Tommy Ibrahim, MD, the new executive vice president and chief transformation officer of Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Sanford Health, told Becker’s he plans to leverage AI and other emerging technologies to boost value-based care in a challenging environment for rural healthcare.
The 56-hospital system created the inaugural role in early January to oversee technology and digital strategy, AI and data analytics, and Sanford’s innovation and research teams.
“There’s really a tremendous amount of change going on in healthcare,” Dr. Ibrahim said. “There is an ongoing stream of regulatory changes, financial and economic challenges across the country, the drive and transformation toward value-based care, an onslaught of new technologies and new capabilities, and consumers looking for a variety of ways to interact with healthcare to improve affordability.
“So I hearken back to something that our CEO, Bill Gassen, always talks about: What we do as an organization will never change — we’re committed to our mission — but how we do it must.”
Dr. Ibrahim was previously president and CEO of the Sanford Health Plan. He plans to apply technology to further integrate the payer and provider sides at the nation’s largest rural health system, which serves 2 million-plus patients across seven states. Sanford insures more than 420,000 members, a number that doubled after the organization acquired Marshfield (Wis.) Clinic Health System in 2025.
Before joining Sanford in 2024, Dr. Ibrahim served as president and CEO of Cooperstown, N.Y.-based Bassett Healthcare Network and a chief physician executive at health systems in Oklahoma, Iowa and Illinois. He reports directly to the CEO.
On the tech front, Sanford already has an “incredibly solid foundation,” Dr. Ibrahim said. He pointed to the health system’s approximately 50 automation tools that have cumulatively saved about 25,000 hours of work on repetitive tasks, largely in the revenue cycle space for things like denials management. Sanford is projecting 85,000 hours in time savings from automated workflows in 2026.
The health system has also built around 20 machine learning algorithms, pulling in dozens of data points to proactively identify high-risk patients and intervene early. The use cases include flagging people overdue for colorectal cancer screenings and predicting appointment no-shows.
Sanford Health Plan recently deployed AI nurse agents for new member calls, screening reminders and post-discharge transitions with “excellent engagement” so far, Dr. Ibrahim said.
Dr. Ibrahim said he foresees a continued mix of build vs. buy, with three to five enterprise tech partners augmented by Sanford’s internal data engineers and data scientists.
“We’re approaching it with an appropriate level of excitement, but also an appropriate level of caution,” he said. “What we’re trying to do is really just be very thoughtful and methodical about how we go about our due diligence and how we go about the selection process.”
Sanford Health also hopes to tap into the federal government’s $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program, and has applied for funding to expand virtual care, enhance interoperability and grow value-based care.
“I’m really focused on building a stellar team and creating an all-encompassing strategy and roadmap for the next three to five years,” Dr. Ibrahim said.
“In 12 months, I fully expect that we’re going to accomplish that, that we’re going to have the right partners selected to help us, and we’re going to demonstrate some important ROI. Not just efficiencies and financial performance, but most importantly, that we’re supporting the needs of our communities, driving higher quality, improving affordability, and helping our leaders, our physicians and our employees be a lot more content in their day-to-day work.”
At the Becker's 11th Annual IT + Revenue Cycle Conference: The Future of AI & Digital Health, taking place September 14–17 in Chicago, healthcare executives and digital leaders from across the country will come together to explore how AI, interoperability, cybersecurity, and revenue cycle innovation are transforming care delivery, strengthening financial performance, and driving the next era of digital health. Apply for complimentary registration now.
