JPM25: Sutter Health strikes deal with GE HealthCare for AI imaging tech as it maps out ambitious expansion plans

SAN FRANCISCO—GE HealthCare struck a seven-year agreement with Sacramento, California-based Sutter Health to provide AI-powered medical imaging technology and digital solutions.

The agreement, dubbed Care Alliance, marks one of GE HealthCare’s largest-ever enterprise strategic partnerships, the companies said in a press release.

Bloomberg reported that the strategic partnership could generate $1 billion in revenue.

Sutter Health anticipates $30 million to $40 million in yearly savings, which will come from lower costs, standardized equipment and enhanced service, Mark Sevco, Sutter Health's chief operating officer, told Fierce Healthcare.

Bloomberg's figure includes staff and equipment costs, he noted.

The announced partnership with GE HealthCare is an extension of Sutter Health's 20-year relationship with the technology company, Sevco said. "By standardizing GE products and services, we’re not only driving  cost savings but also ensuring  better equipment maintenance and operational excellence," he said.

The first key focus area of the partnership is an accelerated technology program across the Sutter Health system that will focus on some of the most advanced AI-powered imaging technology and digital solutions available to patients, including PET/CT, SPECT/CT, MRI, CT, X-ray, nuclear medicine and ultrasound, according to the companies.

GE HealthCare’s interventional, mammography, diagnostic cardiology, maternal and infant care and anesthesia solutions will also be included in Sutter Health’s ambulatory care centers, helping address the growing need for care outside of the hospital setting. 

The partnership will increase access to "innovative imaging services and create a more seamless and coordinated experience for clinicians and patients across the Sutter Health system," the nonprofit health system said.

"This partnership is a game-changer for expanding access to innovative, high-quality care for patients while giving our physicians and clinicians the access to advanced technology. It also offers our teams ongoing, comprehensive training so they continue to learn and advance their skills so they may provide the most current and effective care to our patients," Sevco told Fierce Healthcare.

Sutter Health serves 3.5 million patients a year with 28 acute care facilities, and the organization is comprised of 57,000 employees, 15,000 nurses and 5,600 clinicians across eight medical groups. The health system brought in $18 billion in annualized revenue in 2024, executives said during their presentation at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco last week.

The health system's work with GE HealthCare also supports Sutter’s larger access strategy, Sevco noted. 

Sutter Health invested $1 billion two years ago to expand its services and is now "doubling down" on that strategy, Sevco said during Sutter Health's presentation at JPM.

From 2013 to 2022, Sutter Health allocated 16% of its capital dollars to its ambulatory operations. For the next 10 years, the health system plans to deploy 30% of capital spend to ambulatory projects to expand access and close network gaps, Warner Thomas, president and CEO of Sutter Health, told investors and healthcare executives during the JPM presentation.

The organization will open 23 new ambulatory and three new acute care sites in the next four years, expanding access to medical services for 400,000 more patients.

Sutter Health also is launching an expansion of advanced service lines and destination centers of excellence including areas such as heart and vascular care, cancer care and neurosciences. Sutter Health plans to build a new cancer center on Sutter’s Memorial Medical Center campus in the California Central Valley.

The organization has an ambitious ambulatory growth strategy, recently unveiling plans to invest $800 million to develop two new flagship campuses in Silicon Valley with specialty care focuses. The two campuses—Sutter East Santa Clara, which will open at the end of 2025, and Sutter West Santa Clara, slated to open in the fall of 2027—will feature 1 million square feet of space with 750 physicians and clinicians.

It's part of Sutter Health's aim to create a "regional healthcare destination" and will offer patients primary and specialty care, including primary care, women's health, orthopedics and heart and vascular care as well as ancillary services like imaging, lab and diagnostic services and ambulatory surgery, Sutter Health executives said.

The healthcare system is collaborating with the region’s 95-year-old Palo Alto Foundation Medical Group and its 2,000 Sutter-aligned physicians and The Sobrato Organization to renovate two large vacant office campuses to develop the new Silicon Valley medical facilities.

The eight-year agreement with GE HealthCare ties into these expansion plans, Sevco noted.

"Having access to advanced tech and digital optimization in these new locations will be extremely important as we meet the ever-growing demand for our services. It also supports improved patient care. From early screenings, diagnoses, treatment plans and monitoring, these are all essential for better primary care and specialty services such as heart and vascular care, cancer care and neurological care," Sevco said.

Sutter Health will benefit from faster access to novel equipment and technology solutions as well as provide an innovative service delivery model with enhanced, reliable equipment availability. Benefits of the partnership also include greater system integration and interoperability, and a "timely refresh of needed equipment," health system executives said.

“We’re responding to what we’ve heard from our physicians and making comprehensive upgrades with the latest technology to boost our capacity and expand access points. This collaboration ensures that no matter where patients enter the Sutter Health system, they’ll receive seamless and coordinated care," Thomas said in the announcement about the GE HealthCare partnership.

Another key priority for Sutter Health is to build a "connected digital experience" for patients to eliminate friction points and expand access to care. "We believe this is going to be, frankly, table stakes going forward," Thomas said.

The goal is to meet the "modern consumer expectations" of patients and potential patients to build digital solutions that enable the health system to be more "proactive and, frankly, predictive versus just reactive," Jennifer Bollinger, Sutter Health senior vice president, chief consumer and brand officer, said during the JPM conference.

"While patient experience is a huge focus, we're moving beyond the traditional approach, which is really focused on the interaction in the room. We are taking ownership and looking at and providing data to our operators and our aligned medical groups around every single touch point and how they all need to work together, as well as staying focused on stitching together the in-between," Bollinger said. "As we look forward, how do we pay attention to what consumers define as access, bring forward new capabilities, and then go even further and bring forward truly digitally enabled care. In '24, '25 and '26, that's what you'll see from us."

During the JPM presentation, Thomas said Sutter Health leadership sees growth opportunities in all its markets.

"We've got a big footprint in Sacramento that we view as an opportunity to continue to invest in that footprint. Access to care is a challenge throughout all of our markets. We're looking at it in a very disciplined way from a strategic and a financial perspective," he said.

"We're looking to optimize our existing footprint and assets, that's what we have been really working hard on the last two years," Sevco told the JPM audience. "As that goes with the growth that we see in the demand, we're now certainly investing in more facilities, more ambulatory and enhancing our digital services."

Sutter Health operates 27 urgent care clinics and is opening up 25 more in the next three years. It also operates about 30 ambulatory surgery center facilities and plans to open up 22 more, Sevco noted at JPM. 

"We're not focused on getting bigger," Thomas told the JPM audience. "We're focused on getting better. Our quality has improved, our access has improved, our service measures have improved and the digital connectivity has improved. So, yes, it's getting larger, but it's getting better at the same time."

Catherine Estrampes, U.S. and Canada president and CEO at GE HealthCare, said the Care Alliance is a "customized, clinician-focused approach aligned with shared goals."

"It was jointly designed with expert assessment of how we provide our latest imaging technology in the right settings to serve patients most efficiently throughout their care journey, closer to home," Estrampes said in a statement.

The technology partnership with GE HealthCare will bring "tangible improvements" to patient care, Sevco said.

"We’re adopting a fleet maintenance approach. This means we will update aging equipment at a discounted rate while gaining first access to advanced technology and software upgrades. GE provides about 60% of our imaging so the scale provides helpful context. These measures will help reduce procedural exam times and enhance patient experience," he told Fierce Healthcare.

The Care Alliance also will provide comprehensive maintenance and repair services. "That helps keep our equipment running efficiently, minimizing downtime. This includes a standardized schedule to keep systems operational. GE's software upgrades will help increase capacity and help optimize appointment scheduling, giving patients more access and options," he noted.

Imaging and ultrasound solutions, enabled by digital and AI advancements, will be implemented across the entire healthcare system over several years, reducing variation and providing the innovation clinicians need to best serve patients. 

The use of artificial intelligence will enhance Sutter Health's efforts as well, Sevco noted. "GE has more than 70 AI algorithms that our radiologists are copiloting to improve efficiency and diagnostics. AI can help with predictive imaging and enhancing workflows," he said.

"Finally, one I’m particularly excited about, is that we are teaming up on additional workforce development supports. The Care Alliance will help carve out healthcare career pathways through scholarships and programs in areas throughout our system. That equals more educational opportunities and jobs supporting healthcare," he said.