Richard Zane, MD, Chief Medical Officer and Chief Innovation Officer at UCHealth

Summary

Episode Overview

Podcast: Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
Date: November 9, 2025
Guest: Dr. Richard Zane, Chief Medical Officer & Chief Innovation Officer, UCHealth
Host: Scott King
Theme: The episode delves into current healthcare industry challenges, focusing on financial and regulatory pressures, operational adaptation in hospital systems, the expanding role of AI and automation, and Dr. Zane’s leadership evolution.

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Dr. Richard Zane’s Background (01:09–01:44)

• Dr. Zane is an emergency physician and formerly the Chair of Emergency Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
• Now serves as both Chief Medical Officer and Chief Innovation Officer at UCHealth, a rapidly growing health system.
• Previous chair responsibilities included overseeing 25 emergency departments, 27 urgent care centers, and significant research/education operations.
• As CMO/CIO, his focus is system-level oversight of quality, safety, clinical operations, medical staff, and integrating innovative technology.

Memorable Quote:

“It’s really incredibly interesting to have both [CMO and CIO]—can think about how best to deploy technology to innovate the point of care.”
(Dr. Zane, 01:30)

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Key Healthcare Headwinds & Opportunities (02:38–06:29)

Financial & Regulatory Pressures

• Financial Headwinds: Ongoing government shutdown (24 days in); hospitals and healthcare consistently targeted in budget cuts at all government levels (02:53).
• Regulatory Challenges:
  • Drastically increased in Colorado over the past decade.
  • Regulatory burden requires routine hiring just to remain compliant (03:19).
  • Hard to anticipate new requirements—need for generalist staff and, increasingly, administrative automation (03:52).

Quote:

“The regulatory burden on healthcare in Colorado has increased almost exponentially in the last decade. So much so that we are routinely hiring more and more people to simply deal with the regulatory burden.”
(Dr. Zane, 03:19)

Environmental Assessment

• Compared to the pandemic, things are “more quiescent,” but this is still the most challenging time in decades for hospital systems and academic medicine (04:58).

Growth Strategies

• Patient Centeredness: Meeting patients where they are—rethinking the need for more facilities, adapting to shift from inpatient to outpatient care, and leveraging technology (05:36).
• Virtual & Digital Care:
  • Virtualize care wherever possible.
  • Make synchronous care asynchronous and digitize processes.
  • Embrace technology at the point of care, and balance digital with physical infrastructure (05:36–06:29).

Quote:

“We think about how we can virtualize care, how we can make synchronous care asynchronous, how we can digitize care, how we can bring technology to the point of care.”
(Dr. Zane, 05:58)

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Automation in Healthcare (06:36–08:29)

• AI dominates health system priorities, appearing among “14 out of the top 15 things” organizations are pursuing.
• Dr. Zane cautions that “AI” means different things to different people, including rules-based logic, machine learning, computational linguistics, and generative AI (06:36).
• UCHealth has used AI tools for over a decade, focusing now on leveraging AI and advanced intelligence to reduce the administrative burden and “force multiply” human ability both clinically and administratively (06:36–07:52).

Quote:

“We’ve been doing AI for the last decade plus… we are thinking about how we can take technology, information and intelligence, including AI, and decrease the administrative burden on humans to increase our ability to force multiply.”
(Dr. Zane, 07:10)

• The greatest growth opportunity: automation of human tasks, freeing staff to do what only people can—judgment and procedures (08:00).
• This technological advancement benefits patients but brings its own regulatory and financial hurdles (08:00–08:29).

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Barriers to Progress: Regulatory Simplification & Virtual Care (08:29–10:57)

• Dr. Zane is skeptical that meaningful regulatory simplification will occur soon:
  • Agencies like the FDA, CDC, HHS, and CMS “are based on 1990s technology and 1990s medicine” (09:20).
  • Lamented lack of streamlined credentialing, licensing, and insurance portability across state lines.
• Envisions a future where specialists can remotely deliver care across state boundaries, especially in cognitive specialties (09:57).

Quote:

“There’s really no reason that your primary care physician can’t be in Albuquerque when you live in Austin, Texas... But we still have the issue of local credentialing, local licensing, insurance issues across state lines. Those sorts of things does not make any sense.”
(Dr. Zane, 09:34)

• Even complex care (e.g., cancer) could be improved with virtual centers of excellence guiding local diagnostics and treatment (10:21).

Quote:

“By assimilating all those data, you can have centers of excellence that can essentially guide local care and that’s what we should evolve or aspire to do.”
(Dr. Zane, 10:48)

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Leadership Evolution (11:08–11:41)

• Dr. Zane has consciously become more patient and deliberate.
• Emphasizes accountability, execution, and output for himself and his team.
• His impatience, previously both helpful and challenging, has been tempered over time.

Quote:

“I’ve become more patient as a leader, but I’ve become more deliberate as well. So focusing more and more on execution and output and holding the people that work for me accountable in that same vein.”
(Dr. Zane, 11:24)

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Memorable Moments & Takeaways

• Dr. Zane paints a realistic but optimistic view of digital transformation in healthcare, coupled with candid critique of regulatory lag.
• He champions technology and automation as both a necessity and opportunity to improve patient care and system efficiency.
• The future of care depends on regulatory modernization as much as technological adoption.

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Notable Quotes At a Glance

• On regulatory burden: “We are routinely hiring more and more people to simply deal with the regulatory burden.” (03:19)
• On AI: “If you ask 10 people what they mean by AI, you’re going to get 14 different definitions.” (06:44)
• On remote care’s potential: “There’s really no reason that your primary care physician can’t be in Albuquerque when you live in Austin, Texas...” (09:34)
• On leadership: “My impatience is a blessing and a curse. I think I’ve become more patient as a leader, but I’ve become more deliberate as well.” (11:19)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Dr. Zane’s background & roles: 01:09–01:44
• Financial & regulatory headwinds: 02:53–03:42
• Operational adaptations & hiring: 03:52–04:30
• Broader healthcare challenges: 04:58–05:27
• Meeting patients where they are / Digital care: 05:36–06:29
• AI & Automation vision: 06:36–08:29
• Regulatory barriers to progress: 08:29–10:57
• Leadership evolution: 11:08–11:41

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This episode offers frank insight into the ongoing challenges and future possibilities facing U.S. healthcare, from an executive with both clinical and innovation expertise. Dr. Zane’s perspective balances honest assessment of regulatory and financial constraints with a deep belief in the power of technology to transform patient care and system operations.

Transcript

[Athenahealth Representative]

@ Athenahealth, we know your ambulatory practice wants healthier a healthier business, healthier care teams and healthier patients. But the complexities of modern healthcare tech make it hard for you and your care teams to focus on what matters most. That's where athenahealth can help our AI native all in one solutions reduce administrative burdens, streamline billing and payments, and deliver critical insights when clinicians need it most. That means fewer clicks, more time for patients, and stronger bottom Practicing medicine is complex, but running a practice can be that Much simpler with Athenahealth. See how simpler is [e-mail].

[Scott King]

Hello everyone, this is Scott King with the Becker's Healthcare Podcast. Thrilled today to be joined by very special guest Dr. Richard Zane, Chief Medical Officer and Chief innovation officer with UC Health. Dr. Zane, how are you doing today?

[Dr. Richard Zane]

I am awesome. Thank you for having me.

[Scott King]

Thanks so much for joining us. I know we're going to get into kind of a lot of big topics and issues in healthcare today, but can you just tell us a little bit about your background please, before you dive into some of those questions?

[Dr. Richard Zane]

Sure, I'd love to. I am an emergency physician, still practice. Until recently I was the Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and took on the role as Chief Innovation Officer approximately seven years ago and then recently stepped down from my chair role and I'm now the Chief Medical and Chief Innovation Officer for UC Health.

[Scott King]

So just from an operations standpoint, what kind of day to day things do you not have to deal with? Now stepping down from being a chair, what have you kind of been freed up from?

[Dr. Richard Zane]

As chair of an academic department I had responsibility for a faculty 25 emergency departments, 27 urgent care centers and a large research and educational entity. In that role I participated in many of the initiatives and strategic priorities for the medical school. So essentially I don't do that anymore and I have oversight for a system and UC health is a nine and a half billion dollar soon to be 15 hospital system. So I have oversight for quality and safety, clinical operations as well as medical staff functions and combined with my Chief Innovation Officer role, which I think is really incredibly interesting to have. Both can think about how best to deploy technology to innovate the point of care.

[Scott King]

That's certainly something that will keep you busy. Thanks a lot for sharing that background info and info on your roles, getting into some topics. What opportunities and headwinds do you have your eye on right now in healthcare?

[Dr. Richard Zane]

Well, the headwinds are pretty remarkable and right now it's. It's both financial and regulatory. And I don't think I have to tell the audience what the financial headwinds are, given that we're on the 24th day of a government shutdown and that hospitals and healthcare are on the chopping block for every budgetary initiative in every municipality, state, and federal and federal government. From a regulatory perspective, it's quite different. We are in Colorado almost exclusively, and the regulatory burden on healthcare in Colorado has increased almost exponentially in the last decade. So much so that we are routinely hiring more and more people to simply deal with the regulatory burden.

[Scott King]

How is that hiring process going for you and your system? Are you filling those roles that you need to fill right away? Is it. Is it kind of dragging on a little bit?

[Dr. Richard Zane]

Well, it depends on what it is and what it's for. It's difficult because, as you know, local legislatures and local governments can pivot, and it's hard to anticipate what the next thing is going to be. So we have generalists and then hopefully we'll talk about this. But we try as best we can to administrate to automate administrative functions. And so we have a combination of thinking about how we can automate administrative functions, what roles we do need to meet the regulatory burdens, and what those regulatory burdens are going to do to our ability to deliver care.

[Scott King]

Yeah, yeah. There's certainly. You mentioned and going back to the headwinds kind of, you know, a lot that you're dealing with. I know a lot of systems are overall. Some are, you know, specific to a certain region, some are. Can be specific to even a certain system in terms of just kind of the overall headwinds. Do you think it's one of the toughest times you've seen to have so many challenges to deal with in health care, or do you kind of look at it as, you know, that just presents a lot of solutions that we can. That we can give to our community.

[Dr. Richard Zane]

It's probably yes. And I don't think anything can compete. Compete for challenges like the first year or the entirety of the pandemic. So compared to being in a pandemic, things seem more quiescent. But compared to decades previous, it seems as though this is the most challenging time in healthcare, certainly from a hospital system perspective and certainly from an academic perspective.

[Scott King]

You mentioned having to do a lot of hiring currently. How else are you thinking about adding growth and value to your organization?

[Dr. Richard Zane]

Well, right now we're thinking about how we meet patients where they are. So thinking about Whether or not we need to have incremental bricks and mortar, what that is, as you know, for hospital systems, the majority of the business has shifted or is shifting from inpatient to outpatient. And that sometimes is simply a regulatory definition. And frequently it's an evolution of technology and science to allow things to be done in an outpatient environment. So we think about how we can virtualize care, how we can make synchronous care asynchronous, how we can digitize care, how we can bring technology to the point of care. So we really think about how we're going to meet patients where they are. And that's both from a digital perspective, a virtual perspective, and a bricks and mortar perspective.

[Scott King]

What's one risk or investment worth making this year for your system?

[Dr. Richard Zane]

So if you do a search, however it is that you search on what health systems are working on, AI is going to come up 14 out of the top 15 things. And it seems as though it's AI, AI, AI, AI all the time. The reality is that in healthcare, or really in any industry, if you ask 10 people what they mean by AI, you're going to get 14 different definitions. The reality is for us that we've been doing AI for the last decade plus. So we think about AI as rules based logic, machine learning, computational linguistics, lots of different things, including generative AI, which is what I think people are referring to. So we are thinking about how we can take technology, information and intelligence, including AI, and decrease the administrative burden on humans to increase our ability to force multiply. And that's on every level, whether it's at the point of care, whether it's customer facing or administrative automation on the back end.

[Scott King]

Kind of sticking with technology, where do you see the best opportunities for growth in the future?

[Dr. Richard Zane]

Broadly, it's intelligence, so it's, it's automating human tasks so that we can allow humans to do what only humans can do, which is adjudication and, you know, certainly procedures. So that is where I think we're in an exponential time. It's really exciting, it's great for patients. It's created regular regulatory hurdles and financial hurdles, but at the end of the day it's the right thing to do and it's the best thing for our patients.

[Scott King]

If you had to kind of look ahead and, you know, guess, you know, it will take this much time so we're not dealing with so many headwinds. When do you kind of see that on the horizon?

[Dr. Richard Zane]

I don't, I don't envision a time 59 years old. And I don't think in my career we will have an administrative simplification or a regulatory simplification. In health care. There's some basic blocking and tackling things which makes sense and it has worked in every other industry that has not come to fruition in health care. For instance, the FDA is antiquated in its approach and it's not ready to deal with with AI. Hopefully that'll change. Probably not in my career. Same thing with the CDC, the same thing with HHS and CMS. We really have a regulatory entity that's based on 1990s technology and 1990s medicine. So that is where I'm hopeful that we get to streamlining. But if you think about what can be done via technology, there's really no reason that your primary care physician can't be in Albuquerque. When you live in Austin, Texas, there's no reason why you can't have different specialists, especially in some of the more cognitive based specialties across the country. But we still have the issue of local credentialing, local licensing, insurance issues across state lines. Those sorts of things does not make any sense.

[Scott King]

No, no, I agree. Especially for just kind of routine checkups and things like that certainly can. It can be done virtually and we've kind of already proven that.

[Dr. Richard Zane]

Well, think about even things that are not routine. Think about some very complicated cancer care. So if you think about sub specialty cancer care, some of the diagnostics can be done locally. But having a sub sub specialist cancer specialist in a small town, in a rural community is probably a zero event. But by assimilating all those data, you can have centers of excellence that can essentially guide local care and that's what we should evolve or aspire to do.

[Scott King]

That's fascinating to think about. I hope we get there soon. I think that present a lot of great solutions for issues patients have. Last question I want to ask you, Dr. Zane, how have you evolved as a leader in your career?

[Dr. Richard Zane]

How have I evolved in a leader? Yeah, as a leader I think that my style has changed and I've become more adaptable. I've had infinity annual reviews from my bosses who have always said that my impatience is a blessing and a curse. And I think that I've become more patient as a leader, but I've become more deliberate as well. So folks focusing more and more on execution and output and holding the people that work for me accountable in that same vein.

[Scott King]

Well, Dr. Zane, thanks for joining us on the podcast today. I thought it was a great conversation. I look forward to working with you again soon.

[Dr. Richard Zane]

My pleasure. Thanks for the opportunity.

[Athenahealth Representative]

At athenahealth, we know your ambulatory practice wants healthier a healthier business, healthier care teams, and healthier patients. But the complexities of modern, modern healthcare tech make it hard for you and your care teams to focus on what matters most. That's where athenahealth can help our AI native all in one solutions reduce administrative burdens, streamline billing and payments, and deliver critical insights when clinicians need it most. That means fewer clicks, more time for patients, and stronger bottom lines. Practicing medicine is complex, but running a practice can be that much simpler with Athenahealth. See how simpler is [e-mail].