Technology has been both a promise and a problem in healthcare. When EHRs arrived in hospitals, they were heralded as a revolution — bringing order to messy paper charts and standardizing how care was documented. But soon after, clinicians found themselves staring more at screens than at the patients sitting in front of them. Now, nurse leaders say the very systems that once distanced them from patients could hold the key to rebuilding that connection.
“Technology once created a barrier between clinicians and patients because it demanded attention away from the bedside and toward screens,” said Amanda Klopp, DNP, RN, chief nursing informatics officer at Tucson (Ariz.) Medical Center. “But the same technology, when designed thoughtfully, can now become the bridge that restores human connection.”
Dr. Klopp points to ambient AI as an example. These systems, she said, allow clinicians to “focus on listening, empathizing and delivering care,” rather than typing notes. The future of healthcare IT, in her view, “isn’t more technology — it’s invisible technology that amplifies the human experience.”
At Summa Health in Akron, Ohio, CNIO Marc Benoy, BSN, RN, agrees that technology’s alienating effect wasn’t inevitable — it was the result of misplaced priorities. Early systems, he said, were built to satisfy regulatory and billing requirements, not to enhance the act of caregiving.
“The problem arose when the framework became the focus rather than the foundation,” Mr. Benoy said. “Instead of supporting the art and judgment of nursing, technology too often dictates it.”
Mr. Benoy envisions a reset. With better design, he said, tools can once again “frame practice without confining it,” capturing the rigor of nursing while leaving room for intuition and empathy. He outlined areas for progress — from smarter documentation systems and simplified logins to restoring narrative storytelling in medical records. “When the story returns, so does the human connection,” he said.
At Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., CNIO Marc Perkins-Carrillo, MSN, RN, said the digital transition changed the clinician-patient dynamic from relational to transactional. “EHRs pulled clinicians’ attention away from patients by requiring extensive data entry and navigation across multiple screens,” he said. He sees the next generation of tools as an opportunity to reverse that. Systems that anticipate needs, surface only relevant data, and automate repetitive tasks can “restore focus to the patient.” Mr. Perkins-Carrillo also sees potential beyond the hospital walls.
“Patient engagement from home has often meant sending messages and waiting,” he said. “AI-driven assistants can deliver personalized guidance, transforming technology into a connector rather than a divider.”
For CNIO Michelle Charles, DNP, RN, at Parkview Health in Fort Wayne, Ind., transformation depends on leadership. “Technology, when guided by clinical informatics and end-user involvement, can transform from a barrier into a bridge,” she said. The CNIO’s job, she added, is to ensure that every innovation “is grounded in the realities of care delivery and the unwavering commitment to human connection.” That grounding is key. Without it, technology risks widening the very divide it seeks to close.
Jared Houck, RN, CNIO at Roper St. Francis Healthcare in Charleston, S.C., believes any healing must begin with honesty about how the problem began.
“When we first digitized paper charting, we carried every rule, fear and behavior correction directly into the EHR,” he said. “The belief that if it wasn’t charted, then it wasn’t done shaped generations of punitive design.”
Many digital flowsheets, he noted, still look the same as they did 20 years ago — rigid, repetitive and far from user-friendly. But new AI-powered tools, capable of parsing vast troves of clinical data, could finally change that. Automating routine tasks like documentation, audits and checklists could free clinicians to do what drew them to the profession in the first place: care.
“When we redesign with intention,” Mr. Houck said, “clinicians will naturally regain time, attention and presence at the bedside. That’s how technology becomes the bridge back to meaningful connection.”
Across hospitals, these leaders see the future in systems that fade into the background, restoring what was lost in the digital rush: conversation, trust and presence. As Dr. Klopp put it, “The future of healthcare IT isn’t about adding more tools. It’s about designing technology so gracefully that it disappears — leaving only the human connection behind.”
