Hospitals are investing heavily in artificial intelligence, digital assistants and new documentation tools. Yet the success of these innovations does not hinge on the software itself. It depends on whether frontline clinicians believe in them — and more often than not, that belief is instilled by a colleague, not a mandate.
That is the role of the “clinician champion” — a peer who tests, coaches and explains the “why” of a new tool. Across the country, health systems are turning to these champions to bridge the gap between IT teams and the realities of clinical practice, transforming hesitation into trust.
At Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth, the champion model follows a deliberate sequence. New tools are first tested internally, then stress-tested for safety and usability by clinical informaticists. Only once the technology is proven do local facility leaders nominate frontline champions — physicians, advanced practice providers and nurses who know the workflows and can coach their peers. After that, the system expands to early adopters before eventually scaling systemwide.
Philip Wu, MD, chief medical information officer at AdventHealth, said that sequence matters because it builds credibility.
“A positive early impression from champions is key as they expect a workable tool that delivers results early on,” he said.
That approach has helped AdventHealth turn cautious clinicians into advocates. When the system piloted a tool that helps physicians provide more timely answers to patients’ questions, champions’ early feedback “greatly improved accuracy and tone, reduced cognitive load and sped replies, getting patients high-quality answers faster,” Dr. Wu said. A similar process improved the rollout of tools designed to make nurse shift handoffs more seamless.
“Champions matter because they live the workflow, translate the ‘why,’ and show colleagues the value of new tools better than any slide deck or video can,” he added.
Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Corewell Health’s program shows how a well-organized champion network can move numbers. The strongest example has been ambient AI: once clinicians tried the tool, they tended to keep using it. According to Daniel Smith, vice president of medical informatics, champions reinforced that adoption by running demos and answering questions on the ground, which helped the system distribute more than three-quarters of its licenses and maintain a 92% retention rate.
Mr. Smith’s champion selection strategy is deliberate. Many are physicians and APPs within the informatics department, but he also seeks out those who shape the culture of their units.
“Everyone can usually name a few folks within a department who are highly influential or who tend to be loud about change,” he said. “If you can get those people on board as advocates, especially the ones that tend to resist change, it can drive a high return.”
Equally important, Mr. Smith said, is amplifying their voices.
“Champions have the highest impact when it is person-to-person, but resourcing that is hard,” he said. “Written feedback on the benefits, time savings, ease of use, spreads easier and more quickly when it is in the words of peers.”
At Tampa, Fla.-based Moffitt Cancer Center, Marc Perkins-Carillo, MSN, RN, chief nursing informatics officer, said champions emerge less from structured nomination and more from trust built on the floor.
“Nurses have long been promised that technology would ease their workload, yet too often it has added burden instead,” he said. “Listening to staff and validating their needs is the first step. When they feel heard and see their input reflected in the solution, champions emerge naturally.”
But he’s realistic about the burden.
“Being a champion and coaching peers is real work, and it can add to the load if not approached thoughtfully,” he said. “When champions are self-selected and motivated and not appointed by leadership, they’re more likely to stay engaged and energized, even when the work is demanding.”
Looking ahead, Moffitt has formed a nursing AI subgroup to lead education and adoption of Microsoft Copilot Chat.
“By involving them early and often, we’re fostering ownership and helping staff feel like active participants, not passive recipients of AI solutions,” he said.
At Renton, Wash.-based Providence, Maulin Shah, MD, CMIO, has formalized the role through a network of physician informaticists across multiple specialties — surgery, gastroenterology, critical care, hospital medicine, ambulatory and urgent care.
“We’re able to make sure we’re building things in a way that’s the best for that particular specialty,” Dr. Shah said. “We’re implementing tools, and they can do the hard peer-to-peer conversations when there’s either a disagreement or dissatisfaction of any kind.”
One of their signature efforts is the Physician Success Program, which is designed to help clinicians move from novice to expert users of the technologies Providence rolls out. Champions run office hours, create specialty-specific curricula and circle back by rounding in hospitals to check directly on adoption. Shah said those efforts have already led to notable improvements in EHR experience scores, reflecting how champion-driven coaching can ease friction and build trust in new systems.
Looking ahead, he noted that while the tools will keep changing, the importance of champions in helping colleagues adopt them will remain.
“At some point you stop trusting the videos and the education and the phone calls and the help desk. You just need to look someone in the eye and talk to them,” he said. “That’s what champions are for.”
