Providence bets on machine-learning, consolidating data centers

At the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Providence leaders announced that it will lean on technology to help recover from the financial damage caused by the pandemic. The organization plans to close its six data centers over the next two years as well as migrate its entire health system to a single Epic electronic health record and automating back-office systems according to interim chief financial officer, Greg Hoffman.

CEO Rod Hochman said the health system's future will depend on diversifying its portfolio, digitizing its systems and new partnerships—along with closely watching workforce costs.

"Coming out of COVID, we learned virtualization of both administration and clinical care is an opportunity to rethink how we use labor effectively," Hochman said. "We clearly understand that unless health systems are able to reduce labor spend we're not going to be successful."

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