Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health now has 242 artificial intelligence applications live across its hospitals, up from 230 last year.
“We are expanding our use of AI across CommonSpirit by deploying new capabilities and scaling the most impactful of our existing tools,” CIO Daniel Barchi told Becker’s.
In 2025, the health system generated more than $100 million in annual savings through its use of AI and robotic process automation tools across multiple areas of the organization. Mr. Barchi said the value generated in fiscal year 2026 is expected to exceed last year’s total.
“More important than the financial impact is the expanded clinical and operational value we are seeing from these tools — value that is not measured only in dollars,” he said. “Our sepsis surveillance tool has contributed to continued reductions in sepsis-related mortality. Screening tools for colon and breast cancer are helping us identify high-risk patients, leading to thousands of additional screenings. AI tools for imaging are reducing scan times by up to 50%, supporting a better experience for patients and providers.”
As CommonSpirit expands its AI footprint, Mr. Barchi said the health system has also declined or scaled back AI tools that failed to deliver expected value.
The health system uses a governance framework designed to provide rigor and continuous oversight. Before an AI tool is adopted or deployed, each use case undergoes review, analysis and risk assessment. Identified risks are tracked through the organization’s AI Solutions Inventory Tracker and managed through its Ethical, Privacy, Security and Algorithmic Bias Guidelines.
Mr. Barchi said a key measure of the framework’s effectiveness is its ability to prevent the wrong tools from advancing. Through this process, CommonSpirit has rejected 15 enterprise AI use cases due to concerns related to data governance, safety, redundancy or technology constraints.
CommonSpirit is also seeing measurable results from internally developed AI tools. Its generative AI assistant, Insightli, has generated more than $10 million in total value through productivity gains and subscription savings. In addition, its clinician-developed, AI-powered Lung Care Compass is helping improve lung cancer detection and care coordination.
“This autonomous tool scans electronic medical records for at-risk patients, including those eligible for screening and those with incidental nodules,” Mr. Barchi said. “It tracks care pathways and enables nurse navigators to proactively coordinate care, reducing manual reviews and improving clinician collaboration.”
The health system is also expanding its internally developed virtual AI agent to additional hospitals and 30 virtual command centers. The tool replaces legacy phone trees and automates department and patient call routing to improve patient experience and operational efficiency.
“AI will be a key element of healthcare going forward,” Mr. Barchi said. “At CommonSpirit, we are focused on scaling and optimizing the value from deployed and proven solutions while simultaneously investing in foundational proprietary technology for future deployment.”
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