going to say that this is one of the areas that we've dipped our toe into the water. We were working with a more people centric revenue cycle support group that was more of a concurrent review of charts, working with our CDI team and feel that our team, our physicians, our CDIs, our coders really benefited from that to a point where we did recently implement a AI focused solution. So sort of moving away from the people support and moving to a more computerized AI style software that's, that's supporting our team right now. So it's, it's new for us. So I mean we're in the first couple of months of launching that, so really keeping an eye on if it's going to continue driving the performance that we saw with the concurrent reviews. And you know, we're very hopeful that that is true, that not only have our people learned, but now the software is going to help guide them. So patiently awaiting results and seeing, you know, if, if that is true.

[Will Riley]

And you think that can improve payer relationships over time just through visibility, speed, performance, accuracy, for example?

[Michael Mutterer]

I do, yeah, I do. I think, you know, I think there is, there is a sense that, that, that that is true, that through improved performance and, and I'm going to say more accurate coding that that definitely could, you know, improve payer relations.

[Will Riley]

Yeah.

[Michael Mutterer]

Yes.

[Will Riley]

Okay, let's end with a thought on the patient. And you talked a bit at the start about access. We've talked about using technology to improve the clinician experience and help administratively. How do you see some of these advancements helping the patient as well? Maybe patient access?

[Michael Mutterer]

Yeah, I mean, I can think of a Couple ways. I mean, we've, we've reached, recently put a focus on our call center and we had an abandonment rate of upwards of 15% which obviously as a CEO, you don't want to hear that 15% of your patients are hanging up before they actually get an appointment scheduled. So we've worked very, we've had very focused efforts over the past 12 months bringing that abandonment rate below the industry average of 5%. We're running right around 3% right now, which is a significant improvement. So from an access perspective, I think that's great for our patients. I'm going to say our patient population in New Lenox isn't as supportive of using technology. So like our check in process, we have the ability to be able to check in electronically or via a person. And I'm going to say the majority of our patients still prefer to use the person even when redirected and helped. So we're coaching and working with the population to get more comfortable with it because at the end of the day it does streamline things and makes access easier. But yeah, I think there's lots of solutions out there that can continue to help with access and improve our patient satisfaction. We've just got to keep dabbling in it and find what works for the populations we serve.

[Will Riley]

Yeah. Very good. Michael, are there any concluding thoughts that you want to leave us with?

[Michael Mutterer]

No, just excited to be here at the Becker's conference and thank you for, thank you for your time.

[Will Riley]

Cool. Thank you very much for yours. We really appreciate talking to you. Thank you, thank you.