If there’s one thing that innovative companies value more than bold ideas, it’s the experience to put them into practice. Industry analysts agree and have called ‘adoption muscle’ the new, must-have strategic advantage for healthcare organizations.
Experience also helped determine which organizations made it on Fortune magazine’s America’s Most Innovative Companies of 2026 list, published earlier today. Sutter Health, a two-time honoree, is one of only five California health systems recognized this year —and ranked third among the group. The recognition also coincides with the 10th anniversary of Sutter’s innovation practice.
Chris Waugh, Sutter’s chief innovation officer for the past decade, marked the milestone by reflecting on lessons he’s learned through experimentation and redesign at the not-for-profit health system. Dr. Richard Milani, Sutter’s chief clinical innovation officer, and Waugh’s dyad partner also added to the list.
Small wins keep momentum. Innovation, especially in healthcare, can require a lengthy development phase. Waugh says you shouldn’t wait for perfection. Rather he advocates ‘ground truthing’ as you go because it not only leads to a better product but creates a perpetual reward loop too. “Get into the field and get feedback, tune it, modify it, and ship it again,” he advises.
This lesson is first on the list, Waugh says, because he is applying it now as he helps the winning team from Sutter’s 2025 Innovation Challenge design and prototype a digital hub for diabetes care.
Attack the biggest problems. Healthcare, like any industry, needs to show return on investment from innovative programs or initiatives. Dr. Milani says that one way to increase the likelihood of ROI is to attack the biggest problems. “It’s equal parts ambitious and arduous to prioritize the most stubbornly difficult challenge you have, but that is where your greatest impact will be,” says Dr. Milani.
Case in point, Sutter Sync, Sutter’s proprietary remote patient monitoring and digital care program focuses on chronic conditions. “Despite decades of innovation, national control rates for conditions such as hypertension and diabetes continue to decline, and many of these same patients have multiple diagnoses that compound risk and complexity,” says Dr. Milani. “So we designed Sutter Sync with these conditions in mind.”
Sutter Sync’s ‘care anywhere’ model combines patient-centered technology, real-time care team monitoring and support, and trend analysis to deliver better outcomes. Read more about it here.
Shared ownership is key to success. “Even if it’s an outside startup that we’re working with, I make sure that the internal end-users feel like it’s their product, their idea. They get to influence it, and ultimately, they own it,” says Waugh. When the end-user is in the driver’s seat they’re invested, but what’s more, it keeps Waugh and his team from being cast as champions, so they stay clear-eyed, curious and better able to offer critique.
Recently, Sutter scaled a suite of clinical AI tools, from partnership announcement to enterprise wide use, in less than six months. Such rapid adoption was the direct result of shared ownership, which saw every role that would use the algorithms at the table early, to engage with them.
Don’t be afraid of left turns. “Sometimes something that wasn’t on your plan shows up and knocks on your door,” says Dr. Milani. “When this happens see it for the opportunity it is.” A recent example for Milani is Sutter’s upcoming work to expand access to mental health care.
Make everyone’s life easier. The innovations that take off, according to Waugh, are those that create wins across the board. Stated differently: “If it burdens anyone in the chain, it won’t happen.” While this advice seems straightforward Waugh emphasizes that it can require considering as many as 10 different perspectives to make sure you haven’t overlooked a break in the chain.
Asked to give an example, Waugh referenced a current pilot, testing if a self-administered cognitive screen for Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia will indeed benefit patients, caregivers, primary care providers, specialists and advance practice clinicians – as intended.
Emotion trumps logic. “An innovation might make sense on paper or in a boardroom, but if it has a negative emotional connotation, it’s not going to fly,” says Waugh. Even when a solution objectively makes work easier, adoption can falter if the people expected to embrace it weren’t initially consulted.
Stay true to the impact. While technology is often cast as the hero, Waugh encourages innovators to focus on the deeper ‘why’ behind the work. “We talk about Abridge, which helps clinicians by transcribing conversations and turning them into notes,” he explains. “But the real value is how it improves attention and eye contact between the provider and patient.” A rule of thumb, emphasize the human element, over technology features, to speed up adoption.
These lessons give Sutter the experience to move quickly without losing its footing, even as the pace of change increases. Waugh and Milani know that the next decade will bring no shortage of new insights, which they look forward to sharing.
