What Black Book’s No. 1 ranking reveals about EHR optimization

When Black Book ranked Nordic No. 1 overall among 20 leading healthcare IT consulting firms for EHR Optimization, Workflow Redesign, and Selective Implementation, it validated something we see every day in our work with health systems: the greatest value often comes not from replacing technology, but from continuously improving how it supports people, workflows, operations, and outcomes.

What makes this recognition especially meaningful is that it was based on feedback from clients with direct project experience. Nordic earned the highest overall score, led or co-led seven of 18 evaluation categories, and received the study’s highest rating for trust, accountability, transparency, and benefits realization.

The Black Book findings are especially relevant because they reflect many of the priorities healthcare organizations are focused on now: getting more value from the systems they already have by aligning technology, workflows, governance, data, and people around measurable outcomes. Across the health systems we support, those priorities consistently show up in six areas where organizations can improve performance, reduce friction, and build a stronger foundation for future innovation.

Six areas where health systems can unlock more value

1. Turning data into decisions

Healthcare organizations have more data than ever before, yet many leaders still struggle to get timely, actionable insights. Disconnected systems, inconsistent workflows, and varying documentation practices can make it difficult to trust the information driving operational and strategic decisions. I’ve observed that organizations rarely have a data shortage problem. More often, they have a data usability problem. When information is difficult to access, interpret, or act on, leaders are less able to improve performance, strengthen operations, and support better decision-making.

As organizations explore advanced analytics and AI, the need for trusted, usable data becomes even more urgent. Before leaders can scale new capabilities, they need confidence in the information, governance, and workflows behind them.

What this looks like in action: Carilion Clinic, a non-profit health system that serves nearly 1 million Virginians, provides a powerful example of the benefits of making healthcare data more accessible and actionable. By integrating clinical trial information directly into clinicians’ workflows, Carilion transformed a process that previously required navigating multiple systems and as many as 156 clicks into a simple hover-bubble experience at the point of care. Instead of forcing clinicians to search for information, critical research opportunities became immediately visible and actionable within the workflow itself. The result was improved patient safety and a stronger foundation for data-driven decision-making.

What stands out to me: Data volume is rarely the issue alone. Often a more critical issue is whether data is trusted, usable, and embedded in the workflows where decisions are made.

2. Expanding capacity without expanding headcount

Nearly every healthcare leader I speak with is looking for ways to do more with limited resources. Workforce shortages, clinician burnout, and ongoing staffing challenges continue to put pressure on organizations everywhere.

While technology can help, I often find that capacity constraints stem from inefficient workflows, disconnected processes, and administrative burden that pulls clinicians and staff away from higher-value work. Over time, those inefficiencies create friction that impacts productivity, access, and the overall experience of both caregivers and patients.

The organizations making the greatest progress are not asking people to work harder. They are aligning operations, technology, and frontline workflows so teams can spend more time on high-value work and less time navigating avoidable friction.

What this looks like in action: Bon Secours Mercy Health (BSMH), a health ministry with 47 hospitals, thousands of providers, over 1,200 points of care, and approximately 60,000 employees across the United States and Ireland, demonstrates what’s possible when operational friction is addressed. By improving referral-to-schedule workflows, standardizing processes, and better utilizing existing capacity, the organization was able to create more appointment availability while improving the experience for both patients and staff. BSMH ultimately created 10,400 additional appointment slots annually and generated millions in annualized gross revenue without relying on new demand.

What stands out to me: Capacity is often hidden in existing workflows. Unlocking it requires removing friction, standardizing processes, and helping teams work differently.

3. Improving financial performance

Healthcare leaders are facing sustained pressure to improve financial performance while continuing to invest in patient care, workforce support, and innovation.

Financial performance improvement rarely comes from technology alone. It comes from aligning technology decisions with the workflows, behaviors, governance, and operational priorities that influence margin every day. When organizations connect optimization efforts to measurable business outcomes, they can uncover opportunities to improve productivity, reduce waste, strengthen revenue capture, and operate more efficiently.

What this looks like in action: Lawrence General Hospital, a private, nonprofit, safety-net community hospital in Massachusetts’ Merrimack Valley, partnered with Nordic to uncover practical opportunities to improve revenue, reduce expenses, and operate more efficiently. By focusing on supply chain optimization, revenue cycle enhancement, clinical process improvement, data analysis, and pharmaceutical optimization, the organization achieved a 5.2% net revenue increase, identified $255,000 in potential savings, generated $286,000 in usable value, and estimated $128,000 in annual pharmacy expense reduction. Financial performance improved not through a single intervention, but by addressing the operational and workflow issues that influence margin every day.

What stands out to me: Meaningful financial gains often come from connecting operational improvements to measurable business outcomes, reducing waste, recovering revenue, and strengthening the way work gets done.

4. Extending access and enhancing patient experience

Patients increasingly expect healthcare experiences that are connected, convenient, and consumer friendly. Digital access, communication, scheduling, and self-service capabilities all play a role in how patients engage with their providers.

Many organizations discover that patient engagement tools, workflow automation, and digital access features are already available in their EHR but remain underutilized.

When these capabilities are not aligned with operational workflows, patients may still experience delays, confusion, or unnecessary handoffs even when technology exists to support a smoother journey.

In many cases, improving the patient experience is not about adding another tool. It is about redesigning the operational path around the tools already in place so patients, staff, and clinicians experience less friction.

What this looks like in action: At BSMH, improving referral-to-schedule conversion did more than unlock capacity. It helped reduce friction in the patient journey by making it easier for referrals to become completed appointments. By reducing barriers between referral and completed care, the organization improved the patient journey while increasing capacity and maximizing existing demand.

What stands out to me: Organizations often view patient access and operational performance as separate challenges. In reality, improving one frequently improves the other.

5. Scaling operations more sustainably

Across healthcare organizations, inefficient workflows, disconnected processes, and competing priorities create bottlenecks that impact productivity and scalability.

Sustainable operations require more than isolated fixes. They depend on consistent governance, workflow discipline, automation where it adds value, and the ability to scale improvements across teams, sites, and service lines.

What this looks like in action: Years of local customization created significant variation in clinical ordering workflows across Beacon Health System, a multi-hospital health system based in South Bend, Indiana. What once worked for a smaller health system became increasingly difficult to govern, support, and scale. Beacon partnered with Nordic to standardize order sets, reduce unnecessary variation, and establish a more consistent clinical foundation. The result was fewer clinician complaints, reduced confusion, smoother day-to-day operations, and a more robust governance framework to support future growth.

What stands out to me: Sustainable scale depends on consistent workflows, clear governance, and technology that can support change across teams and sites.

6. Strengthening digital maturity

Few topics come up more in conversations with healthcare leaders today than artificial intelligence. The excitement is understandable. AI has enormous potential to improve efficiency, support decision-making, and reduce administrative burden.

At the same time, many organizations are discovering that AI readiness is not a standalone technology initiative. It depends on the same fundamentals that make optimization successful: trusted data, strong governance, well-designed workflows, and meaningful user adoption. Without that groundwork, even the most promising AI tools can struggle to deliver sustainable value. Organizations that have already strengthened those foundations are better positioned to move from AI experimentation to measurable outcomes.

What this looks like in action: Carilion Clinic’s clinical trial initiative illustrates this principle. Before organizations can leverage advanced analytics or AI-driven capabilities, they must first ensure that the right information is available to the right people at the right time within the workflow. Optimization creates the conditions for success by transforming disconnected data into actionable intelligence that clinicians can actually use.

What stands out to me: AI readiness starts long before an AI tool is deployed; it begins with the data, workflows, governance, and adoption practices that determine whether new capabilities can create measurable value.

Black Book’s findings reinforce why this work matters. Clients did not validate Nordic for a single service line or isolated capability. They recognized Nordic for helping healthcare organizations connect technology, workflows, governance, data, and people in ways that improve performance across clinical, operational, financial, and digital priorities. That breadth matters because meaningful transformation rarely happens in one function alone.

How does your organization compare?

The most successful teams routinely evaluate whether their technology investments are driving measurable outcomes. Consider the following questions:

Data and decision-making

• Can leaders access trusted, actionable data when they need it?
• Are key decisions supported by consistent reporting and governance?

Workforce and capacity

• Are clinicians and staff spending time on high-value work?
• Have major workflows been evaluated and optimized within the past year?

Financial performance

• Are technology investments tied to measurable business outcomes?
• Can your organization quantify the impact of optimization efforts?

Patient access and experience

• Are patients able to navigate scheduling, communication, and care access with minimal friction?
• Are existing digital capabilities fully utilized?

Operations and scalability

• Is unnecessary workflow variation creating inefficiencies?
• Does your governance structure support growth and change?

AI readiness

• Is your data trusted, accessible, and well-governed?
• Do workflows and adoption levels support future AI initiatives?

Turn insight into action

Together, these priorities create a practical starting point for improvement today while strengthening the foundation for what comes next, including AI. The opportunity is to move from recognizing where friction exists to taking focused action against the workflows, data, governance, and operational barriers limiting performance.

If these six areas sound familiar, Nordic’s campaign assessments can help healthcare leaders quickly identify where friction is limiting performance across data, financial performance, workforce capacity, patient experience, and operations, then prioritize the actions most likely to create measurable value.

• Fragmented Data: Identify where disconnected systems, inconsistent reporting, or governance gaps may be limiting trusted decision-making.
• Financial Performance: Evaluate where workflow, technology, or operational variation may be affecting margin, productivity, or revenue capture.
• Workforce Capacity: Pinpoint where administrative burden, inefficient workflows, or staffing constraints may be limiting team capacity.
• Patient Experience: Assess where access, communication, scheduling, or digital engagement friction may be impacting the patient journey.
• Operational Bottlenecks: Uncover workflow barriers, throughput constraints, and process inefficiencies that may be slowing performance.

Each assessment provides practical guidance with recommended next steps to help your organization move from insight to action.

Looking ahead

The healthcare organizations that consistently make progress do not always have the largest budgets or the most aggressive technology roadmaps. They regularly step back, examine how work gets done, and look for ways to remove friction for patients, clinicians, and staff.

That is the real opportunity behind optimization: helping organizations create measurable value from the systems they already have while building the operational foundation for what comes next. As healthcare continues to evolve, the organizations best positioned for the future will be those that continuously align people, processes, data, and technology around better performance, stronger experiences, and meaningful outcomes.

Meaningful change does not always require a new technology investment. Some of the greatest opportunities come from improving the platforms, workflows, and data environments already supporting care. Complete the assessment that aligns with your organization’s biggest priority, or schedule a conversation with a Nordic optimization expert to explore where your existing systems, workflows, and teams may hold untapped value.